for two daily and two weekly papers,
two leading magazines, and at least a dozen good books. In an hour a day
a boy or girl could read twenty pages thoughtfully--over seven thousand
pages, or eighteen large volumes in a year. An hour a day might make all
the difference between bare existence and useful, happy living. An hour
a day might make--nay, has made--an unknown man a famous one, a useless
man a benefactor to his race. Consider, then, the mighty possibilities
of two--four--yes, six hours a day that are, on the average, thrown away
by young men and women in the restless desire for fun and diversion!

Every young man should have a hobby to occupy his leisure hours,
something useful to which he can turn with delight. It might be in line
with his work or otherwise, only _his heart must be in it_.

If one chooses wisely, the study, research, and occupation that a hobby
confers will broaden character and transform the home.

"He has nothing to prevent him but too much idleness, which, I have
observed," says Burke, "fills up a man's time much more completely and
leaves him less his own master, than any sort of employment whatsoever."

Some boys will pick up a good education in the odds and ends of time
which others carelessly throw away, as one man saves a fortune by small
economies which others disdain to practise. What young man is too busy
to get an hour a day for self-improvement? Charles C. Frost, the
celebrated shoemaker of Vermont, resolved to devote one hour a day to
study. He became one of the most noted mathematicians in the United
States, and also gained an enviable reputation in other departments of
knowledge. John Hunter, like Napoleon, allowed himself but four hours of
sleep. It took Professor Owen ten years to arrange and classify the
specimens in Comparative Anatomy, over twenty-four thousand in number,
which Hunter's industry had collected. What a record for a boy who began
his studies while working as a carpenter!

John Q. Adams complained bitterly when robbed of his time by those who
had no right to it. An Italian scholar put over his door the
inscription: "Whoever tarries here must join in my labors." Carlyle,
Tennyson, Browning, and Dickens signed a remonstrance against
organ-grinders who disturbed their work.

Many of the greatest men of history earned their fame outside of their
regular occupations in odd bits of time which most people squander.
Spenser made his reputation in his