Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-07-07

10 Well-Dreu, Intelligent woman read
much outside of new fiction and the latest
magazines? 1t is rather natural to look
to the public libraries for answer with
q good-szed town of high percentage in
the scale of literacy. as example. n town
whose public library is the resort OF the
wel-to-do and socially prominent. 1t Is
| fair to assume that conclusions nre repre-
sentative. The librarian is chatty,
neighborly spinstcr. friend as well cs
servitor Of the regular patrons, whose idea
of cataloguing may be a trine lax. but
whose notion Of helpfulness Is beyond
criticism, kindly and unselfsh. She knows
each child. man and woman by name,
can te, his taste in literature to turn
and almost remembers Just what books he
has read. II IS not unusual to hear the
question. Have I ever had this, Miss
Letitia?" and tho prompt reply, why
yes, Mrs. TAYLOR. You took that out
long ago" As for eager demands to
know the name Of GOOD book. these
are incessant. and unhesitatingly Miss
Letitia answers, suitng the Shoice she
makes to her inquirers taste
Miss Letitia. pleasantly gossp'ng OF her
patrons. discloses that the ladies of the
town want the latest novels. and that 1t
Is seldom that they call for serious ltera-
turo or for standard fiction. "Those that
read at all like the up-to-date book" says
she. Most Of EN- read fast can
scarcely keep Miss Andrews supplied She
reads four and five a week. And lots
get two and three" When she discovers
that quite unconsciousy she has been re-
vealing the amiable weaknesses OF her
| townsfolk. she rushes to their defense
with hearty, But then. you see, my
dear, all these ladies have read the classic
authors in school. or else they have them
in their own libraries.
In one way that's partly the pity OF
it. Books long ago read and enjoyed are
forgotten and seldom unearthed. 1t has
been only lately that one woman has been
re-experiencing Dickens. She though,
that she knew him we'll. and yet. as. book
by book. she reread the immortal stories
| characters were not only rediscovered
but many seemed almost new. Martin
Chuzzlewit' happened to he one OF the
first selected. OF course. she remembered
| Tom Pinch and Sairey Camp. Mark Tap
ley and Mr.. Pecksnin But Mrs. Todgers
and Montague TwiSg Mr. Mould ani
Young Bailey. Augustus Noodle and Ole
Chufey were new as II they neve,
had been. After a week or two Of suci
company more recent creations seen
vapid and colorless
Inertia is responsible for almost all ot
this indifference in the matter of good
reading. 1t would often be quite as pleas
ant to bcguile a long railway journey OF
an ocean voyage with a volume Of verse
a splendid old chronicle. a one-tlma favor
lite. for years discarded, as with the love
story OF the moment, or the most fiippan
of magazines But the latter are at hand
The newsboy offers them. the news
stand sells them. while the happe
though infrequent substitute means dein
tie effort and previous thought. A woman
making an overland journey on a splendid
limited train looked at the books IN tn,
observation car library shelves and saw
reflected there the travellers usual taste
Would choice volumes OF Dickens o
Thackeray or Eliot have been refused
Could classic myths or classic hume
have entertained an occasional reader
Or was the railroad company rercl,
wise in its day and generation?