Prof. Robinson Reviews Illustrated

Football receives, not unnaturally, a good deal of attention in the December number of the Illustrated Magazine. The leading article, by Mr. Watts, reviews in some detail the games of the season and argues for the establishment of a more permanent system of coaching; and this suggestion is further pressed in the leading editorial. In both places the subject is discussed simply with reference to its bearing upon the success of the team. In one passage Mr. Watts appears to blame the University authorities for insisting on mere formalities and for withholding a player from practice on the "pretext of probation." The terms of this complaint are not very clear, and the grievance, if there is one, might with propriety have been more definitely explained. Mr. Adams's article on how the tickets for the Yale game are distributed will probably satisfy some poignant curiosity.

On the literary side, the first article is by Mr. Altrocchi, who also has a sonnet in this number. If the author falls short of complete effectiveness, it should be said for him that he undertakes a more difficult task than the other contributors. The sonnet ("Ad Astra") shows earnestness of spirit and a sense of form, but it lacks vividness and consistency. It is sometimes conventional, or even prosaic. Mr. Altrocchi's story, "Between Fires," is for the most part well-written, though the time sequence is clumsily handled at one point. The description of the lover's symptoms is now and then extravagant, and if the same restraint had been observed throughout that appears in the conclusion, the effect would have been better. Mr. Dorey's sketch of "An American on the Thames" is amusing, though the humor is sometimes a little forced. Mr. Mayer's article on "Josiah Quincy" gives a suitable account of a career which ought to be of interest to Harvard men in every generation.