Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-01-16
A GOOD OLD CUSTOM.
The Habit of Reading AIoud in the Home
Has Fallen Into Neglect.


Has Fallen into Neglect.
There is good old custom which, it is
to be feared, has fallen into neglect and il
so ce-:ainiy deserves to I've revived. 1t is
that Of :eading aloud in the family or other
social circle. In former days, when books
were few and newspapers less plentiful and
cheap than now, this practice was exceed
ingly common. Many circumstances ia
vored it. In most homes there was actual
ly what for the most part there is now only
POLITICALLY "hearthstone," where blazed a
great fire each winter evening" around
which all the members of the family gath
cred nightly, from the grandfather in his
slippers and the grandmother with her
knitting work to the baby with his rattle
At first after the blinds were drawn and
the great lamp was lighted there would
te conversation among the elderseaI,I
games among the youngsters, but by and
by the very little ones would fall asleep
and be tucked into trundle beds. Perhaps
grandfather and grandmother would doze
bit, but brighten up and listed gladly to
the we'll loved manly or womanly voice
reading the most interesting news of the
day, followed by selections from a maya
zine, from a book Of favorite poems or
travels or standard fiction. There are null
titudes OF middle aged people today whose
fondest recollections of youth are associ-
ated with long winter evenings partly
spent in listening to or sharing in family
readings
Where houses are heated by furnaces or
steam radiators in every part, where gas
Or electric lights are in every room, where
literature is so abundant that everybody
can provide it for himself, the conditions
that once made such scenes as we have de-
scribed almost Il necessity in every iutelli
gent household no longer exist But what
has ceased to be a necessity is nevertheless
a privilege, and those who neglect it do not
know what they lose. Cold print lacks
the charm Of the Ewing human voice
Words spoken have double the potency Of
words seen, but not heard. Accent infIec-
uon, modUlation, tones Of mirth and pa
thos, coming from the heart ard going to
the heart are things that lend enchant-
ment TO reading aloud in Il group where
affection unItes the members in n common
bond. Then, too, IL -.ycE rise TO The best
Kind of conversation. 1t mingles instruc-
ton with entertainment. 1t develops mu-
tual sympathies and tastes 1t stimulates
thought. 1t sweetens labor 1t stores the
memory with never to be forgotten images
that maze coming years brighter and sur
we OF IllllC space
Those who already know how delightful
it is need TO urging. But il is not alone in
families that reading aloud may be prac.
tlced with pleasure and profit. In this and
every large city there are vast numbers of
people, particularly young people, who are
deprived OF the privileges OF nome. Many
are clerks III mercantile or financial houses,
others are employed during the day in va
rious industrial pursuits and have no reg
ular places OF abode except boarding
houses. How to spend their evenings is a
problem. There are, to be sure, abundant
places, but however wholesome and limo
cent the best of these may be they ought
not to claim all the spare time of any class
of persons. One excellent plan would be
for few cOngeniRl spirits who are ac-
quainted, say from two to half a dozen
young men or an equal number of young
women, TO arrange for meeting once n
week or oftener-the oftCner the better
and taking turns in reading aloud and
talking over good literature-New York
Press.