, 1889-08-27
IN FREE READING ROOMS.
QUEER CHARACTERS WHO HAUNT
NEW YoREps LIBRARIES.


Each other-An Old Man Who Never
Takes Anything but Anthon's Classical
DietIonary-A Student of Longevity.
In many public libraries of this city
there are daily TO be seen some decidedly
eccentric characters. Their faces are IA
miliar to all the attaches of the place they
frequent, and every occasional visitor has
specialized at one time or other about
them.
In the Mercantile library, for instance,
there are three men who spend the entire
day there reading anything and every
thing, and this they have been doing for
years. One is an elderly man and both
the others are middle aged. They are at
the door of the room when it opens in the
morning at 0 o'clock. They take their
seats in the most methodical fashion and
begin. One of them occasionally goes
down stairs, gets a book from the library,
and returning in n few moments, settles
himself in his corner with a grunt of sat
isfaction and then appears oblivious to
his surroundings for hours.
At noon, or ~thereabouts, this trio goes
out to luncheon. Not together, as each
seems to be unaware of the similarity of
~
DaoA t"eh'y nieS' Soin"neS III
'nh.tS' ou' Ione "Ouiu presume W re-
Ia a"ay ionseI .nu an 9uH
III II "iVeInoon 'heir Pas'ilie Is nSaih
~ nv % un'i ne
uIoIs Cos NJ hisn'' "heh 'hey go AWAY
ieIIuhuy'
mhen ~ library hlaue d rune u CLOSE
:" OONH 'y "'' 'ne9S
Peotro WV ovNeiIi ,othels PioUes'eu
asniilsS ~ carly 'ioS"s Ho'ehheh' "s
M ou1iase.
~ eo vas
.oiliriy d peouil,r i'oNis peInlah VINO
nonttio ~ atii5ied III ntinaIr auS
anu
s n!'l Sn utr.y
sIiuPS % pap,i ma ~ PiTAeu NJ
uooi Vi ~ . iMs PooAeN has
nj iOt si,o
20 CIV " Noe, naie
~ s ""O Nv OOoPei
81 ~ 'N9 oou
:, o|lOoA cNviy uay "uu an VI An
'hohs SiasSical Dlotohary' winch ~ u
oorO VI piosr"Phy Vi eihihei1 "hcleht
0iaI"c'elS'
~ neNei "'NS u tIhnS eise' anu
"nei ie 10 eeeh - eiUoi' Nv II
noS pusS, soes 70 inc 0''So ""u brings 'ha'
WIN " 'ho ue9H'
~ Pe'ui'i '"iHS ""ou' u
% iia nc i.aS eer P"iSuinS 'lHS custom
e,ti siIoe 700, Iho icauilS room was
.ioSeu uu.ihS tie 10
w ouins uu'iHs % amu oo: when
ieoPeneu ainiosI .he nrSG Vlsltor was
1nls an Mnito aiu onu sen'iI1ah,
~ W Gul.i5s' y 1oulu NOT
iopies9 =" io"u siiii1 10 ~ opu Sen.ie-
man before ms uesk anu, aging
49, "" hs 0'eo' saiu' Lom uye uo'
- 49, ~ "Sal' G auu
iN"y,, O'ASSio"'
Tscy ple"
= queui ieIo" "n0
Som -, ~ 9ao is iooi "u
III u-ania5iaoIn hlo
Ma i - Mans soon ~
.no Pinoe ~ " : III us
pioPel pa n queel u '"ne
WI N,y 9 ne
- c. u ahNa p9
m ~ a : ~ 81 'ne'oI"'
IInSaD,r - - 1"auao -
- ~:
~ n "0 VIA '"o pun
e. ~ ibrorr o,,;..,,, 5i5 80.
-arInnLot - Li~S ~ nn
- ~ L, - w
nSSaS,hin n+ou" Ln IaHan9
TIL -
al " IA ~ a 10y "
- a Ilar+ ~ ~ hnN@I4
- away
=" ~ or"h.hu - eo
- IL IT, r. ~ -
80 H., II 49, ta - -
80 nAn nsns ~
haa"I
conPe'ence Upon whicp ne PropoSeu
&c I'VE at ms ease tor the rest OF MS
days. lie has been coming to the libra
ry for several years and began his read
ing on volume 1 of the American En-
c~yclopndia. That book he called for
every dav for Goodness knows how LONG
- I"y ,
anu "heh NJ i'u presumably eHi'a
It's contents ne began on volume =
and so he continued until he came to
the last volume.
Then he began on volume 1 again