The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-06-24
THE DEAD dime NOVEL

tho boys and girls of nowadays read
Ing? Blood and thunder has been
tomahawked. scaiped and buried be-
meath the haunted log cabin in the
forest of oblivion these thirty years,
Bertha, the Sewing Machine Girl" has
finished hemming romantic ruffes or
maiden imaginations. She Stacked up
about a quarter of a century ago
which is just as WE'LL for she was
cruelty overworked. What has taken
the place of the dime novel and the
weekly scent serial where the Indian
massacre and the prosecuted lovelorn
glued the juvenile eye to the lurid
page for heart beating hours at a
time?
Librarians and book publishers nave
been asked about it. They vary as to
reasons.
About 1870, it may be said, the dime
novel craze was at its height. Before
then for many years the New York
Ledger, published by Robert Bonner,
had hundreds of thousands of readers
who hung upon its continued stories
from week to week.
SSu ~ 0oy SAdL OfCIS wy OC~
tween 10 and Is years of age read a
dime novel you would not be very far
wrong. There were exceptions, of
course.
Novels were read by stealth. In some
cases one boy OF a neighborhood whose
parents were not so strict as others
was made the librarian Boys fire.
~quently "chipped in" for dime novels
and one book served for all. each
eagerly waiting his turn to get at 1t.
Even with parents vigorously denunci-
atory n watchful, boys and girls
brought in the forbidden literature.
hiding it in secret places from cellar
to garnet and selling all sorts of odd
moments and opportunities to snatch
q few moments at its pages. Pub
fishers amassed great wealth. Some
Of the famous publishing houses of to-
day date their rise to that period.
The three great dime novel publica-
tons for a number of years were Bea-
dies Munro's and Ornum's-the latter
being the name Munro spelled in re-
verse. The Beadle novel was q book
of light yellow paper cover about
four and three-duarters inches wide
and six inches long. The average num-
Der of pages was 100-although the
very popular ones were longer. The
Munro and Ornum novels were of the
same size as the .Beadle, but their
paper covers were cream celored, illu-
minated with dashing and daring pic
lures showing hand to hand Indian
and hunter battles. It was no uncom
mon thing for the ''librarian" OF the
neighborhood to possess from 500 to
1000 of these dime novels. Toward the
last years of the craze local stationers
set themselves up as exchangers,
charging 8 cents for swapping stories
boy patrons had read for those they
had not.
Then the stories Of Mrs. Mary Jane
Holmes and Mrs. May Agnes Fleming
were read by sentimental girls every
where, the former authoress publish
ing always in book form. Mrs. Holmes
heroines always had an attack of brain
fever somewhere in the story and
things happened quickly and strange
ly while they were out of their heads.
Mrs. Fleming always had a world
weary, masterful man, who quarreled
with the heroine and then finally made
it up in time for the last chapter to
get to press. "St. Elmo" and East
Lynne by other authors were prime
favorites.
Two writers who had a remarkable
following in the old days were Will
liam T. Adams ("Oliver Optic") and
Horatio Alger, Jr. Adams wrote scores
of books for boys and girls.
Library systems throughout the
country have peen so expanded that
boys and girls have all kinds of OPP
portunlty to extend their reading to
ali sorts of books. After the decline
of the rabid Ind. an story uf the dime
novel kind there came a mighty rush
detective stories. The "Old Cap
Collier class had a skyhigh run. He
was a direct descendant of the "Old
Sleuth" stories that ran first nearly
fifty years ago in a serial weekly.
Then the detective craze passed, al
there are still boys who eager
ly seek them.