Show FREE READING ROOM PATRONS in many public libraries of this city there are daily to be seen some decidedly eccentric characters their faces are familiar to all the attaches of the place they frequent and every occasional visitor has speculated at one time or other about them in the mercantile library for instance there are three men who spend the entire day there reading anything and everything and this they have been doing for years one is an elderly man and both the others are middle aged they are at the door of the room when it opens ensin in the morning at 9 they they take their seats in the most methodical fashion and begin one of them occasionally goes down stairs gets a book from the library and returning in a few moments settles himself in his corner with a grant of satisfaction and then appears ears oblivious to his surroundings for for hours at noon or thereabouts this trio goes out to luncheon not together as each seems to be unaware of the similarity of the others habits sometimes one comes back in twenty minutes sometimes in but none would presume to stay away longer than an hour in the afternoon their pastime is again agaid resumed and it is continued until the doors close at night when they go g away reluctantly when the library made a rule to close at 3 saturday afternoons these people and several others protested against the early closing movement as an outrage over the astor library there was formerly a peculiar looking german who wore waxed ringlets and a tremendous necktie he studied goethe entirely and made notes by the on dirty scraps of paper that he picked from the floor or fished from his poc pockets keto he has been missed for some there is one nice looking white haired old gentleman who cornea comes to the cooper union reading room in the neighborhood of two every day and calls for Ant anthony hons classical dictionary which is a sort of biography of eminent ancient characters he never asks for anything else and when he is seen to enter the librarian if not busy goes to the case ana and brings that work to the desk the peculiar thing about thi character is that he has been pursuing this custom ever since 1883 the reading room was closed during the extensive alterations to the building during 85 and 86 when it reopened almost the first visitor was this same white haired old gentleman leman and mr curtiss the repress a smile as the old gentleman stepped before his desk des k and layl laying n down his bis check said how dye flye do G glad I 1 ad youre open again 11 and then a adding d ding ancon unconcernedly cern edly anthens Ant hons C classical I 1 D dictionary ic tio nary please 11 there is another queer fellow who comes into the same reading room and follows attendants around as they file newspapers and periodicals As soon as the attendant places ow 0 ile of these in its proper place the auw qa individual takes tabes it up and ra abes idly S turns and scans the pages the e the next one is placed he props second first and skims over the beco y this thisbe he does with each and edw one he seems to have no definite dela object in doing this as he eares cares what the publication may be did 0 at first the library assistants bu t not know what to make of him bila they are used to him now and wood W to miss his companionship were iv he leave off there is a third man who a a daily visitor and he must D information enough stored a in his breast to run bruj the world 60 he is probably between 56 55 and 14 years old he has an air of COD ca about abou him thim and might betoken betaken be taken i one time workingman who abl c b amassed a competence upon WD f 0 r he proposed to live at t his baalu M the rest of his days he has dg coming to the library for be 80 years and began his big read reading lIll volume I 1 of the american ency for calla predia that book he baw eve every ry day for goodness k kno inoway way sw long and when he had bad 00 exhausted its contents he UP w ot volume 2 and so he continued he came to the last volume alo then he began on OB volume iw and went over the entire enair 0 gIn g ad abe it is thought that he has re dobo y at least S times and he is still at it on up at the M mechanics library 0 0 west sixteenth street an old oia go had been a frequent visitor r as feeble was fully 85 years old and ia that he had a mania for arr red W I 1 books on longevity and PO s tion 0 hours over inmans breser vv jong ag yg of of life collins coiling secret life and books of that kind kin said abe e look at that old man t t 1 librarian one day to his big 9 aaris on the dont think his deep study hi preservation ot or life will keep iia from the grave much bonger week or has been looking bad for a age of 0 two and appears to best beat tb e bedr ecy I 1 rop P the P edg the precipice n now ow proved correct for the next tb at be b heard of the old id man was W baff had bad been called from this od ed gleo knowledge K Z world and the did 04 D from collins or inman flee fice to keep another character at the abo abo lady lea icso library is an old kenw I 1 ove revels in the most be atio be 8 delvil stories then there W re af the e misses who dra draw W out bookap fc 00 bow abo snow to st gt dee deepest st phi philosophy just the big high taste t they e have are all a djs thedeas the desk says Ys and t there n ber of ol 01 old men en who ho delight ba y 0 t ID ing tales of adai adventures altures for U Is ia a 8 or ef alie lie ubiquitous tramp OW caller at the mechanics 81 a ally joi UV espell rooms free reading weather ter ot ing ng cold or rainy the only becu peculiar flar him though is his aversion aversions bei hind it ing and his big abil ability lity to sleep abe or ot newspaper with without out the guiv hand ne vew w york news till tu trouble never trouble troubles you 4 |