New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1909-03-24
where he hurt it. He was only $3.50
as schoolboy Il left school rather


below the common standard in intel
lect'' His "wisest'' father seems to
have despaired Of the growing youth.
It staggered him when his parent told
! him fatty, .You care for nothing but
shooting dogs and rat catching, and
you will be a disgrace to yourself and
all your family
rise against him on the judgment day
on this), Darwin always dwells loving
| ~ on his mighty shooting EXPLOITS
| No wonder that in after life II wholly
| lost all pleasure from poetry of any
kind" Shakespeare was impossible.
he had read his grandfather's work
on natural history, ''Zoonomia," in his
early years twice, which one would
suppose must have inspired his own
| work, but it left mo effect" nor on
being read again fifteen years later
/ First he would follow his father and
| be doctor. A year or two at the
schools sickened him, and the dissect-
ing table gave him the horrors. Then
he dabbled In geology, but soon de-
eided that of all odious professions the
worst was that Of a geologist. AS a
lad he developed craze for collecting
letter franks, seals, coins, minerals.
anything, and no one but himself was
] Interested. He would take long soil
! tary walks. Then he took fancy for
beetles and developed an enthusiasm
for catching them. He tells how On
stripping bit of bark from tree he
spied two uncommon specimens. These
he secured, one in each hand, when
out popped an entirely new kind of
| beetle. In his eagerness not to lose it
he put one Of the others in his mouth
while he grabbed the third, but the
prisoner gave him dose. of fluid so
acrid and nauseous that he had to let
him go. Another lesson in humane
| ness.
So successful was Darwin in forget
ting everything he had learned but the
humane act of shooting that when he
decided to enter Cambridge in 1927 he
had to engage private tutor to teach
| him his Greek alphabet over again and
rub up the classics on which he had
spent two Industrious years. Why en-
| ter Cambridge? Because some one had
the happy thought that Darwin would
| at any rate, make a passably good
Church Of England parsOn, and he
thought so too. 1t is humane profess
sion. All the good he got from all his
!; studies which We're helpful throughout
his life he credits to Euclid and Paley's
evidences of Christianity" Before he
had blossomed into surpliced deacon
| Darwin fell under the fascination of
science.
Professor Henslow, the great bota-
mist, honored Darwin with unwonted
friendship. Darwin was dubbed by
his fellow students, ''The man who
walks with Henslow," genial sugges-
ton that his reverence bordered on
worship. He says somewhere that
Henslow's friendship had the greatest
influence Oh his life. The right man at
the right period in ones history can do
more for us than all the schools and
! preachers and libraries. Henslow i'm.
planted living interest in the despised
geology, botany and other such studies
Under Sidgwick, the great geologist
Darwin developed unsupported powers
Yet-"How I did enjoy shootingr' On
one of his visits to the family home in
the old town Of Shrewsbury he found
new interest in looking at the famila,
big bOWlder known as the bell stone
The local wise man had long had but
nc tn +n ,
had got there "Ah, the world will come
to anend before any one will know the
secret!' Now that Darwin had learned
how the sliding Of the vast primeva
glaciers had transported these mysteri
Gus powders across Wales and left
them in his town he felt repaid for his
pains. Il gloried in the progress OF
geology"
Looking back be writes, Il infer
that there must have been something
in me little superior to the common
run of youth" or these and other dis
tinguished men would not have allow
ed him to associate with them so in
timately. The privilege had it's pen
alties. He had his little humiliations.
One day he happened to find shell in
a spot where he thought no shell
should be. He rushed with it to Sidg-
wick, expecting fine compliments To
his surprise, the great geologist did
not think it the prize he had sup
posed. Nothing before says Oar
win, had ever made me thoroughly
realize, though I had read the scien-
tifc books, that science consists in
grouping facts so that general laws
or conclusions can be drawn from
them"
Here we have the open secret of
I Darwin's greatness
He was now started on his life work
the patient. eN-
haustive, merci-
less task of over
hauling all that y N
was written H Esr-...aHd
about the facts ~ H
of nature of S90M Y