THE MISSION OF HOBBIES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 35, 5 November 1907, Page 3

THE MISSION OF HOBBIES.

HOW TO BE HAPPY, HEALTHY, AND YOUNG. Everybody.' has some vague idea as to what constitutes happiness in this world. Health, wealth, success, love, and friendship are all desirable adjuncts to happiness, but give a man every one of them, and you will not then ousure that he will find true happiness. But take the man, poor, obscure, with indifferent health, with not a friend or a relative in the world, who is at the same time possessed of a hobby, a real genuine hobby of.tho right sort, and ten chances to one he is a happy, contented man. Because an absorbing, bobby is a. cure for all imaginary ills of this life, a panacea' for most of the grievances and minor worries of daily existence. The happiest people are possessed of a hobby; they are keen on something, if it is even the collection of buttons or postage stamps. If you know a man without a hobby, you probably know a discontented, bored, uninteresting man. Not all the material benefits this world has to give will make up for the lack of a hobby, -a definite interest to live for. From the medical point of view, the value of hobbies can hardly be .over-estimated. The man with a hobby is a healthier man, other things being equal, than the man who has no special interest in life. Thero is no tonic liko enthusiasm, no medical drug, in the pharmacopia to equal in healing properties, hope and interest and animation of mind and spirit". And "hope springs eternal" in the breast of the hobbyist. So long as there is a.bit of old pewter to add to his collection, so Jong as he can anticipate some new triumph in horticulture, mountainclimbing, or science, just so long will lifo prove interesting to him.

Coif Maniacs. The golf maniac will drudge cheerfully at uncongenial, monotonous work all the week for the sake, of his half-holiday's golf on Saturday; the amateur artist or sculptor knows all the joys of creation amid the most apparently sordid a,nd commonplaco surroundings. A hobby makes' any environment harmonious, makes social life and human companionship seem far less, essential, in our scheme of things. ■ But there must be no half measures, no lukewarm' devotion to the hobby y<m take up.' If it is bulldogs, or motoring, or the simple life, you must give your whole mind ■to it at the time if>you aro to.got the full therapeutic, value out of -your hobby. A whole-hearted devotion to pictorial postcards is far better than a lukewarm interest 'in-Egyptian history, or the study of theology. A hobby should bo respected in proportion as it confers benefit upon the hobbyist; ' ' I£ the collection of theatre bills converts the .pessimist; arid a hobby for dress makes ■a woman less discontented and irritablo anc] cattish to her friends, who will dare to sneer at'such hobbies as profitless and contemptible? Medically speaking, no ono hobby is better than another respecting mind influenco, .although out-of-door pursuits have much to recommend them froni the purely "physical point of view.

Congenial Pursuits. The great thing is that the hobby should ho congenial to the man who takes it up. To suggest to the lonely,-'dispirited hypochondriac the cultivation of ■ a , congenial hobby-is sometimes the highest form of medical -'treatment.. I havo known an enthusiasm for catching .butterflies to cure dyspepsia,, more by reason of tho mental interest supplied than the fresh air and exercise entailed in tho pursuit of tho hobby) itself. I have seen a woman grow young and animated and even'fascinating by tho agency of lustre teapots, and a hobby of tho right sort is one of the best cures for melancholia and the surest antidote to boredom. The educational value of a hobby is unlimited in many ways. The pursuit of a hobby means the cultivation of one's powers of observation; means the development of energy and tho capacity to strive and attain to (.what we desire. Latent ambition may be kindled with the birth of a hobby; invention is a record, of hobbies faithfully followed out. to their highest conclusion. The successful man is he who makes a hobby of his work; the man whoso work is congenial and interesting and satisfying. ■ The moral' value of hobbies is best illustrated in the case of children. 'Get a boy keen on-games, electricity, carpentry, and you. will make anything of him you like. The boy without a hobby develops into a loafer in Inter life- Th 6 girl who "can't bo bothered" taking up some definite pursuit or 'interest becomes , neurotic, imaginative, and unhleathy.'

For Parent and Ghild. . The pursuit of a hobby develops and edur cates the child aiid keeps the parents young in mind and heart. The man or the woman ■nth.a hobby, need nover grow old—need hirer fear tho passjng years, the creeping up of, an old ago which brings weariness and satiety in its train. Tho 'active brain cannot rust with age;, the man who can take a keen interest in things, who can assimilate new ideas and take up another hobby at sixty, is young in spirit ,and in 'heart. Lethargy and inaction arc the signs that wo are being conquered by the years: jet a man take to a new hobby at fifty and lie will prolong his life twenty years. Perhaps one reason why women .age sooner than men is because they do not so readily indulge in.ahobby after they pass their first youth. As they grow older they seem to give'up what interests other than domestic they may have had, to grow dulkand uninterested in everything but their immediate surroundings. They regard reading as waste of time, but will spend unprofitable hours gossiping about, .servants, and the petty affairs ,of their household. "What 13 tho good of it all?" they ask the raoro energetic woman who will tackle a now language at (ifty ,or throw her whole energy into some new cause when her compeers aro contentedly- knitting their lives away at their own fireside. There are people who will always consider the hobbies and pursuits of. others a waste of time. But lot us bo charitable to those whose hobbies do not appeal to us; the fact that a man possesses a hobby at nil is something' in his favour. ■ There are very few hobbies, if any, that are "waste of lime." If they make tho hobbyist happier, they have justified their existence. The happy people—the men and women who can regard life cheerfully and look at the bright side of things—are of real value and benefit/to their follow creatures.—Elizabeth Sloan Chesser, M.8., in the "Daily Express."

.A figure' on which to fit waists is a convenience few home dressmakers possess. It: is . possible, . however, with but little trouble and expense, to mako a perfect duplicate of your form to use for fitting gowns. First of all,' have a good dressmaker cut and fit a plain lining for you, letting it extend below the hips, and taking care that it shall have lonn, tight-fitting sleeves and a plain high collar. Sew all tho seams firmly and fit an oval piece at tho bottom of the pattern. "When all this has boon done rip an opening in one scam and stuff the form with sawdust, being particular to do this part well. Tho figure may now be put on n stool, the legs to be so cut off that tho whole thing shall be exactly your height; or the figure may bo fastened to a board in which a hole has been bored for the insertion of a broomstick, which should fit again into another board for 'a standard. Whichever plan is used, the figure should bo exactly your own height. With it in your sowing-room, all waists, skirts, collars, etc., may be fitted perfectly.