Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-24
HOBBY RIDERS.
Some of Those Who Add to the Bur-
dens of Social intercourse.

| from the New York Evening Post.
The sanitary value of having a hobby is
generally recognized. No one who sticks
| too close to his last is likely to be sound
| in body or an agreeable companion. But
| certain hobbies, innocent In themselves,
| make their riders seem extremely foolish,
| and add to the burdens of social inter-
| course. Among these is what may be
| called the gastronomic hobby. There is
perhaps no more ostentatious form of pride
than that OF the gentleman cook. Food
prepared in a chatting dish is occasionally
palatable, but there are men who look
upon and talk about such cooking as if it
were a religious ceremony. Almost every
body has been obliged, at one time or an
other, to eat some horrid mess in order to
please friend who believes that an alcohol
lamp and suffering pan have some mys-
ferrous virtue. There are those who think
that no cook or butler can dress a salad,
and one can see them as they grid them
selves for the undertaking. A superior
smile plays about their lips they -four
ish the bottle of oil and the wooden spoon.
A peculiarly annoying species are the camp
cooks-lnen who have roasted fish and game
in the woods The open-air life gave them
an appetite, and they pretend that their
cooking Is good. But when they tell about
1t at the restaurant or club we know that
the Lord hath put lying spirit in their
mouths, and that the trout and birds were
burnt without and underdone within.
Equally unpleasant is the with the
hygenfc hobby. He Is not to be mistaken
for the vaietudinarian. He is far from
being alarmed about his health. On the
contrary, he has discovered the secret of
physical well-being. He has original ideas
about underclothing and overcoats. His
bathing, eating, drinking and manner of
sleeping are all according to infiexible rules
He gives you history of his day OF his
draughts OF mineral water, his gymuas-
tic method. If he does not recommend
q Y1N slot h. lzo,
done wonders for him, he will at least
tell you about his own favorite nostrums-
the saccharine which he carries In his
waistcoat pocket (for he eats no sugar.
the little pill taken after meals to promote
digestion or the tonic which did his wife
SO much good.
All wise men dread the approach of the
friend who wishes to show them the plans
of his new house. They have usually been
drawn by his wife and himself; the archi-
tect has simply put them into shape" AS
the structure rises, the owner entertains his
friends with accounts of the architects
delays or the builders duplcity. He car
ries about with him schemes Of decoration,
samples or tapestry, designs off sideboards
upon the slightest provocation. He will
lead the unwary into the half-finished place,
will entice him up ladders and down into
damp cellars They emerge looking as il
they had been in a flour mill. He grows |
eloquent as he explains the work OF the
bricklayer and carpenter Not content with |
this, when the house is finished. he must |
needs show it to his friends. from garnet |
to basement Who has not been obliged |
to follow the proud householder through |
his new possessions, and TO hear his dis |
course upon plumbing, electric lighting and |
upholstery?
The amount of pleasure afforded by the |
automobile is appreciably counterbalaneed |
by the conversation of those who have made |
that useful machine hobby. For 1t is |
surprising how much valuable time is con- |
sumed by automobile owners In lecturing |!
their less fortunate friends. We are will
Ing to grant that every man has the very
best car that can be bought. This should |
be sufficient; and in return the amateur |
chauffeur should spare us his long dis
courses about sparks and gear, lamps and |
tires, the abuses of the garage and the |
tedious experiences of the road. or course
there Is certain novelty In hearing stories |
Of village constables who have hailed him
into court, ana Of the untimely fate of dogs /
and chickens upon the highway; but for 1
excitement, we prefer the Newgate cali |
endar.
We are also disposed to shun the man |,
who. being neither playwright nor an |
actor makes the theater his hobby. Talk
about the play Ii no doubt a valuable social I
asset, especially in the case OF those who /
do not read books or see much Of real life; !
and criticism Of the drama has it, impor-
lance. Not - the stsrestyped catschism /