The undertone is the soul of all song, in verse or in the unmeasured periods of epic prose. * * * * * Mention of Moses recalls the perhaps unique fact that a priest of the most austere of churches rolled off a tongue, musical with brogue, in his newspaper sanctum—for he is a priest of the pen too—this romantic version of the basket story which I have never seen anywhere but in his paper—then in the process of make-up: On Egypt’s banks, convaynient to the Nile, Great Pharaoh’s daughter went to bathe in shtyle, And shtooping down, as everyone supposes To scratch her shin, she shpied the infant Moses: Then turning to her maids, in accents wild Cried: “Tare an’ ’ouns, girls, which o’ yes owns the chyild?” * * * * * I observe that the editor of the _Arena_ is about to make a contract with the Michigan Wheel Company of Lansing, Michigan, for large quantities of its product to give as prizes to new contributors only, the old ones being already well supplied. * * * * * The following advertisement is clipped from one of the October magazines: MANUSCRIPT RECORD. A handsome method for keeping track of manuscripts. Contains space for recording one hundred manuscripts, showing title, where sent, number of words, when returned or accepted, when paid for and amount, when published, postage account, etc. Each page a complete history of one manuscript, from the time it is first sent out, until published and paid for. Price, $1.25. Sent postpaid to any address on receipt of price. THE BOHEMIAN PUBLISHING CO., Pike Building, Cincinnati, O. I have sent for this book, as it is my intention to write one hundred manuscripts, and I desire to keep track of them until published and paid for. I have therefore ordered the book bound in cast iron. * * * * * In a recent number of _Modern Art_ protest is filed against the editor of the _Chip-Munk_ continuing to ask that startling question “Do You Keep a Dog?” In God’s name, what right have the Chicago Decadents to thus pry into our private affairs? Is it not bad enough when the _Chip-Munk_ advises us to drink Guzzle’s beer and use Culby’s soap without being interrogated as to what we “keep?” * * * * * Among the revivals which occur now and then in everything is a discussion of an old “science” of reading characters by the hair. I don’t know much about it, but from what I have heard I believe a pair of old she-bears set back the theory for a few centuries when they chewed up the small boys that poked fun at Elijah. The old man would be rated as having no character, according to these “readers,” for he had no hair, but Providence and the early Ursulines vindicated him. * * * * *