The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1904-08-11
OLD ooK lAunoeaeo
Public Library Puts Thousands OF
Volumes In New Dress Yearly.

. aRtAo
Volumes. In New Dress Yearly.
A large room on the first door OF the
Chicago Public Library building re-
minds one OF a laundry with soiied
clothes nj one end and washed and
ironed ones at the ofher. Two or three
long. wide tables are c0yertd with
books, torn. frayed and dirty. Other
tables and rows OF shelves are filled
with volumes just from b bindery. In
spick, span. new clothes. with black,
blue. green. purple, maroon. or red
backs; not as gandy or as gilty as In
their original array. but far more
solid and substantial.
Last year 5000 volumes were re
claimed and reclad. and this year 5000
will be. Most OF them are novels. an
occasional history or work on practical
arts feeling MS lost in the tattered rank
OF fiction as a pedigreed dog among
ours OF the pound. The original bind
ing seldom lasts more than six months.
But stout boards" In place OF cloth is
substituted. and the leather backs In
stead OF cloth ones. The thread Is
much stronger. and esch token or
cluster OF pages is sewed separately.
s o that the renovated book OF this
grade and sort lasts four or i've times
as long as IL did in its original COW
ers. Each new book costs an average
OF S. cents. and its new suit 30 cents.
or. taking into its longer en-
durance. about 8 cents
The chief damage done is the tear
ing OF the leaves. he tearing OF the
covers from the leaves. the soil. and
the writing In them. The writing
mainly consists OF comment upon the
book. either in praise or blame. Love
ly book" Fine story" BE sure and
read H." isn't she just lorelyY" Il
think Reginald is a splendid fellow"
Just too nne for anything" Adverse
judgments are briefer and less ex-
plicit Bum" and mo good" sums
II up.
These comments have all 10 be erss-
ed, which is sometimes made impossi-
bic by their being written in iDdeli-
bic ink. Occasionally the character OF
the book prorokes controversial In
scripuons. Books In favor OF secession
excite emphatic protests from rni"n
readers. The history OF Belle Boyd"
the spy. has been fesrfully marked up
with frank opinions Of her secession
procliviues. Protestanrs and Catholics
also give rent 10 their sentiments In
regard to each others creed and son
A.. G. ~ shnxA ~ snN4n 1fkftH or
anarchistic beliefs. when he rare
chance OF their presence in fiction
oncrs. Frequently these voluntary
commentators are satisfied 20 draw a
line under the obnoxious text and set
a question or interrogation mark In
the margin. These esposiuons are gen.
orally In pool writing. bad spelling.
and bad English. Occasionally they
are bitter. and even profsne-
Two or three damaged books are
kept as ~curiosities. One In a history.
by Senator Lodge OF Massachusetts.
II was run over by the wheel OF a
street car and a hundred odd pages cut
sheer across diagonally. Another is
a copy OF the United States o1ncisl
Register. from which sorne one while
in the library was able undetected 10
cut over O pages containing the list
OF postof,ccs and postmasten In the
United States probably for a mailing
list Many OF the books are badly
stained with the compound OF mud
and SCOT hat overlays Chicago streets.
when a book has been defaced Of
damaged. but il not yet far gone
enough for reminding. the one who
draws II from he library after the de
fectr have been seen. il protected by
a stamped line reading: Pages las TO
I5S OF this book were cut out previous
to June Is. 1904" or whatever the date
may have been.
or Dickens works David Copper
held'' Is most frequently rebought and
rebound. "Ivsnhoe~ Of Scott's. OF the
more modern books Mark Twain's In
nocents Abroad" -Roughing IT." and
TON Sawyer: ChurchilIs Richard
Carvel- and The Crisis though Ben
Hur~ beats them all in the length Of
time during which II has been replaced
on the shelves. Sometimes the public
fools the library officials as IL does the
publishers. or the seventy-nve copies
OF Kipling's kim" thirty-h Ave are on
the shelves as good as new. and there
are forty such OF wotr Mitchell's
Hugh wynne." The supply Of James
Lane Aliens Reign OF Law" likewise
exceeds the demand. The last supply
OF David Harum" is not yet exhaust
ed--Chicagc Tribune.
Yankee Ideas % tho East
Yankee notions have encircled the