Smyrna times., 1884-01-16
Paul,
BY REBECCA HARDING DAVIS.

BY REBECCA HARDING DAVIS
we Americans are in the habit nj
classlng all the insane (those people
who do not look on life from the stand
point of the great majority together.
We dub them "crazy," and so have
done with them. They are held to he
not responsible to God or to man
They are temporarily outside of the
plan OF the universe. The old Milesian
theory was that they were near to
GOD; they were seers, unconscious
prophets. Hence they were treated
with piOus reverence.
Where is the exact truth?
The question reminds nae of a singular
case of insanity which once came in
my way, and of which l shall tell Won
without comment. My readers must
draw their own differences.
One cool October evening f.v
years ago, was passing through that
part OF Philadelphia which leads down
to the Neck, where the two rivers ioin
1t is flat stretch of interminable neat
streets, webbed by interminable neat
alleys. AS it was Saturday evening.
and the work over for the week. the
population was out on the pavements
with certain gala air, though a silent
ana anxious air withal. There was no
singing, no joking. The men, washed
and in their shirt sleeves, sat at their
doorsteps talking in an undertone.
From inside of the comfortable. tinv
houses came the universal scent of
coiiee and frying fish. Many of the
women were already out gossiping.
with their babies in their arms; typical
American women of the working class.
middle-aged, clad in calico gowns.
made OF two long flaps sewed together.
ana trailing from neck to ankles: with
lean wisps of hair knotted atop their
long heads; with lean necks; with
long, lean fingers; their very voices
were thin and their glances measer
and sharp. There were plenty of baby
wagons drawn by pretty girls of sixteen
or thereabout, who were tricked out in
cheap hnery, story paper tucked
under their arms. The baby's name.
when you asked it, usually turned out
TO be Emma Augusta or Regina or
Evangeline. Humanity is always
reaching upward; and the world ofgood-
breeding means, to many of this grade
OF women, only romantic names and
RULED cheap gowns. Here and there
the open window of a house belonging
TO the next higher social level gave n
glimpse of flOwered Brussels CARPET.
bewlldering masses of embroidered
chairs and be-ribboned Tides. and on
the wall the landscape of a cow, with a
sudden background of mountains. this
work of art being the masterpiece of
the young lady at the window. who
herself appeared to consist principallv
of a black bang, jet collar and defiant
eyes.
A large, loosely-built man dressed in
gray was walking before me. Inoticed
that the girls drew the babies quickly
out OF his way as he passed, the young
woman in the window blenched in her
naughty stare and hid herself, and the
"orkmen at the doors looked up from
-helr newspapers at him, with uneasy.
eyes. He was evidently a
amiliar object to them all, yet one
which, for some reason, was to be fear |
I'd.
A square or two beyond lies the
Italian quarter. After l had entered
t, this man crossed my way again.
coming out of an alley. No women
we're out here. The wind was too
sharp for these Florentiues and
Romans. They We're huddled; black
'yed and shrill-tongued, about their
greasy stoves inside. A flavor of garlic
lung in the air. The fruit peddlers
we're lounging home in gangs, chatter
ng together, with their baskets of
emons and bananas.
AT cellar door, Q crQss.syed padrone
like great spider, watching
ome of his miserable little slaves tot
ering up the street under the weight
If their harps and organs. As the man ,
n gray passed up the pavement there
vas sudden silence. The peddlers
curried out of sight; one pretty young ,
,irl gave a shrek of fright, and the ,
'adrone crossed himself devoutly and ,,
nuttered prayer.
At the corner of the street there was :
crowd which had. gathered about a )
allen horse. The man in front of me
vas stopped by it, and turned. At ,
lght of him a sense of bigness and :
Ooseness pervaded the place. Nature :
ad made him most lavish whim.
lis legs and arms went off into useless 7
lunches of fat. His collar fell back !
mp from his heavy white neck; his )
lustache was coarse, and rich brown !
q color; his mouth opened now and !
hen in huge yawns, and rows of square
1hite teeth glittered in the vacuum.
Ie had the mighty thews of a Her :
ules; but he shambled aimlessly, like .
child learning to walk, and paved
is arms uncertainty with his thick !
myers. He was the embodiment of /,
nused power. When he turned his
reat chalky face toward you, and
pened wide his bulging eyes, th0s