AP MAN A Mental Habit that Stunts the ANY of my friends think that what I have done is quite remarkable. But I know that any person with native intelligence can do the same. I relate my experience because it may be of help to readers of The Outlook, who-in their moments of introspection-may realize, as I did, how narrowing and stunting is that insidious American disease, newspaper-itis! Let me say in the beginning, that I have no prejudice against newspapers-I buy two each day, morning and evening. But I have learned to discriminate between news and gossip. A few days ago twenty-two families were driven out of an apartment building by a fire which started in the basement. Tens of thousands of people read that item. Why? What did it benefit them to know about it? Could they use that knowledge in their business? Could they use it in their social lives? Did it in any way broaden their outlook on life? No! It was read because the average American is suffering from newspaper-itis." In the same newspaper I counted 176 separate news items just as unimportant as the above! And that is the kind of stuff with which we feed our brains every morning and evening! Is it any wonder that Europeans are amazed at the lack of culture in America? Is it any wonder that they call us newspaper fiends "? N O one questions the value and service rendered by newspapers. But a newspaper must be read with an object in view. Usually all the real, vital news of the day can be read in a few minutes. This is proved by the fact that newspaper editors summarize all the important happenings of the day in two or three columns of editorials! For a great many years I, too, was a newspaper slave." Every morning at the breakfast table I waded through my newspaper. On my way to work, at lunch and in the evening, newspapers occupied practically every spare moment I had. There wasn't a fire, a divorce, or an accident I didn't know all about. I could argue with any one about the day's occurrences. But my conversation was inane, and I soon became looked upon as a plain male gossip. In business, too, I was a nobody among my associates, because my power of thought was confined to the insignificant daily occurrences which mean nothing. I realized vaguely what was the matter with myself. For years I was haunted with the thought that I lacked education-not necessarily a college training, but the sort of knowledge that would broaden me mentally, that would make me a bigger man, that would enable me to listen understandingly, talk interestingly and intelligently, One evening, on my way home from work, a friend who was seated beside me, reached into his pocket and brought forth a little limp leather book. I myself, as usual, was reading a newspaper. I had never thought of reading a book to and from work, because the ordinary book is too large and unwieldy to carry around. I asked my friend where he secured his little leather book, and he told me the name of the publishers. T HAT was the beginning of a change that was a veritable revolution in my life. In the evening I wrote a letter, and by return mail. I received a list of the small limp leather volumes in this edition. Many of the titles I recognized as ones I had always wished to read. I sent for a few of the books at once, and they were exactly what I wanted. From that time on, instead of wasting my time in profitless reading, I began to devote myself to these great works. At home-in the street cars-everywhere--whenever I had a few spare moments. I read a story, a poem, a play, or an essay. The 12034 books were small enough to carry in the pocket, and I had one with me always; sometimes when I went on trips for my firm, I used to carry half a dozen with me. Do not misunderstand me. I did not pore through anything uninteresting to gain an empty "culture." I read because I was fascinated. I began to understand that the great books of the past are not called classics just because they appeal to a few professors and "high-brows," but because they have charmed and inspired millions of plain men and women like myself. Iread because I could not tear myself away. I began to see why present-day writers themselves call these greater men masters." I became 66 imbued with ideals of life that had been a closed book. Great characters in novels, which were bywords to educated people, great poems and essays I had heard of but never read, became familiar to me. In an amazingly short time I was a fairly well-read man. The range of my reading astonished even myself. I had become thoroughly familiar with some of the best writings of all time, and I did this by saying the minutes I used to spend in reading newspaper gossip. TH HE change in my life was marked, both from a social and practical point of view. No longer was I embarrassed in the company of my educated friends. I found I was as well read as they. No longer did I feel a secret embarrassment and wish myself miles off when they discussed subjects of which I had been ignorant. My opinions and ideas now seemed as clear-cnt as theirs. I could express myself. I could talk about something else than fires, murders, accidents and tittletattle. I no longer had to preface my remarks with "I see by the papers." My social life was revolutionized. More important, my inner life was revolutionized. I had stumbled by chance into a world that was dark to me before, a world now opened up by the greatest minds that perhaps have ever been on this earth. And I prospered in business, incidentally. Whenever I meet a man he listens to me because I have something to say. I philosophize often about these books and their authors. I look back and realize how much of this Great Show of life I would have missed had I not become acquainted with them. They present aspects of life far beyond the humdrum existence of most of us. They have opened my eyes-they have opened the eyes of millions of men like me to the tragedy and the glory of life, to its humor and to its pain, to its mystery-and to its meaning. I have broken my newspaper habit by substituting something worth while.-M. B. S. THE HE name of the writer of this interesting and eloquent confession will gladly be given upon request. The publishers of the Little Leather Library-for that is the edition he refers to-have published these leather-bound masterpieces for men and women like him, so that they can read profitably in spare time. Fifteen minutes a day, usually spent reading newspaper gossip, will within a short time give any person a liberal education in literature. In publishing these works in such a form that they may be easily carried around, a genuine need has been filled. This is shown by the fact that nearly two million of these little volumes have been bought by the American public. The sixty books, each one bound in leather, are published at a price within the reach of any purse— 30e a volume, postpaid. These handy little volumes have also proved ideally suitable for soldiers. They are carried in the pockets into the trenches, where the boys need that General Pershing, when he had been abroad but a few weeks, cabled urgently for books? More than that, this need has proved so vital that he has ordered that 50 tons of shipping space a month be set aside for books alone. Is your boy-your son, your brother, your friend-supplied with books? He will need them-badly! He will need them for the long journey overseas; for the wearisome train journeys in France; in the hospital if he ever happens to be wounded; and, more than anywhere else, in the trenches, where boredom sickens the soul! The American Library Association, acting on General Pershing's appeal, has issued a nation-wide call for books for soldiers and sailors. We are glad to help in this work, and the following offer should help : If you purchase 10 of our Little Leather Library volumes-and you can surely find among them ten that you have always wanted to read-we will give you in addition a Kit Box containing five books bound in a special fabricated leather," which can be sent to someone in the army or navy. If you know no one to whom to send them, take them to your nearest library, which will forward them to the boys abroad. Immediate action is advised, if you care to take advantage of this offer. We have quite a large number of Kit Boxes which will be donated in this way: but this offer is an unusual one, and we reserve the right to return the money of any person responding to this notice, should this supply of Kit Boxes be exhausted. References, The Outlook or any other magazine in the United States or Canada. Little Leather Library, Dept. 85, 44 East 23d Street, New York. List of Titles. 30c each, Postpaid NOTE: The Little Leather Library is bound in genuine sheepskin. With each 10 books purchased, we will give free a Soldier's Kit Box, containing five of our books bound in fabricated leather." Use coupon below. 1 Christmas Carol 2 Essays Dickous 31 Fairy Tales Hans Andersen 32 Bab Ballads W. S. Gilbert 33 Mother Goose Rhymes 84 Hiawatha Henry W. Longfellow 35 Ghosts Henrik Ibsen 36 Idylls of the King. Vol.I Alfred Lord Tennyson 37 Idylls of the King. Vol.2 Alred Lord Tennyson 38 Friendship, and Other Essays Henry Thoreau 39 Socialism for Millionaires G. Bernard Shaw 40 On Going to Church G. Bernard Share 41 Through the Looking Glass Lewis Carroll 42 Memories of President Lincoln Walt Whitman 43 Othello Shakespeare 44 As You Like It Shakespeare 45 Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespeare 46 The Ancient Mariner Samael T. Coleridge 47 Uses of Great Men Reiphe W. Emerson Dante 48 Inferno 49 Speeches and Letters George Washington 50 A Dream of John Bull William Morris Robert Burns 51 Poems 52 Carmen Prosper Merrimee 33 Confessions of an Opium Eater De Quinery 54 The Raven and Other Poems Edgar Allan Po 55 The Finest Story in the World Kipling 56 Words of Jesus 57 A Tilly loss Scandal James M. Barrie 58 Poems Robert Browning 59 Mumu fran Tungener 60 The Last Days of a Condemned Man Victor Hugo LITTLE LEATHER LIBRARY. Dept. 85, 44 E. 23d St., New York City Please send me, postage prepaid, the books checked above, for which I enclose It is understood that my money will be refunded if I am not completely satisfied. Name... Address.... Since I have ordered 10 books, send me a Soldier's Kit Box, containing the following books, bound in fabricatel leather. Order by number. 08 V.119 THE OUTLOOK SCHOOL AND Many of the best private schools, colleges, correspondence schools, and camps are advertised in these columns. Each one issues descrip- tive literature which will be sent to Outlook readers upon application Recommends teachers to colleges, public and private schools. Advises parents about schools. Wm. O. Pratt, Mgr. Affords opportunity for instruction on the same basis as during the other quarters of the academic year The undergraduate colleges, the graduate schools, and the professional schools provide courses in Arts, Literature, Science, Commerce and Adminis- tration, Law, Medicine, Education, Divinity. Instruction is given by regular members Jaffrey, New Hampshire. Altitude 1,180 feet. Boys 9-15 years. Water sports. Canoeing. Athletics. Scouting. Mountain climbing. Fishing. Woodcraft. Tutoring. In among the Berkshire hills, 1,000 feet above the sea at Sharon, N. Y. A dis- tinctive Camp for a strictly limited number of girls, between 12 and 21. Combined with invigorating camp life with water sports, tennis, riding, etc., the girls acquire USEFUL KNOWL EDGE in housewifery, cooking and gardening. Ask for Booklet describing 7 weeks' July and August course. Under the personal direction of teachers of wide reputation and experience. Registered in New York State, offers a 3 years' course-a general training to refined, educated women. Require- ments one year high school or its equivalent. Apply to the Kindergarten, Primary and Manual Training Offer many advantages in the prepara- tion of teachers. Observation and prac- tice teaching. Students are allowed the Wholesome food, mountain air. Best of equipment. Shower bath. Booklet. ALVIN D. THAYER, Director, 67 Alexander St., Springfield, Mass. Pine woods; on shore of the beautiful Rangeley Lake. Secluded but accessible to village and railway. High altitude, dry, invigorating air. Land and water sports, mountain climbing, tramping, trips to points of interest, fishing, gardening, tutoring, music. Home cooking; spring water; table supplied from our farm, A limited number of Juniors and Seniors accommodated for season or part season. Secretary, 721 St. Nicholas Ave., N. Y. Located on a beautiful point 15 miles south of An ideal location and a very superior equipment. Easy of access by boat or rail. Athletics, swimming and many outdoor activities under competent leadership. Attractive How to Put on Flesh I can improve your fig ure-build up your strength-fill out your neck, chest, etc. I KNOW I can because I have helped over 35,000 women gain 10 to 35 pounds. One pupil writes: "One year ago I weighed only 100 pounds-now I weigh 126, and oh, I feel so well and so rested!" I can help you attain your proper weight. In your room. Without drugs. By scientific, natural methods such as your physician approves. If you only realized how surely, how easily,howinexpensively your weight can be increased, I am cer tain you would write me at once. Tell me your faults of health or figure. I respect your confidence and I will send you my booklet, free, showing you how to stand and walk correctly. |