The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-10-16

Crlminall He has no other occupation.
He was born to the knife, for the knife.
1t Is useless for him to try to be other
wise. He Is a ribald, irresponsible nuis-
ance mean, petty, relentless DESTROYER
Of every smooth surface that crosses his
path
Whole walls have been covered by him
with fanciful groupings of the alphabet
beautiful carved staircases and porches
have been the subjects of his attacks.
Young trees have been killed by his inces-
SAINT, digging into the bark with his pearl
handled. weapon. He invades marble halls
and scratches his name on beautiful Ital-
ian marble; he penetrates into graveyards
and perpetuates his memory alongside
that of the numberless dead.
He never ventures abroad without his
penknife. Whole hours are spent by him
basklng In the sun, leaning against some
soft pine pillar, carving 1t down to suit
his fancy, and gathering little forest OF
chips about his feet. Large public build
ing suit his purpose best. The city hail
has always been a Joy to his soul. Es-
pecially about the main entrances, where
he Is permitted to loiter, he has cut AMI
engraved until the massive walls and
doors look like ancient Egyptian tablets.
a mass Of illegible heiroglyphics. He
| complains because the old postofiice, once
a rich field for his zeal, is now CLOSED
I
But the various railway stations stlll at
ford him a hunting ground The North
western and the Union depots. with their
large and crowded waiting rooms are par
ticularly favorable to the cultivation of
the practice.
And the man with the penknife habit is
never caught. Apparently he works in the
the dead Of night when all the world is
mapping, for he is seldom discovered in
broad daylight He works as the ang
works. persistently, laboriously, doing 1usr
a little each day. But the sum total is
enormous. The damage which he does
to valuable property reaches the thous-
ands.
1t is hard to fling away the sentiment
that once surrounded the lovers twain.
the yielding sappling and the keen-edged
knife. When Herman and Dorothea rise
before our mental vision II is always I'M
der the noble oak tree, standing togther.
and carving their names deep into the
heart of the forest giant, to be an ever
lasting evidence OF their everlasting love-
Rosalind and Orlando in the. forest OF
Arden carved true lovers signs and III
shaped hearts here there and everywhere
to lead their footsteps together. Coming
down 10 fact and the end OF the century,
It is still the poetlcal practice. OF all the
sentimental and romantic.
But there IS no romance about the thor
oughbred penknifer. He wants glory,
and he spares no pains to obtain IT, He
works with the detailed interest and i'm
pressible persistency that proves the ex-
istence Of one great predominating idea.
Psychologists say that the penknife
habit is allied to that universal human de-
sire called notoriety. 1t is an Offspring
OF the love for fame. Sometimes by ac-
cident the penknlfer discovers himself
abroad without his trusty lance in the
hot pursuit for publicity. and he resorts
to the pencil. Then he inscribes his name
on painted walls, on pictures and In bor-
rowed books to go laundering down tho
ages, an everlasting eyesore to posterity
Sometimes his weapon takes the form Of
rubber stamp. Armed with that he
goes abroad and stabs at every available
object within his reach.