The DeLamar nugget. [volume] (DeLamar, Idaho) 1891-1900, 1896-12-04
THE PENKNIFE HABIT.
It Afaicts Over Half the People in
the World.
Public Walls and Benches Bear Evidence
That the whiting Fiend Is
:. Abroad in the Land Ro-
mantle But Ruinous.

One7half the world is afflicted with
the penknife habit, and on thataceount
the poor world presents a most mutt
lated SCARED and butchered aspect.
Watch the penlSnife fend at work.
He Alla just spied a fresh new bench
in the park. Everything fresh and new
is his own especial prey. He draws bnck
and rivets MS eyes upon it, startled at
first by the sudden discovery or another
victim. Then he pounces upon it, ike
the hawk upon the mild gray field
mouse, and whipping out his many
bladed knife, he begins to carefully,
maliciously engraye his name, he date
of his birth. his present address, his
past occupation, and various other i'm
por3ant details all over that virgin park
bench.
Criminal He has no other occura-
ton He was born to the knife, for
the knife. 1t is useless for him to try
10 be otherwise. He is a ribdld, ire
sponsible nuisance, a 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 staircases
and porches have been the subjects Of
his attacks. Young trees have been
killed by his incessant digging into he
bark with his pearl-handled wearon.
lie invades marble halls and scratches
his name on beautiful Italian mar
bic; lie Penetrates into graveyards and
pcrpe1uates his memory alongside that
of the numberless dead.
He never ventures abroad without his
penknife Whole hours are spent b.
him basking in the sun, leaning aga ms
some soft pine pillar, carving it-dowr
TO suit his fancy, and gathering liJtlc
forest Of chips about his feet. Large
public buildings suit his purpose bcst.
The city hall has always been a JOY
to his soul. Especially about the main
entrances, where he is permitted 10
loiter, he has cut and engraved until
the massive walls and doors look Ike
ancient Egyptian tablets, a mass Of
iIlegible heiroglyphics. He comph ns
because the old post Office, once a rich
IltLQ ADA lis ZGttis 1Sh N4Ss9N u Ia " -
against his Industrious fingers. Put
the various railway stations still afford
lin a hunting ground. The North
western and the Union depots, wit
tAc;r LARGE and crowded waiting roome
are Iaro;cularly favorable to the cult
walton of the practice.
Ana The man with the penl;n;fe habi.
IS nc q caught. Apparently he worl
in Tie dead Of night when all the wQrl,
is mar ping, for he is seldom discovers
in bgoad daylight. He works as tn
ant works, rers;steutly, laborious'y
doing lust a little each day. But III,
sum total is enormous. The damag
which lie does to valuable prop rty
reaches The thousands.
1t is hard to fling away the senti-
ment that once surrounded the lovers
twain, tie yielding sapling and tn,
1.een-edged knife. When HeSlnan ant
Dorothea rise before. our mental visio2
it is always under the noble oak tret
standing together, and carving the
names deep into the heart of the fores
giant, to he an everlasting evidence
their everlasting love. Rosalind al
Orlando in the forest of Arden carve
true lovers signs and ill-shaPed hear
here there and everywhere to lead tic
footsteps together. Coming down t
feet ard the end of the century, + +
stu the poetical practice of all The sent
mental and romantic.
Dut there is no romance about tic
thoroughbred penknifer. He want
glory, and he spares no pains to obta
it. lie works with the detailed intere
ord impossible persistency that prov
The existence of one great predominat
ing idea.
Psychologists say that the penknfe
haLit IS allied to that universal huma1
desire called notoriety. 1t is an OF
sorirc Of the love for fame. Somet!nl
bv accident the penl5nifer discovei
himself abroad without his trusty lane
in the hot pursuit for publicity, an6
he resorts to the pencil. Then he ir-
scr;bes lis name on painted walls, or
pictures and in borrowed books to go |
numbering down the ages, an ever
lasting eyesore to posterity. Some
times his weapon takes the form OF
rubber stamp. Armed with that, he
goes abroad and stabs at every available !
object within his reach. = Chicago
Times-Herald.
Gold and Silver Bugs.