Thirteen Blessings 2013 Brought

1. A Trip to Ireland!
    The mister and I were blessed to be able to make a return trip to Ireland in April.

2. Our Youngest Son Got Married!
    Finally we have a daughter. :) It was a beautiful day!

3. My First Novel in Seven Years Was Published.
    It was a long wait, but finally Grace's Pictures was released.

4. My Mother-in-law Got a Clean Bill of Health.
    No signs of the cancer she had removed the year before and she's feeling great!

5. Our Kitchen Renovation Began in Earnest!
    Which means it should be finished in 2014.

6. We Enjoyed a Visit From our Great Niece this Summer.
    And I got to introduce her to the Dublin Irish Festival. She and her sister were able to visit us this         Christmas as well.

7. I Had the Opportunity to Meet Lots of New Readers This Year.
   At various events including the Dublin Irish Festival, the Indy Irish Fest, The Buckeye Book Festival, and my two book launches at the Heights Cafe and the Nutcracker Restaurant.

8. I Completed Another Novel.
   Annie's Stories will release next July. I am super-excited about this one!

9. I Enjoyed Another Girlfriend Getaway with my High School Friends.
    Really treasure these and also a get together recently for Classic Pizza with some high school buds.


10. I Was Able to Attend ACFW this fall, which is the writers conference where I get to meet up with lots of old friends. I also got to meet with my agent, my editors, and my cousin Linda who walked to the Indy Irish Fest with me!


11. Took a Trip to Vermont with My Mom and My Sister.
      My mom always wanted to go there. It was a special trip and lots of people got maple syrup for Christmas!

12. I Was Able to Attend Another Marketing Seminar Put on by my Literary Agency.
     And, while there I got to meet up with one from #9 on her birthday!

13. Attended Several Reds Games.
     Most with another from #9 and her husband. Lots of fun, including Reds Fest a few weeks ago.

Oh, I'm at 13 already and there certainly are more, including the family time we've enjoyed this Christmas. This was a great activity for me because I sometimes forget many of my blessings. And I shouldn't. I think everyone should try it! :)

Happy New Year!

Book Lover in Need of Inspiration?

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The Irish Fireside Reviews the Year 2013

There is one of my recent blog posts on here. I love this recap. If you don't follow the Irish Fireside, you are missing out!

What if Christmas Didn't Happen Like We Thought?

Several years ago I attended a program at an observatory where I learned that Christmas, meaning the birth of Christ, mostly likely did not take place on December 25th. First of all, the calendars have changed over the eras. But more than likely the star the wise men followed appeared in the sky sometime during our month of March. So for centuries we've celebrated on the wrong date? Looking back it seems Christ's birthday was not even celebrated for the first few hundred years after His death, according to this article.

If you are wondering how this happened, it's not really that hard to uncover. From what I understand about church history, it was the practice of the church to take over pagan festivals and turn them into ones that have meaning for Christians. This likely happened with the observance of the winter solstice, the coming of light becomes the coming of Light.

So maybe Christmas is not really Jesus' birthday. Does it matter? I don't think so. What matters is that He was born.

My publisher gave me Ann Voskamp's new book, The Greatest Gift, Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas. It's an advent devotional beautifully written with plenty of inspiring quotes I could pull out for you. Here is one: "Love had to get to you. Love had to come back for you. The Love that has been coming for you since the beginning…this is the truest love story of history…"

God With Us! Yes, the birth is important, life-changing, ground-breaking, startling. The actual date, not a big deal.



Why do we do it, then? Give presents, cook, wish every stranger a Merry Christmas (and really mean it, unlike the everyday "Have a nice day.") Because of Him. Because God is with us. Because He lives in us and we see Him in the face of every stranger. That is the important thing about what happened when Jesus was born.

Merry Christmas!!

My Black Friday Offer!

My #BlackFriday Offer: Buy #GracesPictures, email or message me proof of purchase dated today through Christmas & mailing address, & I'll send you Brigid of Ireland for free! Pass it on!

Buy: 

You can find a retailer here.

And I will mail you FREE:

New Cover!

Pleased as punch to show you the cover of my upcoming novel with Tyndale House Publishers, the follow-up to Grace's Pictures. The designer perfectly captured Annie Gallagher and her love for stories. Cannot wait to share this with readers. Have to though. It releases next summer. However, I am working on some additional material related to this series and hope to have some of it available early in the new year for my newsletter subscribers.

Are you a subscriber? If not, you can join simply by clicking on the icon to the right of this post. You will need to reply to an email you'll receive in order to be signed up (anti spam laws.) I don't share emails with anyone, and you'll only receive one a month. It's a great way to keep up on my news because subscribers are the first to hear what's going on in my writing world.

The year is 1901, the literary sensation The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is taking New York City by storm, and everyone wonders where the next great book will come from. But to Annie Gallagher, stories are more than entertainment—they’re a sweet reminder of her storyteller father. After his death, Annie fled Ireland for the land of dreams, finding work at Hawkins House.

But when a fellow boarder with something to hide is accused of misconduct and authorities threaten to shut down the boardinghouse, Annie fears she may lose her new friends, her housekeeping job . . . and her means of funding her dream: a memorial library to honor her father. Furthermore, the friendly postman shows a little too much interest in Annie—and in her father’s unpublished stories. In fact, he suspects these tales may hold a grand secret.

Deadman's Curve, According to the Trolly

In Grace's Pictures Owen witnesses a terrible accident at Deadman's Curve in Manhattan. While these events are fictional, I did not make up Deadman's Curve. Here it is:

It was located on the southwest corner of Union Square at Fourteenth Street and Broadway, and as you can see, the trolley tracks had a sharp bend here. At the turn of the century this busy area would see many terrible accidents. It wasn't that the cars picked up speed, but rather that they ran at a constant speed that was fine for straight paths, sometimes perilous for turns, and downright dangerous for a curve like this.

And as this magazine cover depicts, it was a busy place for pedestrians. It's been said that folks used to sit in clubs at windows overlooking Union Square and make bets over how many people would be hurt and/or thrown from the next trolley.

 The Statue of Abraham Lincoln stood looking over many accidents scenes until it was moved in the 1930s, but about 1907 most of the trolley tracks were removed and the intersection saw fewer mishaps. A new Deadman's Curve, however, took its place near Madison Square.

Traffic has always been a problem in New York, dating back to a time when there weren't even any automobiles. I suppose the antiquity of the city's streets and the rapidly growing population made that inevitable. The subway was being planned at the time of my stories, and of course we all know how essential that was and is. The elevated trains came down and the city was safer for pedestrians.

The Good Ole Days, right? :)

On Around Cincinnati, NPR

I had the pleasure of dropping by WVXU in Cincinnati to chat with Barbara Gray recently about my book, Grace's Pictures. You can listen in here:

http://wvxu.org/post/columbus-author-cindy-thomson

Wizard of Oz prior to Judy Garland

I'm Building a Street Team! Details here:

Thank you so much to everyone who read Grace's Pictures and took time to post a review. I’m so happy so many of you liked the book! That is why I’m asking readers like you if you’d be interested in joining my launch team (or street team) for the next book, Annie’s Stories, due out July 2014. It’s critical that this book get off to a great start so that I will be able to continue to bring you more stories. Critical, truly. This is a call to arms! Are you interested in helping?

If so, here is what I’m looking for:

People who…

• ·      Are willing to post reviews as close to the launch date as possible. (I can see that you get an advanced reader copy a few months prior.)
• ·      Have a following of at least 100 people on his/her blog and/or at least 200 followers on Facebook or Twitter.
• ·      Are willing to tweet and/or Facebook about the book’s launch at least once per day during the week of the book’s launch. (Street team members will have access to pre-written tweets and Facebook statuses to copy and paste.)
• ·      Are willing to request that the book be purchased at his/her’s local library.
• ·      Are willing to contact local bookstores to request the book.
• ·      Have creative ideas to help my series reach readers.

Think that might be you? I have limited spots, so please answer the questions below and email (cindyswriting @gmail .com) or message me the answers. I will choose the Street Team members from there, but everyone who responds will get something in return for his/her trouble.

• Are you on any other Street Teams?
• What are your favorite books?
• Are you on social media? If so, what are your numbers on Facebook? Twitter? Instagram? Your blog? Etc.?
• Do you have connections with local groups or organizations that you believe you could tap into to help promote me and my book? List them.
• What ideas do YOU have to help promote me and my book that you’d be willing to spearhead?
• Are you able to commit for a full year?

What’s in for you?

• ·      A free signed copy of Annie’s Stories (not just the ARC.)
• ·      Annie’s stories, the short stories Annie’s father wrote to her, mentioned in the novel. I will send them to you as soon as each is available. The first one is nearing completion now.
• ·      One free Skype or Twitter chat with your group of five or more.
• ·      Coffee with me if I happen to be in your area and we can meet up.
• ·      Wee gifts and surprises. :)

Thanks again for reading and rating Grace’s Pictures!

If You Read Past Your Bedtime...

...only two days left to get this!

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When Alone is Good

We need each other, and it's a good thing to be with your friends and family and to meet new people. But I believe it's good sometimes to be alone. That's a really, really hard thing to accomplish today. Even if no one is about, if you have the internet, you are not alone.

That's why when I read this today on www.sacredspace.ie, I tried to image what this is like. I've written about Skellig Michael before here and here and here. What do you think? Is it easier to find God alone or with others? My thought is that it depends on your personality. But even extroverts can benefit from some quiet time.


From www.sacredspace.ie

Solitude and Mystery

Several times I acted as a tourist guide on a tooth-shaped rock off the south-west coast of Ireland. Called Sceilg Michael, St Michael’s Rock, it towers 800 feet above the sea, is 13 miles from the mainland, and can be accessed by boat only on calm days.

From about the 6^th to the 12^th century it was the home of a small colony of monks, perhaps no more than twelve at a time. Their austere Rule has not survived. Removed from nearly all the secondary issues which preoccupy us, they spent their days in reciting the Divine Office, in personal prayer and in eking out a frugal existence from a small garden and a turbulent sea. Surely also they found God in contemplating the waves and the birds, the moon and the stars. A few names survive, seven or eight over six centuries. The few graves are unnamed. What these anonymous men underwent, in order to pray for all humankind – including ourselves – is beyond our imaginings.

It was exhilarating to live in so improbable a place. Solitude brought me into a sense of wonder at the beauty of nature by day and night. I found myself very alive there, and grateful, even when conditions were impossible. I experienced no great revelation. I met my old self, with its old feelings and follies. Surely the monks did too. Yet we both met Mystery there, they under one form and I under another, and I often crave to return.

Do You Read Past Your Bedtime?

Then you need this shirt! Available in all sizes, women, men, and youth, but only for a limited time.

Your purchase will help me cover my travel costs. Come join my team! (Click on the picture for details.)

Peeking Into the Time Period of the Ellis Island Series

Sometimes, while working on my books, I crave some visual inspiration. I can't go back in time, but things like this help put me into the world my characters live in.

By the way, I do not agree with the romantic notion that this time period was when America was truly great. There were many injustices and crippling poverty. No time period can claim greatness more than another. (And I was also amused by the credits at the end: "curiosity of..." Spell checkers can't be completely relied upon. It occurs more than once!)

Irish Photo Giveaway!

Congrats to Susan Poll, the winner of these photographs! Check back for future giveaways.

I'm sharing a bit of my trip to Ireland. Enter to win these prints. They are 4x6 prints.

This gives you a better idea of one of the images.

They are clearer than they appear here. From left clockwise: Slane Abbey, the coast near Sligo, Drumcliffe high cross with the mountain Yeats wrote about in the background, Armoy church and round tower in Northern Ireland.

Leaving a comment here will not enter you (although I'd love to hear your comments.) You must complete at least one step below. More than one gives you more chances.

Good luck!

An Irish Storyteller

I'm researching Irish storytelling. In Book Two of the Ellis Island series, Annie Gallagher remembers her Irish storyteller father.

Pop over to my Celtic Voices blog to listen to this Irish storyteller. I love it. I bet you will as well!

Ireland, Yeats, and My Writing Inspiration

Drumcliffe Church built in 1809. Photo ©Cindy Thomson, 2013

When people learn about my visits to Ireland, most ask if I was researching a new book or if going there influenced my writing somehow. I usually don't have a definitive answer. All my experiences  influence my stories in some way. But, yes, Ireland is inspirational, and so is Ireland's literary history.
Since my last trip included a stay in Sligo, W.B. Yeats, who spent much of his childhood there and is buried in Drumcliffe, and how the landscape influenced him (and his brother Jack who painted some of Sligo's scenery) provided inspiration (but what for exactly, I've yet to discover!)

Benbulben, County Sligo. Photo © Cindy Thomson, 2013

Graveyard at Drumcliffe. Photo ©Cindy Thomson, 2013.

Over a century before Yeats spent his summers in Sligo, St. Columcille chose the site for one of his monasteries. In the 6th century, Columcille founded Drumcliffe and it has remained a sacred site since. (Although for all I know it was sacred to the pagans before Christianity, as many sites were.) 

Drumcliffe sits in the shadow of the magnificent mountain called Benbulben or Benbulbin (above.) The church that sits there now is of the Church of Ireland, and Yeats's great grandfather was a rector there. Not too far from the church's front doors (below, do you see swans? Some of my friends didn't when they looked at this pic) lies Yeats's grave. He died in France, but it was his wish (as written in one of his poems) to be buried at the base of Benbulben.

Drumcliffe church doors. Photo ©Cindy Thomson, 2013

 

W.B. Yeats Grave, Drumcliffe. Photo ©Cindy Thomson, 2013. Yeats's wife is buried there too.

The churchyard is home to a 10th century high cross, and the ruin of a round tower, which dates at least to the 10th century, but perhaps even earlier.

Drumcliffe Round Tower. Photo ©Cindy Thomson, 2013.

Apparently some of the ancient monastery's tumbledown stones were used to build the new church. I'm fascinated by the fact that for centuries people have come here to worship, celebrate, bury and mourn their dead. Hearts were full or heavy here, over and over. You can almost feel it.

Immigration Experience Video

The creator says the images are in the public domain, but I've never seen the film clips at the beginning. Amazing. What do you think?

 

On the Trail of My Civil War Ancestor

I've been on the trail of my 2x great grandfather, Edward Myrick, ever since I found out he and his father, Enoch Myrick, were born in Clermont County, Ohio. My father's mother was a Myrick, and as far as I had known (and probably my father knew) they all lived in Indiana for a long time. But not this branch. Edward Myrick moved to Indiana right after the Civil War. He died when my grandmother was not quite six, so no one spoke of his service.

Edward Myrick served in the Civil War. He signed up not far from his home at Camp Dennison and he also mustered out there at the end of the war. Discovering he had applied for an invalid pension helped me find out this information. Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit the site. It's only open on Sunday afternoons and run by some nice volunteer ladies from the DAR. There are two sites to visit. One is the Christian Waldschmidt Homestead, built in 1803. It's quite interesting, but by the time my ancestor was there, the Waldschmidts were not. The area and houses were abandoned and claimed by the state, and the surrounding land rented from the families who owned it--between 600 and 700 acres, depending on the source you pick. Being so close to the river, and with the railroad running right through the middle of the site, it was the logical place to put a large (about 18,000 men at a time) training facility. The DAR ladies said the site was chosen to protect the city of Cincinnati.

Camp Dennison

I did not take any pictures inside, but there were some amazing pieces, including a wardrobe from Germany that was able to be dismantled for travel. It was beautiful carved and dated to 1714.

Camp Dennison. This photo appeared in Harpers Weekly.

But the reason I'd come was to experience a later time, the Civil War era. The Civil War museum houses much less, but is still interesting. A small house at the rear of the property, named Kate's house by the Waldschmidts for the daughter it had been built for, served as the guard house to Camp Dennison. (The main house was for the officers and administration.) Kate's house holds some guns, uniforms, photographs, letters, Bibles, journals, and artifacts unearthed from the site. In addition there are stories displayed throughout that make interesting reading.

Kate's House, which served as the gate house to Camp Dennison.

Beyond where the railroad was. (Now a bike trail.) This serves as a youth soccer field but once would have held solider housing or perhaps a firing range.

This Civil War memorial was erected in the 1930s.

Back of the monument above.

Edward Myrick served in the 89th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company F, enlisting August 6, 1862. Camp Dennison opened about a year earlier. He was disabled by illness while on duty near Carthage, TN, on Feb. 28, 1863. He was treated at several hospitals in TN and Atlanta, so I believe with the exception of one 30-day furlough, he continued to travel with his company. He was discharged at Camp Dennison on June 17, 1865, essentially at the end of the war. The camp was deactivated in September of that year.

My dad, a WWII veteran, never knew this. He would have been proud, I'm sure.

Edward Myrick later in life. He died in 1907.

There is more to the Myrick story. Edward's father, Enoch and who I presume was his father, George, joined the Gilead Anti-Slavery Society of Clermont County when Enoch was only 14, in 1836. I'm still trying to find out more, so the search continues! :)

From the minute book, found here: http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p267401coll32/id/3190/rec/1

Updates!

Lots of exciting things happening. I'm hoping to get a newsletter out in a day or two, so if you're not signed up, just looking for the link above. I'm going to include a giveaway this month.

Next week I'll be at the Indy Irish Festival.

At the same time I'll be attending ACFW's annual conference in Indy, and I'll get to meet with my agent, three Tyndale editors, and many new and long-time author buddies. It will fun for sure!

On Saturday, Oct. 12, I'll be at the Books By the Banks book festival in Cincinnati.

For more updates, be sure to like my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cindyswriting

I've been going through my photos from Ireland. Here's one I like. What do you think? I love beaches in all kinds of weather!

On a beach in Sligo.

Pictures From Ireland

It's been awhile since I've shared some of my pictures from Ireland. I have so many more! I hope you'll enjoy these from beautiful Sligo, Ireland.

Hope over to my blog, Celtic Voices to view them by clicking here.

Me on Echoes of Erin!

I was honored to speak to radio host Diane Byrnes today on WEDO 810 in Pittsburgh about my new book, Grace's Pictures.


My interview on Echoes of Erin starts on this clip below at 57:37, but there's some good music there too that you might like to hear.

Echoes of Erin interview clip, August 18.

Two notes: I did say goodbye! She seems to have lost me at the end, but I wasn't being rude, I promise. And...gotta work on those "ums!"

Is a Park Better Than a Monstrosity?

One thing that surprised me when I visited New York City was the plethora of parks. I guess I had thought Central Park was the only one. Some of the parks in Manhattan are very small, but they offer respites of green space and refreshing fountains that city dwellers need. Battery Park, Washington Square, Market Square, Gramercy Park, Hudson River Park...Wikipedia says there are 74 parks in Manhattan!

The development of the city has a long history. Open spaces came and went over the centuries. In Book Two of the Ellis Island Series the male protagonist is a postman, so naturally I was interested in the main post office building of the time. What I discovered surprised me. Not that the building of that era no longer exists, but that it was so sorely disfavored from the time it was erected in 1880 to when it was demolished in 1939 in favor of extending City Hall Park. The main post office was considered "old fashioned" and an eyesore on the point of Broadway, Park Row, and Chambers Street.

In this photograph the building looks majestic.

Maybe it's the coloring or the perspective, but this photograph causes me to see the complaint. See the wee bit of green peeking out behind the left side of the building? That's the hidden City Hall Park.

It was designed by architect Arthur Mullet and dubbed "Mullet's Monstrosity." The post office was built in the style of the Second Empire Baroque. It's not that there weren't any other buildings of that style. One example is the Waldorf-Astoria, built later in 1893. At the time it was "the talk of the town." Perhaps New Yorkers thought the style better suited to a luxury hotel than a post office. However, this building (pictured below) was demolished ten years before Mullet's post office.

A 1912  New York Times article voiced concern that a proposal in Congress to demolish the Mullet Post Office might fail. Plans were to extend City Hall Park through the spot where the building stood.

"The Mullet Post Office has always been an architectural eyesore, and has, from the first, been unsatisfactory to the Postal Service and the Federal Courts also beneath its roof...The restoration of City Hall Park as a civic centre, with no superfluous building to mar its parklike aspect, so that old City Hall could remain as a historic landmark amid appropriate surroundings has been looked forward to..."

The issue, of course, was that it was Federal property that the city wanted back. No doubt that's what took so long. New Yorkers wanted the building gone almost as soon as it went up. Perhaps the fact that it stood on a point made it too overbearing.

The deed was done, however. Here's an early photograph from 1939.

And here it is today.

So what do you think? Is the park better or do you like the elaborate old building?

Brownie Who?

If you're familiar with the Brownie camera, you might not give its name a second thought. After all, Brownies were produced for decades and many of us grew up around them. That's just the name, right?

But when they were introduced in 1900, the name was significant. The cameras were advertised as being so simple to operate, even a child could do it. And the name? A popular cartoon at the time.

At the turn of the 20th century stories were read in serial form by many people. Popular magazines of the day ran them, like Palmer Cox's series in Lady's Home Journal. His characters also filled his  children's books.

Brownies are akin to fairies and goblins. They are mischievous, but good natured. They are the Celtic little people, and Cox illustrated their adventures.

Cox's Brownies were used in merchandise and so Kodak borrowed them for their new advertising campaign. Reportedly, Palmer Cox never received compensation, although if you think about it, his Brownies would be all but forgotten today if not for the Brownie camera. So at least he lives in infamy.

If you'd like to know more about the Brownie camera, here's a great article from The Franklin Institute.

What do you think about these Brownies? Cute? Not so much?

Read about Grace McCaffery and her Brownie Camera in Grace's Pictures.

A 1900 View of the Future

Jules Verne's From The Earth to The Moon

I'm working through edits on Book Two of the Ellis Island Series, Annie's Stories. One of the characters enjoys reading the contemporary authors Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, who were known for their futuristic notions.

I was reading a column in the New York Times from 1901 written by Wells where he discusses the idea that in the year 2000 suburbs will stretch far out from big cities like New York and London because automobiles will travel far faster than 30 miles per hour. It's pretty interesting.

That's why this blog post from The Bowery Boys caught my attention. Thankfully some predictions did not come true. (Gotta love The Bowery Boys!)

But many things were uncannily foreseen. Did you know cell phones were predicted way back in 1909? It's true. Read about it.

Incredible. What's your prediction for the future?

Hello? Where Are You?

I'd like to find out where you all hang out. This will only take a second.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Do Native New Yorkers Exist?

Photos from the New York Times

From left, DeRuiter Family; Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

Christian DeRuiter strolls along the Hudson, which runs through his family’s long history in the city, dating back to Dutch colonial days. Left, Johannah de Bloch and Frederick DeRuiter, Mr. DeRuiter’s paternal grandparents.

I ran across this interesting article in the New York Times by Constance Rosenblum. It reminded me that we're all immigrants here in America, with only rare exceptions. Rosenblum notes that the majority of New Yorkers today came from somewhere else.

The article also drove home for me the reason I wrote Grace's Pictures. I thought I'd share it here with you. Can you relate to any of the people in this article?

Family Tree New York

Immigration: Hot Topic Then and Now

I don't have to tell you immigration is a hot topic in America today. Congress has been debating a bill all summer it seems. Who is here legally? Who has rights? Who doesn't? Who will take jobs from Americans? What immigration regulations need to be tightened or changed?

Sounds right out of today's headlines, doesn't it? But these are questions debated during the time I set my novel, Grace's Pictures.

Of course, the headlines weren't at all politically correct back then.

Harpers Illustration from 1898

And if you want to go further back in history you'll find those living in America discriminating against the new arrivals for as long as we've been recording our history.

There surely are important issues to settle. I'm not about to debate them here. But even so it never ceases to amaze me how history repeats itself. The above headline (or more accurately, sub headline) appeared in the New York Times, December 23, 1901. In the article one of the points to be addressed by Congress was:

"To add to the present law whatever seems to be necessary to meet the advanced judgment of those who have been studying the immigration question carefully for the last quarter of a century."

Cartoon from 1928.

It seems what was deemed necessary was to increase a "head tax" on aliens, triple it actually. They were concerned that the immigrations would become a burden, "criminals and paupers." Tracking these individuals would be costly, thus the need to tax them. Anyone with a contagious disease, the insane, anyone likely to become a public charge was to be deported. Likewise polygamists, anarchists, prostitutes and those bringing in prostitutes. In addition, anyone who was promised work in America
was to be deported. They could work after they got here, but no one needing labor was to look for it outside of the US instead of employing Americans already here. Interesting, huh? There were exclusions for musicians, actors, ministers, or those to be employed in domestic service. It's getting really complicated, isn't it?

The article writer concludes that those who have examined this new bill claim it is "quite up to date, that it is built intelligently on the experience of those who have been administering the immigration laws for years, and that it does justice to all interests which it affects."

Well, we can only hope our officials will keep this in mind today.