The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-12-06
A Snapshot Of "The Girl With the
Big Boa" and Her Chum,
"The Girl With the
Frizzly Hair"

them-wanted Doctor Van Dykes most
recent endeavor. She wanted style for
style sake. and doubtless, had absorbed
enough of popular misconceptions to UNI
derstand the rules governing literature as
she Is wrote
saw some quite ordinary people: people
with ordinary common sense. who soberly'
picked out 1.-THE Autobiography OF a
Thief" THE Life and Tfmessof Thomas
Jenerson," Henry Ward Beecher" by
Lyman Abbott. and the most recen:
studies of Schumann, Wagner and Brown
ing.
Tho Kipling enthusiast, how familiar no
Is becoming? Not the Kipling adm,rer
Not the kipling reader. either. precisely.
| But he-it Is always a man-who deems
| Kipling all the law and the gospels.
| He walks as II animated by a dynamo
OF about 10000 horsepower. His mustache
has an aggressive twist. and he actually
has those eyes which the romantic novel;
list unanimously declare have the quality
OF piercing one Nou must remember
now the hero always pierces the villain
! with his, the hero's eyes. He does not
Understand repose. As the clerk with the
long neck is looking up THE Five Ma
tions. he PAGES to and fro, swipging his
arms. and breathing at pace that would
put the habitual cigarette smoker out OF
business in half a minute.
He seems constantly to be saying to
himself. "Kip. Kip, Hurrahr'
Food and drink-and then some mora
drink-lie for many men and women. who
were foolish enough to get into the a,,-
thor business. in the Unsuitable appetite
for more story. which nowadays is de-
veloped to abnormal proportions. Often a
boy or girl. saturated first with nursery
rhymes. then with tales of more or less
conference told by parents or nurse. lit
orally grows up In an atmosphere of story.
They open book and, from the momen.
that the cavalier lover Is introduced to
the damsel Of high degree and passionate
orbs." they glue their optics to the pages
and bury themselves for hours in the
theme, just to find out what happens to
the books people. Through duel. through
siege. through wars, through vicissitudes
without number. they follow the adven-
lures Of the central pair. They get them
selves gradually to that state where they
are distraught when the hero is distraught,
where they weep when the heroine Is cry
ing her eyes out. imagining herself pure
imagination. Of course) unloved. uncared
for. deserted. helpless and in hard luck
generally.
To reach this state Of subservience to
fiction. the victim. after the nursery
rhyme experience. goes through the G. A.
Henty stage. using him as typical Of the
better class Of juvenile writing OF the
thrilling adventure" description. He then
reads Scott from beginning to end. tho
whole Waverly novel series; then Bulwer.
and SO on until he has exhausted the so.
called classic" stun. and rushes con-
stantly after the newest and widest thing
Of the modern romantic kind.
These story maniacs arc very prominent
around the book stalls. They have q care
for the exterior Of the book which they
purchase. The publishers understand
them fully and. in the development Of the
art. are able to. and do. put
On tho covers pictures of devilish-looking
fellows chopping up people with swords or
ances.
After binding. they consider illustra-
IONS II the spirit Of story be sufficiently
strong and the illustrators ability up to
he mark. 70 that the tales thra1l speaks
tut and exerts its spell through the pic
ures. that book Is very apt to be what u
JAILED a seller"
As to the other kinds Of buyers Of other
sinds Of books, 60 downtown and see for
;ourself.