Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-12-12
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

A man may be known by his books
as by his friends. His choice of books
reveals his character as truly as his
choice of companions. The careless
thinker. the one of indiscriminate
tastes, the low minded and the vicious
are shown to be such by the literature
to which they turn with greatest
pleasure. But the man who has a Xix
ing for good reading can no more
help proving himself cultured than
the flower can help revealing its
beauty
A taste for good books is an anchor
that will hold the spirit safe in many
Of life's storms,
II young people could understand
that the best books are also the most
interesting, a deal Of trash would
quickly go out of print. The popular
books that stream from the modern
press are really not half SO entertain
Ing and absorbing as the great stories
that have stood the test of time. IN
truth, the reading public will not let 9
stupid book live. Sheer interest is
one of the standards that must be con-
formed to by any book that is to have
| g. permanent. value. A real pleasure
! is conferred upon person, as well as
a. genuine service done to the cause
OF good literature, when he is made
to understand that the greenest past
ures for all who would browse in the
printed page are those provided by
the masters of the art of writing
The good book and the goody'
eoody book are not the same thing.
The book that has value is the one
that reflects real life, and every page
of which reflects real life, and every
page of which breathes sanity and
wholesomeness. The morbid senti
mental anG sanctimonious volume Is
really bad book, for it violates the
eternal canon Of life and art. The
best book always sets forth, in fail
proportion and In living colors
"things as they are" That so much
Of the popular" literature of religion
has not done so has been reproacf
upon the wisdom of Christian writer's
and publishers and teachers.
This is newspaper-reading age
and many persons bemoan this fact
Yet how comes it to pass that this
is also the greatest book-reading age
of the world, with more public libra
, ries-and these better patronlZed-
than the scholars Of an earlier genera
ton would have deemed possible
From study of life as it Is mir
rored in the pages Of the daily news
paper it is short and easy step tt
; the study of life as it is more fully
. discriminatory and entertaingly sc
forth in the great works Of literature
:: The great public libraries repor
! that the most popular books amon
their readers are works OF fiction
. There are several good reasons TO
| this: and among these must be II
3 cluded the desire on the part of mu
: titudes of persons to find escape i
/. the world of books from the irksome
i ness and unloveliness OF the req
!, world in which they live A book
a refuge for the weary, the di!
couraged and the dissatisfied In ii
:, realm all turns out well. and thing
are seen in proportion. What con
fort are books, even surer than th
y comfort Of living friends. One need
!, only scant imagination to picture tn
= multitudes of heart5ore men and won
, en- who this day will turn to the boo
= of inspiration to find the comfo
;, which the world has withheld.
;s One can better afford not to rea
v the best-selling book of the moni
y than to miss those classics whit
If bear the seal of the approval of ii
a centuries. And il one feels that Il
Q latest books may not De omitted. the
at least the wise rule may be adopt,
to read one old book for every ne
d, one.
re-
Ip To 0.,asten ones speech, 70 eleya