New Ulm weekly review., 1883-11-14
WHOLE NUMBER 1872
HoBBY-HoRsEs.
Some of Them Which People Ride.

Some Of Them Which People Ride.
There are certain forms of mania
which are positively useful. Some per-
sons have an insane propensity to ex-
plore strange and dangerous regions,
not so much for the fame of the thing,
or because of any strong desire to bene-
fit the world; they are the victims of
irresistible impulse to penetrate the
ice-bound shores of the Arctic, or to
hunt ostriches in Patagonia, or to rub
noses with the sable Kings of Central
Africa. In carrying out their schemes
these men will expend any amount of
money and endure any amount of suf-
fering, and the world at large gets the
benefit of their travelling mania.
Then there are others who have an
Unsuitable appetite for ferreting out
and collecting old books, and PAM
phlets, and manuscripts that they
ever expect to read them, but simply
for the pleasure of the hunt. They
rummage garrets and hang about book
stalls day after day, and dig into all
sorts OF crannies and holes, and fire.
quent auction-rooms, and are sure to
be present at every library sale, not
always for any special love of literature,
but because they have a mania for col
lecting; and if they can get hold of an
old book which nobody else has their
cap is full to overflowing. Rich treas
ures have thus been brought to light,
for which scholars have great cause to
be thankful rare gems are sometimes
found among the rubbish which these
men rake together.
The cOin-cOllectOr is one of the most
indefatigable of human beings. The
Intrinsic value of a coin is not matter
of the slightest account, and its histori-
cal value may not be especially regard
ed if he can only beat every body else
in the size and rarity of his collection.
The autograph mania is still moro
general, and when it develops itself,
not merely in accumulating the sigma
lures of ordinary men and women, but
rather authentic documents in the hand
writing of the great personages who
have figured in history, it is very
respectable hobby.
The mania for collecting postage
stamps, which, of course, is quite mod
ern, cannot be regarded as of so high
an order; the likeness of great people
with which they are adorned have not
much attraction as works of art, and
the main charm depends upon the COM
pleteness of the collection; if one or
two stamps are wanting in the Austri-
an or any other list it's value is very
much impaired. There is, to be sure,
a certain degree of interest in studying
the style in which the taste of different
nations manifests itself in their postage
stamps; for even here the peculiarities
of the several portions of the earth can
be more or less distinctly traced.
The rage of old porcelain and pottery,
or what is known as ''the ceramic fe-
YER" prevails at present with great
force, together with passion for an
cient things in general. Venerable rel
les that had long been slowed away in
remote place as of no further service
are now brought to light; chairs, buffets,
chests and drawers, broken-winded
bellows, and irons, brass tenders, and
warming-pans are all in great demand.
Antique glass and crockery are equally
sought for, and rich treasures of GER
annie art are sometimes found among
the old kitchen cups and platters.
There are persons who have mania
for rings and bracelets, and chains and
sleeeve-buttOns, and necklaces and
fancy pins, and jewelry in general; and
when they appear in public they look
as if they were employed to advertise
good things of some thriving goldsmith.
Fashion, in all its extreme forms, may
be regarded as a sort of mania. A lit
tie while ago all the ladies extended
their dress with steel and whalebone,
until it took the form of an umbrella,
and now the balloon is collapsed and
the umbrella is closed again. Struct-
ures are sometimes made to grow upon
the top of the head, architectural. bot
anical, chronological, or otherwise,
that are very suggestive of the insane
asylum. 1t is a very ancient mania
that manifests itself in that way, and
it is found all over the world, savages
often treating their heads and hair after
more elaborate style than anything
we are capable of doing.
Different periods are marked by a
mania for some particular kind of game
-croquet, lawn-tennis, polo, or per-
haps the Scotch golf.
Manias of one sort or another break
out in a very mysterious way. They can
not be explained, but we are carried
away by them none the less for this.
The infection of example is irresistible.
We run after certain things simply be-
cause our neighbors do; and they run
after the same because we do. If there
is melancholy in the air, we all feel it.
If there is any mania abroad, we are
all in danger of catching it.