The Ellesmere Guardian. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1891. Notes by the Way.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume X, Issue 972, 30 December 1891, Page 2

The Ellesmere Guardian. W EDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1891. Notes by the Way.

The Christmas unmbets oV onr Christchttrch weakly cotitemporaries r ye especially noteworthy for ' their prize competitious, "It is questionable whpthor such competitions are altogether justi fiable. It is not probable that litterateurs of oven colonial eminence would enter iuto anything oE the kind," and; the encouragement of amateurs to cultivate a profession which offers such paltry returns is hardly wise. It m notorious that not only the Chrisfcchurch weeklies, but all similar papers throughout the colony, rely entirely upon the scissors ; for »ll they give m the way of fiction. It; not only is cheaper— a great conaidera-. tion— but the quality ;is also bigherthan; migivi reasonably be expected from local authors. , .. . '..'..'...' Yet the number of contributions sent m m these two competitions alone proves that there is a vast amount of literary ability, of good or bad quality, lying dormant, and which only requires encouragement to bring it to the front. Nearly two hundred stories have been sent m to the Christohnrch weeklies, Judging from the published specimens,

afwuaieciiy the pLck o£ tlio coHeotioii, I none oi' them would 'Btaad much chauco of being accepted by an Eaglioh Magassine. Still, each efforts deserve eneoaragement, and with doe opportunity, doubtless many hitberlo ' mat), iaglo rious ' storytellers would achieve famo. More than once the attempt has been made to establish a purely colonial magazine. The most ambifcbug, an<l mosfc successful, of the race waa the ' Zealandia, 1 which only txpircd, after a twelve month's run, some year pi\ more ago. Ifc deserved better success, and would doubtless nave attained it, bad it, been edited and published by more ea.periencod hands. As it wa s, it showeß m its brief year of existence, that there was plenty of literary talent m JNew Zealand which only needed encouragement to blossom. Did the old e?jtablish $d weeklies follow its examp!^ and rely less on the scissors, there niight yet be some Lopo of a New Zealand literstqre.