Evening star., 1924-08-17
Literary Tastes Unaccountable,
Reporter Decides After Surrey
Finds Old Man Studying 'sRiding Astride, and PO-
Hceman Perusing ''Miracle of Milk''-Nurs-
ing Treatise attracts BObbed Beauty.

! seemed the employe had brought the
| wrong volume, however, for 1t was
called Love Is the Sum OF 1t ALL
Apparently Knew Something.
The affluent reader took 1t. consult
! ed a note which he took from his
pocket. turned confidently to certain
mage and plunged into the very mid
die of it. Half an hour later, as the
reporter was leaving. the supposed
| legislator was still thoroughly en-
crossed in the book, all unconscious
that there had been a mistake.
Men had begun to make the OBJ
server lose confidence in his per-
ceptive ability, so he turned to the
opposite sex. A large, mannishly
dressed woman who breathed OF pol
iticS, economic clubs and the larger
things in life was devouring greedily
the contents Of a large book. The
book from its appearance. might be
SThe Life and Works of Josephus.'
a history of the great war or the
unabridged OdesSey. But it was none
of these. 1t was 1.-The Love Affairs
Of Mary. Queen OF Scots"
A pretty bobbed-haired girl in her
twenties was Snied nearby and, as she
was not hard to look at, the reporter
turned his attention to her. Here
was a type that unconSciouSly be-
trayed itself to the world. This girl
was living in a sphere of romance. of
adventure, of emotion. 1t was plain
that she was reading a book that did
not bore her. as would one which she
might be compelled to read as a stu
dent. for she was eXcitedly lingering
her permanent wave. so that 1t was
rapidly losing it's permanency. This
girl was of certainty reading ro-
nance of the great outdoors.
Woman Also DeceiveS.
Brother, don't trust any of them.
They're a deceiving lot. She was not
reading romance She was wasting all
that emotion over the drab chapters of
the Nurses Handbook.
Determined to go through with his
observations. the reporter peered over
the motheriy shoulder OF matronly
woman of about 40 Summers. That
shoulder undoubtedly had been a pillow
on which many Il baby had been crooned
to sleep. She was searching through
duodecimo work for some particular line
or verse, an old nursery rhyme. perhaps
or chapter on cholic. At least. that's
what the reporter though she ought to
be searching for. but as matter OF
fact she was bent on locating certain
page making up a treatise on "Educa-
tional Psychology"
might be learning from Horatio Alger
the prerequisites for a quick trip from
the coal mine to the'White House. he
found him porting over "A Study of
Genius" which wasn't SO far wrong at
that.
Policeman Studies Milk.
An older youth to the rear was read
ing Essentials of Journalism" The re-
porter restrained an impulse to call for
a volume along the same line, and noted
an old-maidish woman two seats away
who was studying up on Chinese lmmi-
grafton" A book entitled Lynch Law"
on an adjoining desk was not in the
hands of colored reformer, but was
held by an elderly white woman.
Ethics was being read by a clergy
man. and The Miracle of Milk by Il
policeman off duty.
The reporters peculiar actions mean
while were beginning to arouse the
curiosity of several of the reading room
employees. and as an attendant moved
toward him he decided to go to the CEN
trail counter and ask for book. What
book to ask for was the next question,
and forced to say something to the
ob,iging counter clerk he b!ured out,
The Miracle of Milk
lisa funny world mumbled the
clerk as he went in search of the voume.