The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-08-10

LILO L ooA AhNS LIS LIN iAiAAN 80 N
prisidint iv Harvard. What a wond-
herfu1 thing is youth. Old fellows
like ye'ersilf an me make a blum
about tn advantages w age. But we
know there's nawthin' in it. We have
wisdom but we wud Gather have hair.
We have experience, but we Wud
thrade all iv it's lessons FIR hope an
teeth.
TT makes me cross to see mesllf
settin' here takin' a post grajate coorse
in our cillybrated university " tn
: Wicked Wurruld an watchin' tn
freshmen comm in. How happy they
are. but how seeryOus. How sure
they are iv ivrything. Us old fellows
are sure iv nawthin'; we laugh but we
are not cheerful; we have no romance
about tn colledge. Ye don't hear us
givin' nine cheers fr our Amy
matther. We amt even thankfu IT
tn lessons it teaches US or tn wal
lops it hands us Whin W. f'rget what
we've been taught. We're a sad lot
iv old la-ads hatin' tn school. but
hatin' tn grajation exercises even
more.
But tbs a rale pleasure to see tn
bright faced freshmen comm in an
1 welcome tn last young fellow firm
Harvard to our v%in'rable institution. l
like to see these earnest. clear-eyed
la-ads comm in to waken tn echoes
iv our grim walls with their age
young voices. I'm sure tn other I'M
Undergraduates will like him. He hasn't
been spoiled be bein tn star " his
school FIR SO long. Charles seems to
me to be tn normal healthy boy. He
does exactly what all eShm in
our univarsity do whin they enther.
He tells people what books they shud
read an he invints a new religion.
lvry we'll ordhered la-ad has to get
these two things out iv his system at
WanSt. Later he begins to shave
more as a hard necessity thin as a
boast an about that time he goes
through a peeryod iv injoyin' colledgc.
they all take tn usual coOrse. He'll
paint tn statues thatve been up in
tn colledge yard f'r SO nanny cinch-
ries, he'll remove tn clapper out iv
tn meetin' house bell, he'll run off
with tn sign in front iv tn doctors
office. But these are mere boyish
pranks. No wan is tn worse FIR
thin. Tn young fellow is given a
few exthra lines to write in his fore
head. That'n be punishmint enough.
What books does he advise, says
ye? | haven't got tn complete list
yet, but what | seen. iV it was good.
Speakin' fr mesilf alone. l don't read
books. They are too stimylatin'. 1
can get tn same wrong idees iv life
firm dhrink. But l shud say that If
q man was a confirmed book reader, if
he was a man chat cudden't go to
sleep without takin' a book an if he
read befure breakfast. l shud think
that Doctor EliOt's very old waited
books are comparatively harmless.
They are sthrong it is thrue. They
will go to tn head. 1 wud advise a
man. who is aisily affected be books
to stick to Archibald Clavering Gunter.
But they will hurt no man who's used
to readin'. They will cause no wan to
pn home an hpaf his wife He has
sawed Thin out carefully. Give me
me TOOLS says he, an | will saw out
a five foot shelf iv books An he
done it. He has tn right idee. He
rallies that tn first thing to have in a
libry is a shelf. Firm time to time
this can be tastefully decorated with
lithrachure. But tn shelf is tn main
thing. Otherwise tn libry may get
mixed up with readin' matther
on tn table. Tn shelf shud thin be
nailed to tn wall iliven feet firm tn
flure an Theoretically sealed.
What books does he riccomind?
" coorse there's such folk lore as
Epicbabulus in Marsupia an tn wur-
ruks iv Hyperphrastus.2 But it shows
how broad an indulgent tn doctors
taste is that he has included Millions
Arryopatigica, if 1 have tn name
right. This is wha ye might call
summer readin.' / don't know how l
cud describe it to we, Hinnissy. Ye
Wudden't hardly call it a detective
story an yet it amt a problem play.
A~reopapaigica is a Greek gur-rul who
becomes tn iditor iv a daily news
paper. That is tn b%eginnin' iv tn
plot. l won't tell We how it comes out.
] don't want to Spite ye'er injymint iv
1T. But yell niver guess who commit
ted tn crime. 1t is absolutely unex-
picted. A most i%njanyous book an
wan iv tn best sellers iv it's day.
There were four editions iv thirty
copies each an I don't know how
NANNY paper covered copies at fifty
cents were printed FIR circulation on
tn nal coaches. I'm not sure if it
liver was dhramatized: if it wasn't
there's a chanst FIR some manager.