Evening star., 1921-04-24
small something is dedi-
Gated to the book-selling trade.
1t is only a Snat of informa- =

"HIS small something is dedi-
Gated to the book selling trade
1t is only a gnat Of informa
| tion. understand. but on the
principle that every little helps in
| this worI6-here goes:
A gentleman of that archaic era
known as the old regime was giving
his student grandson that other thing
we call particular fits" because the
boy prefers current fiction to the
literature dignificd as Victorian, with
Bulwcr as writer in point. He had
caught the youngster with a maga-
zine and had presumably judged its
contents by the f1amboyant young
lady on the cover. The boy is IA nice
boy, but when you come right down
to it. grandfathers don't know every
thing.
"Bulwero l see myself: why. l get
more meat out of this fellows ex-
periencc in wireless than in all the
string of books Bulwer ever wrote.
All right for his generation. of course.
but this is another one. And l am It,
What we want today is close-ups =
movies. headlines and live stuff that
doesn't make you wade up to your
neck in descriptions that take all the
snap out of climax. Yes. | do know
what I'm talking about, too; didn
4 L
couldn't help myself? You folks brag
about Scott and Dickens and the rest.
but let me tell you something: You
have to read little old Walter an hour
before you can get into the atmos-
phere OF his dialect; Dickens puts
enough people in every book to stock
two orphan asylums. one good sized
poorhouse and a row of hotels. all OF
them good in their time. but time
didn't mean hours and minutes nke
nj r q
want to keep from joining the dead
languages they will have to be con-
densed into scenario.
And let me tell you something else.
sir-when it comes to a good movie
with thrills to it there isn't Vic
torian along the line that can hold
candle to Miss Braddon-and you
know how English critics gave her
the silent treatment because Wilkie
Collins. Charles Read and the rest
were Jealous of the old girl. AS Mol
MolIie being a blonde girl who lives
in the same apartment. 1t IS possible
that Mics Braddons belated promo
tion above her scorning cotempo-
raries was due to admiration of girl
rather than appreciation of a writer,
1t makes good little tip for those
book sellers who have been trying to
get at a reason why Victorian fiction
Is DSlHS ~ litSi dhy ~ AN1N-
ers of today.
X i 4
HISTORY repeats herself, but child
IL hood is always original. kinder
garten teacher who loves children told
her pupils that she would take them on
a spring outing and that they must
bring their paint boxes along. They
started on a day that might have been
made expressly for children By fairy
queen, and when they got place of
trees and fields and sandy beach. the
teacher decided that their picture would
be a marine.
children, We will paint the river.
And before she could get in a word
Of instruction every crumb of child
was romping down to the beach. When
she followed after the artists were at
the waters edge. each with her brush
and paints ready for work And. nat
urally, the teacher asked them what
they were going to do. And the unanl-
nous answer came:
Paint the river"
TT you like letters. listen to this
II am trying to keep my temper in
snite of my pen, and hope you will do
the same. 1t is sputtering old stub
that wants to go crooked and make me