I have long intended to send you a testimonial of my enjoyment of Short Stories. I have been reading the magazine for years, and I must confess that it does not fail to hold my interest. The style of stories you use can certainly be nothing else than beneficial to those who enjoy a life of out-doors and adventure.
There are numbers of your stories which recall to me times I spent right at the scene where the plot is laid, perhaps one of the reasons why I enjoy Short Stories. I think one of my greatest disappointments was during the Great War. As you know, magazines were then prohibited from being sent by individuals to the soldiers in France. But I had a plan to overcome that. A friend back home would pick out the best stories, cut them from the covers, and mail them to me in letters. It happened that I had to spend several days and nights in a particularly exposed observation post, a letter had just been sent to me which contained a story from Short Stories. Several hours later I was trying to read it, when, Wham; along came a high explosive and the debris entirely buried my short story, for I took the usual "duck" without consideration for anything else.
With best wishes for the continued success of your magazine, I am,
Major C. S. Altizer,
Cambria.
Danford G. Britton, author of "North Wind's Message," in this issue, is another who has run across Short Stories in an out-of-the-way corner. In this case the wandering copy of the magazine was the gem from which Mr. Britton's fine poem sprang. As he tells it:
Something over two years ago I made one of my annual outing trips up into Canada. We were delayed in making our return journey by a real old blizzard and were holed up in our cabin for about three weeks.
The cabin had evidently been built for some time and among other odds and ends it contained an old copy of Short Stories. I read the magazine through several times and one short article or verse on the North interested me especially. As there was nothing to do except tend fires, to pass away the time, I tried my hand at a little verse of my own. A few days ago in going through my camping togs I came across it.
Have you encountered Short Stories under unusual circumstances? If so, let us hear about it; the members of the Circle are no doubt interested in hearing of the queer adventures and experiences of the magazine—many of them no doubt more startling than anything that ever gets between its covers.
THE MAIL BAG
So many interesting letters are arriving from members of the Circle lately, that it is a temptation to crowd everything else out to give them room. The more the merrier—and the better for Short Stories—so keep right on sending them.