Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-03-28
THE TASTE FOR ROMANCE.
Old People Who Are Anxious to Know How
the STORY tWill Come Out"
Gerfr1da Garrison II ~

| Old People Who Are Anxious to Know How
the Story "Will Come Out"
Gertrude Garrison. -, #ss =
I asked Mr.. Bonner il he had never
found it necessary to make any new de-
partures in consequence Of the changes
in literary taste; if the same order OF
stories had pleased when. people had
read less and had less to read pleased
now? He said he had il q no way VI
tered his original ideas on the subject
of editing. He believed human nature
to be always the same in any age-yes.
terday, to-day and forever. ~
The Ledger's enormous constituency
is an index of taste common to all man.
kind--the taste for romance. All
the world likes to read stories. The
proiser and more uneventful the lives
of the readers, the greater their delight
in the exciting fortunes of the heroes
and heroines of the novel. Romance
rests them. It lifts them out Of the
dullness Of every day life, opens wide
the gate which leads in the fair field OF
fancy and bids them walk therein and
refresh their jaded souls. Existence is
to sad and comfortless for many that to
escape from it for a little while, even in
imagination, by means of serial that
| puts its heroine In continued Jeopardy
and only extricates her from compi.
| Gated series OF 1nisfortunes after the
villain has met his just doom and her
lover has inherited large fortune, is a
luxury not to be despised. Not only
do all mankind like romance, but the
majority like it strong, extravagant ;yes,
even impossible. "a
It is a mistake to suppose that only
the young care for fiction. I'have seen
old, old men and women, lowering
dangerously near the grave, who We're
the most confirmed and absorbed Of
novel readers, particularly Ledger
readers. Having relied OH it for ro-
mantle food for many years, they no
more thought Of giving it up than they
thought Of going Notwithstanding
have done so without suffering.
Mr.. Bonner told me of good old
man, pious and proper, who lived in a
Connecticut village and was the main,
stay Of one of the COOLEST of churches,
who tottered down to the post-office
regularly every week to get the Ledger.
A relative ofanti novel prejudices, who
was visiting his family, expressed her
astonishment that he would read "nov-
els" ooh, my dear, this is only bit
Of a newspaper story" said the honest
old man, and went on with his sturdy
fore-tinger under the lines, chas ing q
black eyed heroine through page and
q half Of sorrow and tribulation
another instance Of an elderly per-
sons fondness for stories, Mr.9Bonner
told this: When foreman of the Mir.
ror office he took his proofs home to
read at nights. A serial by, Charles r.
Briggs, called the Trippings of Tom
Pepper, was being published. 1t was
biographical in character, and related
the ups and downs Of Mr.. Peppers
eventful career very graphically begin
| ming with his early childhood. Mr..
Ronner,s mother read each chapter Id
the proof, and grew quite impatient at
| the delay between installments When
| her son laughed at her interest in the
| protracted " sfb' she said, S w ny, Rob
ert, q want to see how The little fellow
came out. And so they all want I'd
see how the characters they grow inter
4 aStaf7 III come nl1f 85ss ~ +4Ss II