57. The End of the Road by Gordon Arthur Smith (Scribner's Magazine) is a sequel to "Feet of Gold" and chronicles the further love adventures of Ferdinand Taillandy, and their tragic conclusion. In these two stories Mr. Smith has proven his literary kinship with Leonard Merrick, and these stories surely rank with the chronicles of Tricotrin and Pitou.

58. Ching, Ching, Chinaman (Pictorial Review), 59. Ked's Hand (Harper's Magazine), 60. White Hands (Pictorial Review), and 61. The Woman at Seven Brothers (Harper's Magazine) by Wilbur Daniel Steele. With these four stories, together with "A Devil of a Fellow," "Free," and "A Point of Honor," Mr. Steele assumes his rightful place with Katharine Fullerton Gerould and H. G. Dwight as a leader in American fiction. "Ching, Ching, Chinaman," "White Hands," and "The Woman at Seven Brothers" are, in my belief, the three best short stories that were published in 1917, by an American author, and I may safely predict their literary permanence. Mr. Steele's extraordinary gift for presenting action and spiritual conflict pictorially is unrivalled, and his sense of human mystery has a rich tragic humor akin to that of Thomas Hardy, though his philosophy of life is infinitely more hopeful.

62. None so Blind by Mary Synon (Harper's Magazine) is a study in tragic circumstance, the more powerful because it is so reticently handled. It is Miss Synon's first profound study in feminine psychology, and reveals an unusual sense of emotional values. Few backgrounds have been more subtly rendered in their influence upon character, and the action of the story is inevitable despite its character of surprise.

63. The Scar by Elisabeth Stead Taber (The Seven Arts). The brutal realism of this story may repel the reader, but its power and convincing quality cannot be gainsaid. So many writers have followed John Fox's example in writing about the mountaineers of the Alleghanies, that it is gratifying to chronicle so exceptional a story as this. It is as inevitable in its ugliness as "The Cat of the Cane-Brake" by Frederick Stuart Greene, and psychologically it is far more convincing.

MAGAZINE AVERAGES FOR 1917

The following table includes the averages of American periodicals published during 1917. One, two, and three asterisks are employed to indicate relative distinction. "Three-asterisk stories" are of somewhat permanent literary value. The list excludes reprints.

PERIODICALS NO. OF
STORIES
PUBLISHED		NO. OF
DISTINCTIVE
STORIES
PUBLISHED		PERCENTAGE OF
DISTINCTIVE
STORIES
PUBLISHED
** ** * * * * * * * *
American Magazine 54 25 3 1 46 6 2
Atlantic Monthly 20 17 11 5 85 55 25
Bellman 47 34 17 2 72 36 4
Bookman 5 5 4 1 100 80 20
Boston Evening Transcript 6 6 6 2 100 100 33
Century 50 40 29 17 80 58 34
Collier's Weekly 108 51 22 3 47 20 3
Delineator 46 18 5 2 39 11 4
Everybody's Magazine 45 26 7 3 58 15 7
Every Week 87 18 5 2 21 6 2
Forum 6 4 1 1 67 17 17
Good Housekeeping 40 12 9 5 30 23 13
Harper's Magazine 80 64 39 27 80 49 34
Illustrated Sunday Magazine 25 10 4 1 40 16 4
Ladies' Home Journal 33 11 4 1 33 12 3
Masses (except Oct. and Nov.) 11 6 3 0 54 27 0
McClure's Magazine 45 9 4 2 20 9 4
Metropolitan 43 16 8 5 37 19 12
Midland 22 21 17 2 95 77 9
New Republic 5 5 2 1 100 40 20
New York Tribune 30 22 7 4 73 23 13
Outlook 18 10 8 1 56 44 6
Pagan 11 8 8 4 72 72 36
Pictorial Review 42 26 18 14 62 43 33
Reedy's Mirror 32 18 10 3 56 31 9
Saturday Evening Post 235 62 25 7 21 11 3
Scribner's Magazine 65 52 31 16 80 48 25
Seven Arts 23 22 19 14 96 83 69
Smart Set 107 22 12 3 20 11 3
Stratford Journal 10 10 10 9 100 100 90
Sunset Magazine 32 6 0 0 19 0 0
Touchstone 15 15 10 2 100 67 13

The following tables indicate the rank, during 1917, by number and percentage of distinctive stories published, of the nineteen periodicals coming within the scope of my examination which have published during the past year over twenty-five stories and which have exceeded an average of 15% in stories of distinction. The lists exclude reprints.