The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1897-10-15
ARP TALKS TO BOYS.
lie Tells Them That knowledge Of Every.
thing IL Essential.

uoTc - IctVcT iUI Uuc UUyS.
l believe that even an imperfect
knowledge Of many callings renders a
man happier than perfection In any
one and comparative ignorance Of all
the rest. Great scientists, discover
ers and inventors seem to be neces-
sary for the worlds progress and the
good of mankind, but their work is
generally at the expense of their
health and happiness. Sir Isaac
Newton in his last days exclaimed
with a sigh, II have made a slave Of
myself" His great mind was always
on a strain in one direction. 1t is
said Of him that he had hole cut In
the lower part Of the door for his favor
ite cat to enter and exit, and when
she had a pair Of kittens he had two
smaller holes cut for them. The mind
is like the body. 1t must have a va
riety OF food. 1t Is like the muscles
IN the arms or legs. II only one set
are used the others become weak and
will gradually perish away.
l was talking not long ago to a
learned Judge, u man Of fine judicial
mind and literary attachments, but
who acknowledged his very limited
knowledge Of nature and natures
laws. II hardly know one tree from
another" said he, "exceptiny, Of
course, the chestnut, hickory nut and
walnut. Yes, Of course, / know the
pine and the oak. Indeed l have
never had any occasion to know more,
for l was raised 10 town and books
have absorbed me-"
was ruminating about this because
our little girls mother is teaching her
to draw and to paint, and l asked her
to draw me u chestnut tree, an oak
tree and a maple tree. She is work
ing on them now and has to 60 out
and look at them and examine the
bark on the trunk, and the shape Of
the limbs and the leaves. ! wonder
how many boys and girls can draw q
hickory leaf without looking at one.
l should like to see their specimens.
Thousands OF boys, especially country
boys, know all the common trees OF
their neighborhoOd, but it requires
close and careful observation to de.
scribe them aud point out the differ
ence. Now there are ten different
kinds OF oaks In this country, but
very few tOwn.raised people can name
half OF them. Then there are differ.
ent kinds Of hickories aud pines and
ash and elm trees, besides the hack.
berry, box elder, poplar, beech, locust
and cottonwood. Eugene LIE Hardy
was a very learned and scientific
Freuchman, but thought that Ameri-
can cotton grew on the cottonwood
trees and we gathered it by using lad
ders. 1t is said that a Mr.. Jackson,
Of Atlanta, Is trying TO introduce the
ladder kind just now and has got the
trees up to fourteen feet high.
The study Of the trees and shrubs OF
this Southern country isa delightful
and instructive recreation for young
people, and / wish they would pay
more attention to IL. OF course this
study requires some knowledge Of
botany, but that is easily acquired.
This kind Of knowledge Is more useful
and more comforting than q college
sp,attcring Of calculus and comic acc
tions ami rhetoric and logic. l Dc
not believe there are ten men in Bar
Nw county who would know ginseng
II they were to see 1t. Not many mort
KNOW what Is father grayheard OF
white ash, the medical shrub from
which old A. Q. Simmons drst made
NE original Simmons liver medicine
lin Gwinnett county. ] know about
| that for when l was young mcr
chant I sold tho drst he ever made
and continued 10 sell II for him fOI
several years, and he told me what !,
was made off, ! think, though, thu