The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1893-11-16

A curious experiment is that which
the professor tried some time ago
grating a tomato on to potato. 1t
worked to charm, but without any
special commercial significance, for it
didn't raise any new-fangled kind Of
fruit or vegeta BILE, tnor did it change
the nature of the potato or the tomato.
1t reminded me of the attempt good
many boys in small towns and
country crossroads make to graft
themselves onto the city potato. They
make it go sometimes, and sometime
out of the union there comes a right
thrifty plant, partaking of the nature
of the country and Lthe city as we'll,
but I'd a good deal rather be the
owner of snug, well-kept little store
in small town. or the owner of a
quarter section, or less, of good Min
nesota land, than to go to the city,
the crowded. ill-smelling, over-packed
city, and drive a rheumatic plug of a
dray horse, or smirk behind some dry
goods counter at ten dollars week,
or grind out scanty living on the
tail end of street car. j Don't try too
much grating. II
The society people of the twin cities
have come back from. the summers
pleasuring and, despite silver panic,
and the hard times that many people
predict, there is no end of social festi
vities. A queer lot of people, these
society folk, yet they are not all fools,
by any manner of mean. Theresis
much of human nature to be learned
at swell reception. A good many
of the people who attend these ''fun-
ctions," as the word goes now, are of
the class that will never have any
higher aspirations than to dress in the
mode and dawdle away priceless time
and jabber Ethe idiotic small talk of
the drawing room, and yet it would
be unfair to put. them all under the
same heading, for not a few Of them
enjoy, too, the delights of the literary
clubs as we'll as the lig liter pleasures
of the ball room and the game at
cards.
These literary clubs are not made
up of long haired ''literary fellers" and
short-haired blue stockings who
would rather spout for woman's SUI
frage than darn their husbands hose.
You will find men OF business and
professional men and keen, clear
headed laboring men-and their wives
belong to these clubs, reaping, the
long winter through, the most help
full of harvests. Some of the clubs
are for the study of history, some for
travels, some for researches into the
myterious realm of science, some for
lelving into the deep psychological
questions which do so delight a GER
;ain cast of mind. A large number
If the clubs are for the purpose of
Some topic is considered
It the beginning of the evening in
paper, say, twenty or thirty minutes
ong, and then there will be free
discussion of the paper in a friendly +
way, friendly but tronchant;
spirited without being T
'piteful. A constitution governs the /
club and the membership is usually
imited-not because the members
want to be counted exclusive, but be-
cause they want to reap the utmost
possible benefit out of their winters
work. There are in the city of Min
,apolis alone scores of these clubs, all +
organized and all having a
steady attend lance of the most en-
;huiastic of members. It is a royal, Z
Intellectual treat to belong to club e
Of this kind, and the best of it is, that
it is by no manner Of means confined
% the city-the literary club may be
IS successfully carried on in a small H
;own, or even in the more thickly L
settled farming communities as in the Z
city. The man who says the brains
If the world are tied up in the grea; Il
cities, writes himself down as an ass.
Speaking Of card-playing just now
me an expience I had one L
=.