Adam Dickson, a bard of pleasing manner
but doubtful correctness. "Smile" needs rigorous metrical and rhetorical
revision to escape puerility. "Silver Bells of Memory" is better, though
marred by the ungrammatical passage "thoughts doth linger". In this
passage, either the noun must be made singular, or the verb form plural.

"Prohibition in Kansas" is a well written prose article by Editor
William T. Harrington, wherein he exhibits a commendably favourable
attitude toward the eradication of the menace of strong drink. Mr.
Harrington is an able and active amateur, and takes an intelligent
interest in many public questions. His style and taste are steadily
improving, so that =The Coyote= has already become a paper of importance
among us.

* * * * *

=The Dixie Booster= for January is Mr. Raymond E. Nixon's =Capital City
News=, transferred to the amateur world, and continued under the new
name. With this number the editor's brother, Mr. Roy W. Nixon, assumes
the position of Associate Editor. This neat little magazine is
home-printed throughout, and may well remind the old-time amateurs of
those boyish "palmy days" whose passing they lament so frequently. By
means of a cut on the third page, we are properly introduced to Editor
Nixon, who at present boasts but thirteen years of existence. The gifted
and versatile associate editor, Mr. Roy W. Nixon, shows marked talent in
three distinct departments of literature; essay-writing, fiction, and
verse. "Writing as a Means of Self-Improvement" is a pure, dignified and
graceful bit of prose whose thought is as commendable as its structure.
"A Bottle of Carbolic Acid" is a gruesome but clever short story of the
Poe type, exhibiting considerable comprehension of abnormal psychology
as treated in literature. "My Valentine" is a poem of tuneful metre and
well expressed sentiment, though not completely polished throughout. The
third stanza, especially, might be made less like prose in its images.

* * * * *

=Dowdell's Bearcat= for December is quaint and attractive in appearance.
The youthful editor has provided himself with a series of cuts of the
metaphorical "Bruin" in various attitudes and various employments, these
clever little pictures lending a pleasing novelty to the cover and the
margins. Judiciously distributed red ink, also, aids in producing a
Christmas number of truly festive quality. Mr. Dowdell's "Growls