Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1910-08-31
OLD SCHOOL BOOKS
AND DAYS.
,w,,tsep for rnr Axs.rcAr By Enc h. Kline,
Biuehill, Mel

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Bluehfli, Mel
In these days Of large libraries; Of inex-
pensiye but good books; an abundance Of
magazines ct low prices, besides the morn
ine and evening papers, which discuss
every possible subject, this ssnsrstion can
nave but remote idea Of what . warm
Mace the old school readers had In the
hearts Of the young people, nifty or sixty
years ago.
books in those yeafs were scarce and the
magazine had barely come into existsncs
IN this country. In most Of the small
towns no daily papers were had, only .
weekly or semi-weekly; for before the
Civil war there were hundreds Of villages
where the stage-coach made but one or
possibly two trips per week. After tho
storm broke in civil conflict, an instant
demand for immediate news arose. The
telegraph, the press and the special cor
respondent became . necessity. The
family circles left ct home BY those who
had shouldered the musket and gone TO
the front clamored for moro news from
the loved ones, and this, to great extent,
was the beginning OF the larger circuia-
ton OF the daily newspapers.
In many families, previous to the war,
the school readers were nearly all the
books they had, and through them they
obtained their nrst acquaintance with the
great masters in literature. The wise
selections OF extracts from the choicest
productions Of prose and verse cultivated
a taste for the best in letters in many
young mind which his since borne good
fruit.
After looking through very many Of the
old school books and gathering together
material about their circulation, find
that Mr.. Salem Towns Readers have un-
doubtedly gone through more editions
and their use has extended over . longer
period OF time than any other publications
OF tho.e old days. Mr.. Town first
published series Of four readers called
Towns First, Second, Third and Fourth
and later on, he issued another series OF
i've, called The Progressive Readers.
They were all popular and sold freely, but
the latter series had enormous success, and
for many ycars more than . million
copies were sold annually. In many Of
the smaller towns in several states, the
first series are still In use, and the old
copies are very hard to hnd.
Mr.. Town was born in Belchertown,
Mass, in IT'D. He was teacher in the
public schools In New York state for moro
than forty years, and died In 1884. 1t
would please the old gentleman II he
could but know In what loving memory
the old pupils hold his books.
Who cannot recall the attractive
rhythm Of that exercise in the Towns
Fourth Reader:
81 come, come. 70 have called me long.
come DER the mountain with light and
with song"
Or the beauty OF that graver example
from Bryant:
Father! Thy hand hath reared these VEN
cradle columns. Thou didst weave this YER
dAut roof"
And then comes Byron's:
-"rhe As.yriAn came down like wolf on the
And his cohorts were cleaning with purple
and gold"
Mrs. Evans' poem. ssNirht In Edsu. - be-
gins:
d" Twas moonlight In Eden! such moonlight
Tween
As never sxnip ON this earth shall bs seen. -
.e
'. oun. Ho"sonocA 'ne n1s' v'rse
oi which reeos:
'"upon the far-on mountains brow,
me ansry storm has ceased 70 beat;
ana osoHsn ciouds arc satnerns nov
IN suiien reverence round his feet;
In thunder on ~. hrs.st d..c.nainr.
But there. once more redeemed he stands.
And Heavens clear arch 10 DER him bending"
MeLenan's Death Of Napoleon":
"wnd was the night, vet \ wilder night
Hung round the so,dyer,s inflow.
In his bosom there vn~ed a aereer 6sht