The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1895-07-12

Il n II a m a 9 e in
! .,.s,fN lgS which h e men.
y tions the gates
- - that lead to des.
-. ssS truction:
'''''''''''''''' :" Gate the first !
Impure literature. Anthony
comstock seized twenty tons OF
bad books, plates ndletter press,
and when our Professor Cochran
of the Polytechnic Institute
poured the destructive acids on
those plates, they smoked in the
righteous humiliation. Aud vet
a great deal of the bad literature
of TIE day is not gripped of the
law. 1t lis strewn in our parlors;
1t is in your libraries. Some OF
your children read it at night af-
ter they have retired, the gas.
burner swung as near as possible
to their pillow. Much of this
literature is under the title Of
scientific information. A book
agent with one of these internal
books, CLOSED over with scien
tifc nomenclature, went into a
hotel and sold readily in one
day a hundred copies, and sold
them all to women. 1t is appal.
ling that men and women who
can get through their family
physician all the useful informa.
ton they may need, and without
any contamination, should wade
chin deep through such accursed
literature under the plea Of get.
ting useful knowledge. and that
printing presses, hoping to be
called decent. lend themselves TO
this infamy. Fathers and moth.
ers be not deceived by the title,
"medieal me-ss ..ns ;s..s..s
Of those books come from the
lost world, though they may have
on them the names of the pub.
fishing houses of New York.
Chicago, Philadelphia. Then
there is all the novelette, litera.
ture of the day flung over the
land by the millions. AS there
are good novels that are long, SO
/ suppose there may be good
novels that are short, and so there
may be good novelette,. but it
is the exception. No one mark
this-no one Systematically reads
the average novelette, of this day
and keeps eitherintegrity or vir.
the. The most of these NOVELTIES
are written by broken down lit.
erary men for some compensa.
ton, on the principle that, hav.
ing failed IN literature, elevated
and pure, they hope to succeed
IN the tainted and the nasty.
Oh this is a wide gate OF hell.
Every panel is made out Of bad
book, or newspaper. Every
hinge is the interioined type OF a
corrupt printing press. Every
bolt or lock of that gate is made
out of the plate of an unclean
pictorial. In other words, there
are a million men and women in
the United States to-day reading
themselves into hell. When, in
one of our cities. a prosperous
family fell into ruin through the
misdeeds of one of its members,
the amazed mother said to the
officer of the law Why, l
never supposed there was any.
thing wrong. | never thought
there could be anything wrong. .
Then she sat weeping in silence
for some time, and said "Oh I!
/ have got it now 1 know, /
know ! / found in her bureau.
after she went away a bad book.
That's what slew her. These
leprous booksellers have gather,
ed up the catalogues of all the
male and female seminaries in
the United States, catalogues
containing the names and resi-.
dences of all the students, and
circulars of death are sent to
every one, without exception.
Can you image anything more
dreadful ? There is not a young
person, male or female. or an old
person. who has not had offered
to him or her a bad book or a bad
picture. Scour your house to