VOL. I. New Series
The Eton College Weekly
That Common-Looking Old Pa
per.
"Should you want to find out about
current literature, authors and the like,
P about It?" asked
speaking to his class-mate, LeRov
who frequently visited the College Libra
tL ,n^ other
" Wk » ” of books.
"'■I ""'t don’t know
Td t r ? by^eading the books,
and by lookmg mto the cyclopedias for
biographical sketches."
othlJ^"^-^' '•'■e
r wn? “‘cyclopedia about Henry
James, William Dean Howells. Jamel
Lane Allen, Julia Ward Howe, Mary
other
ivmg authors ? Who are the editors of -
the leading magazines ? Your cyclope- ‘
ciS
quired to get up information on su h a i
suW he would not know how to prc^ '
Frank suggested that perhaps The New
York Times Saturday Review, whicl, he
would find in the Library, would b. of
valuable assistance.
LeRoy s w jrm retort.
These two men had been In coliefe
three years. Starting with about equal
knowledge as to how to make use of a
ibrary, Frank had evidently outstripped
merm^ °f college acquire-
The conversation continued too long to
recount here, in full. But Frank, m giv
ing some account of "that common-!ook-
.ng old paper," as LeRoy had character
ed The New York Times Saturday
Review showed that he had learned
to use the ibrary m a wise, servicable
manner, and proved to be a very inter
esting talker.
One by one other students were at- I
tracted to the little circle until a dozen or
more collected and listened to this, now I
literary lecture that had started in a casual I
conversation.
"In the autumn of 1896, I think it
was, said Frank, "that The New York I
limes undertook a new department in
American ,ou; nalism. And this new ven
ture was to issue every Saturday a purely
literary edition or section of The Times.
1 his section was to be devoted exclusive
ly to reviews of current books, to discus
sions of literary topics, gossip about au-
thors and such like. This review was
ably edited from the beginning and soon
won favor with leading authors, and with
general readers. Its phenomenal success
led scores of other high-class papers to
adopt the literary idea. i
"At the end of ten years, the Review
m celebrating its tenth anniversary, pub-
ished parts of lettess of appreciation from '
leading authors and publishers." Here
are some of them which Frank read from
nis scrap-book.
FROM JAMES LANE ALLEN.
tJm “"'.of 'en years of life for
1 he New York Times Saturday Review
ot Books IS an event of dignity and weight
in the history of our critical literature It
added to Its youth as it has added to its
aX'he judgment
and the freshness of its temper render it
a vita force, and the multitude of those
who ook to It for serious guidance, or
from Ij^ghter motives testify alike to its
solid character, and to its range, its sun-
niness its readableness. Where else may
one find such a weekly gathering and
sampling of the grapes that some day
may be vinegar, or some day may be
wine, or some day may be—neither.
FROM HENRY VAN DYKE.
‘ J cannot forego the opportunity of send
ing you my congratulations on the tenth
anniversary of The New York Times
baturd^ Review of Books. I have found,
eyecially m tfie longer articles and in the
editorials, much that is instructive. 1 wish
you anothar decade of increasing pros-
perity. ^
FROM THOMAS NELSON PAGE
I congratulate you on the approaching
anniversary of your valued Book Re!
congiatulatf j^cth-1
; from such authors as W. J. Rolfe, the
famous Shakespeare editor; Owen Wis
Virginians "and
WinstoT Churchiii;
; author of Richard Carvel." and "The
I Crossing." Frank laid his scrap-book
dentally chanced upon a copy of the
, Book Review in the College Library one
I day and found it an open door to the
Iquestion on which he and LeRoy had
I begun the discussion.
j o hers besides LeRoy in that little circle
j of students had not suspected as being of
any such literary interest thereafter was I
i eir guide to book-buying and to current
I literary mbrmation. W. P L
1 ers on the fgf
have all been its benefi( laries, tor if
lias kept U.s m touch v, irh everything in
I the literary world on both sides of the
ocean and has given, for now ten years,
sound and trustworthy reviews of nearly
• J A general Interest In that
period. Accept my hearty good wishes
tor your continued success *
FROM PROFESSOR BRANDER
MATTHEWS.
What I like about The New York
1 imes Saturday Review of Books Is the
skill with which its conductors have
solved a difficult problem. Most of the
, books published do not call for serious I
I consideration ; all that is needful is to tell ‘
I the newspaper readers, briefly, what they
contain. The Times does this; and by
I doing It gams space for longer reviews of
j the books of larger importance, reviews
written by experts who are not afraid to
warrant their opinions with their siena-
tures.
FROM EDMUND CLARENCE
STEDMAN.
I don't suppose any other book review
has been established upon the same lines
as yours or has grown of Itself to exer
cise the functions of, I may say, a " Na
tional literary gazette." There seems to
be now nothing touching or appertaining
to the book trade and the being and I
doings of writers which it does not con- '
fain It IS so receptive as to constitute
open court" of the republic of letters.
I 1 his in all senses of the phrase, for its
I letters from readers, notes and queries.
I and the like are after all a complement
ot the authoritative reviews by Mr Scuv
ier Mr. and Miss Cary. Mr. Boynton
and others of your critical staff. |
After reading these and similar letters j
I The Clio Entertainment.
The following account of the Clio
i>ociety literary entertainment, and other
news is taken from the Raleigh News
and Observer of Feb. 25.
The annual public entertainment of the
Uio LUerary Sodety occurred In the col-
lege chapel on Tuesday evening. Feb
ruary 22. in the presence of a large and
appreciative audience of students and vis
itors.
1 he en'. taiiirnent consisted of an ora-
Campbell, of H.rHs-
'wno ilso rendered a co rnet
j ^ P''“® 3 ''olume on the life
of James O Kelly, founder of the Chrlst-
^ McClenny. A. B,.
•Oft I L^ " “ of the class of
I VO. who has inveshgated ever since his
j S^^duation with most painstaking attention
, and detail all the valuable documents hav-
I mg to do with the life and work of this
I distinguished man, whose biographer he
IS so soon to become. This book has
been long needed by the Christians and
will be welcomed most heartily. Dr
Atkinson will also publish shortly a theo-
A by ‘be Rev. W. S. Lone
If ^'■®bam, N. C., the
I ounder and first president of Elon Co!-
ege. A third volume which is in course
of preparation and coon to be published
by him, IS a book entitled " Preparing the
''olume two, of the
southern Christian Church.
solo; an oral, >n by Mr. Joe P. Farmer,'
Jf New^ I-e, V, Va.; the humorous ,e-
jtetioi.o of Lmerick, by Mr. Jennings S.
Lmcoln, of Wakefield, Va.; a vocal solo
by Mr. Arlando M. Bames, of Elon
(-ollege and the debate concerning the
status of the Carnegie Foundation, as it is
^ at present administered, the debaters be-
mg Mesp J A. ipickey, of Burlmgton.
and C. J. Felton, of Gates, attacking the
administration of the said foundation, and
I Messrs. G^S Cornwell, of Wakefield,
j Va.. and C. W Rountree, of Suffolk,
I Va., defending the administration of the
I Carnegie Foundation. The judges of
the debate were W. H. Carroll, Esq..
John H. Vernon, Esq., and W. A. Har
per, of the faculty, who unanimously ren-
dered the dec,si^ in favor of the affirma
tive by Messrs. Dickey and Felton. The
same comnriittee also awarded the gold I
["m* speaker to Mr. Camp-
I bell. 1 he presiding officer of the enter- *
tainment was Mr. John Willis Barney, of!
Uearville. Pa., and the secretary was Mr ^
H. A. Moffitt. of Asheboro, N. C. j
3way this week in
the Valley of Virginia, looking after the
interest of the college and the endowment
as well as his private Interests in that sec
tion He IS expected back the latter part
of this week and will begin active work
j again in North Carolina in the interest of
the endowment next week
Mr. Jesse F. West, Jr., of Washington
and Lee University, spent Washington’s
birthday v^itmg on the hill; so did Mr
W. M. f^nnix, of New Beme. and
Mrs Irene Cook, of Cardenas. I
Dr. J O. Atkinson is m Suffolk, Va
this week, attending the Interests of the’
publication department of the Southern
Christian Convention. He is soon to
The Alumni and the $50,000
for Elon.
Since my last report through The
Weekly 1 have received the following
subscriptions from the alumni of Elon Co'-
lege.
J. W. Johnson, $100.
W. D. Harward, $100.
G. O. Lankford, $50.
T\:^. Cox, 5)50. ~
Miss Nannie Carlton, $50.
Miss Annie Staley, $50.
In addition to the above I have had
promises from several others to send in
their subscriptions now soon. Some are
considermg making even larger donations.
I feel that every alumnus should take part
m this movement and I believe the ma
jority of them will do so. We not only
appreciate the subscription but we are es
pecially grateful for the many kind words
and good wisnes for ;he movement, that
accompany then .
I trust that the lemaining alumni may
not delay sending m their cubscriptions
any longer than is absolutely necessary to
make up their minds what they a-e wil
ling to do.
The rnovement needs the impetus of
your ready response.
” Do it now! ”
E. L. Moffitt, Pres.
An Inconsiderate Husband.
" I rummatlngly,
I kinda b heve III get one o' these ere
‘ advertised so
I ^ Mrs. Stackrider, somewhat peevishly--
I Yes, that s just exactly like you, Jason!
You am t got no more consideration for
I a toilin woman than a mill-stun I How
, do you s pose 1 can rip up seams with a
safety razor ?"
[
Poking.
'ly is awful-
: Belle-" Oh lawfully. Why, for the
past forty years or more*^—
I Nell—" What ? She told me she was
only fwenty-hve."
Belle—"That’s just it. It's taken her
all this time to get to be twenty-five."
*