Evening star., 1928-12-18
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEUELL.

One good habit that grows stronger
with age is reading. Not all beneficial
habits so increase as the years roll by.
Some a man fain would keep with him
dWindle away. until they become lost in
the mists of youth.
The reading of good books, however,
is a habit which not only sticks by
one, but actually grows in intensity as
the wears pass. since the mind assumes
ver-increasing prestige as the incite-
ments of younger days tend to fade.
Maturity gives added value to such
things. In ones younger days books
are accepted as part of the interesting
panorama of existence which spreads
before one, lit by the glow of dawn and
the red of marvellous sunsets.
Books, then, are things to be read
lightly, if interesting, or to be left in
well merited neglect II too high-prow
for the occasion. Young people put no
more stock in a book than in the latest
dance record.
Past the age of 80. man is likely to
change his verdict. He will be inclined
to put books in separate category, to
reserve an especial niche for them in
his own mind as well as in his own
home.
The tunes of the moment-any mo-
ment-are old next year. but the books
of the undisputed great masters are
always fine. The entertainment value
of a good book rather increases with
the years. Its perfume is everlasting.
x i; x
There are some men and women who
get and keep fondness for books early,
and thus need no later inducements to
possess a home collection. The best
public libraries cannot exactly fill the
place of the home shelves. With the
book lover the loaning libraries are
rather supplementary.
There are others who permit the
love of books which was theirs in child
hood days to fade out as other interests
crowd in upon them. Perhaps the
dreamer instinct in them is submerged
in the cruder flood of facts. Facts are
all right, but dreams are fine, too. The
greatest respecter of facts is the greatest
dreamer. He knows that the intangible
qualities of the one may and often do
materialiZe in the concrete possibilities
of the latter.
Those who lose the love of books may
have 1t instilled into them by others
This is why the giving of books as
Christmas gifts may do great good. A
we'll chosen volume entering home at
Christmas, when the mind and heart
are attuned to higher things, may work
a beautiful revolution in the habits Of
the recipient.
A good book may put man or
woman back on the right track of read
ing and no one can say exactly who
needs this salutary treatment, since in
the matter of books the whole world
is more or less hypocrite. Books, as
texts, are the foundation of education
and universal schooling leads every one
to do lip service to writing.
Some men would resent the statement
that they have forgotten how to read,
but that is exactly the truth in the
case of those who refuse to pick up a
good story after dinner. A Christmas
book, in the right place, may work Won
ders with such people.
" * X
The beauty of book reading Is that
the field is so wide If bookdom were
all fiction, or all biography. or all
science, or all statistical, much would be
missing. The paucity of subjects would
tend to satiate and disgust the average
reader.
The fact is that books are as inclu-
sive as life itself. There is book