The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1897-02-27

OF life, says Charles Dudley Warner
in Good Housekeeping. The habit OF
playing games, Of theater-going, of in
J teresting ones self in social life, of COS.
sip, even Of travel, have all been recon-
mended or noted as resources against
ennui in middle life and old age. But
all Of them put together, and we will
throw in pOnucs ana various reform
agitations with them. do not compare
with the satisfaction OF the mind, for
the occupation or the hours of loneliness
or leisure, with the one habit of reading
the best books. for interest in and ac-
quaintance with literature, that is with
the most interesting and stimulating
thought Of all the ages. The habit of
reading is that, but 1t is something more.
Judicious, well directed reading, which
is study, teaches what life is. what the
world Is, and better fits man for every
duty and occupation ne enters in. It
broadens his views and makes him more
competent He will be better workman
In field or factory, IL his intelligence is
broadened, improved and sharpened by
acquaintance with books, he will be a
more intelligent director OF any business
or any great enterprise, either Of charity,
commerce, manufacture, If he is a well
informed man in the literature Of the
world. He will be worth more, worth
more measured by day wages or by sal
airy. The habit Of reading and comparing
knowledge Of what has been done and
said before, Of the experiments that have
been tried in the past, make a man a bet
ter observer and judge Of what is going
on about him. BY this knowledge he is
better fitted to perform his duties as a
citizen. Many OF our most costly and
foolish experiments in town and city gov
eminent, in education and In legislation
for the beauty and healthfulness of our
cities, are due to the fact that men in
temporary authority are ill-educated, un-
reared, Ignorant and act on insufficient
information as to what has been tried
before, and what by either logic or science
Is known to be futile and vicious. I am
not by this saying that mere book
worms are the best men for practical af-
fairs. These are often only cocoons of
knowledge, which are good for nothing
until they are matched and spun out in
the action of practical affairs am only
saying that reading is, In the first place,
the greatest private satisfaction to a
man, and, in the second place that every
so-called practical or business man is
much better equipped for his work If he
is man well informed and has his mind
enlarged by literature.
+, Commonplace Gossip.
If the home is full only OF commonplace
gossip and disregards the Intellectual side.
where are the children to acquire a taste
for reading? Not in the streets, not in
the athletic grounds, not in the schools
The theory Of many parents, who think of
the matter at all, is that they have moth
Ing to do with real education; they are
only concerned to make their children
good and happy. They must go to school
to learn. Never was a notion more disas-
trous. The schools do not supply the
place Of the home in education, especially
in regard to literature and the habit of
reading. The pupils go to school, in the
majority OF cases, not in all, as to a
hated task. They are set to certain tasks,
which seem to them dry and uninterest-
ing. In only a few schools, as yet, is a
pleasant door opened to them through
which they walk, or rather run, with in
terest. into the world of literature and
the destinations Of science and entertain
ing knowledge Of the world in which they
live.
But this it not all. The schools, driven
on by an unintelligent public sentiment
administered usually by men who have
not the least conception of what educa- |
ton should be, are constantly overloaded /
with courses and studies beyond the ca |
pacity Of the young mind to assimilate.
The sole object set before them is the |
passing of an examination in order to |
get into the next grade or the higher |
school. In this crowding of studies and |
push for going higher, in this attempt to |
stun the young minds with a mass of |
general text book information, there is |
no time for reading, no time for acduir- |
ing taste for literature, no wholesome |
broadening Of the mind by real cultiva- |
ton.
Love of Reading.
Now, what happens by wholly over edu- |
cation to the public schools, to the state, |
when there is no love of reading learned |
at home? Why, this is what happens, |
and what demands to be taken notice Of |
A large proportion of the children, OF the
young people, educated in this way, have |
no habit of reading, and do not in fact |
read at all or they read weak and vic
ious books which appeal to their lowest |
tastes. There is not the slightest exag-
geration in this statement. Hosts of |
young men and young women come up |
for examination in colleges, and are adj
mitted, who have never read any books |
except the text books they are required |
by the examination to know. OF the |
whole world Of history, biography, fic- |
ton, poetry, science, outside Of these
meager text books their minds are blank,
and thousands annually go through the |
district and high schools, following every |
turn in our mechanical scheme of educa-
ton, without any habit Of reading any |
love OF books any conception Of the world |
Of thought, which is the important world |
This state of things will continue, and /
be intensified, unless the schools change. |
And even Il they do change, If they simp- |
lily their courses, If they try to train the |
mind instead Of trying to stun It, If they |
attempt to teach literature. to instill a |
love for books and for reading, under the |
most competent teachers. they cannot |
supply the want Of some intellectual at !
mosphere In the home.
The subject is a broad one, and as ser |
ious as II Is extensive. only touch the |