Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1898-04-14
NEW-CENIURY CLUB

current Events Glass. which was uu- |
fortunate as papers of much interest
were read, and Rn interesting informal
discussion followed talk by Mrs.
benjamin Nields on the present great
national Issues.
Bertha Harlan quoted Shakespeare'H
saying,
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft inferred with their bones.
which, il sometimes true, there was
never a creator exception to its truth
than in the case of Frances Z. Willard,
whose good daeds are alive and active
in the hearts of thousands Of her fellow
| mon because they represented the i'm
| perishahle principles OF truth, purity
nnn Justice A biography Of Miss
4 Willard is being prepared By her sscre
tary, Miss Anna Gordon, who was her
closest and constant companion for q
| ysarB.
In speaking of tho "hoodoo" popu-
larly supposed to attach to a vessel
christened with water ii was stated
that Old lrousides, tho pet ship OF the
| navy in the war of 1912, celebrated in
song and story and known and loved
| by every school boy, was christened
with water taken from snring on
| Cops Hill, where the battle of Bunker
Hill was fought supplemented ny
bottle Of salt water broken over her
figure head as she left the ways. The
Hartford, to whose mast Admiral Far
ragut was dashed 10 the engagement at
Mobile Bay and which now lies in
Mare Island Navy Yard, being pre-
pared for future use. was christened
with Connecticut River and Hartford
sp-ing water, and by tho late Admiral
Profile. then lieutenant, with bottle
of ocean brine.
Many Wilmington people know uf the
existence of Boys Free Reading
Room at No. 100 West Eighth street.
but comparatively few have any idea Of
the number of boys who frequent these
rooms. An average of nenrly a thousand
Visits q month, iB the record during
the winter. Two small rooms are in
use, the back one for tho younger boys
who have free use of games and Illus
trated papers. The front one is used
ny young men who prefer to come here
for the daily papers, rather than to the
Institute Library. whsrs the crowd is
greater. Theirs are few restrictions;
boys come and so as they like between
and 8. 30 p. M, and enjoy the games
and pictures or discuss their success in
selling the evening papers full of war
news. The rooms are at their disposal
so long as there are no guarrels, nor
profane language used anu they are
usually very orderly: most of them are
very poor. Although no distinctive
temperance instruction is given, except
in Saturday night class, the boys
know that ths rooms stand for purity
of word and life, and it may be that
the silent influence Of pleasant
evening spent here may lessen the do
sire to spend another in the saloon.
, Mrs. Y. James Belt said most Of
the literature that covers our news
) stands and is thrust into our faces on
the trains receives little or no notice
from tho reviewers, yet it has an
enormous circulation. The London
Daily News says: ttThe most popular
noyelists are those who are least
: known to literary people, Robert
Louis Stevenson had the liveliest
It curiosity in regard to that mysterious
v ana pervasive neither world OF books
d which are never criticized and yet are
n read by the millions. This is new
J. phenomenon, the birth OF our own day
!, Of cheap literature. A New England
8 journal says that Augusta, Me-. sends
d out magazines by the million. dwarfing
b by comparison the circulation nf The
l. Century. Harper's. nc. Yet who ever
If heard of these Augusta periodicals.
VI What is ths mysterious affinity by
which these subterranean magazines
f find their congenial bit of brain mat.
t. ter, whether 10 Maine or New Mexico,
Z without advertising, and without The
, knowledge of the rest of the world. Il
% critic takes the pains to hunt up {
= specimen copy, the mystery only
N deepena, for he can find absolutely
; nothing which seems capable o.
ly interesting the human mind, yet thsst
t. popular magazines are sent out by tn,
10 ton, addressing an audience, compared
IN with which the readers of Stevenson
st Kipling, or Hall CRine are Coterie al
in select as Artemus Wards family circle
~ (which | am it, myself" ProbRbl,
among those who pride themselves oil
a keeping up with contemporary litera
40 ture are many VINO never heard of III,
IN Albatross novels, or OF the author VIII,
in signed himself Albert Ross, yet thes
W novels have already sold over a million
le copies, and before mis- death the autho
=, accumulated SO large fortune that b.
30 engaged in charity, on magnifiGen
scale.
in Mary J. Holmes numbers her novel
of by the score and her readers by th
r. legion, yet why 30 many thousands o
We people should care to read her bookH i
hs conundrum. Her latest book, . Pan
Mt Ralston," has no style; in portrayal o
W life and character il ia about a
I'D accurate picture as the sketch whiol
Is. the school boy draws with staggerin
elk slate pencil and labels "this ia
house." to secure it's identification
er the plot has no ingenuity, it ia no
BIT especially exciting nor does it oontai
>rt anything that ia improper or capabl
rd of appealing to deprayed taste.
sre would seem mediocrity is the vale 70
ed success in hitting the lasts of th
lty million. The characters in this boo
Ter are AZ unreal as comic opera peasants
eli Perhaps the secret of its popularit
'rk lies ID the lave story which portray
'ar the winning of the heart of a rich an
fashionable young man by yirtuou
Ter and amiable young woman. far belo
be his social sphere. An analysis of undel
riy ground fiction would probably aho
be this as the most popular of all themes
me it looks like sure recipe for author
re- but they might spoil the recipe by q
nd infuaion of ideas, or miss the mark /
oks an effort at simplicity, which is nj
On appreciated in the subterranean worl
OF letters. Finery ia required, but
must not be the real Thing, but
sham, and, above all, anything lii
IN realism must be Stunned in addresair
nus this audisnce, which likes its readir