Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-02-07

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Press Club yesterday afternoon by
Mrs. Edith Kingman Kern, OF Wash
ington, D. c., second vice-president OF
the League of American Pen Women,
and Howard r. Garris. of this city, an
author of children's stories, at the home
Of Mrs. Arthur H. Boughton. SO Wash
ington avenue. Mrs. Kern, who Is the
chairman of a committee for the elm
ination of the colored comic supple
mont and who Is in New York to rep
resent the League Of American Pen
Women at the child welfare exhibit be-
ing held in the Seventy-flrst Regiment
Armory, told of the work Of the oom-
mittee in e~ndeavoring to enlist the help
Of editors in the adjustment of this
pernicious page OF the Sunday news
paper, which has such q demoraliziug
effect on the minds of young children,
and asking for their aid in the estab-
lishment of other features that will
tend to sustain a healthy and whole
some sentiment in the mind of the
child.
The comic supplement as 1t exists,
Mrs. Kern declared, is a menace to the
culture and morals of children, be-
getting in them an admiration FOL de-
ceit n cunning, misrepresentation and
v~ulgarity, disrespect for the aged and
inf1rm, a lack of reverence for sacred
things and OF sympathy for the unfor-
t~unates, the preparation Of practical
jokes and unpatriotic sentiments, and
teaching them to acquire slang in its
most Objectionable form. 1t Ia under
stood. she said, that many newspaper
managers and editors have in some in
stances never countenanced the publ
cation of these Objectionable supple
ments. and there are many now pub
fishing them who would willingly dis
continue them II such action was GUS
tanned by a healthy public sentiment.
n ape Mrs. Kern cited, with a
circulation of 0,o00, discontinued the
supplement, and In a very short time
the circulation fell off to $4,000. The
supplement was again restored, but its
circulation only regained 10000 of its
subscribers. Mrs. Kern brought greet
ings from the league and expressed
pleasure that four members Of the
Press Club belong to the league. Mr..
Garris, who Is a former newspaper
man, and Is well known to many In
this city through his books and Bed
time Stories" told of the making OF
children's books and gave interesting
personal experiences in the gathering
of material for his stories from the
children. You cannot fool the chill
dren." he declared, land once they lose
faith in you their confidence in you Is
lost. One trouble with stories that pur-
port to be written for children Is that
they are children's stories written for
grown people. Very few children buy
books for themselves. They are gen.
orally selected by a parent or an uncle
or aunt or some other relative, and
these adults are often governed en-
tirely by the title Of a book or the
opening sentence of the story. One
thing with which the author Of the
present day has to contend is the COM
mercial feature, which often requires
that a book shall be sold for a fraction
Of a dollar, n the difficulty OF writing
a story that must fill so many require
ments."
During the business session Miss
Louise X. Hardy was appointed to rep
resent the club at the Union Club
breakfast committee, TO be held In the
Library tomorrow morning. Mrs. Flor
ence ". Frapwell. Of Arlington, and
Miss Hester e. Hosford will accept the
invitation extended to tho club from
the Ray Palmer Club to attend the an
nual reception to be held Fridayfafter-
noon in the parlors of the BelleviTle
Avenue Congregational Church.
A delightful musical program was
; given by Miss Hazel A. Goetschius, of
} Brooklyn. and Claude Boyle, of this
, city. Miss Goetschius sang the Flower
Song from Gounod's Faust" and
Little Boy Blue" by Eugene Field.
music by Henry Hadley. accompanied
; on the piano by Mr.. Boyle, who con-
tributed a vocal solo. Bartlett's "A
, Dream"
) Refreshments were served by the
hostess. and the tea table was adorned
with jonquils n daffodils. Mrs.
Charles 3. Storch and Mrs. Samuel B..
Boughton poured.
The next meeting, March 6, will be
held at the home of Miss Ada ID.
Fuller, II Emory street, Jersey City.