The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1884-11-20
Having y Hobby.

Every man ought to have a hobby
something to enjoy in total distinction
from his work. Every woman should
have one. Women need hobbies more
than men. In how many systems OF
education, loaded with the idea OF
making the student fit for labor, does
the all-important consideration enter
of teaching him how to be happy when
he is not at work: where and how to
find what will surely be the great need
of his life, rest.
Here and there IN the world are rare
exceptions to the general rule. There
is sometimes a family in which the
father and mother know how 10 enjoy
life sensibly in its hours of play or rest.
and around them grow up boys and
girls tit to live. fit to do all the duties
of life. fit to make their own lives hap
py and useful. From childhood they
have known that life is surrounded by
thousand of wonders. whether of mau 5
making or of Gods creation. Nature
and art alike furnish them with sources
of knowledge and pleasure. You don
see those children dawdling around
hotel draWing-roomS when the family
are travelling. The BOYS may 90 fish
ing and the girls go hunting flowers.
or both may go together and each
share the other enjoyment.
| met two of such family the other
dav in the pine woods in Florida, 3
mile from tae hotel. | did not know
them, nor they me. Twas digging up
the bulb of plant; and. as it came
out of the ground, l heard an exclama-
ton: ..It is bulbous, after all, Tom" "
Then 1 saw the bright and pleasant
countenance of a seventeen-year-Old
| girl who had come near. She had the
same curiosity about the flower which |
| had. Then, for while, she and her
brother Tom rambled along with me.
They were out for walk. That to
them meant keen enjoyment of pretty
much all they saw. Trees, flowers,
animals, the very skies and clouds,
were more or less subjects of intelli-
| gent observation to them. She caught
half a dozen lizards as we walked
| along, handled them gently, examined
them carefully, and let them go un-
harmed. He talked of fishing. He
had seen me going or coming in. He
knew all about the fishing in his own
part of the country, and great deal
about the habits of the fish. The two.
brother and sister, discussed, one with
another, the flowers and animals.
Clearly, they had been brought up from
childhood to take keen interest in the
ordinary environments of country life.
And / was not surprised, when she
caught sight of an engraved gem in my
ring, to find that at seventeen, and at
fifteen, he knew enough about art to
talk intelligently and without blunders.
We had a pleasant chat as we strolled
hither and thither in the old pine
woods, and they two were very happy
children. | doubt not that they confer
great deal of happiness and do a
great deal of good in the circle in
which they live. We met in the woods
and they left me in the woods, and
did not see them again. In the hotel.
looked around at some hundreds OF
faces and failed to see those. Nor was
there any other young girls face there
which seemed to have any ideas beyond
the circle described ON the floor by the
edge of skirt.
The moral of this somewhat rambling
letter is this: Teach your young peo
pie how TO be happy, how to enjoy
life, how to make others happy. Give
them interest in the things which sur
round life Don't send them to Europe
till they h ave some worthy tastes ant
desires TO be intelligently gratitied b,
their going. If they cannot find pleas
ure in studying nature and its pro
duets. don't take them to Florida-A
J.. journal of Commerce.