Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-08-08

by the name of ships libraries. But
the work of the American Library as
ISOLATION in the navy during the war,
aided by the American publlc's dona-
tons of cash and books, gave a new
indication of what these floating libra
ries might be. Today no matter now
drasticaliy congress may economic III
appropriations of money to buy. guns
and armor plate, it is giving with falr
liberality for the maintenance Of the
Libraries, as the appropriation OF $l3U,-
600 for books this year bears witness.
| Excepting the patients in the mill
, tary and naval hospitals, who man
age to read about one library book a
| week apiece, there was never a more
appreciative group of readers than
these enlisted men in the United
States nav Whether the ships are
in port or out cutting the blue water:
the chances are that when Jack is or
duty he is curled up in some quiet
corner Of the ship reading a book.
The experience Of the past four years
shows that the average sailor draws
from the ship library and reads Is
books a year-a book and a hail a
month. According to the records, the
average city dweller in the United
| States patronizes his public library to
the extent of less than four books a
year.
Like everything else in the navy:
the shore stations is completely and
thoroughly organized. The Bureau
of Navigation has charge Of maintain
ing the libraries. There is a chief
librarian in Washington, and he is
assisted by a more or less informal
board of officers who serve %yoluntarl-
~ as readers of new books. Guided
by their judgment. the chief librarian
keeps adding titles to the stock lists,
once q year issuing a new catalogue
from which the ships librarians order
their books. Stocks of all books so
catalogued are kept on hand in a depot
in New York from which the ships are
supplied. A battleship is allowed
LOO volumes in it's library. a cruiser
of the second class may have 10.
smaller ships SO, n destroyer 40. and
unclassified vessels according to the
number Of men on board.
Equally important with the purchase
of new books is the wedding ont Of
the old and the unread: for, after all,
the test of a book in the ~present-day
ships library is whether the men read
Ii. The chief librarian and his assis-
tants are men of excellent literary
taste. but they do not attempt TO foist
upon the sailors their own judgment
recoil from Harold Bell Wright and
ethel NJ. Dell. but they do not write
their novels down upon any index ex-
purgitorious. In the list Of nearly
1000 novels listed in the current navy
catalogue. there are five titles credit
cd to Harold Bell Wright and four
70 Ethel NJ. Dell. Gene Stratton
Porter also has five.
Sex Stories Taboo
Once a year each ships Librarian is
permitted to survey one-third of
the books in his charge and replace
them with new. if necessary. BY this
means dead books. as the unread ones
are called, are weeded out. There
fore the general book catalogue accur-
rately reflects the reading taste Of
the men aboard our ships Of war.
Bearing in mind that the nearly
800 titles in the fiction list Of the
1922 catalogue represent what the men
like to read and not what their superior
officers think they ought to read. some
interesting sideliChts on the characters
of the enlisted men may he noted. In
the first place. there is almost M on
tire absence of the so-called sex stories
in the libraries. It is not that such
tories have been censored out. The
chief librarian has tried them and the
men do not read them. that is all. Love
stories have been censored out. The
class of fiction works in publishers
lists. but love stories, with 1913 titles.
come second as a class in the affections
of the blue jackets. The boys on the
rolling ships. with blue water TO the
horizon and the splashing of the waves
sounding in their ears. love to read
about the strong, silent men Of the
plains who roll cigarettes with one
hand and who shoot quick with the
other. OF the 81 classes into which the
catalogue divides the navy fiction.
western stories lead with o13 titles.
r. NJ. Bower is the gobs' favorite au-
thor: she leads with - western novels
listed in the catalogue, Zane Grey runs
her a close second.
A second surprise comes when one
notices The large number of juvenile
books supplied to the Libraries. Many
of the enlisted mon are mere boys not
yet done with thrilling over such sto-
ries as "Riflemen of the Ohio" or ''The
Great Sioux Trail" AS q class. juve-
nile books rank fourth In number Of
titles. being exceeded only by westerns,
love stories and adventure stories.
J. A. Altsheler has 20 titles listed in
the catalogue-all stories for boys.
Ralph Henry Barbour. another well
known writer for boys, has 10.
Juvenile books are closely pressed
for honors BY detective stories. Short
stories come next in popularity, fol
lowed by humorous stories. In eighth
place comes standard and classical
fiction.
Some Solid Reading
Yet. although the preponderance of
taste is for light fiction. a considerable
percentage of the men aboard Uncle
Sans warships demand the best in fic-
ton. George Meredith, for instance.
whom even some professional critics
find difficulty in reading, maintains a
place among the live" books with
three novels. including his masterpiece,
"The Egotist." Conrad is n much read
favorite. Nine of his novels appear on
the nav shelves. Thomas Hardy has
one-"Far From the Maddening
Crowd"-but neither of the other. two
great moderns. Henry James and
George Moore. is represented. Arnold
Bennett is there with four novels, and
kipling with nearly everything he has
ava. rrr;ttop A1n,oet o-o ch;p -. ~.