The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1936-07-17
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MAXcHAMbER5 J
READING

AS an avocation reading is COM
paratively new. 1t is purely an es-
cape hobby with an educational
slant. And reading is new because
printing is new. Until rather re-
Gently, people spent most of their
sparetime in exercising activities,
especially the throwing and hitting
games.
OF the two hundred or more Indian
tribes in the United States only three
have written languages and of the
three only that of the Cherokees is
easy reading. Sequoya, a hunter in
jured, turned craftsman, saw the
need for a better understanding
among his people and about 1920
invented new language-the only
new language on the American con-
tinent-using eighty-four characters
or letters. Within four months
the three thousand Indians living on
the Reservation in Western North
Carolina learned the language and
were reading the Cherokee Phoenix
newspaper and little later the Bible.
The pages of history do not reveal
any other reading accomplishment
approaching the magnitude off Sc
quoya's undertaking. The giant red
woods of California stand as a me-
meorial to his ingenuity, patience
and persistence.
Thirty-two newspapers and several
trade journals are published on the
Eastern Shore of Maryland. There
is one for your business or hobby.
Do you read it? Are you keeping
|up? Write for the name of the
magazine devoted to your field.
If your interest lies in books, sew
eral good libraries are available. The
Talbot County Library at Easton is
partially supported by the County
Commissioners and is rendering a
fine service. Every County should
have such library. Such special
books as you might need can prob
ably be borrowed from the Maryland
Public Library Advisory Commission
in Baltimore and there are travelling
libraries but none on the Eastern
Shore.
Reading as we'll as types Of read
ing run in cycles. The field of litera-
ture is so broad that one may choose
any type of reading. A few years
ago three hundred pages was long
book of fiction but now it's "slow
going if it's under six hundred pages
and the latest are hitting thou
sand pages. And then the certain
situations and locations are more
conducive to peaceful reading than
others. Few places offer more ap-
peal than the quiet of the mountains.
AS 1 write this (at Mountain Lake
Park, Maryland-July A 1 feel the
urge to lift the cover and get at the
life of Thomas Jefferson lying on
the ground here beside me. Prob
ably the best place for retentious
reading is in bed after one o'clock.
A lot of things enter into reading;
lighting, glare, glasses and shades
for the eyes, heat and comfort are
vital factors. Sometimes there is
more meat between the lines than in
the lines.
One of the most interesting adven-
lures in reading on the Eastern
Shore is the Book Club developed by
Mrs. H. B. Scarborough at Berlin.
1t might interest you-each of the
80 members purchased one book, any
book, and at the end of each week,
each member passed her book to the
next name on the list. For the price
of one book, which completes the
cycle and returns to the owner, the
member has thirty new books to
read.
Reading is one of the hobbies of
DR.. Gilbert w. Mead of Chestertown;
Alice Mckenzie of Chestertown;
Harrison Morgan of Crisfield; Mil
dred Seward, Stevensville; Hilda Lee
Casper, Cambridge, ride the reading
hobby.
Books: Green-Reading for Fun;
Becker-Books as Windows; Ben
nett-What Books Can Do For You;
Hunt-What Shall We Read To The
Children; Becker-Adventures in
Reading; Mahony-Realms of Gold.
Merit Week: Photography.