Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1895-02-14

nim manipulating hfs fragile phiIosopE-
ical instruments.
The reader may set mo down as a
hopeless busybody when i confess how
much this man stimulated my curiosity
and how often endeavored to break
through the reticence which he showed
on all that concerned himself. Before
pronouncing judgment, however, be it
remembered how objectless was my life
and how little thero was to engage nv
attention. Ny health forbade mo from
venturing ont unless the weather was
exceptionally genial, and / had no
friends who would call upon rlo and
break the monotony of my daily exist
ence. Under these circumstances j eager
ly hailed the little mystery which hung
around my companion and speE: mach
OF my time in en6eavoring to lnravel it.
He was not studying medicine. Ho
had himself, in reply to question, con.
firmed Stamford's opinion upon that
point Neither did he appear to have
pursued any course of reading which
might fit him for degree. in science or
any other recognized portal which would
give him an entrance into the learned
world. Yet his zeal for certain studies
was remarkable, and within eccentric
limits his knowledge was so extraordi-
narily ample and minute that his obser-
vations have fairly astounded me. Sure,
ly 10 man would work SO hard to attain
such precise information unless he had
some definite end in view. Desultory
readers arc seldom remarkable for the
exactness of their learning. No man
burdens his mind with small matters
unless he has some very good reason for
doing so.
His ignorance was as remarkable as
his knowledge. Of contemporary itera-
ture, philosophy and politics he appear
ed to know next to nothing. Upon my
quoting Thomas Carlyle he inquired in
the naivest way who he might be and
what he had done. Ny surprise reached
climax, however, when / found Incl
dentally that ho was ignorant of the
Copernican theory and of the compost
tion of the solar system. That any civil
llzed human boing in this nineteenth
century should not bo aware that the
earth travelled round the sun appeared to
be to mo such an extraordinary fact that
l could hardly realize it.
"You appear to be astonished, he
said, smiling at my expression of sur
prise. "Now that I do know it shall
do my best to forget it.
"To forget it!'
"You see, !" he explained, 81 consider
that a mans brain originally is like a
little empty attic, and you have to stock |
it with such furniture as you choose. A
fool takes in all the lumber of every sort |
that he comes across, so that the knowl- |
edge which might be useful to him gets
out, or at best is jumbled up
with lot of other things, so that he
has difficulty in laying his hands up
on 1t. Now, the skillful workman is very
careful indeed as to what he takes into
his brain attic. He will have nothing
but the tools which may help him in
doing his work, but of these he has a
large assortment, and all in the most
perfect order. 1t is mistake to think
that that little room has elastic walls
and can distend to any extent. Depend
1pon it, there comes a time when for
every addition of knowledge you forget
that you knew before. 1t is
Of the highest Importance, therefore, not
to have useless facts elbowing out the
useful ones"
"But the solar system' I protested.
"What the deuce is it to me?'' he in
'errupted impatiently. "You say that
We go round the sun. If we went round
ihe moon, it would not make penny
worth of difference to me or to my
work"