The Washington times., 1901-08-25

ordinary Ntsttors to Ihese iustftu-
lions See But LittIe-AdmirnI Dew
ey and the Stuffed Birds-A Boy
With Penchant for Firearms.
Officials and attendants at the mu-
seums and the Geological Park of this
city have observed that the great ma
jority of visitors to these institutions
see very little of what is contained
therein. The ordinary sightseer SIM
ply views few of the conspicuous OBJ
jects and leaves, apparently satisfied
that he has taken in the whole
thing" The people who find delight In
such collections are those enthusiasts
upon certain particular subjects
happy victims of that passion which
disappoints not and is always fresh, a
hobby.
Happy" says Balzac. "is the man
with a hobby, and miserable he who is
without one
No matter what be the subject of the
hobby, whether postage stamps or to-
bacco tags, or fine porcelains, or what
not, there is in it the delight of con-
slant pursuit and qualification.
The lobbyist who haunts the public
collections may or may not be a stu
deut. but it is most probable that he is.
The interest that he takes in his par
ticular subject naturally induces him
to learn all he can about 1t from all
possible sources. If his Imagination is
excited and his attention enthralled by
the sight of the Egyptian antiquities
in the National Museum. everything
pertaining TO ancient Egypt becomes
of absorbing and intense interest to
him. He learns to read the HERO
glyphic writing that he may interpret
for his edification the inscriptions on
obelisk and mummy case. He solves
the mystery of those strange forms de-
picted in stone and on papyrus, in
which the animal and human are
blended, and which have such potent
significance.
The enthusiast pursues his hobby
until in some cases he lives more in the
remote past than in the present. He
conjures up ancient forms and cere-
monials and social customs, even meth
DDS of thought. Every one of those
delcately wrought trinkets that deco
rated the person &C some Pharaoh or
princess and that has reposed upon the
mummied body several thousand years,
the symbols wrought in pottery. with
their religious significance, the Gus
toms, traditions, and beliefs of the long
eXtinguished race thus perpetuated in
fragments, as 1t were, which can be
contemplated and handled contribute
to a delight in which is strangely
blended the adults intelligence with
the child's love Of a plaything.
An amusing case of the lobbyist is
recalled at the National Museum. The
subject was a boy not more than ten
years of age He was, however. incon-
slant, one hobby gradually yielding to
another. He was observed to visit the
Museum at certain time every after
noon with his school books in his hand.
Making his way, without noticing any
thing else, to the mariners compasses,
he would stand gloating over those OBJ
iects for a considerable period with
every evidence of curiosity and pleas
ure. and would then take his leave only
to repeat his visit the following day.
This devotion to the compasses lasted
perhaps for a couple of weeks, when
his visits were observed to become less
res liar, and he would spend less time
in an examination of the instruments.
Then It would be noted that he would
have turned his attention to some other
perhaps-upon which
4 Il IL,
votion that he had previously displayed
toward the compasses. He turned him
self toward chemistry for a period and
spent hours. and on one occasion an
entire day, in the laboratory connected
with one of the Government institu-
tons. He could scarcely be described
as student in any one branch-!ndeed,
no one subject engaged his attention
for a time sufficient for his obtaining
any great amount of information
upon 1t.
One old gentleman. also a regular fire.
quenter of the National Museum, de- |
votes himself TO the prehistoric mon
sters, which he is enabled to contem- |
plate in whole or in part in plaster |
casts, stray bones, and other evidences |
which, thanks to native and modern in |
yenuity. we have in these days of their
sometime existence. The gentleman is |
up in all lore concerning the |
world before the deluge," as he terms |
t, and 70 hear him describe the planet !
at that remote period is sufficient TO |
give one material for nightmares every |
lfght for several months.
There is one individual who is to be |
observed on certain occasions lowering
around the Geographic exhibit. The
mechanical devices illustrating the de-
yelopment of that important invention
are regarded by this gentleman with
IN earnestness ard intensity which de-
note the genuine lobbyist. He carries
/ notebook, in which he makes sketches
md notes. 1t has even been conjec-
ured that he is an inventor, and is de-
sirous of still further perfecting the
Geographic system by some method of
lis own.
1t is interesting to know that Ad-
niral Dewey is lobbyist of a pro-
type in the line of zoology
lie was observed in company with an
,ther gentleman recently to enter the
building and to proceed
lirect for case containing two stuffed
specimens of a certain Oriental bird
The Admiral and his friend stood con-
emplating the birds with all the pleas
Ire and qualification that is only known
o the lobbyist. At length he exclaim-
ID enthusiastically: That's the hem"
md without another word and without
ooking at anything else in the Museum