The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1904-05-12
along country road or spins along on


her wheel she will be prompt to note
this or that unfamiliar blossom. If she
is gifted with the power of painting, or
even of coloring drawings, she is fortu-
nate in her ability to make for herself a
set of pictures that will keep summer
for her into the midst of winter.
Not less interesting than the flowers
are the ferns. They are not the easiest
things in the world to learn to know,
although at first they may seem trit1e
compared with the flowers But they
have SO many minute variations that
it is puZzling to distinguish between
different kinds. 1t is keen pleasure,
however, when one has learned even a
few of them by name and is in posi-
ton to display ones superior noWledge
to the ignorant.
But, some one may say, one cannot
put in all ones time studying some one
thing. 1t makes a vacation too much
like work.
1t certainly would, if one did it. But
the thing to do is to make the fad an
incentive to other things. If one has
heard, for instance, that there are
pitcher plants at such and such spot
three or four miles distant, what an Oh
ject for a mornings ride. The woman
who puts wheeling in it's proper place
in her esteem and who takes her bicy-
Gle as much as matter of course as
she does her walking skirt, will not
need to be told what a pleasure it is to
find some excuse for an excursion. She
IS always ready for something of the
sort and has the delight of knowing
that she is benefiting herself by the
exercise at the same time that she is
having a jolly day with an object in
view.
1t may be said, by the way, that the
woman who is accustomed to riding a
wheel is the woman who is quick to
perceive the new plant, the new bird
Il was a very well known educator who
said, in speaking of the bicycle, that it
not only furnishes exercise for the
muscles but occupies the mind, trains
the eye and gives FREQUENT occasion
for quick decisions. All of these are
needed if woman is to get the best
out of the fad she has taken up. More
over, she does not want a fad that is
going to keep her in one place, bending
all her attention upon some near-at- hand
object. If that is the effect, she might,
for many reasons. get as much good
from the fancy work on the hotel
veranda. She has enough of toll in one
place when she is in her own home.
When she goes away she must widen
her horizon and change her environ
ment i'll every way she possibly can:
AS one keeps up the fad habit it is
likely to broaden. A woman may be-
gin by watching for certain wild flowers
or ferns, but she does not stop there.
She goes on to something else. 1t may
be birds, for as some one has said ::
''Such things can develop suddenly,
unexpectedly, in persons that have lived
along very comfortably half lifetime
and not felt the need of bird in their
existence"
Or it may be mushrooms. This is
rather expensive fad, for while one
may find books on birds and flora at
popular prices, those that deal eXhaus-
lively with mushrooms are profusely
illustrated and come high. But it does
not require very extensive education
in these matters to learn to distinguish
between the edible and the poisonous
mushrooms and then there is mate
rial object in ones pursuit of knowl-
edge. In nearly every section of the
country one may find wholesome mush.
rooms and they are so easily cooked
duu 81 kOOu W bllc tdSGc ClldU IIOSc W uO
like them are eager to encourage the
fad of their study.
Only one warning may be uttered
concerning the fad,-and this is for the
sake of others rather than of the fad
dist herself. Don't make it bore! A
bore, by the way, has been defined as a
person who talks so much about him.
self that he gives you no chance to talk
about yourself. This may be applied
to the faddist,-who would do well to
take for his principle the motto Live
and let live" Talk about your fad, if
you must, but let others talk about
theirs. too. When you are on your
wheel with all your senses alert for the
golden robin or the scarlet tanager you
have been told you might catch
glimpse of in this especial spot, do not
be SO earnest in your quest that you
have no patience with the company of
the woman who is on the search for
this or that rare plant or fern. If you
wish to 60 on your still bird-hunt with
no other company than that of your
opera glass and your silent steed, do SO.
But if You 60 in company, grant to
your associate the courtesy of the road.