The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1910-06-23

Enforced Reading of Lives of the
Saints" Ton Subscription Only Sue
ceeded by "Innocents Abroad" and
"HuckIebsrry Finn" Hence the
Boom, Asserts Chicago Humorist.
A new benefit conferred on mankind
and especially American boyhood, has
been discovered by George AIDE in the
June Review of Reviews. The newly
unearthed boon was the forcing on the
awe inspiring parlor center table of
literature that was good, yet light,
and not of the sort to cause anguish
to fill the youthful soul on Sundays.
Mr.. AIDE wrote In part as follows:
Mark Twain should be doubly bless
ed for saving the center table from
utter dullness. Do you remember that
center table of the seventies? The
marble top showed glossy in the sub
dued light that filtered through the
lace curtains. and it was clammy cold
even on hot days The heavy mahog-
any legs were chiseled into writhing
curves from which depended stern geo.
metrical designs or possibly punches of
grapes. The Bible had the place Of
honor and was flanked by subscription
books In those days the house never
became cluttered with the ephemeral
six best sellers.
Style Painfully Uniform.
'The book agents varied, but the
book was always the same-many
pages, numerous steel engravings, cur
lycue tailpieces, platitudes, patriotism,
poetry, sentimental mush. One of the
most popular still resting in many a
dim sanctuary was known as Mother,
Home and Heaven A ponderous col
lection of tPoetical Gems did not In
volve the publishers in any royalty en-
tanglements. Even the Lives of the
Presidents and Noble Deeds Of the
Great and Brave gave every evidence
Of having been turned out as piece
work by needy persons temporarily
lacking employment on newspapers.
LET us not forget the Manual of
Department and Social Usages,' from
which the wife of any agriculturist
could learn the meaning of r. s. v. P.
and the form to be employed In ac-
knowledging an invitation to a leVee.
Subscription books were dry pick
ing for boys: also they were accessi-
BILE only on the Sabbath after the
weekly securing. On week days the
boys favored an underground circuiat-
ing library, named after Mr. Beadle,
and the haymow was the chosen read
ing room. Just when front room lit
erature seemed at its lowest ebb, so
far as the American boy was con-
cerned, along came Mark Twain.
Joy Succeeded Horror.
"Can you see the boy. Sunday
morning prisoner. approach the new
book with dull sense of foreboding,
expecting dose of Tupper's "Prover-
bal Philosophy" Can you see him a
few minutes later when he finds him
self linked arm in arm with Mulberry
Sellers or Buck Fanshaw or the con-
vulstng idiot who wanted to know If
Columbus was sure enough
dead? No wonder he curled up on the
haircloth sofa and Rugged the thing
to his bosom and lost all interest in
Sunday school.
'The new uniform edition with the
polite little pages, high art bindings
and all the boisterous woodcuts care
fully expurgated can never take the
place of those numbering subscription
books.
while we are honoring Mark Twain
as great literary artist, philosopher
and teacher, let the boys of the sew
entities add their tribute. They knew
him for his miracle of making the sub
scription book something to be read
and not merely looked at. He con-
verted the front room from a mauso-