The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-11-27

y VhluuDlc looks rs IleHNy TcauiUS.'
] rhetr taste In books has never been
J cultivated, has indeed been seriously
1 Initiated by slops and syllabub and tons
| Of cphetnerai stuff in magazines and
/ newspapers ana current literature In
iction tnut have le1t notninS ssnin0
mem put n most serious inability tc
either enjoy or profit by d reduy good
uoDK. Ii is Il thousand pities; an meal.
i cuiaDie iosr---so current tndt one
/ msryeis tnat hundreds OF sich booKs
J can ma a pupilsncr and be found IRON
4, .,iaska to the t,uif. in spite OF tneit
/. emptiness. stupidity. viciousness or
tnousandg oil Doohstalls, wnerc some
I ,hing} light Is In demnnd--but GER
tsiDuy not literature. Tnat august
title Is not to be worn by everything
! between boards BY any means. rot
,hat 1t is ltgnt matter to read many
such--rather an inposaibllity-an IN
toierable bore. to anyuooy Who knows
Charles Lamb
Things in books ciothing' ls what
Lamb cans the reports, pauper statls-
l,o5, government leogcrs and otncr
empty promises of various huge. pre-
tent1ouS volumes in his day. wolves
in shecp's clothing. much OF our fiction
might justly be termed. The volumes
Z look SO attractive, got up In good style,
with nice paper. Gear print, vigncttes.
illustrations, artistic covers. that their
! contents are particularly disappoint-
/ ing, the smallest possible amount OF
| IDEAS diluted in the largest possible
! quantity Of words often; quite innl.
! seStible, even when not erotic, irrev-
erent sensational and unErammatical.
The truth is that the only perfect pro-
lection for our young people against
this tidal wave of inanity, hysteria
and stupidity is TO know and to have
learned 10 love the best in literature.
I That settles 1T cffectuaiiy, and we hear
| from some young fellow or girl OF
] H-rf tue. ,st n roY e
book-thrcc times widow, but never
a wife-it is perfect rot" Rot II Is.
and IL will rot any mind that 1t fills, in
time; Is rotting them all around us
in plain view mores the pity, every
day.
The modern mode of living is utterly
inlmical TO solid gains of eyery sort
except money Hurry. worry, Hurry.
arc eyerywlere--in the very air we
breathe-and quiet is the first essen.
tial of any rod progress or lasting
achievement in anything worth having
streets. dodge autos at every corner,
are all. eyes and ears for some fresh
excitement in the way of a new thing,
like the Athcnians Of old; swarm at
natlnees. soda fountains and in hotel
/, corridors, ut baseball functions and
! every sort of party of pleasure; adore"
bridge whist, keep going on high
balls and lead generally lives of un-
4 w UOltSOilS STRAIN ana pUr-
| suit Of the petty and noncssential, the
| Vital, elemental. valuable thoughts,
! habits. deeds, gains, are so constantly
| dissipated and ignored that they be-
come ipise--alrrophied. Lots of
! girls now dread nothing more. nor Is
| there anything they dislike as much.
| as quiet evening Cor morning or
afternoonl in their homes with their
| They yawn, they complain that There
| is nothing to do; rfley are frankly,
/ unaifectedly bored to extinction. Quiet
/ nerves. clear brains, rational life
| that IS not all amusement. any more
I than 1t is all work, a high sense OF
( duty, tho habit OF industry and the
1 constant. earnest application of all our
| powers TO some given and important
end for several hours of every day
/ this is the only royal road to even a
respectable degree of achievement in
any Held, much more distinguished
onc-the only road 10 health and hap
/. piness. too. ~ youth of folly. an old
! age of cards" wrote Pope in his day
/ and generation. But youth OF cards
: has not even an old age OF folly 10
fall back upon--only paresis, imbecil.
ity girl who never opens a book
/ after she leaves school, unless she is
obliged to. what sort OF old age will
she have? A girl who lives only in
and for "soclety"--which for those who
best know 1t only spells Safety
demands more and returns less than
( ever made, and has been perfectly
/ summed up as want? and veXatior
of spirit" save in so far as 1t can be
made to express compa nionship, sin
cere friendliness, loyalty and hospital
lity, and how far that is, most people
(, quite we'll know-well, what does re-
! main for q woman who, having stuffed
herself with these husks all her life,
/ finds the autumn of life at hand and
+. its winter Just around the corner?
/, 1t certainly is the duty. and ought
/ TO be the pleasure, of parents to make
| attractive homes and keep their birds
and tumble their children into it, ilav-
lnss first taught them what to read to
! prepare them for the frosty nip OF
/ old age apd give them such tastes and
| habits as Will turn out hale. hearty,
| beautiful Virginia winesaps-the wine
| of well-spent life. the sap that only
sinks into the roots of the tree to
/ bloom again elsewhere. An open fire.
] an evening lamp. loving, united home
| circle and heaps of the right books,
! '.Snarked. learned and digested." as our
/, Collect says-al these are good invest
lnents and yield fine dividends always.
They are within the reach of almost
every family and are the only things
we have to counteract the excessive.
1, growing and dangerous restlessness OF
| our age. eve are ALWAYS threading
sixteen needles at a time ST Francis
| de Sales said. Women still sewed in
iIlo udS, alNlEil WAS All
| and diagnosis of an incipient disease
'Americanitis." One does not often
sec a woman sewing nowadays; the eX-
| quisite needlework of all the gentle
I women. of colonial days is almost a
lost art, like their spelling and their
| charming letters.
Tic Stocking Basket.
What has become of it? The bar
| gain counter and slop shops may pro-
| vide most of the garments: they do.
But what has become Of that dear. big
/ wicker basket, chintz-lned, overflow
! ing with the children's stockinss'--
! mothers basket piled high with
things to mend--and Of the dear woman
who sat near II and so deity made
AUD claithes amaist as guido as new.
Suffragettes almost foam at the mouth
when they speak of it, and they call
her "a slave to her family" as II any.
thing that true woman can do for her
family ever could be anything but .
! privilege. They declare she never had
time to open g book!" All! Is that so?
! She was vastly better informed, in
most cases, than the women OF this
/ day, who are all leisure and accom-
| plish nothing. She knew the English
| classics by heart She often prepared
Ter sons for college In Latin, Greek
and the higher mathematics, IL she did
darn stockings. She attended to the
| lnnumerable duties that fell to the lot