The Washington herald., 1907-01-13


on the facade Of the Public Library
here, the gift Of Carnegie, there is writ
ten, a University for AL" and that
seems 10 be the spirit of the public library
in the United States, a spirit that is
growing more liberal year by year. 1t is
the exception TO ind the erratIc librarian
who attracts attention TO himself and ad-
vertises an unworthy book by refusing It
access TO his shelves. The most that is
done usually is TO guard against books.
meant solely for adults getting into the
hands of the young and unsophisticated.
They have other ideas about the func-
tions Of libraries in England and Aus
tralia. and in the latter country espe-
cially Just now they are having time
over the use of the newspapers IN the
public library reading rooms. 1t seems
that the newspapers over there make
speciality Of publishing betting tips on
the horse races, and the librarian. deem
ing these improper reading, had pieces OF
blank paper pasted over the tips before
the papers were placed on file. There
WIS an indignant protest at once, quite
as much from those who do not use the
tips as from those who DO. There has
been lot OF talk comparing the system
TO the Russian censorship and heated in
divduals, though threatened with the
penalties Of the law. made It point o
emphasize their protest by tearing of
these slips as soon as they appeared. Now
the librarians are mixing out the tips, so
the protest seems unavailing.
The American millionaire who is sup
posed to prowl through Europe or hunt
for valuable and rare art treasures
which he may bring over TO this country,
IS used as a bogey. with more or less eff
feet. every time a large library, d his
toTic site, or a collection OF famous paint
ings comes under the hammer It prob
ably helps to stir up the patriotism Of
home miuiouaires. The latest case Of
this sort happened at Glasgow, at a
meeting held December IS, IN aid OF a
scheme for preserving the Aud Brig
immortaliZed by Burns. In the course OF
an address Lord RosebeTy took occasion
TO call attention to the fact that not even
Scott was held as dearly 20 the hearts
Of the Scottish people as Burns, and he
declared that this object OF antiquarian
and national interest should be preserved,
and unless the Aud Brig were quickly
saved, they might have it purchased by
some great American multi-milllonaire
who would have the stones numbered and
the Aud Brig put up in his back gar
den in Chicago"
Although the question OF spelling re-
form is about dead since Congress took 4
whack at 1t, it is interesting 10 know that
so distinguished a printer as Benjamin
Franklin was in his day an advocate Of
easy spelling. In letter written 10 Mrs.
Jane Macon. July 4, l77S, writes:
You need not be concerned in writing 10 me.
about your bad spelling for, in ms opinion, as the
alphabet now stands the bad spelling, OF what y
called So is generally the best. conforming 20 the
sound Of the letters and the word. To give y0u m
instance: A gentleman received letter which cen
tanned these words: Net finding Brown az HON I
delivered your meseg 10 his i. The gentleman
finding bad spelling and therefore not very intel
ligibe called his lady to help him Between them
they puzzled out the meaning Of all but the II,
which they could not understand The lady pro
pxed calling her chambcrmaid, for Betty. she said.
had the best kuacE at reading bad spelling o. any
one she knew. Why" said Betty, when she was
called in. VI spells wife, Of course What else can
it spens' And indeed 1t is a much better. as vel
a shorter way Of spelling the word, Tor wi--e
IS really Wifey,
AS an author Theodore Roosevelt has
been prolific, but he has not been partic-
ularly well known as a writer OF mere
literary essays, so it is with something
OF surprise that one reads the title Of his
latest published work, The Ancient
Irish Sagas," which subject he handles
most Interestingly in the current issue
Of the Century. The surprise grows less,
however. when one comes TO know some
OF the sagas better and thus is brought
10 realize how. 10 a man Of the PTesi-
dents finely strenuous temperament they
must appeal It is with something of the
warriors fervor that in his essay tho
President quotes from the Saga OF
"Brlcriu of the Bitter Tongue" such
words as these:
An OCEAN in a fury a whale that Tagrth, fragment
cf flame and IRE:
A bear majestic a grandly moving billow
a beast in maddsuing ire;
In the crash Of glorious battle through the hostile
foe ne leaps.
His shout the fury Of doom;
4 terrible bear he is death 20 the herd Of cattle
Feat upon feat head upon head he heaps;
Iaud sou the hearty Ole, he who Is victor fully
One can almost hear our Chief Execu-
tive calculate: Isn't that 5ully." as he
mouths such heroic lines.
There is an engineer on the New York
Central Railroad who lays claim 70 being
q patron Of the art Of literature. An &C
cident had incapacitated him from work
for a time and he was passing the time.
duly enough waiting for COnvalescence
One day his wife came to his room with
the stat Ament that n gentleman wanted
TO see him She did not know who Ii
was. but described him as a little, short
man. with black mustache. big specta-
cles and the incest smile you ever saw.
When the man came in he introduced
himself as Mr.. RudyaTd Kipling, and
said: Il asked your superintendent TO in
troduce me TO a man who knew all about
running a locomotive, and he told me Of
you. Won't you help me? OF course, I'll
pay you for your time" Thereafter for
several days the much-sought author
might be found I'm the room Of mis-
friend the engineer, who. propped I'd IN
bed. the COVerlet StreWn with blue prints
Of machinery. filed him I'D with technical
details OF cngne-running, throttles, ex-
haUst valves, steam gauges and so on.
Doubtless the engineer wondered at the
time why this studi0us young man was IN
such a hurry for technical information.
but he was glad enough of the check he
received for his instruction and perhaps
more glad yet when one day there came
to him book OF tales by Kipling. in
which his own engine and his own work
We're graphically and accurately de-
scribed.
Speaking Of Kipling, there has just been
issued IN London a new edition Of Rob
inson Crusoe" in Latin, the translation
made by Nr. C. T. Gonreaux. The edit
Ing was done by p. A. Barnett, Of Trim
fty College, oxford. The Latin edition Is