OR an introduction to the subject of our sketch let the reader come with me for a moment to his home in the Granite Burgh. Maxwellknowe, as it is called, is a comfortable, commodious residence which was designed and built for Mr Fraser, in accordance with his own ideas, about a dozen years ago. Do we wish to see him upon ordinary matters of business? Then a special door admits us to his office, and we find him in the commonplace environment of desks, ledgers, safes, and telephone. Is it personal or literary subjects we would discuss with him? In that case, the main door is at our service, and he receives us in his handsome, well-appointed library, the walls of which are literally lined with books. Office and library communicate with each other, and Mr Fraser divides himself between them like another Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. At one time he is the strenuous, plodding, matter-of-fact business man. anon he is the man of letters, the literary enthusiast, the lover of books. Both characters are natural and becoming to him, and he seems to have the power of assuming either at will. This glimpse of Mr Fraser at home is no less significant of his capacities than typical of the lines on which his life has been cast. Through On out its course, literature and commerce have divided his interests and exercised a concurrent influence upon him. They have had, as it were, adjacent compartments reserved for them in his mind-that of literature, it is more than suspected, being nearest the front door. Both of them have been pursued by him with noteworthy ability, energy, and success. the one hand, without advantages of birth or fortune, he has struggled up the ladder of commercial life, slowly and patiently, till he has found himself in a position of security and comfort. On the other hand, starting with what would now be considered a meagre and desultory education, he has taken such advantage of his opportunities of self-improvement, and applied himself so effectually to literary pursuits, that he has earned for himself an enviable reputation as an occasional writer, editor, publisher, and collector of books. These two lines of interest must sometimes have run counter to each other; but, on such occasions, it is safe to say, the love of literature has prevailed over the instincts of the man of affairs. Diverse qualities, it may be presumed, have gone to the making of Mr Fraser and his career in life. The practical, decided turn of mind seems to have combined harmoniously in him with the studious, reflective temperament. The one is seen in a firmness of resolution, a faculty for method and detail, and a power of taking pains, that almost amount to genius. The other evinces itself in the cultivated point of view, keenness of insight, and sobriety of judgment, that belong to "glorified commonsense. Behind all, there is a most attractive personality-a consistent and self-reliant character, a sympathetic and sociable disposition, a frank and modest manner. Mr Fraser may have his vanities, but one of them is certainly not the pride or assertiveness of the self-made man who "adores his creator." It was his misfortune, not his fault, that he was born out of Galloway. The event took place at Abington, Lanarkshire, on 12th January (Auld New Year's Day), 1849; but reparation was made him in the following year by the removal of his parents to the Stewartry. From 1850 to 1857 they resided at Garplefoot, in the parish of Balmaclellan; for three years thereafter they lived in Castle-Douglas ; finally they made their home in the village of Crossmichael. At all these places Mr Fraser was put to school; with tolerable regularity between the ages of six and eleven, but afterwards only in the winter and early spring. Even in Castle-Douglas, when only nine or ten years of age, he skipped "The Free Church Institution" on Mondays to herd cattle on the Market Hill. This was a common practice of the boys of the town in the days before the advent of the Auction Mart. So keen were they to secure a job, and earn some extra coppers, that they rose betimes on Mondays and walked some miles into the country, to meet the droves coming into the market. We may well believe that our friend would usually hold his own in these juvenile enterprises; also that he would fairly earn the sixpence a day which, for a short time in 1859, he received from a Castle-Douglas ropemaker for turning his spinning wheel. These occupations, however, were only fun to the boy, compared to the work he had to do after the removal of the family to Crossmichael village. School was still attended during the stormier months, but the rest of the year was devoted to various employments of a more or less arduous nature: oakpeeling, turnip-hoeing, haymaking, harvesting, potato-lifting, and turnip-shawing. For short periods also he served as a "nipper" on the railway, and assisted at the planting of trees on Parton estate. Leaving school for good in 1864, he spent a couple of years in ordinary farm and field work, such as the cutting and filling of drains, with the exception of four months, during which he was engaged as "boy" at Livingstone in Balmaghie. Then, at the age of seventeen, he was apprenticed to the grocery trade in Castle-Douglas with Mr John Barclay, and remained with him over other two years, walking daily to and from Crossmichael, a distance of three and a half miles. His principal duties were those of message-boy, bottler, and bottle-washer, and probably these became somewhat irksome to his eager and managing disposition; at any rate, in 1868, he transferred his services to Mr John Bell, Kirkcudbright, and went there to complete his apprenticeship. In Mr Bell's establishment he soon got a grip of things, and showed what was in him. During the first week, we have heard, he did what he was told; during the second week, he did very much what he wanted to do; during the third week, he began to tell the foreman, a good-natured and easy-going man, what he should do; and soon afterwards, his capacity for figures coming to light, the keeping of the books was handed over to him. His connection with Mr Bell, whose foreman he ultimately became, continued for nearly five years, though broken on two different occasions by periods of ten months. Evidently, as their mutual friends remarked, Mr Bell could neither do with him nor without him. In May, 1873, Mr Fraser came to Dalbeattie as manager of the Co-operative Provision Society. He continued in that position till May, 1875, when he started business on his own account, as a grocer and provision merchant, at 100 High Street. He was married in the same year, and, eight years afterwards, his business having become more extensive, he removed to more commodious premises at 96 High Street, where he carried it on with increasing success till 1894. In that year he disposed of it, owing to the growing demands of the granite crushing business on which for some time he had been embarked. Granite, as is well known, forms the staple industry of Dalbeattie; and Mr Fraser, with his keen eye to opportunity, was quick to take advantage of its increased utilisation in the crushed state. So early as 1888, he had entered into partnership with Mr David Young, for the working of quarries and the crushing of the granite into various useful sizes for concrete making and similar purposes. Several quarries were leased in the neighbourhood of Dalbeattie, and a crushing machine acquired; but the business soon grew to such an extent that a mill with two machines had also to be erected in the vicinity of the railway station. The management and development of this con cern necessitated a concentration of energy on the part of the firm that debarred Mr Fraser for a time from following other pursuits. In recent years, the total output of crushed granite from Dalbeattie is something like 70,000 tons, and of this quantity a large proportion must be credited to the prosperous firm of Fraser & Young; but the establishment of their business on sound, methodical lines has made it more easy to handle, and given Mr Fraser more time to indulge his literary propensities. All his life he has been a steady, thoughtful reader; and many years ago he began to build There is no selfishness, with regard to his books, in Mr Fraser's pride of possession; and any person sincerely interested in literature, or engaged in local research, is made welcome to the use of them. His first attempts at writing were made in the capacity of local correspondent to some of the newspapers. Afterwards he tried his hand at compositions of a more independent character; and, in 1904, a series of able articles from his pen, upon the Scottish Education Bill of that year, were reprinted from the "Kirkcudbrightshire Advertiser," and issued in pamphlet form. Recently he has been engaged in up that fine collection of books which adorns the library of Maxwellknowe. No trouble or expense has been grudged in the gathering together of fine editions and rare or important works, especially in the way of Border literature and Scottish poetry, with the result that his collection now amounts to about 4000 volumes, all well selected and some of considerable value. Among them are 800 volumes relating to Dumfriesshire and Galloway, and forming perhaps as large a collection of books of local interest as is anywhere to be found. the editing of some old Galloway productions, interesting enough in themselves, or so historically valuable as to deserve saving from forgetfulness. "The Galloway Herds," an old lampoon upon the Presbytery of Kirkcudbright, has already appeared, with an appropriate introduction, and notes full of research. A new edition of "Thoughts on the Seasons,' by David Davidson, an almost forgotten poet, is promised in the immediate future. It is, however, as a publisher that Mr Fraser has made himself most widely and favourably : known. This is a character so admirably adapted to his peculiar talents and literary tastes that we cannot wonder at the strong attraction it has always had for him. Beginning his publications in 1889 with "The Bards of Galloway," he followed up that book, in the two succeeding years, with "Yarrow its Poets and Poetry," by Rev. R. Borland; "Ingleside Musings," by A. J. Armstrong; and "Maggie o' the Moss and other Poems," by Robert Kerr. The pressure of other work then compelled him to suspend his operations in this direction; but in 1896 he resumed publication with Rambles in Galloway," by Malcolm McL. Harper, and speedily followed it with "The Poetical Works of William Nicholson," and "Border Raids and Reivers," by Rev. R. Borland. The business, though entirely congenial to him, was not particularly profitable; and, other matters pressing upon him, Mr Fraser found it expedient to abandon it again for a time. a inated edition, tastefully bound, and printed upon specially prepared paper. Some of his achievements, in this respect, are veritable works of art. Notwithstanding his absorbing personal concerns, Mr Fraser has found time to do a large amount of valuable public work. Almost every board and institution of the town of Dalbeattie and the Parish of Urr has profited by his wise counsel, capable business qualities, and painstaking application to its affairs. Independent, progressive, and far-seeing in his ideas, he has stood for improvement in all directions, effective administration, and advancement with the times, irrespective of the effect on his own popularity. As a member of Urr School Board for twenty-six years, he has given such attention to educational questions, especially in their relation to finance, that he has come to be widely regarded as an educational expert. For many years he served upon the old Parochial Board, and on the institution of the Parish Council he was elected its first chairman, and held the office for three years. He was also associated for a long time with the management of the navigation on the Urr; first, in connection with the committee of County Council appointed in 1890; afterwards, from 1901, as a member of Urr Navigation Nine years passed, and a favourable opportunity occurred for a new departure, upon a larger and more ambitious scale. Mr Fraser was encouraged to seize it by the fact that his son, Mr Thomas A. Fraser, had just completed a systematic training, and was qualified to take charge of a regular printing and publishing concern. Such market in Glasgow in 1907, Mr Fraser negotiated its purchase with characteristic decision and enterprise. A limited company was formed, under the style of Fraser, Asher & Co., to carry on the business of printers, publishers, and general stationers; and since its formation quite a number of volumes have been given to the world, such as Whaup o' the Rede," and "The Land we Love," by Will Ogilvie; "The Parish of Urr," by Rev. D. Frew; a new edition of "Border Raids and Reivers, ""The Galloway Herds, 'Glints o' Glengonnar," by C. Fraser, and some books of verses. Besides these, the firm has been engaged upon a series of scientific booklets, of which about thirty are now published; and it has charge of the production of several monthly and quarterly periodicals. All this, however, is but an earnest of things to come, and a continued improvement and extension of the business may be confidently expected. Trust. concern coming into the At pre sent a number of works are either in hand or in course of preparation; and, as Mr Fraser himself still overlooks the publication department, these may be looked for in a form worthy of their contents. With him the production of a fine book is a first consideration; and nothing so much delights his heart as an illu In the Public Library and Mechanics' Institute, as might have been expected, he has always taken the liveliest interest; and it was largely through his endeavours that a fine building was recently erected for their accommodation. After several short terms as a Commissioner of the Burgh of Dalbeattie he was raised to the dignity of a Bailie in 1895, but retired from it the following year. As a Magistrate, he was hardly much of a success, if not, as he himself inclines to put it, a conspicuous failure; for the court work was greatly against the grain with him, and he felt that he could not do justice to it. For the same reason, though appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1899, he has never sat upon the bench, nor is likely to do so. These facts will give the reader some idea of the many-sided activity that goes on at Maxwellknowe. Mr Fraser, it may be added, carries it lightly, and is always glad to see a friend or join him in a game of golf. That he may long be spared to prosecute his various enterprises, and stimulate the rising generation by his spirit and example, is the wish of his many friends, especially on the Border, and in the province west of the Nith. DAVID FREW, THE BORDER BOOKCASE. THE BORDER ALMANAC. Once more we are indebted to Messrs J. & J. H. Rutherfurd of Kelso for this excellent annual. The book, which can be had for 3d, or by post 6d, contains a mass of valuable information which is alike useful to the country gentleman, the farmer, and the artizan. Imperial, parliamentary, postal 53 the fact is as follows:-The men employed in the corn and waulk mills, near the mouth of the river, observed the water failing them, and in a short time they were obliged to let off the waulk mill, but they allowed the corn mill to go till she stopt of herself for want of water. The men, surprised at such an extraordinary circumstance, went out to see what was the cause, imagining a part of the cauld had broken down, and the water had taken its course that way, in place of coming by the dam, when, to their astonishment, they found the bed of the river with so little |