146 ENERAL LIBRA UNIV. OF MIC Vol. 3 Service Published on the 1st and 15th of each month by the Detroit Public Library May 1, 1920 No. 18 INFORMED Finding Its Level LEADING English weekly recently remarked in discussing civility A that "pride and servility are the two bugbears of the present day," the fear of which has frightened away civility, whose flight bids fair to injure incurably the amenity of existence. The new democracy is self-assertive and militates against the impersonal tolerance and deference characteristic of the manners that distinguished an older generation. Equality has been declared and the mass of the people, conscious of a new power, is insisting that human dealings be maintained on a dead level of social relationship. The general public is being patronized by its servants, whether in shops, on travels or in one's house. This spirit of independence is of a new order; it's in part a protest, a sympathetic strike against the old patronage, domination. The patriarchal idea is gone forever. This change of manners, which we call rudeness when our feelings are ruffled, declares itself quite as frequently in manifestations of kindness and sympathy. The most defenceless in society are now the most civilly treated. The person who is met with the most kindness and patience at the shop counter, in a public conveyance, is the one who looks to be in need of it. The charwoman is no longer at a disadvantage with the smartly dressed. The infirm, the grey-haired person, is pretty sure to receive a lift and a polite answer and the small child is listened to with smiling patience whether travelling "on her own" or executing a commission. There is something human and hopeful, after all, in this new civility. When the new order of things has settled down we will have found new human values. The roughness of the change will pass and civility will flow in new channels. Human nature will not change, but we may be governed by a new conception of human rights-forbearance and mutual respect. The time honored American standards of manhood will endure; the genuine type will never be self-assertive, but easily recognized nevertheless. The American gentleman is unaffected in courtesy, thoughtful, direct in his response, an honest man whose word is his bond, a chivalrous protector of those in distress. At his best he has, as MacQuarrie in "Over Here" puts it, "attained that state of mind which prevents him from offending another by thought, word or deed without decent provocation; and when by self-discipline and training he has attained what Matthew Arnold called 'sweet reasonableness' he has approached very closely to the Christian ideal. And so the word 'gentleman' denotes something which cannot be in the least affected by birth or class distinctions." We recognize it as readily in the best type of the American workingman. We respect his self-dependence, his sturdy independence of thought and action, his mental and physical health which is the reward of honest toil, his contact with the realities of life. The American is kindly at heart, his sympathy is easily stirred. The tragedy of these recent years, the misery of the war-which seems without end-have stirred the returning pilgrims from Europe the civilians more than the military—to a new point of view, even a change of heart. Their characters have softened and a new moral impulse has been given to their lives. Their sympathies have widened with their expanding bounds of knowledge. They have seen human society suffer as never before. before but sobered with a sense of gratitude; they their cause is that of the world, of humanity. service than statesmen and politicians can render and a new society, chastened and compassionate, may be born, a new chivalry, alive to the sacredness of human life. Their patriotism is as warm as detest callous nationalism and From that may spring a finer A. S. Blue Smoke The secret of the satisfaction you draw from a book of poems is not to be conveyed by any review. Here and there a line glints with perfect phrasing, a graceful fancy pleases you, a new and warm relation between you and nature is born within the lines. Your most intimate thoughts, a passing mood, forever inarticulate for you, may look up at you from the poet's pages. His clear insight and fitting words furnish you with an instrument of expression. He has said what you could not say in the only way it should be said. Blue Smoke, by Mrs. K. W. Baker, chosen at random from among several new volumes of poetry, affords these bits of satisfaction. "Today I have grown taller from walking with the trees, Library Service Last year an exciting kite-flying contest was held in Detroit, a regular contest with prizes, and people to look on. Every spring boys have had their little kite matches to see who could fly his kite highest and longest, but these were separate affairs. Last year's united competition was so interesting that a second kite "meet" is to be held this year on May 15. Last year, the prize was won by a boy of Chinese parentage. The following history of kite-flying shows why he was adept at it: "Kite flying is an amusement of boys in Europe and America. In Japan and China it is a national pastime of men. In these countries competitive flying with more or less elaborate kites excites as much interest as horse racing in Englishspeaking countries. In China the forms are very elaborate. There are birds and butterflies, fish and dragons. Some of them are made of the thinnest, glossiest silk. The Chinaman frequently has three or four kites attached to one string and becomes quite an adept at keeping them untangled. "Of late the construction of kites has attracted the serious attention of scientific men. In 1895 Captain Baden-Powell of England arranged a series of, five kites by means of which he was able to raise a weight of 150 pounds 100 feet in the air. Others have succeeded quite as well in raising weights with kites. In 1897 Mr. W. A. Eddy, a Boston operator, sent up a series of nine kites attached to piano wire. They attained an elevation of 5,509 feet and remained up fifteen hours. Three miles of piano wire were used. Kites are said to have been sent up to a height of four miles. At that height the air is rarer, but the wind blows faster so that kites fly as well as they do nearer the surface." Kites and Aeroplanes A Short List of Books and Magazine References KITES AND AEROPLANES, by J. H. Adams. TAILLESS KITES, by R. S. Baker. (In his HANDICRAFT FOR OUTDOOR BOYS, by D. C. AEROPLANE KITE FOR BOYS TO MAKE, by SCIENTIFIC KITE FLYING, by C. H. Claudy. CARPENTRY AND WOODWORK, by E. W. AFLY, by C. C. Fraser. (In his Every HANDY BOY KITES, by A. N. Hall. (In his AMERICAN BOYS' WORKSHOP, by C. B. Kel- FRANKLIN'S KITE EXPERIENCE BY MODERN KITECRAFT AND KITE TOURNAMENTS, by CONSTRUCTION AND FLYING OF KITES, by MANUAL TRAINING TOYS FOR THE BOY'S Almost everyone has felt the uplift of such "Good Company" without being able to express it so well. Slight and simple little poems compose Blue Smoke, but you glean delight from following the trail from page to page. A Library Club for Wayne County The novel thing about the second meeting of the Wayne County Library Round Table, April 15, 1920, was the attendance of a number of non-librarians and their prominent share in the discussions. The main object of the conference was not the usual small problems of libraries but the launching of a new kind of library service within the county. The Secretary of the new Division Uniform County Education System of Wayne County explained the plan of centralizing the educational interests of the county and providing more nearly equal educational advantages to children in rural and city schools. As equality of school opportunity calls for equality of library opportunity, a library for Wayne County would be the natural outgrowth of its county educational system. The successful working of such a library was explained by a librarian with experience in county work. A member of the library committee of the Detroit Federation of Women's Clubs guaranteed the interest of club women in well distributed library service. The common problems and aims of libraries and schools were presented by a high school member of the Detroit joint committee on the relations between schools and libraries. The large number of Wayne County libraries represented at the meeting made the occasion a suitable one for organizing into a club for mutual interests. The committee on organization for the Wayne County Library Club was selected from public libraries, school, technical and other special libraries, library trustees, county units, and the library committee of the Detroit Federation of Women's Clubs. The Club will unite the library interests of the county, bring speakers of prominence to address its members, and afford a forum for discussions of library matters. Some of the representatives of library interests outside of Detroit who were in attendance were: MR. SAMUEL H. RANCK, Librarian, Grand Rapids, Mich. MISS ANNIE A. POLLARD, Assistant, Public Library, Grand Rapids, Mich. MISS G. M. WALTON, Librarian, Mich. Normal College, Ypsilanti, Mich. MISS BESSIE SARGENT-SMITH, Chief of Branches, Public Library, Cleveland, Ohio. MISS AGNES LANCEFIELD, Librarian, Windsor, Ontario. MR. O. D. THOMPSON, Pres. Library Board, Romeo, Mich. MISS ALICE S. TYLER, Director, Western Reserve Library School, Cleveland, Ohio. |