The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1894-03-09
Lebanon Express.
II. Y. KIRKPATRICK,
Editor and Proprietor.
NEWSPAPER READING GIRLS.

fishes d well-written article on
newspaper reading as a means OF
education, as follows;
The commonest lack in the edu-
cation Of otherwise well-informed
girls is q startling ignorance Of CO.
temporary history and governments.
Ignorance Of such q sort seems
strange to men, who are usually
great newspaper readers, True 1t
is, that nobody can understand
fully the present who does not
know something OF the past.
But it is less culpable to. be ig-
norant Of the past than Of the pres
ent. History is being made daily
upon a scale heretofore unknown
in the worlds record--and the
knowledge of it is within every
ones reach. Every morning the
daily papers give synopsis Of
the history of the worll for the
past twenty-four hours.
With this wealth Of information
at hand, the average girl is quite
satisfied to read the society and
fashion columns very attentively,
to skim over the deaths and mar
riages, glance at the theatrical ad-
yertisements and the baseball
score, and then say complacently,
that she 'has read the paper
While many journals afford much
bad reading in the shape of muir
ders, divorces and like horrors,
there are others that give the
smallest possible space to these
events, and treat chiefly Of
the larges things Of life. Besides,
no one is compelled to read hor-
rors and II indicates q certain
want Of refinement in any mind
that turns to this sort of thing.
Almost the first requisite Of dis
cerning taste is to know what not
taread.
Ii has often been remarked that
in no country have women played
50 important part as in France
and a very slight knowledge Of
French society explains this.
French women keep themselves
thoroughly in touch with cotem-
porary life.
The French salon. has not been
transplanted, because nowhere else
can enough women be found who
take interest in the thing in which
men take Understandable affairs
coming first.
Josiah Quincy in his Femi-
niscences Of the early part Of the
century says, that one reason Of the
great political power of the South
at that time, which was wholly dis
proportioned to its wealth. popula-
ton or territory, was the superior
political knowledge Of the South
ern women. He says that this was
especially noticeable at Washing
ton, where women from all parts
Of the country were assembled
and that the best constitutional ar
gument IN favor Of states rights
lie ever beard. was from the lips Of
a charming Southern woman.
1t may be said that not only the
power, but the charm of women is
much increased by their kno qing
what is going on around them.
In d large city, winter or two
ago, q newspaper cIosa" was or
ganized among some bright young
girls. They met once a week, and
each in turn gave q synopsis Of the
most striking events af the preeed-
ing week-after which a general
discussion followed.
They then selected some subject
of public interest 10 study fer the
next meeting. In that way they
got a fair knowledge Of the tariff,
the silver question, the regerera-
tion Of the American navy, the
condition Of European politics. So
wonderfully did the conversation
If these young girls improve, from