Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-01-26
Books and Reading.

read too much, and think too little. Read
ing is a benefit to us only when it leads to
reflection. 1t is useless when it leaves no
lasting impression on the mind; it is tcOrse
than useless if the lesson it conveys be not
really good one.
Suppose you sit down to well-furnished
table at hotel to eat your dinner. The
waiter hands you bill of fare, upon which
is printed long list of good and whole
some dishes, and then quietly waits until
you order what you wish. You are not ex-
pected to cat of every one, however at
tractive they may be, but rather to select
what you like best-enough to make a
modest meal-and let that suffice.
But the selection is not all. If you ex-
pect to gain health and strength by your
dinner, you must eat it in a proper man.
ner; that is, slowly. Otherwise nature S
work will be imperfectly done, and your
food becomes source of bodily harm, in
stead of benefit.
Now, it is precisely so with the food of
the mind, which comes to you through
books. You are not expected to read
everything which comes within your
reach. You should rather select the best,
and, having done so, read them slowly and
carefully. You may read too much as well
as eat too much and while the one will in
/ >
harm your mind.
One of the worst evils which too much
reading leads to is habit of reading 10
f0rget. You know what a bad habit is,
how it clings to us, when once contracted,
and how hard it is to be shaken of. Some
boys and girls read book entirely through
in a single evening, and the next day are
eagerly at work on another, to be as quick
| ly mastered No mind, however strong
can stand such strain. You see at once
that it would be absolutely impossible for
them to remember what they read And
so they read for a momentary enjoyment
and gradually fall into the habit L have
spoken of-reading to forget. l need not
tell you that such habit is fatal to any
very high position in life.
How often we hear parents boast that
their children are great readers" just as
if their intelligence should, in their opin
ion, be measured by the number of books
| and papers which they had read Need
say, that, on the contrary, they are objects
of pity?
But how much may we read with
profit? That is squestion not always
easy to answer Some can read q
great deal more than others. Yet
if young people read slowly, and
think great deal about the
subject, there is very little danger of theiI
reading too much, provided they select
only good books; because good books are
very scarce-much more so in proportion
to the number printed than they were
twenty years ago and there are very few
persons who have too great supply ol
good works placed within their reach.
/ have mentioned one evil which result:
from too much reading, and will only
briefly allude to another equally important
Children who attend school have no time
to devote to worthless books. Theil
studies consume many hours. If, aside
from the time which should be devoted tC
play, to their meals, and the various duties
of home, they will read a useless bool
every day or two, their health is sure Il
suffer. The evil consequences may not b
at once apparent, but in later years tn.
penalty will certainly have to be paid
!; This reflection alone, if there were NJ
other reason, should induce the young t
discard all useless books, and read onl.
such as shall have tendency to max
them wiser and better-Merry's Museum
"BEyARE OF THE VIDDERs- -Ther
was a Dutch woman whose husband, Diet
/; rich Won Ponk, kicked the bucket an
left her inconsolable. Folks said grie
would kill that widow. She had tigur
of wood carved that looked very muc
, like her late husband, in order to be cor
stantly reminded of the dear departed. L
about half-a year she became interested L
a Young shoemaker, who finally marne
; her. He had visited the widow not NOR
, than fortnight, when the servant told he
they were out of kindling wood, and aske
, what should be done. After pause, tn
, widow replied, in a very quiet way
"Maybe, it ish well enough now to shpl
up old Won Ponk vat ish up shtair."
; The Patterson On. J.) Board of Edr
g cation, having had regulation that pr
l pil who is not personally clean shall nc
4 be allowed to remain in the school-roon
J. has now adopted the following addition:
: s'wHEREAs, Other persons officially connecte
J, with the schools have frequently visited and r
said section has thereby been weakened In forc'
y | therefore, -
; s'Res0lred, That the provisions.of Section So
extended TO all persons, and that 1t be the duty
the principals Of the respective schools to enforC
l the said provisions"
s There are, in Ohio, 517,127 whit
e boys, and 49S, ,446 white girls, between III
e ages of five and twenty one; total whit
:, children, 1,015,573 There are 1882 CO
:, ored BOYS, and II, 125 colored girls; tot;
/ colored, 26,lO7. The total number {
c school children in Ohio is, therefore,
l. 041, ,6S2, being an increase over last year
v nearly $4,000. About 1000 of this increa:
e comes from Cleveland, 5000 from Cincil
II natl, and 900 from Dayton.
y About $4,000 pairs of shoe buckl
). and rosettes are made weekly, in Bosto
!, by the firms engaged in the business, mo
re of which are sold TO the small findiI
40 | stores and IN the retail trade
The American Railroad Journal Civ
d, a list of 1906 miles of railroad project
J. last year, and 5,574 miles completed al