al report of the state fire marshal issued in July, he
could secure statistics on the causes of fires and the extent of the
losses.

To secure material for an article on the Christmas presents that
children might make at a cost of twenty-five cents or less, a woman
writer jotted down after one Christmas all the information that she
could get from her friends; and from these notes she wrote the article
early in the following summer. It was published in the November number
of a magazine, at a time when children were beginning to think about
making Christmas presents.

Articles on ways and means of earning college expenses are particularly
appropriate for publication in the summer or early fall, when young men
and women are preparing to go to college, but if in such an article a
student writer intends to describe experiences other than his own, he
may well begin gathering material from his fellow students some months
before.

Anniversaries of various events, such as important discoveries and
inventions, the death or birth of a personage, and significant
historical occasions, may also be anticipated. The fiftieth anniversary
of the arrival of the first railroad train in Kansas City was
commemorated in a special feature story in the _Kansas City Star_,
published the day before the anniversary. The day following the
fifty-sixth anniversary of the discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania,
the _New York Times_ printed in its Sunday magazine section a special
article on the man who first found oil there. The centenary of the
launching of the first steam-propelled ship to cross the Atlantic, was
commemorated by an article in the Sunday edition of the _Providence
Journal_. _Munsey's Magazine_ printed an article on the semi-centennial
of the discovery of the process of making paper from wood pulp.

By looking over tables giving dates of significant events, writers will
find what anniversaries are approaching; or they may glean such
information from news stories describing preparations made for
celebrating these anniversaries.

KEEPING LISTS OF SUBJECTS. Every writer who is on the lookout for
subjects and sources of material should keep a notebook constantly at
hand. Subjects suggested by everyday experiences, by newspaper and
magazine reading, and by a careful study of special articles in all
kinds of publications, are likely to be forgotten unless they are
recorded at once. A small notebook that can be carried in the pocket or