The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1885-03-07
ASKING QUESTIONS.
The Way to Acquire General and
Useful Information.

When DIR. McCoSh, now the President |
of Princeton College, came to this
country on a visit for the first time, he |
made tour of the Western cities. |
was his travelling companion from this
city to Niagara and beyond. The day
after his arrival we took our seats in
the cars at the depot of the Hudson |
River. Railroad, and when we were out
of the city and fairly under way, DIR.
McCosh said to me:
''Now tell me of the cities of the |
West 1 am to see; what about Chi
cagoP"
Chicago" replied, ais the great
the greatest in the world, unless Odes-
Sa in Russia ships more wheat, and of
that l am not sure"
"And Cincinnati he inquired, 'for
what is it famousP"
Cincinnati is the greatest pork mart
in the United States" said. At this
moment the head of man sitting on
the seat behind us was thrust between
our heads, and opening its mouth the
head said, II beg your pardon: Chi
cago killed thirty thousand more hogs
last year than Cincinnati" 1t with
drew after this deliverance, and when
we had recovered from the amusement
and surprise this sudden communica-
tion had produced we resumed our
conversation. l said to the foreign
traveller:
"Dr. McCosh, I had hoped you
would make your journey through this
country, and go home without an oc-
currence like that: and here it has
happened in the first half-hour of your
travels" He smiled and said he ought
to be thankful for information, and the
manner of giving it was of no import
ance. Soon afterwards had occasion
to leave the seat for moment, and on
returning found DIR. McCosh in free
conversation with the Western man
whose headha so recently projected
between us. So far from having taken
any offence, DR.. McCosh reasoned if
the man knew so much more than l
did about the pork market, he prob
ably knew much more on other mat
tiers, and so he drew him out. By and
by they got side by side and the learned
Professor was more learned when he
had extracted great amount of
knowledge from the stranger.
John Locke was a great mental phil
osopher, so is DIR. McCosh, as the world
knows. And Locke was given to ask
ing questions of those who knew more
than he did of subject he had not
studied. Indeed he regarded the con-
iversational habit as the great agency
In the cultivation of the mind. His
work on the Human Understanding,
though far from being safe or sutfi-
cient treatise on mental science, has
made him famous in the world of
thought as one of the great teachers of
the seventeenth century. When he
was asked how he had contrived
to get mine of knowledge SO
rich, extensive and deep, he said
that for what he knew he was indebted
to his habit of not being ashamed to
ask for information, and that he made
it rule all through life to converse
with all sorts of men on those topics
chiefly that formed their own particu-
lar profession and pursuits. This is
evidently the habit DIR. McCosh has
If we would not expect to discover it
in the case of great mental philoso-
piers, here are two examples of its
indulgence and success which may well
commend it.
This is quite different habit from
that of asking questions simply from
idle or impertinent curiosity. Inquisi-
tiveness is vice, not so bad as steal
ing, yet resembling it somewhat 1t is
prying into other peoples affairs, which
the inquirer has no business TO NEEDLE
with. 'Just let me ask you one ques-
ton" says this intrusive individual,
and then follows a stream of inquiries
of no possible use to him who asks or of
him who is compelled for the sake of
good nature to answer Some of the
most disagreeable persons in the world
are these prosecuting questioners.
Hence the question came in former
days to mean the examination of per
son by torture: putting him on the
rack or over fire to extort answers to
questions which the victim was unable
or not willing to give.
But it IS positive pleasure to every
intelligent person to impart informa-
ton to a sincere inquirer after useful
knowledge. And this pleasure is the