Argosy and Railroad Man's Magazine — page 186: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

528 want to get that story. Please tell me if I can get it, and also tell me the price. You can do this through the Log-Book, for I will not give my name for the first time. Will tell you pay-day when I send my four dollars to you. Now, on January 25 I saw a letter in the Log- Book, from a party who said that “Tessie of Rainbow Glen,” by S. W. Hopkins, was rotten. I have read that story and didn’t find any fault with it. Some of your readers said it was written for babies. Well, I’m not seventeen, so I guess I am in the class with the babies yet. I'd like to get another story. by Hopkins. Well, this is the first letter from Eveleth, al- though I know many who read THE Arcosy. I get my money’s worth out of the Log-Book alone. I heard many of my friends say.so. Excuse my long letter for the first time. It would take all year to write all the praise for Tur Arcosy. Wish best luck to all your authors, yourself, Mr. Editor, and the famous Arcosy. - I shall be its reader until the end. If this goes in the Log-Book, please sign me SPAGHETTI JUNCTION. P. S.—Miss Wiley must have had a bad head- ashe when she wrote that letter. If she didn’t like the story, why did she read it? The story was good. “Riddle Gawne” started in next to the last monthly ‘issue of THE Arcosy, that is to say, September, 10917, and continued on through the next seven issues, ending in that for November to, i917—eight issues in all, which will be mailed you on receipt of the price, each. A CANADIAN AT WHITE HEAT Vancouver, British Columbia. I'm writing you this letter in a ‘real “ white heat,” Mr. Editor, and I suppose you will get many more like it, as there will, no doubt, be many people among the readers.of your Log-Book with a spark of good will to the brave boys of the Allies who have been fighting for us all these long, weary years. All this anger has been aroused by reading a letter in THe Arcosy Log-Book last night, when I just received my copy of January 25. This letter was signed, “ Girl of the Golden West,’ who says that she does not believe in cor- responding with strangers, and at the same time has her letter open for millions to read. Now, the trouble all centers round the-point that this dear lady thinks it a breach of etiquette-to. cheer up a poor soldier who is giving up everything, and facing death and even worse than death. Does she ever think what it can mean to a boy to, see all his companions reading letters from home, while he alone stands with hungry, starved heart: for some little token of good will from across the seas, and yet none comes? A true woman could have easily written kind words to some- boy like this, and there were hundreds and even thousands of them in the muddy, rat-in- fested trenches of Flanders who would: have felt grateful. We Canadian girls have written to hundreds. of boys for the last four years, sending small parcels, et cetera, and by the letters we have Teceived from our boys, we know they were ap- preciated; and they did not think any the less of us for writing to “strangers.” We do not expect $1.60—twenty cents. ARGOSY AND RAILROAD MAN’S MAGAZINE. ever to meet those boys; our correspondence only continued while those boys needed a line from their native Jand. Of course many of them have long since been laid to rest in some rough, neglect- ed grave; but we know this much, that while they lived and suffered. to keep us free from slavery, we, at least, were not afraid of what Mrs. Grundy would: say, ‘to show some motherless or friendless boy that all women are not heartless. ‘There are thousands of married women, too, in all the countries where the Allies’ flag waves that have written cheerful letters to their soldier boys, and yet they are true women, doing it with all the warmth of their hearts, and not with the desire to carry on a flirtation, as the letter from the “ Girl of the Golden West” seemed to imply. I am-awfully sorry to rave like this to you, Mr. Editor; but, honest, I haven’t said half that was in my heart, because I’m afraid I’d write a book- ful if I did; but it hurts to think that any one, can be so narrow-minded ‘in a case like this, after all those boys have done. If that lady who has aroused the temper under my fiery locks could see the boys that have returned all crippled and maimed from out of the very jaws of hell, and know that many, many of her own friends would never return, and if she had brothers and _rela- tions of her own among the maimed and missing, perhaps she would have some real red blood flow straight to her heart. But I don’t think any of our boys—Tommies Sammies, or Jackies—who have read _ her letter would ever want or expect one word: of sympathy from her; and, what’s more, they. don’t need sympathy, but they did need a= letter to make them feel they “ belonged.” In passing, I would like to say that I have been a faithful reader of both THr Arcosy and the All-Story Weekly for many years, and thought that I could pass my. opinion right along with others of your Log-Book readers. Both of. those books are dandy. I like the serials as well as the short stories. Might say I’m heartily disgusted when I read any knocks about “this story and that” in your books. Let the knocker sit down and write a story himself and give it up to other people to criticise, and just see how pleasant it would. feel to have the “child of his brain” picked to pieces. Life’s too short for knocks, and if one story doesn’t appeal to his peculiar kind of taste, why, turn over the page, because if it’s an All-Story Weekly or Arcosy, there is sure to be ten good stories for every indifferent one. All good luck to your magazine, for My opinion, publicly expressed, Is, to all good magazines this goes to, the best. And please forgive a “sore-headed ” Canuck for taking up so much of your valuable time. Sincerely yours, V. Victor. In justification of ‘‘ Girl of the Golden West,” it should be explained that the United States government came to take her view of correspond- ence with strangers, even if the latter were in the position of fighting for the country from which the letters came. It may be observed also that with us no parcels were permitted to be sent to the soldiers in France on account of the necessity to conserve space in the ships, comniclooolkks.conn