Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-07-23
CIRCULATING LIBRARY.

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constructed the shop of secondhand
materials, which took kindly to the
dry rot and to dirt and to all things
decaying and dismal, and perpetuated
his memory with genteel shabbl-
ness.
A Daily News reporter entered this
dingy hatchment the other day,
thinking of old Krook's place in
Chancery lane. A large cat, not un-
like Krook's, clawed at him as he
passed along by the dusty, book~bur,
dencd shelves and tables. The queer
old lady peered through the dim light
from the door leading to the rear
compartment.
"You keep a circulating library?"
the reporter ventured to ask.
Eyes, SIR" she said, her words COM
ing forth like the sharp, successive
bites of file en- frosty iron.
"Can | hire "A Woman of Hcn>
orr"
"Who is it by?n
"H. @. Bunner.
Neutrality-suspicious. let me
see-what else did he write? He
can't be very we'll known in fiction.
None of his works has appeared In the
cheap paper editions yet. Who is
he?"
"Oh, he is young New York poet
of some ambition. He has written
some very pretty verses and some
clever stories. He used to be the editor
of Puck. But, no matter. What
authors are most read nowadays"
''Ham she said, in her shrill voice,
h- 4ha
well believe. I've been in Chicago
forty years; my fathers house was al
ways filed with books, I was once the
principle of a female seminary; have
long kept library to hire out to make
living, and I know what the people
on the West Side read. The mass of
readers read light, trashy literature.
what authors do you find abso~
lete?"
"Fanny Fern, to begin with; she's
dead; nobody ever asks for her. Ann
S. Stephens is as near dead, too, a.
can be; she is seldom asked for nova
days. Gilmore Simms is dead; past
revival. His style was about the
same as Mayne Reid's. He lived in
Florida. Who wrote the books by
TX Marvel? Donald G.. Mitchell.
He is never read now except by raro
0UjS-a scholar-some one who is
really literary He was very famous
in his day. Then there is Cooper; he
is never off the shelves now. He filed
place in his day, and does yet, as
painter of Indian character. I've been
guest in his house many day at
Coopertown. They all spoke French
in the family; they left English for
the kitchen. He was a man of good
deal of affectation of manner. 'Hei
ems Babies and John Hahbertoa's
other books had a great run for q
time, but they are little perused now.
Once in great while somebody will
take out 'Helen's Babies from curios-
ity; but his writings are all ephemeral;
none of them has the abiding quality.
Marion Harland is another that's little
read now, though she is still writing, [
believe But to mention some OF even
greater caliber, may say in a word
that Scott, Dickens, Thackeray, Troll
lope, Black, Blackmore and all that
Tx are called popular, but are not
generally read On the west side, Libra
rian Poole to the contrary notwith-
standing"
'Did Victor Hugo's death have any
perceptible effect in revivIng his works
among your customers?"
mo; because no one reads him here.
Perhaps his 'Toilers of the Sea- Or Les
Miserables' might be taken out once
or twice in the course of a year by my
recommending them, but they would
be brought back in disgust after a
chapter or two had been read. I'll tell
you another that isn't popular
George Eliot. She lies dead on my
shelves here. Her books are too full
of philosophy. [ personally know
the best people on the west side; [
used to mingle with the literati. and
know what the masses read and don't
read. Librarian Poole and [ don't
agree, he puts the standard higher
than 1t really is. Now there's Collins
and ReaGe, who among Americans
belong to the same category as Dick
ems and Scott, though perhaps not SO
highly regarded in Europe. They
are idle on my shelves for the most
part.
Hugh Conway John Fargus) just
died. VIII th>re be a revival of his
works."
Called Back and Dark Day have
been read by all theater- goers, because
the former was dramatized; but they
have had their day. The death of an
author doesn't make much difference
as to the demand, but let him be dra~
matise3-let the people see something
he has written put on the stage-and
they run after his books. Look, for
example. at Monte Cristo and Cam
ille."
"What do your customers think of
Miss Braddoni"
Highly. Her later books are bet
ter than her earlier ones. They are
the highest style of mere romance.
Hasn't Labouchere commended her
stories? Why, sir, when Collins and
Reaae used to want TO read pure ro-
nance they took up Miss BraddoR and
felt refreshed. She's old now, and is
well stocked with experience. Bull