The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-03-22
THE PASSING OF
 THE THRILLER

1 When Thomas A. Edison invented the kinetograph and the kinetoscope, Iapparatus for taking and exhibiting moving pictures, he struck a death blow at several fIourishing industries. The drama was first and hardest hit by the popularity of the 'movies,'' but many other institutions have suffered q almost as much. The profession of ! writing "thrillersn and the business of publishing them between illum- mated covers have become all but ex= tinct, thanks to MT, Edison's clever invention.
 A few years ago, when the s'Enoyiesf were just coming into their own, a. lodge of sorrow was held in a New York restaurant. There were present distinguished appearing gentleman with a most impressive name, who confessed to being the creator of Mick Carter''; an elderly man, suave and polished, a radical philosopher who was said to be the author of many of the s.Rertha M. Clay'' novels, and a whiskered, socialistic sentimental love stories. These gentlemen, who had long derived excellent incomes from their literary pursuits, condoled with each other and,. perhaps, called down curses upon the head of Edison.
 Within the last few years several of the leading American publishers of "thrillers.' have found themselves in financial difficulties, and some have gone to the wall One of the largest of the concerns has turned to the magazine field and is still pros pering, but it's output of thrilIers is now but "a side line. Of. the writers of such literature, some are dead and others have found more lucrative soc- equations. The original stOld Sleuth'' who was a reputable citizen of Brook Iyn and a member of the Board of Education in the City of Churches, did not survive to witness the final down fall of the character he had made famous all over the world.
 The thriller industry was divided in- to two classes, one consisting of de- tective, wild west and adventure stories for boys and men, while the other division turned out sensational and me1odramatic love stories for the de1ectation of girls and women. The latter class was not without it's ap- peal to many men. however, and the publishers of such works sold large numbers of their books and story papers to the western cowboys.
 Perhaps the most famous of these novelists was Laura Jean Iibbey, long the favorite author of a multitude of sentimental girls and women, and the literary idol of the cowboys This is the birthday of Miss Libbey, as she was born in New York March 22, 1862, fifty-four years ago today. She gained her first following among the readers York Ledger. Bonner was the pio neer publisher of this variety of ht- erature, as BeadIe was of the ttdine noveP' and nickel library thrillers. Later Miss Libbey went over to the Munro forces, and her work was read with avidity by the subscribers to the Preside Companion and the Family Story Paper.
 'Lovers Once, But Strangers Now, is the title of the novel which the author has declared to be her mas terpiece. According to the publisher this was t'the greatest novel ever published which no other author 'shas ever yet or ever can equal" Perhaps in rural districts remote from the movies, and on the ranches in the COW country, there are still to be found many readers of such tales as When His Love Grew Cold" and ''He Loved, But Was Lured Away" Tn the cities and towns the boys and