RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30196, 30 July 1963, Page 22

RANDOM REMINDER

BOOK WHIMS

From time to time ladies and gentlemen of renown in some field of endeavour or another are asked to name the 10 books they would like to have with them in the unlikely event of their being cast away on a desert island. Sometimes it is 10 records, or paintings, or, in isolated cases, bottles of nourishing liquids. The whole business of being cast away on a desert island has. of course, lost much of its appeal One used to dream of the simple life, without income tax, television, and the New Zealand Rugby Union. But the man who establishes himself today on a strip of sand with his books or his bottles is likely to find the place is about to be used for testing nuclear weapons. For all that, it is fascinating to speculate on what reading matter would be best to have on hand after one has eaten the last of the survivors. With this in mind, we have been browsing through a publication called ‘Willing’s Press Guide” and we have found a whole new world of experience. with books and periodicals beckoning from every page. The “ABC Time Table for Ipswich and

East Anglia” may not, for instance, seem exciting, but there is bound to be a lot of fine print, and in the circumstances mentioned, quantity might mean as much as quality. We reject out of hand the “Abstainer” which is produced by the Cardiff Temperance Union and which, although costing only a penny and coming out five times a year, has an annual subscription of one shilling. . Muddled thinking there, somewhere. “Accidents, How They Happen and How To Prevent Them” promises much of interest, and so does “Anaesthesia” but the annual report and balance sheet of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (est. 1880) has only a limited appeal. But we simply could not be without the “AntiSlavery Reporter and Aborigines’ Friend” which is now nearly 140 years old. That’s on the list. Before we were out of the A's we were struck with the difficulties some of the British newsboys must have. How do you go about calling with conviction for people to buy the “Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, Arran and West Coast Adver-

tiser?” or the “Kilsyth Chronicle, Denny, Bonnybridge and Cumberland Weekly News (with which is incorporated Kirkintilloch Gazette)” And “Darlington and Stockton Times, Ripon and Richmond Chronicle, Teesdale and Weardale News, price fourpence” makes a mouthful. No child should be without the “Index of Fungi” although there is an impatient wait of six months between issues but “Bottling” gives no real indication of its purpose. The “Gamekeep, ers’ Gazette” might be searched for traces of D. H. Lawrence, but for the long, wet afternoons beneath the palms the “Nautical Almanac” or the “Scottish Hardware and Drvsalters’ Association Bulletin” would be the thing. Oh. for a auiet hour or two with “The Steamboiler Year Book and Manual” (published irreeularlv, price 425) or with “The Income Tax Paver” which arrives in February. May. August and November. But it’s for members only. But one need never en short. There are books and oeriodicals on birth, marriage, depth, and bevond. And thorp’s atso one called “Nuff Sed.”