Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1910-11-18
THEFRUGAL DUTCH
Economical In Their Use Of the
Daily Papers.
ONE JOURNAL READ BY MANY

A Number Of Families Will Subscribe
For a Single Paper. Which Goes the
Rounds-Some Thrifty Souls Will
Only Rent Their Newspapers.
One thing visitors to Holland notice,
and that is that no one on the streets
or In the cars is seen reading a news
paper. Papers are not sold or bawked
as they are in England and America.
II is only when extremely important
events take place and the papers print
special bulletins" that these are some
times bought in the street Usually
the people content themselves by read.
ing these same bulletins when they are
displayed in the windows OF cigar
shops. booksellers shops or at the of
fees of the newspapers. for the Dutch
people economize In their reading mat
ter. Many curious ways have been
devised to reconcile economy with a
plentiful supply of news and informa-
ton.
Two. three or more families will COM
bine TO subscribe for one paper, which
is then read by each in turn. The
one who gets it first pays little more
than the later readers. and each may
keep It for a stipulated time-an hour
or perhaps two or three hours or half
day. In this way it is generally OILY
the head of the house" who gathers
In any information He monopoIiZes the
| paper as soon as 1t comes and keeps
| II as long as he can. The other mem
bers Of the family then 90 without
news or are only enriched by the
crumbs of knowledge that now and
then drop from the lips of paterfamil-
| las
Most Of the daily papers In Holland
are issued III the evening, but some
! of the more important ones publish
morning editions as well. To subscribe
for more than one paper is considered
| a terrible extravagance. and even a
whole" subscription for one family
alone is looked upon as a luxury. At
| the clubs and the coffee houses" the
| Dutch equivalent of the American sa-
loon. there are always newspapers in
profusion, and very many men do all
| their reading there and so save the
subscription fees. for they don't count
the cost Of what they imbibe.
Many cigar shops and sometimes
other stores have what they call de
pots of newspapers. and there you
can also rent" paper and take it
home with you for certain length of
time for very little money indeed.
But the longing for information of
the average Dutchman Of the middle
classes extends far beyond the daily
papers. He wishes to know all about
his neighbors far and near. and at the
same time he wants TO keep up his
knowledge of the languages learned at
school, For these purposes reading
societies are formed either among
friends or people living in the same
neighborhood, or perhaps all the Off
! GERS of certain. regiment will COM
bine: then a committee will be select
ed from among the members on which
will devolve the task of selecting suit
able weekly papers or monthly maga-
zines In English. French, German and
Dutch and to circulate these among
the members Of the society. These
books and papers are sent round in
large portfolios either once or twice a
week, as may have been agreed upon.
So those joining such a society can
read all the best English, American.
German and Dutch periodicals at a
slight cost
OF course you don't always get the
This is carefully regulated according
to the size Of your contribution. and
many people read their Christmas sto-
ries In June Still, 1t keeps up an in
terest In the world at large and helps
to keep fresh in the mind all that has
been learned in youth.
II the head of the house gets most
Of the daily papers 1t is with the pc
riodicals that the other members of
the household have their innings They
can read them while father is at his
bureau or at his Office. Sometimes an
cnterprising bookseller starts one or
more circulating portfolios in his
neighborhood. and this is managed on
the same lines as the private reading
societies.
At the end of the year the old peri
odicals and books that have been the
round of all the subscribers are sold
by auction among the members of the
association.
People visiting Holland are often
surprised to find how well nearly ev'
cry one In the country speaks foreign
languages and bow much he knows
Of the literature of other lands. II
we take the above facts into consider
alton 1t will no longer seem so aston
lshing.-W. ]. L. Kiehl in Chicago