Page:Weird Tales v01n02 (1923-04).djvu/181

180 Must the heavens weep and the thunder growl to make a weird tale? We think not. Weird, indeed, is "The Forty Jars," published in this issue, and yet the story takes place on a red-hot desert beneath a blazing sun.

But let's look through some of these letters on our desk. Here's something short and snappy from H. W. of Sterling, Illinois:

"My dear Mr. Baird: I have just notified my attorney to start suit against you and your new magazine for personal injury. My eyes are rather poor, and the first number was so interesting that I sat up nearly all night reading it—and as a result I've been wearing smoked glasses ever since. WEIRD TALES seems to me to fill a long felt want in magazine circles. I have always delighted in stories of the 'Dracula' type and that Sax Rohmer stuff, and I never could understand why the editors didn't wake up. You, as a pioneer in the field, are giving them something to think about. Meanwhile, if you make the next number as interesting as the first, I'll likely go blind."

Despite the danger to H. W.'s eyesight, we tried to make this number even more interesting than the first. And we're going to make the next number more interesting than this.

We have here a letter from C. L. Austin, 328 Locust Avenue, Amsterdam. N. Y., that simply must be printed if for no other reason than as an answer to the last ten words of it:

"Gentlemen: Having read the first issue of your magazine, WEIRD TALES, I must admit that I like the stories very much. They are entirely out of the ordinary. There is no question but what this magazine will be a big success, providing the editor is not hedged in by a multitude of 'don't's' from the managing department. It is a well-known fact that many times an editor would like to accept material that in many ways would conflict with the policy of the magazine, and there is a loss of what no doubt would be valuable material. In fact, I have known for some time that adverse criticism of half a dozen people in different sections of the country have power to change the entire editorial policy of a magazine.

"And unless the editor is the kind of man who is brave enough to stick for his ideals, regardless of his job, there must be much vacillation, with a consequent loss of valuable material and a depreciation in the reading value of the magazine. I notice that you say you will publish all letters received, providing there is no objection by the writers. Well, really now, old chap, I've no possible objection, but I doubt that you have the nerve to do it."

With no desire to engage in a controversy with Mr. Austin, we must say to him emphatically that the editorial policy of WEIRD TALES is not dictated by the business office. We will stand or fall on our platform of "something new in magazine fiction." If you support us, we shall be able to give you what you want. If you turn thumbs down, we'll blow out the