Smyrna times., 1884-11-05
Foul Poison in Books,
DISGRACE AND DEATH DALLYING
WITH DIME-NOVEL READERS.


The young man who committed sui
eide on Tuesday afternoon of last
week, near Gray's Ferry bridge. by
shooting himself in the head. has been
identified as Edwin Eager of 637 Reed
street.
The recent crop of tragedies among
boys and young men quickly following
each other seems to have greatly affect
ed him. He read of Stanton shooting
his intimate friend, Nash, without any
apparent cause; of the boy CLAYTON,
who killed his playmate, Baker, and
then committed suicide: of q lad nam
ed st. Martin in New York, who stab
| bed to the heart Il cOmrade. and il
turned his head and made him moody
and melancholy. He had never been
much of a reader before, but, seized by
an unexplainable impulse, he perused
all the newspapers he could find, and,
not content with this, bought sensa-
tional story papers and dime novels
from shops in the neighborhood of his
parents home.
THE BOYS CHARACTER.
Eager was I6 years of age, and of
quiet, retiring disposition. The neigh
bors unite in saying he was of exem-
plary habits, and when not working
| always remained near his home. He
was employed on the Saturday Night as
press-feeder, and seemed content
with his situation and wages.
He worked at night generally and
his absence from the supper table
| Tuesday evening excited no particular
comment, as his parents supposed he
had gone to work after buying his sup
per or eating at the house Of rela-
tive.
The first intimation his mother had
| that her boy had committed suicide
was by reading the description of the
style of dress of the dead youth found
near the bridge. Immediately the idea
| flashed upon her that the suicide must
be her son. Her visit to the hospital
| proved her surmises correct. At her
request the boys remains were taken
| home.
WHAT THE MOTHER SAYS.
When asked last night if the lad was
in the habit of reading sensational
stories, she replied that it was with the
! greatest difficulty she could get him to
| read anything until the recent sensa-
| uOnal murders occurred, when he fol-
! lowed the newspaper accounts of the
tragedies with avidity. He never to
her knowledge carried or owned re-
VolVer, but once or twice during the
/ past Summer he had gone cunning
with boys of his own age.
There was a possibility, Mrs. Eager
] / IL.
cent double tragedy at Seventh and
Brown streets had affected his brain
and prompted him to kill himself.
She had spoken to him once or twice
on the subject, giving him advice and
admonition, which he received in
silence, making no reply and askingno
questions. She had no other reason to
assign for her sons deed, except the
hope that the shooting was accidental.
The location of the wound, however,
would indicate that the shooting was
premeditated. The ball went through
the lads hat and entered the head
above the right ear The bullet was
extracted at the hospital.
AT THE HOUSE OF REFUGE.
"We have no trouble here with bows
reading trashy literature" said DR..
Church, the assistant superintendent
OF the House of Refuge yesterday.
We allow no sensational books inside
these walls. But 1 dare say many a
boy would not be here to-day if it had
not been for yellOw-back novels. The
worst boys we have those who can
read) tell us they used to read the hor-
rible half-dime library" Continuing,
he said:
There is an excellent library here,
but a number of the boys object to the
books as they are not sufficiently SEN
satlonal. They contemptuOusly refer
to our library as only being fit for a
Sunday-schOOl. | am morally certain
that many of the boys who have serv-
ed a term here can trace their ruin to
dime novels. At the same time I
could not make oath to the fact"
THE EFFECT UPON SCHOOL BOYS.
The reporter next called upon Pro-
fessor Ridge, principal of the Lincoln
Grammar School, to obtain further in
formation about the effect of yellow
black literature upon school-bOys:
. The Daily NelCS deserves the graft
tude of every parent and every friend
OF society in exposing this infamous
class of literature" said the professor,
when the subject was mentioned.
"These books, l believe, are doing
more to make criminals and corrupt
the youth of the land than all other
influences combined. There is no esti-
mating the damage they are accom-
plishing. They are certainly running
our schOOlboys."
Have you ever found any of these
vile books among your scholars ?"
Indeed l am sorry to say books of
that character are being found among
pupils with alarming frequency. But
while we often capture these books
among our scholars, hundreds are read
by them when we are ignorant of it.
There is no way to diminish the evil to
any extent that l can see except by
prohibiting the sale of this trash. This
subject is becoming the most import
ant one that teachers are called upon
to solve. .'-PhitGdelphia Daily News.
WHY PEOPLE DIE.-FrOm lack of
attention to home surroundings.
From careless personal habits.
By not securing pure air, pure water
and pure soil.
BY living in damp rooms.
BY irrational eating.