The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-10-22
DIME NOVEL DOOMED.
It Has Been Succeeded By Better
Glass of Literature.
New York Evening Sum-

New York Evening Sum-
The simon-pure dime novel of fifteen
years ago, with their flashy covers and
their alliterative titles, the joy of the
youth and small boy and the horror of
loving parents, are on the decline. In
deed, there are reasons for believing
that the real, onld- fashioned dime novel
that the real, old-fasnioned dime novel
is practically extinct Poor limitations
make their appearance from time to
time, but they deceive no one. What
person who as a boy has whiied away
the sunny hours on the south side OF
the barn, deeply absorbed in the fiend
ish cruelty and MaehiaveIiian shrewd-
ness of "Montezuma the 'Merciless' OF
"Murley the Mutineer," or of Daring
Damon the Demon, can wonder why
the insipid vapor1ngs Of the latter-day
dime novelist fail to appeal to the
youth of the present day? 1t is true
that these novels are still read, but not
to any great extent. The manager of
the juvenile department of one of the
large news companies said the other
day that at the present time there were
but two series of the old fashioned dime
novels on the market, and that the de-
mand for them was slight.
And the publishers of the famous old
literature-where are they? Their rise
to fame and fortune was like the flight
of an eagle but their descent, though
less abrupt, was no less decisive. Fiji.
teen years ago they We're at the pin
nacle of success. Their output Of dime
novels approached figlires that were
equaled only by the enormous consump-
ton of that class of literature; and to-
day there are but one or two of those
publishing firms in existence, and they
have given their attention almost en-
tirely to the production of other kinds
of literature.
The cause of this decline in the dime
novel has been accounted for by the
proportionate development of the
youthful mind with the growth of the
country The 10-cent magazines, the
various juvenile periodicals and the
cheap editions of standard books for
boys have tended to educate and i'm
prove the youthful minds and to make
them desire something more intellectu
ally satisfying than the dime novel, il
not so exciting. And then there is the
improved half-dime novel. 1t has IL
Illuminated covers, is printed on a fair
quality of paper, and is written in the
style of the OLIVER Optic" and "Alger'"
books. These novels. it is said,.are en-
joying great popularity.
One searches in vain, however, for
the favorite old heroes that delighted
and thrilled the small boys in past gen.
eratione-men who cut notches in the
stocks of their trusty rifles for every
Indian they killed and who always es-
capped threatened dangers through feats
of superhuman strength or skill. Jack
Harkaway, Old Sleuth, Captain Ku-
KluX, Kit Collier and all the rest of
the famous scouts, outlaws, Indian
fighters and detectives are no longer in
demand and have passed into oblivion.
Indeed, there are few of the present
generation that know that they ever
existed.
Another reason for the decline of the
dime novel is that the things they told
of belong to the past. There are no
more Indian wars, and the few Indians
that are left are gathered on the reser-
vations; the buffaloes are gone; the out
law bands have long been broken up.
and the leaders shat or hanged. Even
the historic old Western stage coach
has given way to the railroad train or
the trolley car. The yellow journals,
| with their glazing supplements, have
also tended to displace the dime novel.
And, besides this, the late war has pro-
vided such food for the boyish imagl-
nation as cannot be obtained in novels.
Fifteen years ago there was hardly a
live. wide-awake, fiesh-and- blood boy
in the country who did not read a dime
novel at every opportunity. OF course,
the unyielding opposition of parents
and teachers made their perusal all the
more exciting.
fair specimen of the old time liter
allure may be found in the following
| dialogue:
"'You see that man.
81 see him.
Mark him well.
I have done S0I
| Find out his name
| Il know him already
Hal who is he?'
Peter Parker the boy detective
| HE dies and with that Jim Jones
drew his trusty revolver, took deadly
aim, fired and the next moment Peter
Parker disappeared, never to appear
again. Did we say never? Yes. he did
| appear again, and at a most opportune
moment. (See our next issue.1
| A favorite time to read these novels
was during the long hours of a Sunday
morning church service Boys would
tear out pages of the novels and roll
| them carefully around lead pencil.
Holding them we'll under the back OF
| the preceding pew. they would gradual
ly unroll them as they read. Another
method was to secrete the pages be-
tween the leaves of the hymn books and
Bibles.
Many fortunes have been made in the
publication of dime novels but most of
the old publishers still surviving now
give their attention to periodical litera-
ture. The names Of some are to be
found on the covers of weekly maya
zines, while others are dead or. have
turned to other methods of making a
living. The total extinction Of the dime
novel and half-dime novels is. said by
wholesale dealers to be a future GER
tainty.
Carpets sewed, lined and laid
FREE