The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1878-12-28
SELECTED MATTER.
THE MAN WITH A HOBBY.

His hobby may be source of great happiness
to him, and possibly the occasion of great deal
of unhappiness to others. Wherever this man
can catch you-at home, in your place of business,
by the wayside, going to church or returning from
it, at weddings, funerals, public meetings, places
of amusement, or anywhere else-he at once trots
out his favorte hobby, and you must ride with
him as long as the road holds out.
Distinguished men have had their hobbies, of
which we have all read-Charles V. Frederick the
Great, and many others. One of the most learned
Fathers of the Church, when engaged in study,
used to rise regularly every two hours, and give
his chair twirl, without which it was impossible
for him to pursue his investigations. The famous
Spinoza, in the interim of his labors, refreshed
himself by setting spiders to fight with each other
"a fact which was thought by his opponents to be
significant of generally bad disposition.
Hobbies may be divided into three classes
kur(ul, harmless and useful.
Of the first of these there is little to say. Some
persous are possessed of medical hobbies that are
very mischievous. In a case of severe illness, it
is dangerous to have them round. They always
have potion pill that will cure almost every
thing, which they are ready to administer
whenever they get a chance. If the patient
dies, it is because he did not take the medicine
soon enough These men are the bane of 'the reg
ular faculty. although, indeed it may happen that
the doctor with his diploma may have his hobby
too. Others have legal hobbies, and are never as
happy as when they parties to half dozen
ugly suits, which they follow up, mainly for the
pleasure of litigation Some ride a conservative
hobby horse which tits back and forth, like the
genuine toy, without advancing at all they op-
pose every improvement as superfuous innovation
and hardly like to have cobwebs swept away, for
fear the ceiling may come down with them. 9th
ers ride radical, progressive hobby-hOrse, and
rush on like Jehu through thick and thin, until
they bring up against wall, and are thrown.
But the man with hobby is for the most part
harmless. 1t may not be easy for others to under
stand how he can take such an absorbing interest
in his pet pursuits-how for instance, he spend
his time in hunting up the genealogies of his un-
distinguished relatives for which they would pro
badly give him little thanks-tracing the family
tree through all its ramifcatiOns, travelling round
to search town records, and family Bibles, and the
entries of old wils-one Of the most useless asweil
as one of the most harmless occupations IN which
a reasonable creature could engage. Or one may
give himself to the compiling of statistics and facts
and dates, which are of no earthly account, and
thus become q oyclop@dia of useful information
We once knew an excellent clergyman who prided
himself upon knowing the middle names and the
ages Of every man, woman and child in his con-
gregation.
Collecting coins, autographs, postage stamps,
&c. is a very innocent hobby. In Paris, the trade
in cancelled stamps is important branch OF bus
mess. and a magazine is published devoted entire
lv to this subject. One might suppose himself to
be in great bankers office, when he looks down
the long array of clerks behind the open lattice
receiving and fling letters from all quarters OF the
earth supplying orders for this that rare stamp
at most exorbitant pricesall for the qualification
of hobby, somewhat inexplicable to the unini-
tiated
Pressing weeds and autumn leaves, worsted-
n tx,-,,, ,,,fnf fr1 rarrnS
which is the latest device, serve to relieve many
weary hour,-especially in the case of single wo-
men who have little else to do. 1t is hobby with
certain men to let their hair grow very lOng,-a
pretty sure sign that there is spot underneath
or to dress in a peculiar fashion, or to live in
circular or octagonal house, and fill it with strange
furniture and odd contrivances.
People will at times mount an economical hobby
and ride it for a while-stopping a variety of lit
tie leaks in the family expenditure, which amount
to about nothing and leaving the great sluiceways
wide open. There is no limit to the harmless hob
bies to which men and women resort for comfort
and occupation, and they are not always to be
ridiculed and frOwned upon as unworthy the at
tention of an immortal and responsible being
They may seem to involve great waste of time !;
but the question is, would the time be any better
emploved if the hobbies were taken away
But it may be that what seems to most people
n very useless folly, turns out to have been the
seed thought of some grand discovery orinvention.
Franklin with his kite and silken twine. was
laughed at by the French Academy. Manipulating
India rubber was hobby with Charles Goodyear
and his friends, whom he bored incessantly with
his talk about the bit of gum that he always car
ried in his pocket probably thought that it might
be rude to shut him up in an asylum, but now we
all know what came of his dreamings Mr.. Morse,
the telegrapher, treated in much the same way,
and the public looked upon him rs mere vision
ary. The farmer who makes hobby of fruit trees,
or rotary crops, fertilizers, or understanding, Is
apt to be regarded as very impractical man, un-
til return of profits some hundred per cent.
above those of his neighbors, opens their eyes
The mechanic whose hobby It's to find out some
way of doing this or that in better fashion than
of old, is likely to be spoken of contemptuously y,
until the hour comes when his patent makes him
rich So that we ought to deal tenderly with the
notions of our neighbors so long as they are not
always n token of weakness. Remember that as
tronomy was the child of astrology, and chemis-
try of alchemy The man that never had hob
by will probably turn out to be rather dull kind
Of