Evening capital., 1893-04-12
AN ENGLISH SOCIETY.
WOMEN WHO KEEP INFORMED IN CUR
RENT LITERATURE.

An Economical Method of Purchasing
Books and a Convenient and sociabIc
Way of Discussing the Latest Effusion OF
Popular Writer.
An English woman, recently married
~ New York lawyer. with a home il
the suburbs. is trying an interesting ex
pertinent in the way of literary and
book lending society. The system she
has adopted has been used % suburban
towns of England and in many of the
larger provincial cities for more thar
half century. In fact, there is soci.
ETY. in Rochester. England. which claims
to have had it in continual use for more
than 100 years. There is probably no
system exactly like it, however, in this
part of the world.
The main object of this system is t.
supply books to women who have ample
time for reading and are eager to keep
pace with all that is interesting in the
tremendous rush of contemporaneou
literature. A man with even moderate
income cannot afford to keep his wife
supplied with new books and magazines
as they come out. The cheapest new
novel, If it is worth anything, will be
sure to cost him 90 cents. In nine cases
out Of ten the first price is more likely to
be $3.50. To be sure, almost everything
nowadays ultimately drifts into the
cheap edition. but it is after the book
has ceased to be fresh in the minds of
the public and people have ceased to
talk about it.
Women who live in the country and
in the suburbs have more time for read
ing than women in cities, and withal
fewer means of getting anything good
to read. The time worn volumes in the
local circulating library have been their
familiar friends from childhood. If the
husband subscribes to q circulating
library in town and promises to bring
new book home with him every night,
he is likely TO grow weary soon and for
get all about it. An then when an in
telligent woman reads good novel she
likes to talk to somebody about it. 81
husband hasn't time to read, and the ac
quaintances she visits have never ZEN
heard of it.
The literary English woman found her.
self in this plight, SO she interested her.
self in forming club similar to the one
she belonged to at her English home.
The idea is simple one. Forty or 90
persons in town organize book soci-
ETY.. That is the name usually given to
them in England. 1t has been found
advisable to have at least 40 members,
and not to have more than so. The
Rochester society has adhered to this
rule despite powerful pressure to in
crease its membership. Applicants for
membership are kept waiting six years,
and sometimes more. for admission. A
society No. 2 has naturally been formed,
but the prestige remains with the pioneer
society. which meets every week, winter
and summer. in the Old Bull hotel, made
famous in the "Pickwick Papers" The
society hires room, cheerful and COM
Portable. which is placed at its disposal
one nigh Zach week The landlord al
lows tn, 4nembers to keep large cup
board Ia the room in which to store
books
These books are in charge of a secre-
tary. The position is simply an honorary
one. but the members usually make the
DCNACAoAg " nO allCAAAb ~ Duc4AccS a very
substantial Christmas present-a piece
of silver or some article Of household
furniture perhaps. The members deter
mine by ballot what hooks shall be pur-
chased. but it devolves upon the secre-
tary to buy them. He is supposed to get
discount prices from publishers. This is
managed without difficulty, and the
publishers generally find itfor their own
interest to remember the secretary about
Christmas time The result is that in
prosperous societies the position Is
sought after. It is worth while to de-
vote some little time to it.
Balloting to determine what new books
shall be bought takes place once each
month. If twenty or more members find
it expedient to purchase some new book
ar. e.rIaS Of hooks iscued batuapn haIlof-