Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-12-29

ing tor admlttance. Some OF them-poor
fellows-look as if thev had not been
comfortably lodged. Their clothes are
poor, thin and during the past few weeks.
were frequently 30 wet that they dripped
large drops of discolored water on the
oilcloth for some time after they took
their seats. They evidently belonged to
the large army of unemployed, and some
of them quite evidently merely take out
books to have an excuse for remaining
in warmth and shelter for while before
recommending their search for work.
These have been observed to sit with an
open book before them for hours with
out turning page. Later in the morn
ing comes a delegation from the army of
invalids which spends the winter in Cali.
fornia. Some of these remain in the
readiDg-room all day except at meal
times. At the same time the first dele
cation of boys arrives. Nawsboys, in
search Of stories; schoo,boys, in want of
information not furnished by their school
books, or material for compositions,
and other hoys who only want to
read something, but that something in
terestipg. The boys hold their own with
the other frequenters of the library until
long after dark. They are found in
groups, and much whispered consultation
is INDUCED in relative to the merits OF
the various books. At any time of the
day some boy will be found chuckling
over the vagaries of Mark Twain's "Tom
Sawyer" or "Huckleberry Finn" Lately
the admirable books by G. A. Henty
have begun to attract the attention of the
boys, who in perusing "The Reign OF
Terror" or "Facing DEATH" not only
find an exciting story, but unconaciously
imbibe much information.
In the afternoon come the older men,
and those who, armed with pencil and
note book, are after something. For a
long time there was large man who
came every day and was never observed
to look at any printed matter except the
unabridged dictionary, which he seemed
to be deliberately reading through,
making note occasionally. There was
also preacher there for a week or two,
who used to spend much time in medita-
ton and read works on geology and
a. tronomy. The daily papers are per.
sistehtly patronized in the mornings by
those who make extracts from the adver-
tisements and go away. Later in the
day comes an old man, who commences
with the Erpress of the night before,
seems to read everything in it, waits
until the next paper is abandoned by its
reader, goes through it in the same
thorough manner, and 60 with the four
daily papers of which this city boasts.
But the student can make his own
studies in the book open before him in the
library. There is material enough for
good-sizad volume. An artist might
make study of attitudes, and the boys
alone would furnish more attitudes than
the artist would have any use for. There
is the boy who sits close up to the table
with both elbows resting thereon and
his hands covering his ears; there is the
one who sits on the extreme edge of the
chair, leaning back until the back of the
chair forces his head so far forward that
one would be sure his chin
was pushing his lungs out OF
place. That attitude is sufficiently
uncomfortable, though not, perhaps,
artistic. A variation OF the same is
performed by boy who props his book
up in front of him and thrusts his hands
deep in his pockets, only bringing one Of
them to light, with struggle, for the
exertion Of turning leaf occasionally.
Those gathered around the gas stoves
furnish the most varied attitudes, while
they endeavor to monopolize the grateful
heat and prevent the enlargement of the
circle of FIRE worshippers.