Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-07-17
Ten Cent Literature,

Mark Sullivan has made interesting in
vcstigations of What does the other half
tad?' the results of which he gives in
the Boston Transcript. We make quota
tOnS:
The question admits almost an exact
answer lar the literary loafers of tho
other half, who read the papers In the IL
brary: bar the insignificant few of tno
other half VINO take books out of Inc
library; bar those long-suffcrng servants
who make pa .hetic attempts to read En-
erson in order to please well-meaning but
misguided mistrcsses-bar these. and the
literary pabulum Of the remainder Of tn.
other half may he divided into three
classes-the ten-cent novel. the weekly
continued story paper. and the adventure
story for boys
In a ten-minute walk in the heart Of
the South End. YOU may pass the win
dows of fifty bookstores.
You Will search the windows of those
bookstores in vain for any of the thing;
YOU are accustomed to feast your eyes Oh
in the window Of your own favoritc shop.
No editions de luxe of Thackeray. no
original Illustrations of the latest fiction
not even few secondhand copies OF
standard works, not clC,h-bound book
of any description There is practically
mentioned before A few copies Of the
ten-cent magazines is all that the book
stores Of upper and of lower Washington
street have in common.
All these ten-ccnt novels have some
common characteristics. Absolute lack
Of humor is one of them. You may fol-
through fifty volumes and never find oc-
cason for the fainest smile The cook
at home spends her nights off at one of
the twenty-five-ccnt theatres. She says
| she never feels she has had the worth of
her money unless she has had good cry
| With her dramatic criticism is a very
plays; the bad one-"H's not very sad
| the good onc-"Oh. it's 50 sad"
Th" same test seems To apply to thu,
literature Of the kitchen. The somhrc
bnTnHS St1ik through tho liIg, ye-i
table iiamletS. opposed by the tragedy of
| life. The only laugh YOU ever hear is the
| fendish lauoh' Of tho villain as he turns
The Key on the helpless heroine, or the
''moCkinC laugh OF the designing woman
when her plots succeed and she gloat1
| over her pure ana beautiful rival Is
| there. any relation between this lack Of
humor and the fact that ninctY-ninc ono
hundrcdrhs Of the readers of these books
are women?
The scenes of these novels are inva-
riahly laid in high places. Here is the
setting of the latest story from the Per
of the most prolific author of ten-cont lit
eratUrc:
Tho place in which Nho above convcr-
sation occurred was a luxurious room in
one of those palaces which adorn wide.
haudsomc. aristoCrAtic Fifth avenue: a
vast lofty apartment. pil!arcd with rose
marble HING with vciy"t, Curiained with
safii-a room tit for the gods, frescoed
and carved in rich and delicate designs,
alroS- equal to the work Of Gibbons
and a Nario. lighted by great spaces of
French plate glass, carn"tcd with the
choicest productions of thn far East. AMI
orn3mcntcd with costly hr.C-a-brac. stat
uary. and paintings from a most every
country on the ci"b".
This is really comparatively modest
setting. The great. majority of these
stories introduce you to The country c.-
tate Of nothing less than an English lord.
| ana an carl or a marquis l"Tins 4" speak
not later than the second paragraph.
| hunted M an acguain' ancc who deals
q wholcsalgs II Al kinds 10, q book: re-"
| and asked him whcthcr The sa'e of ten
cent novels is very extensive.
Extensive" said he. II should say II
is Why. we sell iirc times As many tCu-
cent novels as hose thai sell az dol
lar and 4 dollar ana quarter. TherH
are half dozen houses in New York thar
editions sometimes run into thc nun
drcds Of thousands. Moreover. IN" hook
of bigh-ClaSS fiction aren't read as muc'i
as the tcn-cent ones, There are several
stores in the South End devoted entirely
to dealing in ten-cent novels at second
hand. After you've read your ien-cent
novel YOU can sell il there for four cen ;.
and buy another secondhand or" for SIN;
In that way they are r all again and
again. -,
Nethersnic's playing of 'Sapho last year
caused a great demand for that story
All the ten-cent publishers were turning
them ont as fast as their presses would
run and the competition reduced them to
five cents a volume. One dealer. within a
block of the State House and a less dis
tance from a branch of the pubic library.
told me he sold nine hundred copies. tic
had a lot left over when the boom broke
and now he is willing 10 sell them at a
cent apiece.
The wholesale dealer said that while
the sale Of ten-ccnt novels is very large.
the sale Of the weekly continued story
PAPER has been driven out of the cities by
the Sunday naper. and 1t thrives now only
in the smaller factory towns.
Up-.o-date-ness is a much sought quail
ity in this field. and when you see news
boy sitting on a step lost in the pages vt
history, you may reel certa,n ne IL ~
lowing the fortunes of some hero in arms
In l'hina