THE MELLOPS STRIKE OIL

The latest Mellop-melodrama will probably require a good deal of explanation for the younger readers. Father Mellop notes that water taken from a brook at their picnic tastes oily. At the library Mr. Mellop ascertains that there is indeed oil in the region. So the family constructs a derrick and a drill and in time they strike oil. But a careless driver flicks a cigar from his car which starts a forest fire. Mrs. Mellop escapes the fire under a waterfall. The family decides to leave oil-drilling to professionals. We doubt that little children who are the Mellop-audience know enough about oil, etc., to understand the story without exhaustive explanation by a nearby adult.