The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1896-10-31
THE PENKNIFE HABIT.


A0DS inc warning 01O00 II
Abread Il the Laad-1e-
mantle But R1ine1s.
One1half the wurA i. a1aicted with
the penknife habit, and on that~ccount'
the poor world presents most mutt
lated. SCARED and butchered aspect.
Watch the penknife fend at work.
He has just spied = fresh new bench
in the park. Everything fresh and new
IL his own especial prey. He draws back
and rivets his eyes upon it, startled at
first by the suddendicovery Of another
victim. Then he pounoes upon II, ike
the hawk upon the mild gray field
mouse, and whipping out his many
biaded knife, he begins to carefully,
malicionsly engrave his name, the date
Of his BIRTH his present address, his
past occupation, and various ether im-
portant details all over that virgin park
bench.
Criminal! He has no other occupa~
ton. He was born to the knife, for
the knife. It il useless for him to try
10 bo otherwise. He = a ribald, TIRE
sponsible nuisance, q mean, petty, re-
lentless destroyer Of every smooth sur
face that crosses his path.
Whole walls have been covered by
him with fanciful groupings Of the
alphabet. Beautifully carved etaircases
and porches have been the subjects Of
his attacks. Young trees have been
killed by his.inesesant digging into the
bark with his pearl-handled weapon.
He invades marble halls and scratches
his name on beautiful Italian mar
BILE; he penetrates into graveyards and
perretuates his memory alongside that
of the numberless dead.
He never ventures abroad without his
penknife. Whole hours are spent by
him basking in the sun, leaning against
some soft pine pillar, carving 1t down
to suit his fancy. and gathering lirtle
forest of chips about his feet. Large
public buildings suit his purpose best.
The city hall has always been Joy
to his soul. Especially about the main
entrances, where he is permitted to
loiter, he has cut and engraved until
the massive walls and doorslook Ike
ancient Egyptian tablets, q mass of
illeg;ble heiroglyphics. He complains
because the old post Office, once rich
field for his zeal, is now closed forever
against his industrious fingers. Put
the various railway stations still afford
him hunting ground. The North
western and the Union depots, with
their large and crowded waiting rooms,
are particularly favorable to the culti-
vation of the practice.
AMI the man with the penkn:fe habit
is never caught. Apparently he works
in the dead of night when all the world
is mapping, for he is seldom discovered
in broad daylight. He works as the
ant works, persistemtly, hbcriously,
doing just a little each day. But the
sum total is enormous. The damage
which he does to valuable prop srty
reaches the thousands.
It is hard to fling away the senti-
| ment that once surrounded the lovers
twain, the yielding .sapling and the
kee.-edged knife. When Herman and
Dorothea rise before our mental vision
it is always under the noble oak tree,
| standing together, and carving their
names deep into the heart of the forest
giant, to be an everlasting evidence OF
their everlasting love. Roaalind and
Orlando in the forest Of Arden carved
true lovers signs and ill-shaped hearts
here, there and everywhere to lead their
footsteps together. Coming down to
fact and the end of the century, It is
still the poetical practice Of all the senti-
mental and romantic.
But there is no romance about the
thoroughbred penknifer. He wants
glory, and he spares no pains to obte'n
it. He works with the detailed interest
end impressible persistency that proves
the existence of one great prcdominatr
ing idea.
Psychologists say that the penknife
habit Is allied to that universal human
desire called notoriety. It is an on
spring Of tho love for fame. Sometimes
by accident the penknifer discovers
himself abroad without his trusty lance
in the hot pursuit for publicity. and
he resorts to the pencil. Then he in
scribes his name on painted walls. on
pictures and in borrowed books to 60
laundering down the ages, an ever
lasting eyesore to posterity. Some
timee his weapon takes the form Of a
rubber stamp. Armed with that, he
goes abroad and stabs at every available
object within his reach. = Chicago
Timcs-He1ald