The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-06-11
The Reading Dissipation.

"Reading makes full man." said
Lord Bacon. There is reading enough
in these days to fill vast multitude of
people. but many Of them would fare
better if they were empty. With not
few men and women hading is not
recreation or 4 mcuns OF improve
ment, but dissipation. This is true
of some who never rcad'vile literature.
They read worthless books and. pa
pers, or too much of that which is
good enough in its place, but not good
enogh TO occupy the mind constant
ly.
The daily paper has become for
midable institution and a tremendous
force. No intelligent person denies
its usefulness. Neither politicians,
nor merchants, nor mechanics, nor
lawyers, nor physicians, nor teachers,
nor ministers can afford to be without
q good daily. One who refuses to
read these papers must fall behind
his neighbors and lose touch with his
own generation. But q good thing
used injudiciously may become exc tcd-
ingly Injurious. That many are scri-
ously injuring their own minds 10y en-
cessive reading of daily papers is capa-
ble of easy proof.
Not Il few intelligent men freely
confess that they have wasted a vast
amount of valuable time in this way,
while others who do not perceive it
show signs of having been seriously
harmed by this class Of reading.
The man who takes up his morn
ing paper as soon rs he leaves his bed
room, reads it diligently while wait
ing for breakfast, becomes so absorb
ed in it during his morning meal as to
be unable to join in pleasant conversa-
ton with his wife and children, coli
tinues to read it a. he rides in The cars
no his office, and as soon rs the huu!s
of business close buys an evening pa
per, repeating the process of lie
morning hours, is guilty of Il species
OF dissi patton which will injurc his
bodily health, his mental powers, and
interfere with his domestic comfort
and happiness.
An arIlcle on "What Americans
Read" by Helen Marshal North, in
the April number Of the NorM inner
ican contains some thoughts eminent
1y appropriate and timely. The eXag-
geiated importance attributed to the
daily newspaper is judiciously char
acterized by the writer. She points
out one mischevious effect of the hab-
it OF immodcrate reading, namely !:
1.-The distaste thus acquired for con-
nected, logical argument, and in gen-
eral for solid literature in any depart
ment." The practice of dcvoting the
mind inordina,ely to snatchcs Of
thought, fragments of history, and
brief items of news such as the dailies
contain, gradually weukens its grasp
and disqualities it for substantial and
connected thinking. This accounts
for the fact that multitudes of intelli-
gent men and women who have re-
ceived liberal education have no
taste for books of history, biography,
political economy, science, or general
literature.
The author of the aforementioned
article has evidently witnessed some
of the baleful effects of the Sunday
paper. Her observations on this top
ic cannot he too strongly emphasized.
This is 81 part Of what she says:
"That prolific and prosperous new
conner, the Sunday newspaper, dis
places, to greater degree than amy
other paper, by virtue Of its size and
time of sale. q far better element of
mental training or culture than itself.
1t has q marked influence in detain-
ing at home the weak-willed and in
termittent church-goer; and-setting
aside all the claims which religion and
morality have TO the consideration of