How to have compelling interests without riding hobbies is the great problem for both boys and men. I have known many boys who could, or at least would, do nothing well in school or out, except some specialty like manual training or science. In later years they were so deficient in education that they could hold no worthy position in anything. My anxiety was to save my boy from such a fate. I was determined that he should have a fair share of all kinds of culture. To this end we read together much of biography, history and classical literature, ancient and modern, through the medium of the English language. As both prevention and cure of the wireless telegraph mania I deemed it not necessary to suppress enthusiasm, nor to introduce obviously useless tasks for the sake of the training which might be in them. My method was, on the contrary, to encourage my boy to have several hobbies which he might ride with enthusiasm, but to make it a rigorous rule to exchange his "mount" occasionally. XXIV HALLEY'S COMET AND ELECTRICAL WAVES [Illustration: Fig. 196] It was the year 1910 and Halley's comet was approaching the sun. On May 18 its tail might be expected to reach the earth. Astronomers had requested all who might be possessed of wireless telegraph apparatus to watch on that day for any peculiar behaviour of their apparatus so that evidence might be obtained whether or not the comet sends forth such ether waves as we call electricity. Harold desired me to explain the whole matter to his group of friends, which I did on a subsequent evening, as follows: