The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-07-18
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SOME HOBBY RIDERS.
Those Who Add to the Burdens OF
Social Intercourse.


= . {. . s. (. (. . &: G. o . g 8 q o . . . .
The sanitary value of having hob
by is generally recognized. SAYS the
New York Evening Post. No one who
sticks too close to his last is likely
to be sound in body or an agreeable
companion. But certain hobbies, in
nocent in themselves, make their
riders seem extremely foolish. and add
to the burdens of social intercourse.
Among these is what may be called
the gastronomic hobby. There is per-
haps no more ostentatious form of
pride than that of the gentleman cook
Food prepared in a chatting dish is oc-
casionally palatable, but there are men
who look upon and talk about such
cooking as if it were a religious cere-
mony Almost everybody has been
obliged, at one time or another, to
eat some horrid mess in order to
please friend who believes that an
alcohol lamp and suffering pan
have some mysterious virtue. There
are those who think that no cook or
butler can dress salad, and one can
see them as they grid themselves for
the undertaking. A superior smile
plays about their lips as they flourish
the bottle of oil and the wooden spoon.
A peculiarly annoying species are the
camp cooks-men 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 it at the
restaurant or club We know that the
trout and birds were burnt without
and underdone within.
Equally unpleasant is the man with
the hygienic hobby. He is not to be
mistaken for the valetudinarian. He
is far from being alarmed about his
health. In the contrary, he has dis
covered the secret of physical we'll
being. He has original ideas about
undertaking and overcoats. His
bathing. eating. drinking and manner
of sleeping are all according to in
flexible rules. He gives you history
of his day, OF his draughts of mineral
water, his gymnastic method If he
does not recommend to you some OBJ
scure physician who has done WON
ders' for him, he will at least tell
yon 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 architect has simply put
them into shape" AS the structure
rises, the owner entertains his friends
with accounts of the architects de-
lays or the builders duplicity. He
carries about with him schemes of
decoration, samples of tapestry, de-
signs of sidebOards and bookcases, all
of which he displays upon the slight
est prOvOcation. He will lead the un-
wary into the half-finished place, will
entice him up ladders and down into
damp cellars. They emerge looking
as If they had been in 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 light
ing and upholstery?
The amount of pleasure afforded by
the automobile is appreciably counter
balanced by the conversation of those
who have made that useful machine a
hobby. For it is surprising how much
valuable time is consumed by auto
mobile owners in lecturing their less
| fortunate friends. We are willing 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 discourses about sparks and
gear. lamps and tires, the abuses of
the garage and the tedious experien-
ces of the road. OF course there is a
certain, novelty in hearing stories of
village cOnstables who have hauled him
into court, and Of the untimely fate
of dogs and chickens upon the high
way; but, for excitement, we prefer
| the Newgate calendar.
We are also disposed to shun the
man who, being neither a playwright
nor an actor, makes the theater his
hobby. Talk about the play is no
doubt valuable social asset, especi-
ally in the case of those who do not
read books or see much of real life;
and criticism of the drama has its
Importance. Not SO the stereotyped
catechism which begins with the ques-
ton: Have you seen Mrs. Dash at
the Blank Theater?" For sooner or
| later the man with the theatrical hob
by will try to tell you the plot of a
play which you have not seen. If the
piece is comic he will laugh at his
own narrative so that you will not
understand word of what he is say
ing. If the plot is intricate, you will
almost pity him as he tries vainly to
gather up the threads of the story and
bring you to the end. The person
with monomania for concerts belongs
to the same class. When he huns the
motive of some symphonic poem 1t is
difficult for the courteous listener to
know how to signify his appreciation
and yet conceal his dismay.