The Press., 1889-02-14
Issued Every Thursday Evening.
DEFENSE OF THE SOUTH COVENTRY
 r@* LIBRARY.


 -@E LIBRARY.
 South Coventry, Feb. 9th, 1ss9
 The local historian is the power by which we recall past enterprises and as- pirations, and everything that is worthy of preservation upon the printed page is worthy to be clothed ct least with the beauty of accuracy and fairness if not with eloquence, and an impartial editor or con- piler who feels himself under society obi gations to exert pains taking endeavor who feels desire to escape the anathema of the present and the rising generation, who have well-earned right to criticism, will diligently see to it that the informa- tion he gleams from different individuals be not defective, and that it is gained from such persons as are in possession of the facts, and who will cautiously and honest. ly detail them. Just now we have in mind the new pub lication -"The History of Holland Coun- ty"-in which certain mis- clements and important omissions have called out not little local comment, which, in fact, is but 8 covert expression for disgust and indig- nation. As an instance of the former, at- tention has been directed to the paragraph relating to the South Coventry library oc- cupying it's respective niche in the recent ly published record, and which we copy verbatim :-
 s'The library at South Coventry was estab- lished many years ago, but did not prosper l until gifts began to come in from some one to the M. E s. S., which were followed in the autumn of 1879 by letter, saying that if the people here would raise $500 to estalish i- brary the writer would contribute similar sum. The writer was wealthy man in Cali fornia. Years ago, when @ friendless boy, some women here had kindly cared for and clothed him. The citizens being spurred forward by this generous offer, raised the necessary subscription, and something over, there being 168 subscribers in all in and out committee was appointed and list of books purchased immediately, consisting of 322 bound volumes of fiction and 22 pamphlets. The library was formally opened April 4th, 188O."
 A striking array of historic annals for transmission to the future A glittering web indeed, with scarcely golden thread of truth running through it Now, some thing over one year ago, member of the library association prepared au authentic and comprehensive report of the library from the year of it's organization, 1879-sO, to the year 1888, and the article would have been cheerfully submitted for tran. scription.
 We will subjoin one or two extracts in order that heefacts fairly and tersely pre- sented may be repeatedly disseminated
 also to disclose the somewhat legendary identity of the ''some one" referred to ir
 the above quotation, and prove him rec
 ognizable being and 8 highly important
 factor in the concrete arithmetic of 'tstart
 ing capital.' It will show that the found ing of the institution of which it's patrons
 and the people of this town have ever beer Justly proud did not consist in 8 series O illy-prospered struggles, nor did it merge from any Sunday school library. The fac is well known that the very cornerstone O , this literary structure was laid by thu
 singly directed effort of few enterprisint ladies of the Congregational church ii
 utilizing money returns of dramatic enter tainment, and that the subsequent prime mover in the enterprise was the late Ia mented Rev. Wm. D. Morton of Hartford
 who at this period was filling the pastorat' of the Congregational church of this vii
 lage. His pure, cultured tastes, and nice
 scholarly discrimination our literary cir cles were happy to avail themselves of, a he actively engaged in pushing the worl
 to continuation by spending a weeks tim' in New York city attending to the selec tion of books, having keen discernmen
 of utility in each and every volume h.
 purchased. The following paragraphs VI
 clip from the report above referred to :- "The South Coventry Library Association was organized in 1879 and 1880 for the pur pose of establishing and maintaining tow1 library. The enterprise having been starte , under the leadership of Rev. Wm. D. Morton 5 ! ~soI0 ,knl h~, h., n
 Coggswell, who contributed the sum of $500 2 and by Hon. Chauncey Howard of Soul [ Coventry, and Mir. 0. H. Kenyon of Nol a wich, each of these gentlemen giving $20O
 During the first year the money paid. i
 amounted to $1 ,362.32, $1,243.50 havin , been obtained through subscriptions, of whic sum the people of Coventry gave over $700.
 From the 452 books with which the librar
 first opened the number of volumes has ir creased to 1,7oO. For this increase the asse 6 citation is largely indebted to MT. G. W. Ed
 whom donated books to the value of $10( | and also to Mrs. H. F. Dimock of New Yorl t who has added to the library about 300 vol n umes. The list of books includes all varis
 tions of profitable reading, such as history
 biography, scientific and agricultural works : general freside literature, fiction vnd child a lore"
 . The statement that the first installmer 5 of books consisted of 322 volumes of fit
 tion is insinuating and erroneous, and, # consideration that the actual number ( r volumes with which the library opene 1t was 452 Q91 of these were works of fctio - adapted and classified by the unimpeact l. able literary discretion of the first standin y library committee, viz. !: Rev. Wm. I t Morton, Mir. Martin Parker and Mrs. E g w. Mason), the patrons of the library al
 excusably irritated over the implied r' F. hection cast upon the taste and judgemer !. of these officers, and also upon themselvt ,t as readers. The formal opening occurre l. upon the 24th instead of the 4th day of tt r. month, as stated in history article. An U this literary gallery has nearly survived i ? first decade, and is still in progressiy
 condition, having an annual increase !, books, and stored away within its hive-lil .s cells are the thoughts of hundreds :. minds-standard works of eminent divine !. historians, poets, and story-writers ft e children. We are indebted to Mrs. Joh
 M. Wood, the present librarian, for mai a of these notes.
 s A contributor to the "Cosmopolitar
 prettily compares library to a bee-hiv
 where human bees luxuriate in gatherir at honey from the intellectual flowers of Il ,e past. Now it is paramount over all tn E the young should appreciate the goe le works of their ancestry, and in recogr