The Atlanta constitution., 1902-12-22
NATIONS RUINED BY HOBBIES

The Koreans are good agricuiturists
and stock breeders and are, in general,
a hard working people. but they have one
pet hobby. which they ride 50 persistent
Is AMI SO assiduousiy that it has praC-
ticaliN ruined them NJ nation.
This hobby is Hsning. of which they are
So pa.siona;ely fond that If once they
get to the waters:de every other inter
est IN life is forgotten and neglect 81.
often for weeks on end
30 contract made beforehand. nor even
the mos, solemn oath, is regarded, when
weighed in the balance against the soc,l
OF this TO them iTesistibly enhancing
pastime. II is literally craze with them;
eud so well recognized is the II il among
their neighbors. the Japanese. that no l\o-
rcan is employed 10y them IN any position
Of trust.
Those under Russian rule. however,
ere now prohibited altogether from Hsh-
ing. except with special permits. rarely
given. ana are thus transformed against
their will into reliable ana diligcnt mem-
bers of society.
Curiously enough he special hobby
which has more than any other Single
influence. retarded the advancement OF
the Siamese. has also 70 a with matters
piscatorial Everybody has heard Of t"e
famous lighting fish of Siam, but f."
peOUlt. outside iti- Gottlliif+7 ~ b'AN ''''''
trv itself. have amy idea of the hold tAe
craze for these curious dUeiS has upon The
people
town wherein n dsh-hght.ng tourua-
rneut is i'm progress is a town wherein
business and work alike are completelI at
n stardstiu: and these tournaments PIT
fen last week or ten days ana are
repeated AT intervals Of TWO ANA thiee
months an over the country. lt will he
and constant drain the pursuit or 'rt
nosti1pe exerts upon the Industrial cap1t-
ity of the people.
And. besides the waste of time. there
is the terrible moral havoc wrought ny
the universal gambling habit ihduc''-
Thousands of pounds are not lnlr"pueh''
won and lost on 4 single battle. ana poo
coolies. even will not mirequenty FISH
50 much as 90 or g. representing ''
them the labor oil NTaiS' -" Ct
fish. .,,.
AMI the most remarkable part o. the
ubol. curious business Is that HE hSh are
but tiay little things. scarcely bigger ii"'
miuuows The two rival com@ l'htS "'e
mt together into a big, Wld -m"ulIl'"
glass Jar ana at once proceed 10 take
each Others measure. their small hAS
vibrating rapidly all the time. ami hoih
IittIe bodies uuivcrng with wrath and eA-
element
preliminary skirmsh or two opens
the hattie much after the same IashloH
as i'm a prize fight between trained hu-
man pugilists Then they set To IN real
earnest. each cOmbdtant trying To pl1
the other By the nose. or. better stiIi
Get a good body grip Immediately ne
low the dorsal fin.
In any case. the struggle Is continued
until one of them is disabled OF killed,
but this is frequently u matter OF hours.
Dr Nessiner estimates that t2U,UO~"
sterling year is lost 10 the country
owing to the almost insane fondneSs OF
the people for this unique form of sport.
The Maltese have been ruined by the
..I,iesta" The word Fiesta means
literally "a feast day; or. as w
should term it, a holiday. Centuries aSn
there were no more than half a dozen of
these recognized by the church, hut. as
time went on. others, and Yet others,
came into being; until, at the presen:
moment. there are nearly one hundred
of them in the MaltaSe calendar.
TRY to imagi.e .ne effect hundred
hank holidays a year would have on
British industrial and social life. and
tiuence for evil the custom exerts upon
the slothful and pleasure-lOsing Malt
eSe Besides these separate days there
is "A whole week given up to the carnival.
and another to the celebrations i'm honor
of the great victory gained over the
Turks i'm 1865.
IT IS very doubtful whether all the
bloodshed and turmoil of the past
hundred years has done so much to re-