Wichita eagle., 1888-04-12
TN THE ASTOR LIBRARY.
FAIR READERS NOT ENTIRELY GIVEN
OVER TO NOVELS.

Manners of Lady Students in Library
. Beading Room-Eeminine Investigators
and Scientists-What They Do When
Lunch Hour Arrives
"A great deal has been written about the
frivolous nature of the books which women
read, said an attendant at the Astor library
''but If you put common report to the test Of
personal observation. you viii find that at
least those feminine readers who come here
ind interest in something besides love sto-
rieS.
Take. for instance, those ladies at the
other end of the room who are porting over
books and taking notes so extensively. Shall
l tell you the names of some of the books
they called for this mornings Wen, do you
see that pretty little creature at the lower end
of the table-the blonde with the helpless,
appealing air2 You are sure she is reading
one of Bertha II. Clay's lovesiek romances
She is not, though. Those three volumes
open near her and SO profusely adorned with
slips of paper could hardly be called light
reading. The book directly beneath her eyes
is Adam Smiths Wealth of Nations, the one
to her right is Sir Thomas MoreS Utopia;
or, the State of Happy Republic and the
small volume contains John Stuart Mills
Essay on Liberty"
Just at that moment, when the girl seemed
more than ordinarily puzzled over some eco
nomic problem, and when her little hands
were clasped as il TO concentrate thought a
young man came slowly up the steps, walked
over to the catalogue desk and commenced
turning oves the cards. She glanced at him.
a look of recognition came into her eyes and
her clasped hands-aye, those hands that had
erstwhile been clinching economic puzzles in
unison with her mind-fiew TO her bangsi
Yes, the Bank of England was forgotten in
the all important consideration: How are
my bangS.' Ye gods! What descent from
the upper air of philosophy to earthly vanity |!
1t must be remarked that a woman is but a
woman after all.
"Do you see that stately girl, with brown,
flashing eyes," continued the library man.
"You may judge from the architectural and
mechanical illustrations on its open pages
that the books which claim her attention are
scientific ones. At her elbow are several
large sheets of paper and a box of drawing
instruments She is a regular visitor to the
library, coming in at 10 in the morning and
generally staying until 4 in the afternoon.
Moreover, she is one OF those people of one
book whom Cicero feared. For nearly six
months she has been handling every morning
the same work.
"That youngish old girl to the left of this
feminine Scientist-the one with the faxen
lair and the hard, determined looks read
ing portly volume of Travels in the East
The meek little woman, with diminutive,
pale features, is absorbed in an illustrated art
work; and the tall, raw boned lady back of
her is porting over a veterinary surgeons
book on the treatment of cattle. She is. I
think, the horse and cow reporter of some
newspaper"
at does not appear, then, that women arc
given to such frivolous reading after allF' re-
marked the writer.
Not the women who come here Those
who patroniZe the circulating libraries gener-
ally call for novels, 1 think, but the women
who come to the Aston are chiefly students
in some branch Of science or art They can
get her~ any book for reference they desire,
to asst them in their studies, and tables are
especially provided for them SO that they
may take notes. 1t has been said that women
have not the necessary consistency of purpose
to pursue course of study by themselves
BY observations have convinced me that this
is not the case. There are many of them
who read the same books here for five hours
every day-books, too, which most men
would find dry
NEARLY all the women you see here today
are what we call regulars that is, they are
daily visitors; have their regular seats and
get their books without the formahty Of
making ont applications, since we know just
what they want. There is one notable diff
ference between them and the masculine
readers in the next room. When lunch hour
arrives the men can be seen filing out in num-
bers, while the women do not usually move
till near the end of library hours. They GER
tainly thrive better on mental lunches than
men do.
"One thing, however no woman reader
has ever, to my knowledge, been able to do,
and that is to refrain from looking up when
any one enters. The fair ones can work hard
and fast from 10 a. N. to 4 p. m but they
cannot attain TO such heights of pbilosophic
abstraction as to keep their eyes on their
books when new bonnet is gliding into the
library.
"The woman student has other peculiari
ties She sets about her reading and note
taking with method which is in strong con-
trast to the disorderly ways Of literary men.
After her day of reading is over she does not
show the masculine longing to pitch tho
books in the corner and make a rush for the
street, but gathers up her working materials
carefully and lays her books on the desk in a
tender, lingering way. Then she makes a
final test Of her bangs and back hair and.
with smile at the attendant. trips lightly
10
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