PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19978, 21 December 1926, Page 14

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

A reproduction in colours of Frank Brangwyn’s picture, "The Scoffers,” makes a distinctive title page for the Christmas number of the Triad. A water colour drawing ("Virgil”), by N. Napier Waller, is another arresting art feature in a production which has but few illustrations throughout its 63 pages. There is, however, pleasing variety in the letterpress, which includes many well-told stories, grave and gay, criticism of books, films, and music in characteristic ungloved fashion, and a vigorous protest against the inferiority of women's status in the world. The Christmas number of Aussie, published in November, by no means exhausted all the humorous things that could bo written or pictured about Christmas, for now comes the December number, brimful of equally merry matter relating to the Christmas period. The drawings reflect the cleverness and versatility of Australian and Now Zealand artists, and the jokes and stories show originality and radiate “cheer germs.” The New Zealand Government Publicity Department’s illustrated monthly, New Zealand News and Views, has proved such a successful advocate of the attractions of the Dominion that it has been decided to print regularly not less than 10,000 for overseas distribution. Features of the November number are beautiful views of Lake Mapourika, Franz Josef Glacier, Waitomo Caves, and the gannet rookery on Cape Kidnappers, in addition to a striking picture of giant kauri trees. Something is said of economic tree-cropping, New Zealand stud stock, her progressive railway policy, her record exports of mutton and lamb to London, and other facts of interest to tourists are briefly outlined. It is probably not generally known that there is in the Dominion such a body as the New Zealand Justices’ Association. This association, kindred with similar organisations in various parts of the world, is constituted on the following lines: To promote fraternity among members; to uphold the status of justices; to secure efficiency of service; to be true to King and Empire, and maintain the laws and constitutions without fear or-favour, Ihe better to promote these objects, the New Zealand Justices’ Association has decided to publish a magazine entitled the New Zealand Justices Quarterly. The first issue, - just to hand, discloses an attractive cover design, and is well printed on good paper. An address delivered by Sir Frederick Chapman before the Auckland Justices of the Peace Association has prominence, and there are reports of the doings of the various associations and the federation. , „ , , The development of the Now Zealand Railways Magazine has been rather striking. The Christmas number runs to close on 100 pages, and the quality of the paper used ensures clear letterpress and excellent photographic reproductions. New Zealand a matchless scenic beauties figure largely amongst the illustrations. On the news side it is possible to mention only one or two of the many features. There arc prize essays on the all-important subject of “Safety.” ‘‘Business Getting.” 'Automatic Signalling,” “The Westinghouso Air Brake,” “The Personal Touch, and '“Modern Shunting Methods,” are sample head-lines, and there is, in addition _ to stories and accounts of trips, an interesting comparison of “The Old and the New, by Sir Robert Stout Fairlie District High School now ranks amongst the kindred institutions which may claim the distinction of publishing magazines. The Fairlie School Magazine bears the title “The Erewhonian,” in memory of the pioneer of the district, Samuel Butler, and his book “Erewbon. first number is a very creditable production, with a generous flavouring of local history in addition to the school features appropriate to such publications. Amongst the adult contributors to this first issue are the Rev. Father Barra, Messrs T. B. Strong, C. J. Talbot, A. H. Grinling, T. D. Burnett, M.P., and R. L. Banks. We have also to acknowledge the receipt of Christ's College Register for December, which has an entertaining editorial and is full of interesting details concerning the doings of the pupils in class, -on the sporting fields, and elsowhere. ... The December issue, which is Christmas number, of The Home, “the Australian journal of quality, contains an exceptional selection of the features of the kind that are usually to be found in this publication. “The Wild Oats of Han," by K. S. Prichard, is continued, there are complete stores by William Cairn and Whyte Lion, and there are severs, special articles of an interesting nature, while social and personal items and fashion notes occupy a fair amount of space. Always attractive are the photographic studies and sketches in The Home, and on this occasion the Melbourne Cup festival furnishes the subject for three pages of artistic representations of incidents and individuals. , . , One of the most attractive things about Fashions for All is the fact that it is sown throughout with little chatty paragraphs and articles full of good advice and commonsonse, and vet echoing the last -word in smartness. The homo dressmaker, perusing- this magazine, discovers to her delight that it is not merely a collection of measurements and figures, but a real companion which cheers while ottering practical help. . In Bestway Sports Clothes everything necessary for the out-qf-doors girl, from the most intimate underclothes to wraps and hats is discussed at length. The bathing, the tennis, the "olf, the walking the riding, the basketball, the rowing, the bocke - the river, the beach, and the motoring girl is treated separately, whilst the useful little hints and suggestions which supplement each pictured garment will prove of great help to anybody who wishes to make her own clothes. The paper pattern supplied is of a tennis frock. The Rainbow, a magazine for small people and their elder brothers and sisters, is a “penny-dreadful” on a scale so improved that even the most zealous parent will bo able to find no harm in its gailycoloured pages and unroarious situations. The Borum boys, Percy and Papsie, the Dolliwogs, the people of Tiny-Town, Sing Hi and Sing Lo, Marzipan the Magician, the Two Pickles, and all the rest of them frolic merrily through it, .and children can be assured of no end of fun with nothing whatever to hurt the tenderest morals. “The navy used to be made up of wooden ships and iron men; nowadays it is made up of iron ships and wooden men.” So ran the sardonic naval saying. But Recruit Johny Degnan proves the falsity of it, in a stormy, terrible night off shore, in a tale by John Webb in the mid-October issue of Short Stories. The magazine is full of equally stirring tales. There are men who dream of the future of the tinrbor country, and- men whose, only idea is to slash it away. In “Man the River, Holman Day tolls how there came into the Old Ware Holdings a dreamer who was ready to fight to the finish to make his dreams come true. The iaie is one which will appeal to all men. (Jlarenco E. Mulford Anthony M. Rud, 11. Bedford-Jones, and' Thomas Boy contributes equally meritorious fiction. The November issue of tho American Magazine is very interesting. It contains the first part of “Nevada,” a novel by Zane Grey, and tales by Magner White. Don Cameron Shafer, Clarence Burlington Kelkmd, and Marion Valensi, constitute a comprehensive range of fiction, while the articles are of a high order of merit. ’‘Unsung Heroes I Have Known. A Hound is the Philosophe- Among Dogs, “My Reasons for Being Thankful, ’ ‘How To Tench A Smart Child.” “How’s Your Appetite?” “The Groves Were God’s First Temples,” “Merely a Slight Operation,” “Human Nature as Seen by a Clothing Store Salesman,” “ Tho Commonest Mistake Parents’ Make,” and “Building Houses by a Sense of Touch” are some of their titles, the reading-matter under which is as informative as original. Splendidly reproduced illustrations in photogravure are a, feature of the whole. The Blue Book Magazine is one of the finest publications for men. In the December number is a. carefully chosen selection of stories written by men who have the skill of “creating a light in the dark” and providing interest where none was before. These stories are varied in character and theme, yet each of them enables the reader to share in experiences far different from his own too-limited life, and to be, for an hour, another man; —to engage, for example in hazardous international intrigue as a freo lance in diplomacy; to ride. high, handsome as a cowboy, in the wild party set going by Peppermint Pete; to’ return broken from the war and win love and success as Fortune Galkin in George Wort’s delightful novel; and to go in quest of a famous stolen jewel in Roy Morton s "The Great Samarkand.” Surely it takes more skill to create ‘*a I'ght in the dark” than to carry in an armload of facts and dump them on the library floor! Tho November Argosy keeps up its wellearned reputation of containing only welltold stories. Among its contributors are John Galsworthy, Rafael Sabatini, Sir Gilbert Parker, T. A. R. Wylie, Leonard Merrick, “Sapper,” O. Henry, Honor© de Balzac, Fannie Hurst _ and Gustav Meyrinck, each of whom is an acknowledged master of the art and craft of fiction-

'‘The Man With the Ebony Crutches’’ is a. shipping mystery story by Ward Muir. It tells o£ two men whoso scheme of fleecing their unfortunate colleagues allows them to grow rich on the profits of a roulette gaming establishment. A strange person leaving on ebony crutches warns them of their folly; but they persist and at last, after trying to win a fortune from a benevolent prince, they find themselves cornered, and death leaps out of the end of one of the ebony crutches. How all is explained and what is the true relationship of the men concerned makes a tale to stir the imagination. Modern Woman is a charming publication, and comes to hand in its November issue with a paper pattern of a dress novelty from Paris —the costume-coat frock, and a piece of old bleach linen stamped for embroidery as a mat. Its articles deal with homecraft, children, beauty and fashion, while in its fiction section ‘‘Pursued,” a new serial by Margaret Peterson, deserves mention for its startling originality. Elinor Glyn tells, in an article “How Do You Smile,' how to preserve and cultivate the beauty of the mouth, while Dana Bulnel’s real life love-stoi-y of two married people and another, and Cyrus Brook’s humorous tale of what happened to a girl who went to a palmist on the eve of a proposal of marriage maKO excellent reading. The articles include ‘■Women Do All the Influencing, “Put Out That Coal Fire,” “What Shall I Do With Baby?” “Right Clothes,” and Can You Make a Pie?” .... „ Women, in the light of their manysided activities, are brought under special survey in the October issue of the English production of Good Housekeeping. Mrs L. Courtney contributes a constructively critical article on education; St. John Ervino goes knee-deep into the provocative question of women and humour; Clemence Dane takes us into the presence of new woman novelists; while Hcleana Normanton discusses women in politics, u. ts. Stern women in matrimony and Storm Jameson woen in workaday bu6'.i»ea« rclations with the modern, rather difficult Adam. Lovers of Gene Stratton-Porter s books will welcome her new serial a posthumous discovery—which starts m this number, Cosmo Hamilton Kathleen Norris Fanny Heaslip Lea and George Weston are other names promising excellent reading. The enlarged Pans fashion section claims soecial attention, while in the household engineering and housecraft and cookery sections facts and ® re given by experts on seasonable subjects.