Fireplace, The.. Clarence Ousley 517 .....J. H. Odell 622 190 Diplomacy, American, Dramatic Moments in. Empty," Back in an.. France. American Soldiers in French Welcome, A. to American Troops. C. Bouglé 340 C. F. Goodrich 192 Germany, Do We Want to Bring Her to Terms ? Germany's Treatment of the Workingman. Railway Manager. The Government as a..T. H. Price 551 Sailors, Training, Farthest Inland.. Willard Connely 418 Salvation Army Work in France.....R. C. Starbard 220 Ship, The, that Was Built in Twenty-Seven Days. Shipyards of the Great Lakes, The. what books were small enough to carry in the books as much as they need tobacco, to keep them from brooding over their hardships. FEW NEW Americans yet realize how greatly 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 books alone. Is your boy your son, your MANY of my friends remarkable. But pocket, and I had one with me always; brother, your friend supplied with books? have done quite 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 Could know about it? 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"? TO one questions the value and service rendered 66 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. TH 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 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. I read because I could not tear myself away. I began to see why present-day writers themselves call these greater men "masters." I became 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 saving the minutes I used to spend in reading newspaper gossip. THE 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-cut 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. TH 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— 30c 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 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. Ralph W. Emerson 3 Barrack Room Ballads Kipling 4 Without Benefit of Clergy Kipling 5 Short Stories De Maupassant 6 Tales from the Arabian Nights 7 Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson 8 Fifty Best Poems of England 9 Fifty Best Poems of America 10 Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam 11 Hamlet Shakespeare 12 King Lear Shakespeare 13 Macbeth Shakespeare 14 Merchant of Venice Shakespeare 15 Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare 16 Julius Caesar Henry W. Longfellow 35 Ghosts Henrik Ibsen 36 Idylls of the King. Vol.I Alfred Lord Tennyson 37 Idylls of the King. Vol.2 Alfred Lord Tennyson 38 Friendship, and Other Essays Henry Thoreau 39 Socialism for Millionaires G. Bernard Shaw 40 On Going to Church G. Bernard Shaw 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 Samuel T. Coleridge 47 Uses of Great Men Ralph W. Emerson Dante 48 Inferno 49 Speeches and Letters George Washington 50 A Dream of John Bull William Morris 51 Poems Robert Burns 52 Carmen 53 Prosper Merrimee Confessions of an Opium Eater De Quincey 54 The Raven and Other Poems Edgar Allan Poe 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 Iran Turgener 60 The Last Days of a Condemned Man Victor Hugo Robert Louis Stevenson 30 Comtesse de Saint Geran Alerandre Dumas 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 3 books, bound in fabricated leather. Order by number The PrattTeachers Agency 70 Fifth Avenue, New York Recommends teachers to colleges, public and private schools. Advises parents about schools. Wm. O. Pratt, Mgr. SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES ILLINOIS THE SUMMER QUARTER 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 and tration, Law, Medicine, Education, Divinity. Instruction is given by regular members of the University staff, which is augmented in the summer by appointment of professors and instructors from other institutions. Special War Courses Military Science, Food Conservation, Spoken French, etc. SUMMER QUARTER, 1918. First Term June 17-July 24 Second Term July 25-August 30 A detailed announcement will be sent upon application to the Dean of the Faculties, THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, Chicago, Illinois. In among the Berkshire hills, 1,000 feet above the sea at Sharon, N. Y. A distinctive 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. MARY H. COFFIN 28 E. 55th St., N. Y. MARY E. COOLEYS Camp Abnaki for Girls RANGELEY LAKE, MAINE 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, which is part of the Camp Settlement. Modern bungalows and screened tents fully equipped for campers. A limited number of Juniors and Seniors accommodated for season or part season. Secretary, 721 St. Nicholas Ave., N. Y. CEDARCROFT CAMP for GIRLS On Lake Champlain Located on a beautiful point 15 miles south of An ideal location and a very superior equipment. Easy of Athletics, swimming and many access by boat or rail. outdoor activities under competent leadership. Attractive trips by boat, auto, and horseback. Tutoring if desired. SEND FOR BOOKLET Miss ELIZABETH VAN PATTEN, Burlington, Vermont. The Outlook Copyright, 1918, by The Outlook Company TABLE OF CONTENTS Vol. 119 The Value of the Baby Bond.. Baron Burian and Count Tisza.. The Destruction of Works of Art.. Courts Martial ?...... Wanted-A Statesman... Mr. Schwab...... How Shall We Reduce the Price of Milk? 12 Against the Wall (Poem). By Theresa Virginia Beard "A Laggard at the Fray" The Happy Eremite Defends Himself Japan, Germany, Russia, and the Allies: Current Events Illustrated... Knoll Papers: Triumphing Christianity... Weekly Outline Study of Current History 2 3: 30 13 |