The Washington herald., 1908-08-23

From the New York Sun
The genealogical bug IS getting 70 be
one OF the busiest little insects in and
around New York" said man attached
to a New York library noted fer lis
stock Of works on geneaIogy. Even on
these hot days I meet up with dozens
Of victims Of the genealogical bug though
they would fercely resent being called
victims II they were not IN their way
pathetic they would be decidedly divert
ing
7 refer. Of course, TO the lineage
tracers- That is how came into contact
with them-through their lineage tracing
OF chasing in the books
'~Tis a credulous world I know a
woman who has her ancestry charted out
as far back as Agamennon- Now she
is trying 10 get it back OF and beyond
Old Troy. After q while she viii be en-
deavoring to push It back TO the eocene
period
I know. too. a squat. squash faced
man who has spaded up his ancestral
trail in q straight path back 10 the
Crusaders He will find presently that
he is a IineaI descendant OF one OF the
Nerovingian kings. Then he VII wish
70 hsrk him back 70 Carthage Of Phoe-
uicia for q still more venerable stock
Moreover. he'll probably be able 10 do
that same For. given a credulous mind
and an absorbent disposition and an arm
fuI OF so-called genealogical works. n
time you can come TO believe anything
Begins work on the Nerve Cells.
The genealogical bug first attacks those
nerve cells Of the human brain whesein
repose judgment. and the power OF an
alysis and the sense Of hUmo-. most par
ticularIy the sense OF humor. Then the
insect rapidly naUIt.pIies and permeates
the whole mental and physical system Of
the victim The victim becomes possess
ed Of and o5sessed with an ineradicabIe
belief in the greatness and glory OF his
OF her marvellous ancestry
Don't tell me that the Chinese are the
only ancestor worshipers. 7 know ether
wise TIE basic strength Of the Chinese
ancestor worshiper's position. however,
IS that he knows just who his ancestors
were The average Occidental ancestor
worshiper doesn't He guesses-
He IS 50 credulous that he could al
most sell himself a gold brick or a bun
de OF green goods When he strikes
genealogical s-ags he just glides over
en-
RI mention one by way Of for in
stance She's a huge Mrs Partingr0n
kind Of woman. well-t0-Go. who came
here from a little Missouri town 10 live
she employs the double negative con
stantiy, and I should judge without &C
tuslly knowing. uses her knife 70 eat
peas.
English Ancestry Favored.
Last year she made one Of those hurry
Up, personally conducted tours OF Eng
land she possesses q surname that. by
some twisting and dlstorting. cau be
made 10 resemble remotely the family
name Of an English family possessing no
hillary titles and estates This fact
struck the Missouri woman all Of heap
when she was taking a hurried look al
the ancient seat Of this English family
From the minute that she Erst clapped
eyes On that castle she began 20 believe
that sle vas a sJraight-out descendant
OF the English family She had Que OF
the most virulent attacks Of the genealog-
ical malady that 7 ever saw or heard Of
she hadn't been back IN New York
J7Ventv-four hours before she came here
% dig Up the genealogical records Of the
English family She herself told me. with
the idea perhaps that I would applaud
her diligence. that she pored over The vol
ulles most OF the night She spent a lot
OF money IN buying genealogical books
that couldn be got at the Libraries
Then she began writing more or less
a5ject letters 10 the surviving members
Of her ancestral family in England. tell
Ing them Of how she had succeeded -
N--=-.-
would ever have known that she had
written these l,tJers had she herself rot
displayed them yut OF a singular sort Of
COnceir before mailing them.
But she never displayed any replies
70 the letters. because there weren't any
replies The English folks ignored her
epistolary efforts. But this didn't 6aunt
her. She continued writing the letters
just the same
She wrote letters. 100. 70 every Arleri-
can member Of her family on the pa
JernaI side down 10 the final bUcoHc four
teenth cousin announcing her discovery
Of her and their relationship 10 the Eng
lsh crowd she made an 5ne1eCtUaI effort
to get her crew Of American relatives 20
hold a meeting IN New York. but this
meeting didn't come of-because proba-
bly, the descendants Of the ancient English
family living out IN the Missouri River
bottoms didn't have the price Of the jour
ney 10 this town. and becaUse-let Us hope
and believe-Jhey didn't take much stock
IN the lineage chasing game anyhow
UnbendeU to Common Folk
Now this woman lived in a New York
boa-7s-s- S-.--- - -he kind that is called
fashionable. As soon as she had it all
firmly settled and rooted in her mind that
she really was a descendant Of the Eng
Hsh crowd she began TO look down upon
and patrOnize all hands IN the boarding
house. especially the other women
''Of course Il was not long before the
other women came TO hate her She
clearly showed by her manner, her up
tilted nose. and her general supercilious-
ness that she considered the other folks
living in the boarding house 10 belong 10
the hoi polloi and the canailIe and other
thinks like that.
In brief. she developed into such a per
fectly impossible and offensive nuisance
that people began 70 move out Of the
boarding house just to get away from her
propinquity. The landlady finally was ap-
prised of the reason why she was losing
her bOarders, and then she told the
woman with the genealogical bug that
she would have 10 go.
But she wasn't feazed- She still pur-
sues the genealogical phantom. She has
gained her way into three or four OF five
OF six Of the American Revolutionary so
cieties. the pins Of which she wears cIus-
tered together during all Of her waking
and perhaps her sleeping hours
This woman. before she developed the