The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-03-08
TOO MUCH BOOK LEARNING

The Spectator dined the other day
with a company of persons represent
ing various colleges in the United
States. Among the women the Smith
influence vas Predominant. next came
Vassar and then HDlyDke. Subjected 20
20 DIR. Nicholas Murray Buffers tests.
the assembled guests showed all the
five required evidences Of education.
There was no question as To the cor
RICHNESS Of their use Of their mother
tongue or as TO the refinement Of their
manners. The conversatiOn-which be-
came general-showed the habit OF re-
Election" the breadth 81 opinion ex-
pressed betOkened the power OF
growth" and the established records
OF work accomplished guaranteed the
power To do" Life-problems We're
discussed with the meats. art-prObiems
with the entrees. repartee sparKled
with the ices. The Spectator was dim
" conscious Of an intellectual effort TO
keep up" IL was. therefore. a mat
ter Of some surprise To him. on the
name OF Benjamin Butler being men
toned. TO have his Smith neighbor
EraveIy inquire. Who was he?" "Oh.
the man who stole the spoons the
Spectator hippantIy answered. why
di1 ne Stsdl spoons HurTleu MS as
sar vis-a-vis. a full statement of
General Buffers war and political rec
ord was received by every woman
present without a single fact being rec
oEnized as familiar
The next morning. on his way down
town, the Spectator met a young Co
Iumbia graduate OF his acquaintance.
who opened the conversation with the
remark. II have just been talking with
an intelligent New York woman who
has never heard OF Felix Adler. Did
you ever hear anything more surpris-
fEg?" Never" replied the Spectator.
except that "A Massachusetts woman
whom I met last night had never
heard Of Benjamin Butler" 1T is evil |
dent that her course Of reading did not
include 'Hudibras.' knowingly rejOin- |
cd the young man. The Spectator went
en- his way bordering over many
things. He reached his office so full
Of the story that he needs must tell IL |
to his first auditor. That beats mine"
exclaimed the listener. Il have just
met "A man who unbIushingly asked me
what a HObbema was" The accumu-
iatiou Of Isolated items Of information"
explained the Spectator with due pom
pOsity. does not constitute education.
Is a Hobbema a piece OF japanese pot
terry or IS IL something in the garden
ing Iine2"
Yet the Spectators own shortcom-
inEs did not weaken his faith in the
aggregate % Information possessed by
his race Some one in his hearing
made the statement that Of every ten
educated persons met casually in the
day. seven could not correctly answer
the question. Who wrote 'Clarissa
HarlDwe.' and i'm what decade was il
lie turned himself into an
interroEa ti0n-mark. and semi-estab-
lished in the minds Of his acquain-
tances his fitting candidature for his
State lunatic asylum by afiiXing u each
greeting. Who wrote 'Claris-
81 Harlowe.' and when" OF the first
twenty answers he received ne reports
only four that were correct. and il so
happened that. OF the twenty persons
asked. the majority were engaged in
The Spectator received n somewhat
Did fashioned education. and is doubt
less prejudiced in it's favor. He there
fore stiu meditates upon the usefulness
,r uselessness OF devoting time TO mere
bOOk-learning.-The Outlook.