Then he often entered manufactories and "yards" and asked if he could go through them, studying the methods, and talking to the overseer or workers about the trade.

When he occasionally encountered some one who told him "your kind ain't got no business here" he usually found the statement "my father was a mill-overseer" a way to break down the barrier.

He had to use it seldom, for he dressed plainly and met the men in a way which seldom failed to make them feel that he was one of them.

After such inspection and chat, he would get books from the library, and read up about the business or trade, finding that in this way he could enjoy works otherwise too technical, and really obtain a very good knowledge of many subjects.

Just how interesting he found such books as "Our Fire-Laddies," which he read from cover to cover, after an inspection of, and chat with, the men of the nearest fire-engine station; or Latham's "The Sewage Difficulty," which the piping of uptown New York induced him to read; and others of diverse types is questionable.
Probably it was really due to his isolation, but it was much healthier than gazing at blank walls.
When the courts opened, Peter kept track of the calendars, and whenever a case or argument promised to be interesting, or to call out the great lights of the profession, he attended and listened to them.