The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1889-09-11
IN FREE READING ROOMS
QUEER CHARACTERS WHO HAUNT
NEW YoaNs LIBRARIES.

QUEER CHARACTERS WHO HAUNT
NEW Works LIBRARIES
-,,-~. r,,.. Act Alike. Yet DO Not Knew
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p,.,,o...r,-A stad-nt q LeHzssify.
IN manv public libraries q this city
there are daily 60 be seen some decidedly
eccentric characters. Their faces are iar Z
r,iiiar 70 ali the attaches Of the Piaeet they
f-eosient. and every occasional visitor ii.-s
s-,ecuia,ed al one gnle or other about
fi,tm.
ln the Mercantile liiTaIy. Tor sn7tiiii.-''
there are Ili7ee men who spend The Fntire
dav there reading anything and every
thine. and this they have been doing for
wears. One is an elderly man and both
The Others are middle aged. They are at
the door sif the room when il opens IN the
morning al O'Clock. They take thear
seats in the slost metlodical fashion and
BEGIN tsne Of them occasionally goes
down stairs. gets q book from the library
and returning iIi few moments, settles /
himself in his corner with a grsInt OF ssi-
isfaction and then appears oOlvious 10
his surroundings FOR hours
At noon. or thereabouts. this trio goes
ouf 70 luncheon. Not together, as each
seems 70 he unaware Of the similarity OF
the others habits. Sometimes one comes
back in twenty minutes. sometimes IN
thirty. but none would presume 70 ~
main away longer than an hour
In the afternoon their pastime Is again
resumed. and it Is continued until the
doors close al night. when they go away
reluctantly.
When the library made a rule 70 close
at 3 O'Clock Saturday afternoons, these
traoDle and several Others protested
against the early closing movement 40
an outrage
Over at the Astor library there was
formerly peculiar looking German who
wore waxed rinelefs and tremendous
necktie. He studied Goethe entirely, and
made notes by the bushelful on dirty
scraps Of paper that he picked from the
floor or fished from his pockets. de has
gseen missed for some time.
There is one nice looking. white haired
old gentleman who comes TO the Cooper
union reading room in the neighborhood
of 2 O'Clock every day and calls for - An
thon's Classical Dictionary, (which Is
sort of biography OF eminent ancient
characters.
lie never asks for anything else, and
when he is seen to enter. the Librarian, II
not busy. goes 10 the case and brings that
work 10 the desk.
The peculiar thing about this character
is that he las been pursuing this custom
ever since 1888. The reading room was
closed during the extensive alterations to
tie building during s. and So When
IL reopened almost the first visitor was
this same white haired old gentleman,
aud Mr. Cnrtiss. the librarian, could not
repress broad smile as the old gentle
man stepped before his desk and. laying
down his check. said. bow dye do2
Glad you're open again" and then add
ed. unconcernedly, "Anthon's Classical
Dictionary. please.
There is another queer fellow who
follows tho attendants around as they file
newspapers and periodicals. As soon as
the attendant places one Of these IN its
proper place the queer individual takes
e. up and rapidly turns and scans the
pages. When the next one Is placed he
props the first and skins over the second. /
This he does with each and every one.
ae seems to have no definite object in
doing this. as he cares not what the pub
Location may be.
At first the library assistants did not
know what 20 make of him. but they are
used % him now and would miss his COM
panionship were he to leave OF.
There is q third man who is also a
daily visitor, and he must have infOrma-
ton enough stored away in his breast 70
run the world.
He is probably between IS and 60
wears old lie has an air of comfort
about him. and might be taken for
one time workinglnan who had amassed
a competence upon which he proposed
20 live at his ease for the rest OF his
DAYS. lie has been coming TO the libra
~ for several years and began his read
ing on volume Of the American En-
cyclop5sdia That book he called for
every day Tor goodness knows how long,
and when he had presumably exhausted
its contents he began on volume ;,
and 50 be continued until he came to
the last volume
Then he began on volIme ] again
and went over the entire ground II Is
thought that he has read the Encyclo-
pasdia at least a dozen times and lac is
still at it.
Up at the Mechanics library on West
Sixteenth street an old man had been a
frequent visitor. lie was fully s. years
old and feeble ut that. tie had mania
FOR reading books on longevity. and
bored for hours over ''lnman's Preser-
walton Of Life, collins Secret Of Long
Life" and books Of the kind.
Look at that old man" said the
librarian one day to his assistant. Il
don't think his deep study on the pres
ervation Of life will keep him from the
grave much longer. He has been look
ing badly for a week or two, and ap-
pears 10 be at the edge Of the precipice
now" The prophecy proved correct,
for the next thing heard of the old man
was that he had been called from this
weary world. and the knowledge CLEANED
from Collins or Inman did not suffice to
keep him.
Another character at the Mechanics
library Is an old lady who revels in the
most sentimental love stories Then
there are several misses who draw out
books of the deepest philosophy ''just to
show the high taste they have the man
at the desk says. and there are a number
81 old men who delight ia reading tales
of adventures for boys.
Tie ubiquitous tramp is a frequent
caller at the Mechanics and other free
reading rooms. especially during cold or
rainy weather.
Tie only peculiar thing about him,
though. Is his aversion to reading and
his ability 10 sleep behind a newspaper
without a quiver Of the l2nd.-NeNF
York News.
yellow shoes.
DR.. Weyl also described the case of
young man i'm Munich who had been
poisoned by the yellow dyeing matter
used in coloring russet shoes. After
wearing these shoes for one week the