West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1905-03-23
DISSIPATION IN READING.

From Special Contributor.
Reading and travelling arc prolific sources
Of Information. Since travelling Is denied
majority Of people, reading Is the most es-
srntal means Of intellectual deveiopemen'.
llence The Importance Of rclirbl- literature
Great caic should be exercised 10 the select
ton Of our reading matter; equal caution
should be used la dgcs,ing The contents l.
Is requisite 20 study the thought, the ex.
preston and sen,imen, Of The profound
writers Again no such care need be used
in lighter literature, as The thought IS always
literally exposed.
Dissipation m readirg Is visible every
where, aud among all classes Of people
One If the Iegeneraied characteristics of
human beings is the unlimited desire TO
talk. To perfect this ambition they resort
20 reading They will read rapidly or scan
the thoughts Of Others for material No
good Is derived from this method as {, only
disinie CRATES originality. The abundance Of
literature In the field today Is by far too ex.
tensive EOS the human mind TO encompass.
What advantage is gained m attempting all
and lacking proficiency in auy2 Iris per.
picking 10 hear people yainly essay some
work OF article which they have read with
out comprehension. The object is To cschew
modesly, 10 be able 10 talk In the desire
to devclope good opinion of themselves
they will s,oop to such puppyism
There is doubt whether the so called
reading class ever knew Of the existence OF
Gray, Steele or Lavaier; aud probably
could not relate the narrative Of Joshua and
the Phillis,ines. They may have read
Sheakespeare, yet they could not form any
conception of what was meant by sIhe
rayelfd sleeve of care" Dissipation In
reading is frequently the cause Of very un.
pleasant results IN the discussion Of social
| topics. Among those who think they be.
long to the better class Of society, CONVEX.
salon almost invariably drifts toward book,
or literature. Aud the injtuocaiive, have
you read such and such books is the prov
mial phrase And pride prompts the indi
wdnal addressed TO answer in the aairma-
tive. Then that book becomes the center OF
conversation; its author. language, sen,i
msnt aud final conclusion is the basis foi
elaborate comment And Dung this dis
cussIou if you can't talk Guently and will
dispatch, if you have read the book in :
reckless manner without concentration Of
thought, aud know but little or nothing Of
ITS contents, you then become cognizant thai
you are in position to make yourself
ridiculous. In such case it is better to sa,
that you are not prepared to speak of It,
Oae great mistake in reading is to pas,
over word not understood Everybod,
should have a dictionary al, hand to refer to
All who can afford good encyclopedia
should have one. Its we'll to- study Ia,
synonyms aud antnyms The secret oil
success in reading is to grasp the fine dis
tnction of every word in The sense in which
it used. One does not have to believe
everything that is read as much is written
without that superstition The important
thing is TO get The au,hor's intention. Bacon
says, tread MT To con,mdic, or confute;''
not to believe and take for granted, no, 10
find talk and discourse, bat ,o weigh and
consider Wha, should be read, and how ?
That is not hard problem to solve. For
deep reading such authors as Homer, Hugo,
Shakespeare, Milton, Dickens, Bunyan,
lIaw,horne, Living and others Of their type
Ponder over such works and think. One
hook by such writer's. we'll considered, is
better than all the hasiy reading combined
Again the works of such authors as Roe,
Wilson and Parker should be courted They
are all good aud rive, lhe attention Of all
thoughtful readers.
Also everybody should read the leading
magazines as IIarper's, Century. Every.
bodys, Golfers and the Saturday Eyernr
Post The Object in reading magazines is
to keep in touch with The world; and their
articles can be depended upon. as they are,
to the editors best knowledge, authentic
Newspaper in general should not he read.
Everybody should take home paper. A
citizen who will not take his own county
plp.r ought to be DISTINGUISHED. It keep,
you posted in all The rural districts. aud
reciies the important movements Of your
neighbors throughout the county, aud adj
verI7es the business world for that particular
locality. f.. a. ID.
a DIES TRUCTGVE FIRE.
Il