Page:The Story of the House of Cassell (book).djvu/164

 In 1875 the size of the magazine was enlarged and a colour frontispiece added to its increasing attractions. In 1877 it became a monthly issue, and it was now that the well-remembered blue and red cover was first adopted. About this time Miss Matéaux retired, and was succeeded by George Weatherly, a popular member of the regular editorial staff—a cousin, by the way, of the song writer—who had a distinct gift for appealing to the child mind. In 1880 the firm started a weekly paper for boys, under the title of the Boy's Newspaper, and in order that he might concentrate upon it Weatherly was relieved of Little Folks, which was put into the hands of Ernest Foster, another member of the editorial staff, under whose control it remained for several years and made great progress. In 1886 another cover was designed for it, the beautiful design in blue printed on yellow paper, by which it was known for ten years, and in 1887 the magazine was modernized. In the course of Foster's editorship, which lasted till the 'nineties, some of the best work of Mrs. Molesworth appeared in Little Folks, and there was also a serial by Clark Russell.

The next editor, Mr. S. H. Hamer, made some striking advances. To him is due the credit of discovering Arthur Rackham and Harry Rountree; he also introduced two-colour pictures into the body of the magazine, and founded the "Little Folks Ward and Home Scheme" and the "Little Folks Nature Club," both of which developed beyond all expectations. The Ward and Home Scheme was conducted by Miss Bella Sidney Woolf for ten years, and under her guidance the readers of the magazine established in 1904 a ward of fourteen beds in the Queen's Hospital, Hackney Road, London, and in 1911 presented the same hospital with a fully equipped seaside branch with accommodation for thirty patients, which they have now set themselves to maintain. The enthusiasm with which the little folks took up the idea of giving a second chance to the children of the slums was remarkable. They subscribed their own pence, they