The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-02-18
from French History to Hand Gre
nades and Back to Motor Pro-
PEELED Vehicles Shows Sam
mics Tastes.
: BUT LITTLE FICTION
One-Fourth of the Books Taken Out
by Soldiers Were Light
Reading" Statistics
Show.


camp libraries established by the
American library association are
not only interesting as answering
the question, what soldiers read, but
significant of purposes animating
Americas army Of democracy.
In one days issue of books by the
American library association camp
library at Camp Meade, the following
subjects were reported: French his
| tory, mechanics, topography, and
strategy in war, self-propelled We.
hicles, hand grenades, field entrench-
ments, bridges, chemistry, physics,
astronomy, geology, hydraulics, cleo
tricity, medieval history, calculus,
civil engineering, geography. Amerf
can history, surveying. materials OF
construction, general history, ma
sonry, concrete. About three-quar-
tiers Of the books taken out were
non-fiction.
Titles picked at random from one
page of a report from the American
library association camp library at
Camp Sherman include: George AIDES
The Girl Proposition" Jack Lon
dons Burning Daylight" Tolstoi's
Anna Karenina," H. G. Wells The
Soul OF Bishop" Ellis "Plattsburg
Manual Meadowcroft's "a. B. c. OF
Electricity" Zerbe's "Aeroplanes,
Haweis' Music and Morals" Guizot's
History of Civilization in Europe"
Carlyleis French Revolution" Wells
Italy, France and Britain at War
and Gerard's -Four Years in Ger
many"
First Experience.
Some of the men coming tc the
camp libraries seem to be having
their first experience Of the pos
sibilitfes of the world of books.
Others of the men apparently are tax
ing advantage of the opportunity or
catching up on some OF the reading
that, postponed until now, is made
possible to them. Boswell's Life of
Johnson" Bergson's Creative Evo- |
luton" and Gibbons Decline and |
Fall of the Roman Empire" are |
among titles noted in the soldiers |
reading. Among the men number
are following various branches OF |
English literature under the direction |
of the camp librarian.
Two general classes Of reading are
shown by the reports from the camp !
Libraries. One of them is recrea- |
tional, and causes demand for fiction,
poetry and drama. The other is in |
formational and causes demand for !
books dealing with the numerous |
aspects of military science, including |
artillery, aviation, signaling, tech |
nioue Of drilling, electricity, mechan- |
ical and civil engineering, transpor-
tation, diet, foodstuffs, roadmaklng, |
care of horses, making and repairing !
equipment and other topics relating |
to the present business of the men, |
namely. war. In addition, there Is
much reading dealing with farming.
trades. occupations, and the forms OF |
activity which engaged the men be-
fore they went into camp. There IS
much interest in the study of French,
and particularly so in histories and
descriptions of France Books deal
ing with the war, its causes, and the
issues involved, and narratives or
personal experiences in the war, are |
greatly in demand.
Purpose Of Service.
Camp library service has been es-
.ablisned for just one purpose SAID
Burton z. Stevenson, at Camp Sher-
man recently, that is to help win
jhe war, and there are three ways IN
which IL can uelp. II d, ny ASAPiAo
@ maintain the morale of the men
,y providing them with interesting
md entertaining reading matter to
lelD tide over the moments Of lone
mess and depression which come to
everyone; second, by helping to edu-
cate them as to the causes and pur-
,oses of the war, and make them
.ealize that they are not fighting /
frances fight, England's fight, or
taly's fight, but Americas fight
hat it is not Belgium or France or
england that Germany is seeking to
destroy, but the ideals and principles
which form the very foundation stones
# this republic; and third, by pro-
-iding the men with special technical j.
looks along their several lines, and
making them better and more eff
icient soldiers"