The Dawson journal., 1885-09-03
WHAT PEOPLE READ.
EDITOR DAWSON JOURNAL


reads something. The term
reading pubic. embraces every
class from the small boy with his
half dime novel to the aged stu
dent who daily pores over vol
umes of ancient and forgotten
lore; from the silly girl with her
trashy and sensational novel where
the heroine snatched from the
very jaws of death by the daunt-
less. hero at the rate of about ff-
teen times an hour, to the woman
who reads books which are not
trashy or sensational that she may
be improved and her mind cult
waited. All this 'rea1ing public
may be divided into two classes.
First, those who read standard
works. Second, those who read
trash.
| To the first class I have very lit
tie to say, as this article is not in
tended for them; but Of the second
too much cannot be said. I am a
believer in reform, a sweeping re-
form in the reading matter Of our
country. AS it is now, the rising
generation has an exceedingly
gloomy prospect. The youth Of
this land [ include both sexes)
read the most vile, trashy and
sentimental literature. But what
can be expected of them when we
allow our homes to be infested
with this kind of stuff? You ex-
anime your boys trunk or go
through his pockets anG nine
times out Of ten you will find a
story headed something like this,
'Texas Jacks Last Shot, or, The
Red Handed Avenger of the Prai-
ries," or perhaps three or four de-
tective stories will be hidden in
the inneImost recesses of his coat.
The whole country from Texas to
Maine is flooded with these adven-
lures. Our girls are perhaps not
quite as bad; their reading matter
is not SO villainous. You may
generally find them, when they
ought to be helping their mothers
IN the kitchen, reading some sick
ening book in which the events
are about as far removed from ac-
tive life as heaven is from earth.
While the girls books are not SO
criminal in effect as the boys, yet
they have tenden:y ~ to unfit them
for life, make them sentimental,
romantic and extravagant in all
their ideas. When they reach the
age where they might be an as
sistance to their mothers they are
good for nothing except to sit in
the parlor and play on the piano
and listen to sentimental talk
from young men who, perhaps, are
not capaole Of making fifteen dol
lars month and are using Ian
guage which they remember from
the last love story which their fee
BILE intellects imbibed. What
wonder is it that SO many young
men are ready to shoot or cut on
the slightest provocation, or that
Sc many young ladies are so will
ling to elope, or permit men to
take liberties with them which
they would never have thought of
had it not been for those sickly
books? Why, who ever read a
book of this class in which the
hero was not, about half the time,
clasping the beautiful heroine III
his arms? The remainder of the
time he is generally hewing his
way through countless assassins
or defending himself and the beau
tiful, young and blushing girl
from every harm which humans
are heir to.
There is another class who read
sensational literature, and for this
class there is no hope. These are
the older men and women, especl-
ally the women. II you look IN
the households of this land you
will almost invariably fnd a pile
of yellow-covered trash, such as
vou will find the counters OF all
YOUR bookstores lined with. These
volumes contain the poison which
is responsible for the ruin and
downfall of many men and wom-
en-. While parents read this sort
Of literature what hope Jan there
be for their sons and daughters?
A great many may think that the