THE AMERICAN SHORT STORY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 57, 30 November 1907, Page 13

THE AMERICAN SHORT STORY.

The results of a systematic study of the short stories published- in . fourteen leading Amorican magazines during September— December, 1906, are given by Mr. Benjamin Nicholson in cho ".Chicago."/ [ "Three hundred and nineteen stories wero read, ranging in length from 800 to 15,000 words; twenty-six stories fall below 2500 words; twenty-four exceed 7500 words. Of tho authors, 157 aro men, 76 women. "In sixty-three stories women have no part, and there are only four purely feminine stories in the lot. ' Wliilo it may not be impossible tn writo a short story with no masculino character, which shall interest tlio averago reader, it is a significant fact that such an one is not among' tho stories under consideration. ... * "Seven stories como from the sea; ten others liavo each a scene on board ships. Eighty-six, or a little more than a fourth of all the stories, aro founded in foreign countries. If those from Canada, Alaska, Newfoundland, and tlio sea'are added, it is seon at onco that'a third—lo4, to bo exact —are found outside tho boundaries of our own country. Granting that a few of them were written by foreign authors, tho result can scarcely be regarded 'as a triumph for those critics who liavo been trying to -teach American authors to write American stories. "To England belong twenty-five of the foreign stories, eleven of - which aro in London. France gots an even scorc; a dozen of theso French 'contcs' aro worked out in the Latin Quarter or on tho boulevards of Paris. Tlio mainland of Spain is the scene of four stories: three aro laid in Spanish islands in tho Mediterranean Soa. Five come from tho Philippines. Scotland, Turkoy, and Africa got threo each. Italy and 'fictitious republics in Central America have two representatives each. Japan has a sceno in each of two stories; likowise tho battlefields of Manchuria. Ireland, Holland, Eastern Asia, tlio cattle • ranges of Australia, tho mountains of Moxico, Porto Rico, and -the Bermuda islands, havo each a singlo representative in this collection; wliilo the remaining seven stories aro scattered over real and fictitious countries. . .

"As tho lovc-storios aro not only most numorous but also most interesting as a study, producing some rather curious facts, I shall givo the statistics in detail. Of course, not all stories in which there is a lovo interest, or which end in marriago, aro classified as ' lovc-storios; only those in which tho predominating interest is in.winning .1 heart, or retaining n heart already Wi, aro placed under this head. There aro

sixty-seven stories of this typo, of which twenty-nine have foreign backgrounds. In twonty-fivo stories, tho authors leavo tho improssion that their loading characters _ are soon to marry; soventeen end in marriago; in fifteon, engagements are announced; tho wrong man proposes in one; in another, tho end is a little too subtlo for mo to tell whothor tho man gots tho girl or not. It id rathor interesting to note that ton of tho seventeen marriages take placo in foreign countries. "Eight of tho love-stories end tragically. A Spanish senorita, a Pueblo Indian girj, and a French daughter of northern Canada murder their lovers. Ail insano Frenchman jioisons his son's fianceo. After sparing the life of his' rival, a Japaneso lover commits hari-kari on tho battlefield. A French girl dies of a broken heart soon after hor lover has sold, for a hundred francs, his right to her lovo. An English chorus-girl pines awa.v and dies when sno realises that hor lover's social position wjll prevent their marriago. A jilted Spanish youth is not disappointed when ho elects, as a sure moans of death, the life of a soldier; for ho is destined to become ono of the eighty thousand sons whom Spain sacrificed in her futilo effort to retain her sovereignty over Cuba. Perhaps tho most remarkable thing about these tragedies of lovo is that in only one does an American play a part, and even here he does not strike tho blow. "It would seem from these love-stories that neither tho American man nor woman loves to' tho point of tragedy—our daily newspapers to tho contrary notwithstanding. There is anothor peculiarity about tho American lovers among theso story-people. Although tho sincorost love is based upon selfsacrifice, tho note of self-sacrifice is seldom touched by an American—again _ tho newspapers to tho contrary. Duplicity is another quality mado conspicuous by its absence; From tho foregoing; three important facts are deduced: first, when an author intends that his hero and heroine shall actually ' niarry he either selects foreign characters or drags Americans into some foreign country; second, when ho has a tragic'conclusion in mind he invariably Selects not only foreign characters but also a foreign background; third, tho American is a selfish but not a deceitful lover. '•'Humour, or an attempt at humour, is tho predominating note in forty-seven of th'o 319' stories. In forty storios tho delineation of tho central figure's characteristics seem to be the chief end in view. Tho child-story has twenty-eight representatives, six of which are classified as humorous. In fifteen of theso stories, girls liavo tho loading roles; while eloven fall to boys. In two stories tho parts are of about equal importance. The writers of twenty-three; stories wrestlo with somo typo of psychological problem, innking but little attempt to conceal tho bald fact. . . . . Adventure is tho predominating noto in eighteen storie3. There aro but seven Christmas stories in tho fourteen magazines. . Tho Western, tho detective, and tho industrial stories have an oven half-dozen representatives each. Tho political .field gots fivo stories. Tho Civil War has not been forgotten, as is attested by four authors who found their material in that great' confliot. Four others mado purely sociological stndies, and tho samo number wrote fantastic tales. ... To tho police, to tho brigand, to tho newspaper, and to mystery solved and unsolved, ' are devoted threo storios each. While the Indian appears in 'six stories, there aro but. two instances in which- tho chief interest coutre3 in the red man'and his lifo. The railroads, ghosts, tho new woman; anarchy, and football—note the combination—liavo two ■ representatives each. There are two burlesques on French manners. Two stories illustrate' tho irony of fate; two more are fairy stories.

"Among the animals that have parts in thdse stories are found two dogs, an elephant, a pig, a collection of pots, and ' a liorso as raconteur. Tho automobile is used in only three stories. Only seven ,old maids with leading parts are found among tho several hundred characters. Writers on tho race question and tho labour question are silent: tho golf story, tho temperance story, and tho with divorce nro ilso .types. tljat. aro'uiissing. Judging,fronv those stories, the old bachelor, as a distinct species, is almost extinct." ' THE "DIME NOVEL." - Many readers of "The Wrecker" must have asked themselves what kind of literature was the "dimo novel" of which Captain Nares spoke with approval. "Nothing wrong with the dime novel, only that tilings happen thicker than.'thoy do in life, and tho practical seamanship is off colour." It is evidently not the sanio thing as the "sixpenny" of modern England, and woiikl appear to have more in common with the "penny dreadful" or tho "shilling shocker." The "Author" quotes from a Canadian technical writor "some details of tho early history of the dimo novel—which has since becomo tho nickol novel—once held in high approbation, but now degenerated'into gutter literature"—

"The first dime novel, written by Mrs. Ann S. Stephens and entitled 'Malneska, tlio Indian Wife of the White Hunter,' was published in 1860 by Messrs Boadle Bros., of New .York. The firm had previously been publishing tcn-cont manuals of games, cookery, etiquette, and so forth so successfully that the idea occurred to thoni of issuing stories of adventure at the same popular price. Tho venturo speedily received public approval, and subsequently new volumes wero issued several times a month. The earlier stories, running to about thirty thousand words and paid for, on an average, at the rate of 150 dollars a-piecc, dealt principally with Indian and frontier life, with an occasional talo of slavery. One of these latter, 'Ma'am Guinea and her Plantation Children,' was pronounced by, Lincoln to bo 'as absorbing as "Uncle Tom's Cabin." ' It was translated into several languages, and sold to the extent of 100,000 copies. "Eventually Messrs Beadle Bros, were sup- . planted in this line by a former bookkeeper named Mnnro, who, together with Irwin P. Beadle, who had also loft tho firm, began to publish the Mnnro Ten-cent Novels. This new combination proved the most formidablo rival to the original firm among the crowd of imitators that grew up towards the close of the seventies, and was ultimately the cause of their decline and fall. Munro died in 1896, worth 10,000,000 dollars."

One would like to know how many dime novels had been sold to provide this magnificent sum, and what tho authors got for them.