ivities had been prosecuted many
years before he had ever heard of the United. At the age of eight and
one-half years he published the _Scientific Gazette_, a weekly
periodical, written in pencil and issued in editions of four carbon
copies. This journal was devoted to the science of chemistry, which was
one of his earliest hobbies, and ran from March, 1899, to February,
1904. As in most cases, my knowledge of chemistry was acquired after I
had spent four years in high-school, and the fact that any boy should be
interested in that study at the age of eight and one-half years appeals
to me as something out of the ordinary. But Lovecraft was not an
ordinary boy. His second and more ambitious venture was the _Rhode
Island Journal of Astronomy_. This was at first published as a weekly,
and later changed to a monthly publication. This was carefully printed
by hand and then duplicated on the hectograph and issued in lots of
twenty-five copies. The _Journal_ was issued from 1903 to 1907, and
contained the latest astronomical news, re-written from the original
telegraphic reports issued from Harvard University and seen at the Ladd
Observatory. It also contained many of his original articles and
forecasts of phenomena. He owns a 3-inch telescope of French make, and
aside from amateur journalism, his one great hobby is astronomy. At the
age of sixteen he commenced writing monthly astronomical articles for
the Providence _Tribune_, and later changed to the _Evening News_, to
which he still contributes. During the present year he has contributed a
complete elementary treatise on astronomy in serial form to the
Asheville (N. C.) _Gazette-News_. Besides contributing a great many
poems and articles to the amateur press, editing _The Conservative_ and
assisting with the editorial work on _The Badger_, the appearance of Mr.
Lovecraft's work in the professional magazines is of common occurrence.
During the past year he has had charge of the Bureau of Public Criticism
in THE UNITED AMATEUR, where he has proven himself a just, impartial and
painstaking critic. That he will achieve a great popularity in the world
of amateur letters is a foregone conclusion, and I do not think that I
am indulging in extravagant praise in predicting a brilliant future for
him in the professional field.

I am acquainted with Howard Phillips Lovecraft only through
correspondence; I have never felt the flesh of his palm, and yet, I know
he is a man--every inch o