"Creditable but Brief" Says Reviewer of New Illustrated

The Preparedness Number of the Illustrated is, within its self-imposed limits, a creditable example of this prosperous and popular periodical. It is, to be sure, somewhat surprisingly brief in content, but whether this be fault or virtue it is easily understood in a magazine which appears every fortnight. With the best will in the world, it is difficult enough at Harvard to produce a magazine once a month.

The number contains, among other articles of more or less local interest, four editorials timely and to the point, a forecast of the track season written by the track manager and one exceptionally important and much needed article relating to recruiting. It is a little surprising to find, despite the professed purpose of the number, that the editorials concern themselves with everything of immediate interest except preparedness. This is all the more disappointing, because we are convinced that any of the editors of the Illustrated could have written more significantly on the subject than Mr. Hudson Maxim in a little morceau en prose entitled "The Moulting Eagle," appended in the number to a page photograph entitled "The Spirit of '76." We do not know whether this production is numbered among Mr. Maxim's literary works or whether it was dashed off for the occasion, in which case it would be discourteous to criticize it. Mr. Maxim takes the patriotic eagle severely to task for having ceased to scream. With all respect we would suggest that a screaming eagle is not a happy symbol for any nation, that what our patriotism suffers from more than anything else is a super-abundance of screaming, and that perhaps when we have ceased to scream we shall begin to act.

The most notable contribution to the number is an article on the "Psychology of the Raw Recruit," by Mr. Floyd H. Allport '13. It should be read with the keenest attention by everyone commanding or serving in troops. "Sensory and motor reactions," etc. may possibly seem out of place in an article on drilling, but nothing is more certain than that a proper knowledge of mass psychology is the most important part of what Mr. Allport calls "the rhythm of the army cadence," at least in its early developments. The whole point of his article is that "man is made by nature for individual combat, not for drill or fighting en masse." Consequently he must be mechanically trained for soldiership, so that in the hour of actual test, his mind may be made free to wage "an intelligent warfare." Aside from statements like the following: "It is impossible to cultivate a soldierly posture without feeling the dignity of one's manhood," which he will pardon me for calling a little absurd--Mr. Allport's article seems to me extremely sound and valuable.

Of the pictures in the number, those of the boxing tournament in the Union and Mr. Buckingham's photograph of Captain Cordier on the cover appear the most successful. It is to be hoped that future numbers of the Illustrated will contain more articles of such vital importance as the one reviewed above. There is no reason why a magazine already so good should not be better.