Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1906-04-27

his custom subsequently, in order to
see that the bed had been prepared
for him after the approved plan.
This was as follows: "A hard bolster
was placed under the mattress, rails
ing thereby a hump on which the small
of his back rested. The clothes had
a pleat in them right down the center,
SO that they were never strained, but
fell in loose folds on either side Of
him an arrangement which, though
we were assured it was most comfort
able and restful, certainly looked Pc
culiarly untidy. B. AZ
Of his reputation and knew that some
people regarded him as the greatest
living Thinker, while others looked
on him as Antichrist The perpetual
adulation would have turned the head
of smaller man. One day the post
man delivered letter addressed to
Herbert Spencer, England, and If the
postman doesn't know where he lives,
why, he ought to-" He laughed hearth
" and handed the envelope to us to
look at
\ One day he received letter three
sheets long-from an American girl,
asking his advice as to whether she
ought to marry her cousin or not. He
was much entertained at being asked
such question and told us about it
at lunch. when there were two or
three of his friends present. He went
on to say he was certain it was not q
bona fide letter, and then, turning to
M, continued:
'tOh, it was only another dodge
as you would say--for getting an auto
graph!" Il, gs.a
He told us that it was he who had
first recommended George Eliot to take
to writing fiction, and that she and
her brother were the originals Of Mag
gle and Tom Tulliver in "The Mill on
the Floss" He seemed to have been
responsible for more than one import
ant event in that authoress' career
for it was he who let out the secret
of her identity. &.
I am not good company" he once
said. Now for that you wanted John
Stuart Mill or Huxley. They were
good company If you like, especially
Huxley, he was SO humorous" That
provoked him to tell of dinner he
attended where many celebrated writ.
ers met-most of them long since dead
Over their cigarettes they fell to dis.
cussing their various methods Of com.
|mencing to write. He said he wrote
and wrote, tore up, then wrote again
and so on. George Lewes looked sur.
prised, and cried out:
oh, I'm not like that; I commence
to write at once, directly the pen is
in my hand! In fact, I boil at a low
temperatures 0
Indeed" cut in Mr.. Huxley, "lha1
is very interesting, for, as you know
to boil at low temperature implies
vacuum in the upper region"
It was no surprise to US to hear how
jolly Mr.. Spencer was in his younger
days, and what fun he made in the
office with his colleagues, upon one Of
whom he played most ridiculous
practical joke. Every day Mr.. Spencer
placed in the inside band Of his friends
hat a strip of paper, SO that the hal
grew very gradually smaller, until
at last it was SO noticeable that the
youth became quite concerned, ant
drew the attention of the whole Office
to the fact that his head was getting
slowly larger! Y
| It is easy to imagine the merry twin
kle that must have lurked in the youth
full Spencer's eye while the symptom.
of water on the brain were beins
graphically described to the unfortu
nate young man, who at last showed
such anxiety that it eventually became
necessary to tell him of the hoax,
remember once as young man,
he said, going out to dinner party
and discovering just as I was leavins
the house that the streets were very
wet. had no means of getting a cab
and the question arose how to keeI
my evening pumps clean. So tool
a bundle Of old newspapers with me
and whenever came to dirty cross
ling I threw down one after another
! making a sort of bridge over which
could cross without soiling my
shoes. ~.
On coming into the dining room one
evening he discovered one of us asleet
over a book of his which he had LEM
us some months before. Highly amused
at the soporific effect of his writings
and the length of time taken over its
perusal, he exclaimed: ;s5
Why you take as long to read my
books as I take to write them!'' "a
Oh, was the answer, II don't al
ways finish themi I was reading one
Of your books the other day, and /
saw something you said about love
which surprised me SO much that /
closed the book sharply and said. He
knows nothing whatever about it,"
He was much tickled with this
speech but his Jauohfar x5;a17 49,, = Z, !,