Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-11-29
READ,Mc ron YOUTHS.
Some Grc~sns Dangers Pointed Out
and Remedy for Them.

is of NOR consequence TO knew NJ lith
TO avoid than which 10 choose. writes
Rev Morgan NJ Sheedy in the Pitts
burg Dispatch
Ii soc1 books are "a blessing and do a
world of good. bad books are a curse
and do world Of haiIA. Exil men,
eS1il lives. e,ii examples spread n moral
Tsestilence openly and powerfully, but
nothing spreads falsehood and evil
more surely and deeply than a bad
book No sooner had The sewer in the
parable sowed the coed seed and
reached the end of the furrew when the
enemy came. freading in his footsteps.
and sowing Upon the same soil the
fzles and poisons of falsehood and inn
purity. A bad book is falsehood and
wiekedness in permanent and imrer
sonaI forAn-all the more dangerous be-
cause disguised and -enacions in its
aciion upon the mind and soul. An in
dex expurgatorius is impossible in
country like this where liberty OF
thought and speech terad and written,
is permitted TO run even 10 the extreme
OF license nevertheless, the index ex-
purgaforius may be Transcribed upon
the delicate and enlightened conscience
of all those who love purity and truth.
II is said that crime is rapidly increas-
ing among our juvenile population
Those who have studied the causes are
agreed that IL is. in a large measure
due 10 the reading of bad books and
apers by the young. The other day
] was reading an account in one OF our
city papers of a 16-year-oid murderer.
| not of great malice perhaps. but ready
TO use his pistol, with little proyoca-
ton. like his heroes used theirs. The
paper declared mat the city is flooded
with bad books. II declared that the
news company that furnishes books
and magazines TO the retail trade es-
tifnates that G.so6 copies Of blood-sEnd-
| thunder fiction arrive weekly in that
| city. This amounts to 32s.oee copies a
| year II might roughly be estimated
/ that lee.eee Of these are women
! books The remaining e2s, 6ae are boys
| works OF the most lurid character. In
| the town there are 41.64l boys of school
age BY chopping this in two and al
! lowing that one-half Of this number
are addicted 10 dime-noyel reading
there are left ee.s2e boys. which makes
| "a yearly average of 10 books per boy.
The youth would. indeed Ice escaping
well. however, did each boy read only
10 novels a year But the system
which prevails in the small stores and
news stands enables q boy to obtain
novels under the easiest conditions,
| For five cents a boy can take book
and read and return IL. Al this rate
an expenditure Of s. a year would al
! low d boy 10 procure 80 books.
And doubtless this special city is not
a sinner beyond all others But its
example viii serve. An official of the
I Protective Agency there blames
parents He writes:
There is no doubt that a great dead
IF dine-nov reading goes on among
/ boys of school age. The boys far Out
strip the girls in reading this sort OF
| literature. ] place The blame directly
upon the parents. and ] believe the
only remedy lies with them The only
way is for parents 10 keep strict watch
/ over their children and supervise their
reading Some parents say; But
1 how can I know what MY boy i read
/ inET ANY mother. if she is watchful
enough can know what her boy is
,readinE. Ii is her duty 10 know. i
! consider Il boys parents in a measure
I responsible for his crime. Ii boys viii
read. why do not parents place other
reading matter in their hands. and by
I interesting them IN better literature
| draw their minds away from The dime
novel? The chief Of police Of that city
declared that he was helpless TO cope
4 with the evil of dime-novel reading
An we can do he said. is TO advise
| parents 10 keep their boys from read
! ing TINS SORT OF stuff" He said:
~Tbere might be a law passed pro
hlhiting thu. sale or dime novels 10 boys
under Is, hut there never has been. IL
| rs mort likely due Ia reading dime nov
I les that SO many boys carry pistols
Why. only the other day ] took this
pistol from a Ie-year-oid boy. who had
uTrt i. At the head of companion and
| threatened 10 shoot him. The pistol
e,ilr contained blank cartridge but
even then il might have injured the
other boy. MOI long ago we heard OF
boy in q certain school who had been
flourishinc revolver Before we left
we secured three revolvers which boys
were carrying in the same school. 1t
rs but short time since we took two
reviewers from two boys who used TO
1uy a whole box Of cartridges and go
out to the outskirts of the city and
shoot at all kinds of marks We have
to he continually the lookout for
pistols. and if we can find q dealer who
sells them 10 boys under age We can
prosecute But as to dime novels. we
are helpless"
After the dime novels come the sickly
unrealities and Decentralization 81 sto-
ries with no faith or hope. the ferocity
of the account Of crime. lust hard BIZ
hats-.- the sense of everything being
confused wickedness, or Of good and
evil indistinguishabIe. the lack of NOR
al courage. the preparations for defeat
'F7alf blinded by intellectual pride. az
Mrs Browning says. half brutalizen
Ivy civilization is the highway
leading TO inIpiety and disbelief, I'D
things present and things to come
But what of the novel; Fulfilling its
proper end and aim at elevating the
reader and enlarging his knowledge of
man .r.d of nature End its mysteries,
captivating the hayward fancy, array
ling safutary knosrlAd-e r5ta true Wis