The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1888-10-05
Trashy Literature



blues. The shelves, counters, and
even the floor of the shop are chuck
full of pretty nearly all the wisdom Of
the ancienls and wit of the modorns,
done up in elegant but handily poek-
etable paper bound packages, which
sell at from 10 to 30 cents each. The
shop, in fact, is a sort Of headquar-
ters for the cheap libraries now so
numerous, and which are said to be
doing great damage to the more pre-.
tentious branches of the book trade.
Here, for S. careful person can
purchase a library more extensive and
better than was ever owned by many
a man whom the world calls great and
wise, History, biography, poetry,
philosophy, science, literature and ro-
nance are mingled in bewildering
confusion aud profusion. A glance
at the titles of famous works piled on
shelf and counter fills one with des-
pair of ever being able TO read them
all, so numerous are they; and yet
they are SO cheap that a person with
the reading habit feels ashamed not to
buy an armful and rush off to his den
to deVour them at once.
"We have several customers who
read two and three books a day." the
proprietor said to an inquisitiye re-
porter. Gone man in particular used
to come in regularly every other or
every third day and carry off each
time from six to eight volumes. He
didn't appear particular about what
he read, but took them just as they
came. He kept it up week after week,
too. He had place in the interior
department, but was discharged not
long ago"
The proprietor didn't intimate that
there was any connection between
the mans reading habits and the loss
of his position, but it struck the re-
porter that there might be,
There are plenty of people who
average book day, month in and
month out," the proprietor continued,
"Theso people are mostly novel read
ers, of course, 1t gets to be passion
with them, like anything else, and
they give up all their spare time to it,
If they can't get hold of new story
as soon as they have finished the old
one they don't know what to do with
themselves aud are miserabe-like
tippler whose rations have been cut
off, or morphine eater who can't get
the drug"
"Do you notice much difference in
the class of stories preferred by men
and women 2' the reporter asked.
"No, | can't say that | do. The
women don't seem to be especially
fond of love stories. In fact, some
women who come here won't read love
stories or novels written by women.
They prefer the detective stories and
mysteries of DuBoisgobey and Gar
boFian, and Zola's highly favored
stuff. G. W. Reynolds sensational
romances used to have a big sale, but
they aren't in as much demand as
they were"
Haven't the cheap libraries hurt
the sensational story papers a great
deal 7" the reporter enquired.
swell, not so much as I thought
they were going to at first" the gen
tleman said. II expected the story
papers would be entirely driven out
Of the field by the cheap libraries, but
hardly think their sales have fallen
as much as 25 per cent, The papers
have to keep booming themselves all
the time, though, or they lose ground
badly. They aren't the bonanzas they
used to be. The newsdealers wouldn't
be very sorry if the story papers were
driven out of the fields altogether.
The margin of profit on them is very
small, and the worst Of It is the peo.
pie who buy them are Of the charge
lt-and III pay -you next -time' class.
Now, if they fail to pay once it knocks
the profit off . good many papers"
"Ihe people who read the story pa
pers then, are Of different class from
those who buy the cheap library nov
els ~
"Yes, as a rule, they are. The peo-
pie who read these inferior novels and
serial stories get false and foolish ideas
Of life. This Is especially true Of the
confirmed story paper readers. They
are the worst of all. | can tell one Of
them almost as quickly as / set eyes
on her-for the story paper readers
are generally women, They have
would-be grand and romantic air about
them, use big words and theatrical ex-
presslcns, and try to initiate generally
In their manner the highly wrought
characters they read about in tho SCI
rials. Girls brought up from the time
they are l5 or 10 on this sort Of read
ing aren't satisfied with man unless
be is like the heroes Of their stories,
and they are apt to wait q good while
before they find one who seems to-
promise to come to what they call
their 'ideall And then, If they do
get married, in ninety-nine eases ont
Of hundred they soon discover that
the promises were all false; that they
haven't married their hero al all, but
only an ordinary, commonplace man,
with not enough Of the story paper
ideal to him e supply . paragraph
in one Of the sloppy serials,
These people With the story paper
habit" tho speaker eontipued, aeeem
hardly able to eontFol their impotence
from week 70 week for Tie succeeding
inslallments Of the romaneee. Many
Of them make . habit q ofcomipg about
the time they know the papers arrive
ala HaltiRg gnlfa i4sy san 8sE FesNpi