Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-05

| he was the victim Of an easy come
easy CO." in bookdom.
= =
There is a large class of people who
are always clamoring Tor free things
They always have their hands out fOl
| free theater tickets, free passes to bal
games, free cigarettes, meals, books.
One may suspect that they fail Of
the greatest satisfaction at 1.-The play.
house, the biggest thrills at the bal
| park, the best taste from cigarettes, the
supreme delights Of good dining, the
utmost satisfaction with books, simply
because they are in beggar's shoes.
There is no man alive when he &C
cerpts something for which he has asked
who does not instantly don beggars
shoes and stand in them until the thing
is over. The worst part of it is that it
gives him poor relations mental at
| titude.
He tries so hard 70 get his moneys
worth that he invariably puts the &C
cent on the wrong thing, at the wrcnp
place, at the .inauspiciouS time. He
laughs when the guests of equal class
know that laughter is not called for.
In the realm of books it is essential
that one be well born, free, able to look
any book in the eyes, and know it for
his man. 1t will not do to bring g
book recognizes 1t instantly and be-
comes suspicious.
The best Of books have a habit-some
may call it bad--of running away from
those who do not quite meet the mark
That Is why you will hear so many
readers saying "Oh, couldn't see any
thing to So-and-So!" They think they
Judge the book, but the book really
judges them.
1t is no wonder, then, that those who
never go to the trouble of possessing
their own books do not understand the
mentality Of the man who insists on
reading only such books as he owns.
The latter will insist that the bor-
rover can never know the supreme sat-
isfaction which he knows with the
books of his choice. Not that he does
not make mistakes "But If you borrow
book and do not like it, the cost is
only a few pennies!' There you nc
again, eterna1ly the cost, as If the cost
had anything to do with It, And the
amazing thing is that this reply may be
made by the poorest man who ever
lived. Truly, money has nothing to dc
with 1t.
The value of good book lies utterly
beyond the money line. We have nc
quarrel with the book borrower. bsii
suspect that Shakespeare spoke of more
than coin when he advised us neither
borrower nor lender be-" Libraries
public, circulating and drug store-have
their r1ghtful place in the world.
Our only insistence Is that ne who
makes use Of them also attempt to build
up small personal and privately owned
library. else he will miss sometime
that books have to give him. To SONS
temperamentS, we realize, this will come
as poor adviC :. To them the mere
reading OF book is all, and it makes
no difference to them who owns ik. one
may respect their viewpoint without
agreeing with it.
But just as renters commonly take
little care Of property, and so miss
something out Of living In q house
which an owner finds, 50 book renters
who think they have got all the honey
out OF book fail to discover treats
which the busy bee owner knows. HOW
can this fail to be true? Just Wit the
magic ingredient is It Is difficult TO mt
into words. Perhaps It suffices that II
known to ALI those who know IL
There are some things one dares NOT
Talk about, such as the affection built
up by those who love each other. The
word love" is entirely inadequate. So,
with books, the dream depths are re-.
served only for those who understand