The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1905-04-06
The Presidents Reading.

Many persons explain their failure
to read newspapers, to keep in touch
with current literature or to do more
serious reading than commonly comes
under either of these branches, on the
plea that they have no leisure, that
their regular daily work occupies all
their time. People who really love
reading, to whom the qualification OF
the taste is almost as necessary as the
satisfying of the appetite for dinner,
know that this excuse is not good
one. They know that even the busiest
men and women who feel that they
must read will find opportunity to do
so, will snatch momnt her and an
other there, will take time from sleep
will somehow or other manage to feed
the mind as we'll as the body
Such persons as these last will find
no great cause for surprise in the
statement by writer in current
magazine that President Roosevelt
continues his habit of reading in spite
of his many duties and the incessant
tax upon his attention. Even they,
however, will be amazed at the wide
scope of his reading and the amount
he accomplishes. This same maga-
zine writer presents partial list of
the books read by the President dur
ing the first two years of his term of
office, the information being obtained
from personal acquaintance familiar
with his library and his use of it.
The record certainly shows cath
olic taste on the part of the Chief
Magistrate. Th list begins with parts
of Herodotus, Thucydides, Plutarch,
Sophocles, Aristophanes, Aristotle
these in translation; it includes many
histories and biographies, Bacon's
Essays" a number Of Shakespeare's
plays, many of Scott's, Dickens and
Thackery's novels, volumes of recent
verse, a number of children's books,
several volumes dealing with out of
door life, books of travel, Abraham
Lincoln's writings and his Life" by
Hay and Nicolay, the battles in Car
lyle's Frederick the Great" and
many more works in the same line.
Many of the books mentioned had, of
course, been read before.
In addition he reads large num-
Der of books of light current fiction,
including "The Gentleman from Indi-
ana," .''rhe Virginian," Mrs. Wigs"
etc. and also read all the leading mag
azines, nothing of importance in the
pages escaping him. He is also a
newspaper reader. He is understood
to be still keeping up this pace and
the author OF the article says: I'm the
thick of the campaign of 1904 l hap
pen to know that he re-read all of
Macaulay's History of England all
of Rhodes's History of the United
States'-seven large volumes in all
and Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit.' "
1t will be admitted that the Presi-
dent is an exceedingly busy man and
that if any one has valid excuse
for not doing miscellaneous reading
he surely has. That he is able to do
so much of it can only be accounted
for by the fact that he has the abil-
ity to read with great rapidity. A
parallel case among public men was
that of Gladstone, who not only read
and reread the great works OF lit
erature throughout his busy life, but
apparently missed few current pub
locations of any note. 1t will certain
| ly be pleasant to other omniverous
readers to know that the President
has tastes like their own, and IN the
face of his example those who have
been saying they had no time for
reading may we'll be silenced.