The morning call., 1892-11-06
COLLECTORS HOBBIES.
Life's Monotony Relieved by
Secondary Pursuits.
FADS TEND TO HAPPINESS.
Various Forms Of the Mania - It Has Hun
dreds Ct Directions - Benefits to Indi-
viduals and Mankind
Written for THE MORNING. CALI

u lDdHt BOOQ pttplt lie AUuiu U6 u1l-
utteraply dull without hobby. The term
hobby does not necessarily me an puerile
pursuit, OF frivolity. or any kite-fying
waste of precious life. 1t may mean the
most elevatng. misunderstanding pursuit
to which a person can turn his mind. 1t
often becomes the absorbing passion. the
dominating ambition. to live on and ON into
the oldest OF old age. the consolation for
numerous reverses in business life and
grievous affections or contumelies of per-
sonal nature. Nan must live but he need
notlive by bread alone. His business voca-
tion is the harvester which supplies him
with bread, but If he have not hobby or
avOcation. then many precious years of his
life, measured out by hours and days, are
lost to him forever. The lobbyist is The
salt OF the earth. not dreamer, but busy
man in occupations hich Others in shallow
judgment dub dreams. He spends little
time in sleep. goes not beyond what nature
requires in any form of rest, and is usually
moderate and temperate liver, and all the
more cheerful because in fairly good health.
1t is true there are multitudes of good
men and women who have no hobby and
are inclined TO despise those who have.
Thev plod on in business and strive TO
become rich, which in itself is legitimate
ambition, wealth comforting great lever
age of action in this worlds affairs. They
have domestic happiness. more or less
friends 10 chat with; game Of cards; re-
ciprocal dinners; the theater, concerts aud
various festivities. But in the main many
honest people OF this unimpeachable res pee
liability, seemingly cnnstitutionally adapted
to hpmdrnm moDotony of existence, lead
very prosaic lives This week is as last
week was Those who are possessed of
ind ut m
pail upon them as they get old. Fine houses
are not more comfortable than cottages.
and noble estates bring less contentment
than garden you till with your own hand.
where every flower is q personal friend and
every vegetable has qualities OF excellence
which cannot be purchased.
Some OF the very wealthiest people on
earth are among the most miserable. As
they have attained all their desires, they
are really poor. They are gorged with
safety. Instead of being envied, the mil
lionaire may be ptled. Unless he keeps on
In business. gathering more and occupying
himself, he seems 10 have no faculty for
enjoyment His leisure is converted into
TeStlessness. Ii a millionaire will superin-
tend the shaving OF cattle from his ranch,
standing in puddles of gore on a slaughter.
house floor. meanwhile smoking cigars at
50 cents each, he is no doubt occupied AID
happy; but lie would be Just as well Occu-
pied and as happy had he 81 so day for
soapboller who passed his leisure in watch
ing the vats OF his successor simmer
and considered the stenches more CRATE
ful than the perfume Of flowers The
millionaire who has made his own
fortune is, however, in a better position than
the millionaire who has inherited his The
one has certainly saIisf actory retrospect,
while the other has too often only a david
ling, purposeless existence to look forward
10, sometimes marked indelibly by disSipa-
n n n OF ia ia ffh tod
but not greatness. There are scores of
. scientific men whose names will live while
the human race persists. Their worldly
goods would only make 4 trifling substrac-
tlon from the bank accounts OF many mil
llonalres, and yet the names OF the latter
will perish IN the next generation, and al
most as soon as the funeral is over. Thus
the poorest lobbyist has chance of IN
mortality. In order to be remembered a
man must benefit mankind permanently.
1t would be In vain 10 attempt an enumer-
alton OF hobbies. There are thousands OF
them and they are all of some value in sus-
tanning an interest in life. Besides chop
ping the heads of her enemies off aud burn
ing witches by the hundred, all of which
may be described as State duty hobbies
Queen Eliza beth left in her wardrobe at her
death 5000 dresses. She could not cheer
fully part with old clothes, aud so she pre-
served whole mountain of raiment. As
the fashions did not change very often in
those times, her hobby was a craze and she
must h ave been very botherSome 10 her
dressmakers. Queen Victoria has great
nun Der of hobbies. She has one rather re-
markable. All her numerous grand and
great grand children have been baptized in
the same little lace robe. Perhaps she
made 1t herself. 1t is marvel it has not
been worn out with use, Her Majesty also
has all her dolls. Possibly the numerous
family will go to the British Museum.
Some good people preserve their own old
shoes, but others have the curious itch TO
make historical collections of shoes, and
very strange all the footwear OF centuries
looks ranged in a row and demonstrating
that comfort is the last thing studied by the
shoemaker.
The mania for collecting pipes is quite as
odd. Happy such taddist W hO has a pipe
of Sir Walter Ralrigh's time and a success
sion Of pipes down to date. As we know,
Carlyle was fond of keeping boxes of long
chuTrh-warden clays. On one occasion he
packed about seventy of them himself and
they were all smashed. Three that Tyndall
packed for him reached their destination
unbroken. The sage's lamentations must
have been edifying.
Both snuff and snuffboxes have kept ser-
Gus men seriously employed. man with
fifty snutfs In as many pots was proud of his
acquisitions, aud his friends were enter
tanned with pinches as If they were at a
feast. The collector of snuffboxes has to
pay for his whistle. There have been COL
dred thousand dollars. but then the boxes
were OrnameDted with precious stones
and miniature paintings of great beauty
and the gold or silver was chased in exquis-
lte designs. Some of the most valuable
paintings are to be found on these old snuff
boxes, but they are made no longer. They
are snuffed out.
An admirer Of Napoleon the First made
1t the fad of his life 10 calIect all his por-
traits. and he got together 400 Of them. To
make his collection pOfn q To no
given any price for the few prints be had
not acquired. The etching hunter will sac
rItce all his fortune he can spare to indulge
his hobby. rare Rembrandt puts him Ia
fever OF expectation. How gloatngly he
turns over his treasures in leisure moments
But for artistic avarice much that is pre-
clous In the work OF The old masters would
have perished, as has that consummately
glorious painting OF the Last Supper by
Leonardo da Vinci, ignorantly " whitewashed
over, patched, restored and botched, and
now only recognizable in the sem.
blance Of grandeur which copies give.
Similarly glyptic art owes much TO
the coyetousness of collectors. Bushels
OF little rings and carvings have been pre-
served from Greek, Etruscan and Roman
times, aud what strong light they cast
upon the habits and history of the people
who fashioned them. Classic literature
would be obscure reading without this
side-light illustration. Collectors of paint
ings there have been in all times, but this
tendency Of the refined mind only becomes
hobby when man in bis own lifetime
trots from sale to sale or gallery to gallery
and gradually amasses hundreds Of works.
There are many people with great collec-
tlons of pictures who are not en- titled TO an
ounce of credit for their taste. They got
them from their ancestors, and if impoyer-
ished would not hesitate to disperse them.
But some men go on purchasing pictures
until their houses are full of them, and TREY
die with the hope that they will not be dis
persed. The better 10 secure this, they
often leave their treasures to the public in
trust.
Such a benefactor was the late Mr.. JONES'
lie was an army tailor. and he thriyed in
business so well that he was able TO make a
collection Of Sevres ware, ormolu mount