The Washington herald., 1913-06-02

of ire ant to observe the ways Of
birds and the smallest insects Of all
1 No Ensy Key for Him.
Far him there was no easy key to un-
lock the door to the studies, he loved;
instead, for many years he was an ILL.,
paid teacher. and 1t was not until his
forty-seventh birthday had gone by that
he was able to give more than small
part of the time to the insect-worid that
called him the loudest. But he still
listened and watched whenever, wherever
he could. and when he was fifty-six he
began to write the fascinating books that
nave crowned his quiet life with honor
and fame and have given him the reveal
ing name of THE Insects Homer"
For in the years of waiting to find his
true work-level he reached close down to
the heart of nature, and carefully OBJ
served all the little lives that busily go
on about US the summer long, scarcely
seen except by the few who look with
wide-open eyes. And then when he made
his life-work a study of the little crea-
lures that buzz and fly and crawl about,
he discovered intimate secrets never d.
vulged TO any one before--at least. the
modest naturalist wrote about them In
way never written before.
Recognition Came Late.
But the gentle-faced, -keen-eyed ento-
mologist was so unobtrusive in his writ
ings and his studies that the big world
of naturalists scarcely knew OF his exist
ence until his hair had been frosted by
many winters. And 1t was only within
very recent years that his books, fun
from cover to cover with the quaintest
bits Of insect secrets, have yielded him
hat lad a
tie cottage and go on watching and
studying the spiders, the beetles, the
ants. the wasps, and myriads OF curl
Gus little creatures that to most OF folk
are funny bugs" and nothing more.
He was over seventy years Of age when
he settled down in that little cottage
home to carry out the dream OF his life,
and there, with his bit OF garden ABOUT
him and with the sun-baked fields near
at hand where his precious insects
thrive, he has questioned the little
strangers-not strangers to him-so faith
fully and written of them so charmingy
that scientists and naturalists from all
over the world have found their way TO
his door,
And now, with ninety busy years passed
over his head. he is still at work among
his insect friends, still learning some
thing that he had not known before and
happily sending the word along through
his marvellous writings that give the un-
initiated a wonderful glimpse OF new
world. For he writes, not SO much OF
the way the insects are made. but of
their lives, their loves. their marriages.
their battles royal, and all the strange
things undreamed of by most of folk.
For. you see, he loves all nature. man.
animals, and the little swift-winged or
slow-footed creatures with a love not
unlike that of St. Francis of Assist for
his little brothers, the birds"
Perfectly Content.
An. he is perfectly content. though he
still lives in the little six-room cottage
that he built with his own hands years
ago, and though practically all his life
he has felt the close pinch Of poverty
and has known every inch of the way
what 1t is to struggle with adversely.
And as one reads the story Of the old
mans life, of his patient waiting for
the day to dawn when he might begin
his studies. and of all the drawbacks he
met on the way, then reads OF his
CHEEKY optimism ana OF his exceeding
modesty when at last honors have come
his way. there seems to be a goodly
amount of truth in the statement often
heard that the happiest folks in all the
world are those who love their work
For even while the now-famous ento-
mologist was passing through the long
years OF poverty and drudgery, his spare
time and energies were given to the
studies that interested him. and he was
gathering some of the charming insect
stories that give life to all his books
and help 10 make the bulky looking vol