The herald., 1898-12-03
FRIDAY MORNING CLUB
Entertaining Papers on Magazines
and Childreu's Books

The program of the Friday Morning club
yesterday was under the direction of the
book committee, of which Miss Jennie j..
Collier is chairman. The first paper of the
morning was read by Mrs. Burton Willam-
son. 1t comprised a comprehensive review
of the most notable articles in the leading
magazines Of the month, including two Of
California writers-Dr. David Starr Jor-
dams plea for the better government Of
Alaska by the United States, published in
the Atlantic Monthly, and a descriptive
article by John Muir, "The Animals of the
Yosemite" The second paper was read by
Miss Hershey, on ''The Growth and Infiu.
ence Of the Magazine" An outline history
OF the growth Of the magazine in the United
States from the founding of Harpers' in 1850
down to the present, was given, touching
also on magazine illustration.
Miss Seymour gave a humorous sketch Of
neighborhood magazine club in Los An
geles before the boom, when bound books
were in small demand and consequently
difficult to obtain. Miss Seymour also
touched on the magazine reading habit that
such clubs engender and tend to foster.
An excellent paper, christmas Books for
Children was read by Mrs T. w. Brown.
the writer that she could select almost in
stantly the pupils in her school who came
from book-loving homes. To teach intelli.
gently, the writer continued, the instructor
must be in the current OF literature. Non.
literary teaching has done more to dwarf
the minds of children than any other enc
cause The club, the church, beautiful
homes and elaborate entertainment, all
have their value, but they can never outrank
the child. To cultivate correct literary
taste the best things must be read to the
child, and thus fortified with an inherent
taste for the good, he will seldom incline
to the bad a good rule TO follow is not to
give child what you do not like yourself.
The writer made strong plea for the
retention of literature for children that
comes within the realm of the imagination,
such as myths, legends and poetry, arguing
against the modern tendency of extremes in
realism. The speaker asked her grandson,
aged 8, what kind of books he liked best.
The boy struggled for few minutes be-
tween his desire to please his grandmother,
his own tastes and the scorn of an elder
brother present, who knew his weakness,
and then stoutly replied, Indians She
Immediately decided that this incipent dis
cple Of Charles Lummis should have for
Christmas the most Indany of all books
that that lover of Indians has written.
The first and last papers of the morning
possessed the added value and charm of be-
ing distinctly heard all over the room, a
luxury of which the club is too often de-
prived. After the papers were read, Miss
Hershey gave a brief report of the Club
House association, to the effect that more
stock must be subscribed for before any of
the present plans could be realized. The
stock is now for sale to persons outside of
the club and is offered as plain business
investment. The approximate amount nec-
essary to erect suitable building is $500,
S2500 of which has been subscribed, aside
from the cost Of the lot, which was 5000.