The Progress., 1893-05-27

cEserv" .cdcyclopmcnts @. tins terrible
fact ul.ua ever Land.
First-!u tie character Of the news
stand today. Il. all our public places,
in the hotels. the elevated roads. the sur
face roads. the railroad cars. ghc char
acter Of the hooks handled and sold is
something amazing. something indcscrib-
able from the moral point of view 1t
would be impossible for Il decent man
and woman in each others COMPANY to
read tie title Cf these books without a
blush The piacards by which they are
announced are simply the concentrated
esscnsc Of filth. L. is an amazing fact
that the hunan mind is capable of pro
ducing such trash in such stupendous
quantities. This flood of filth pours
upon our newsstands with daily vol
ulLe that Is unthiukable. There Is about
itnot one redeeming feature. The French
novel in its native accent has "A certain
art and "A certain worthiness because of
its literary excellence. but we are flooded
with the most clumsy and brutal and
vulgar translatIons of these filthy French
productions. Thus dragged through the
mud into the English language, there is
about them III their fearful odor not one
redeeming trait.
The French novel. as translated 10y
our America scavengers. is bad enough.
But the vilcst stories of literary corrup-
ton seem Just now to be pouring from
the west. The western rascal. who seeks
i'll clumsy way to initiate the French.
sinks to a depth of infamy, Il clumsy
bestiality, that would drive the modern
Frenchman into a monastery if he had
his choice between the perusal of such a
book and the abdication of life. Let me
quote the announcement of two of these
books that are fair samples of the hun
dreds found on the average newsstand:
This story is considered by many TO bc the
most interesting and entertain ~ ROMANCE
OF GAY LIFE ever written. There is some
thing about il that Charms and Fascinatcs and
wins the admiration Of every reader. ] ne
heroine is one of those WILD, RECKLESS
DAREDENILS that every now and then
dashes upon the world like a Blazing Meteor
and by Brazen Audscity and Wonderful Cheek
creates a Sensation that makes her az once The
Talk of the Town and the star of the Street.
She delights in being called Wicked. Her own
words. in one striking passage, tells what she
is: Mother" she said. IL will not 40 home,
will not he good! | will not reform, ! will al
ways be
"AGAY GIRL OF THE TOWN.
She laughs with Horrid Glee at a Mothers
awful Curse. Defes the Officers OF the Law.
Damns everything Good, and in every possible
way endcavors 10 be the Wickcdest Girl in -.
She Drinks. Swears. Fights. Lies. Steals and
takes pride in being Abominaby Bad. Some
of he sif In III Ful IN
their Fiendishness, while others are Ridiculous
in their LudicrousDess. IL is a well told tale
one that will be carefully preserved long after
trashy yarns are dead and forgotten-and is
destined TO take Front Rank among the Real
istic Romances of this Fast Age.
IT Is THE FASTEST SELLING BOOK EVER
PUBLISHED.
Most Liberal Terms TO Dealers. Agents
wanted everywhere.
Here is specimen from q second an
nounceliCat:
ROMANCE CROWDED WITH WILD EN-
CITEMENT AND STRANGE ADVENTURE.
The story told by the author is one that re-
Iates entirely to the Night Side Of =, nearly
eyc-y scene. from commencement 10 end, be-
ing :. - rear the Ghostly Midnight Hour. The
claracieis are all taxa from life, many go.l
names being Used. Every phase o. City Lie is
der'c:cd sc t-'.thrully Cs TO make each chapter
Of the book OAe Of Sensational Excitement
Nothing is omitted that may be seen Under the
Gaslight. The Tiger" is visited in his lair
TEc ScarlC: Woman is pictured in her Mag
nicceace AID hcr Degradation. The AssigEa-
ton Fiend plays prominent part. The plot is
one admirably calculated TO bring out the
Fiery Element IL writing that has made the
author famous. Every chapter contains some
thing Harraisng and BlOodcurdling IL con-
tains every element OF popularity as a Scnsa-
stg la1rU linn In hi ss.a.,c
Street fights. Stabbngs. ShootnGs, Piot;iugs
against Virtue. and many more exciting theme
that Ca--Yt ill TO interest those who like to
re-i e. .';y -. - :. : u is fally ilu u-;.aicd
with fC.l rage cGc-ay.asy.
Ttc~c are not exceptional books taken
from tic newsstands. They represent
the average boo,; now carried by the
newsdealers in orr public places. can
select from among well stocked news
stands at least 100 books equally a.
vicious rs either of the two described by
their publishers These books are issued
by the tens of thousands and hundreds
of thousands. and they carry the imprint
of publisher with the advertisements
to all dealers and 10 the public. A man
is now serving term in the penitentiary
at Joliet, Ms, for selling obsccrc lite
ature. He was at one tine & bookseller
in Chicago. but through drink fell into
evil ways and began the vending Of evil
books. The postofice authorities at last
secured his conviction, and he is now
serving his sentence. TO show what sort
of progress we are making, the books for
which this man was convicted and sen
fenced to the penitentisry for selling are
not one iota worse in any particular than
the hundreds of books that are now
Haunted before the eyes of the public by
thousands of newsdealers from end To
end of this nation.
The dime novel is the power that is
molding and fashioning the lives of our
boys. Here they get their education.
The editer of one of our leading dailies.
describing recently our newsstands, says
with Just sarcasm: The dime novel is
more plentiful than the sands of the sea.
Tho old fashioned schools delight IN rive