The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1913-04-14

'hhuren ioNeu mem dearly, and tneir
mother and I loved them almost
equally: the delightfully."- light hearted
Man from New Mexico VINO Lost ans
Grandmother out in the Snow the
dNentures OF THE owl, the Eel. and
the Warming-Pan." and the extraor-
binary genoalogy of the kangaroo
whose father was a whale with a
/ feather in his tail who lived In the
Greenland sea" while his mother was
a shark who kept very dark in tn
Gulf OF Csribee."
AS a small boy had Our Young
Folks" which ! then firmly believed
TO be the very best magazine in tn
world-a belief. ] may add. which !
have kept to this day unchanged. Tor
] seriously doubt II any magazine for
old or young has ever surpassed It,
Both my wife and ! have the bound
1 volumes OF Our Young Folks" which
We preserved from our yorln. ! have
tried TO read again the Mayne Reid
books. which ! so dearly loved as a
boy. only TO find. alas, that Il IL i'm
possible. But I really believe that
enjoy gong over Our Young Folks"
now nearly as much az ever. Cast
/ Away in the Cold" "Grandfather's
struggle for a Homestead" The VIII
! liam Henry Letters" and dozen
others like them were first-class.
good healthy stories. interesting in the
iirst place. and in the next place
teaching manliness. decency. and good
conduct. Al the cost OF being deemed
eheminate, ] will add that greatly
liked the girls stories-"Pussy viii
low and "A Summer in Leslie Gold
thwaite's Life" just as I worshiped
Little Men" and Little Women" and
An Old-Fashioned Girl"
This enjoyment OF the gentle side
of life did not prevent my reveling
in such tales Of adventure as Ballan-
! tyne's stories. or Marryats "Midship-
man Easy" I suppose every body has
: kinks in him. and even as a child there
. were books which | ought 10 have
. liked and did not. For instance. |
never cared at all for the first part
OF Robinson Crusoe" tand although il
is unquestionably the best part. l do
not care for IL now: whereas. the
second part. containing the adventures
OF Robinson CTusoe. with the wolves
IN the Pyrenees. and out in the Far
East, simply fascinated me- What I
did like in the first part were the ad-
ventures before Crusoe finally reached
his island. the fight with the Sallec
Rover, and the allusion 10 the strange
beasts al night taking their improbable
bath in the ocean. Thanks TO being
already an embryo zoologist. I disliked
the Swiss Family Robinson" because
of the wholly impossible collection of
animals met by that worthy family
as they ambled inland from the
wreck. Even in poetry il was the
relation of adventures that most an
p"aled TO me as boy. NJ a pretty
early age ! began 10 read certain
book, OF poetry. notably Longfellow's
poems. The Saga OF King OLAF %
which absorbed me This introduced
me 10 Scandinavian literature: and
! have never lost my interest In and
affection for H.
Among my first books was a volume
OF hopelesslv unscientific Kind bv
Mayne Reid. about mammals. illu-
strated with pictures no more artistic
than but quite as thrilling as those
in the typical school geography. When
nv father found how deeply interest
ed ] was in this not very accurate
volume. he gave me little book bv
-. G. Wood. the English writer of pou.
lar books on natural history. and then
a larger one of his called Homes
without Hands" Both Of these we're
cherished possessions They were
studied eagerly: and they finally de-
Scended IN my children. The Homes
Without Hands" BY the way. grew TO
have an added association in connec-
ton with a Pedagogical fai.ire on nv
part In accordance with that I BE-
lieyed was some kind Of modern
theory OF making education interest
Ing and not letting il become a task.
cndeavored 10 teach my eldest small
boy one or two ~ his letters from the
title page. IS the letter II" appeared