The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-07-27

Butte, the busiest place OF It's
size in the world" How do men
improve fill their minds when il,e
days work is done? And what do thry
pay for the mental recreation that is
found on the printed page?
In answer to this it is the testimony
of book dealers here that more him
grade fiction is sold in Butte than in
almost any other city of tie size in the
United States. Year in and year out tie
best copyrighted books are in steady de-
mand. Prices are practically the same
all over the country. and as the peop,e
have more money than elsewhere. why
shouldn't they buy freely?
The summer demand for what is known
a. fiction is perhaps not quite equal in
Butte to that of some other places. Here
in the we where the Sabbath is almost
universally a day of recreation. rather
than rest at home, there is comparatively
Little readn" done in the heated season.
ENcrrs OF s. pc les. fishing, all lake away
from the readir~ classes. But as tla
colder days come, and indoors is more
pleasant than the o-en air. the demand
increases by leaps and bounds. until the
total yearly sales are very large.
The large book sale and the phenom-
email numbers of weekly and monthly pc
IlOd1caIS sofa. the oupllc llpidlS S!t'NS
probably the largest percentage of IL
hrary patrons to the total ponulat ton of
any city in the country. Eastern critics
deal only with their own self-rightecus
prejudice. not facts when they introduce
and her people.
The sale of the popular priced monthly
periodicals runs up above the 5000 mark
per month besides all the thousands that
come direct from the publishers to the
reader There is considerable demand
for the old standard magaZines-Ha;-
per's. the Century and Scribners almost
the last of the old line-but the popular
priced publications are past driving even
these from the field. 1t is estimated by
the book sellers that the demand fer
magazines has more than doubled with
in two years: one dealer says it is ten
times what it was five years ago. There
is little sale for the problem magazine
like the Arena. and the heavy reviews
go slowly.
A most encouraging sign lies in the
dwindlng sale of the yellow backed
penny dredfuls that used to intlame the
mind of the boy just starting into his
teens. Diamond Dick" Nick Carter
and the "Old Sleuth'' series are all but
things of the past. The popular maya
zines and better class Of books for
boys. have aiken the place, to the great
good of ALL Probably nine out Of ten
of these dreful works deal with alleged
western life where rescuing distressed
naidens, hunting wild highwaymen
and daily battle with subtle redskins are
supposed to be part of tile daily scout
ing life. Western, boys know these
stories TO be impossible and gigantic
lies, and will have none of them. The
western boys are not SO credulous as
their easter ncousins. they neither be-
lieve nor care for the alleged detective
exploits that make up the other part OF
the yellow back literature and whose
scenes are laid in the, east. There has
been much agitation against these books
in the east, but there the demand still
continues: in Butte 1t never was large
and is dying out more than ever.
The sale of high grade subscription
books, like the sett publications from
such houses as Harpers, Scribners and
Houehton, Mifflin & Co., is one of thu
wonders of the Butte box world. These
and other high class publishers, have
local agents. and it is said that theil
sales SHOW gI>\ number of books IL
fine art bindings costing from S. to 81
or more a volume, is greater to the pop
platicn of Butte than in any other city
OF the United states.
The testimony of the dealers ir
Juvenile books is that while the de-
mand for such is somewhat smalle
than in most other cities. the average
quality is far better as to newness ant
style Of binding. The smaller humble
is due to the fact that the child popula.
ton of Butte is not up to that of mos
cities of this size, there being SO man!
single men in Butte in the smelters ant
mines. But the quality also tells OF goo
taste, and of there being enough none,
here to pay good price for good ar
tce.
There is a much larger demand 70
technical works mostly on mining
smelling or metallurgy. than would b
found in most cities of the same siz
IN the east. Accurate statistics woul
be Impossible to give. but that is tn
testimony of dealers who have don
business in other cities before comm
here. There are hundreds Of ambition
young fellows who are studying to bet
ter their condition in life by learnn
the secrets of this work that lie hidde
in books. and they buy freely of tech
Nical works that will aid others. TIL
number of such works sold in Butte
very large The public library, also give
its testimony along this line, by show
ing higher percentage of technics
works to the total number of book
called for. than almost any other librar
il. the country.
Speaking of self education. the bus
ness college does great work in it's n,l
schools, having sometimes 200 or &
students. many of them grown mel
who are seeking for the education ths
was denied them in their youth. Mos
Of them are foreigners. who feel the nee