The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1903-09-25
Middle AGE
Station
b 1T HAS only recently been dawning

UT HAS only recently been dawning
upon me what's the matter with me
II IN hiking along toward middle age"
remarked rotund man of As or so, who
accomplished great deal of roaming up
and down the world before he dropped
anchor and settled down about decade
and a half ago. II hate to believe 1t,
but it's fact.
The other afternoon l went into
store to buy hat.
SHOW me some. straws,' l said to
the salesman.
The salesman brought out lot of
those narrow-brimmed, soft, high
crowned straw hats that the sedate old
dodgers wear, for comfort more than
looks
Not that kind l said, rather impa-
tiently to the salesman didn't enjoy
the imputation he suggested by fetching
out hats of that kind. "Wide-brimmed
sailor straws, you know-something
stylish-not necessarily jaunty, but-er
stylish and effective.
The salesman looked at me rather
doubtfully.
Very WE'LL he replied, but the kind
I've shown you are the sort that are
mostly worn by settled men
Settled men, Me a settled man!
That came as sort of shock TO me, I'm
bound to admit.
Say, how old dye think l ana
hundred and fourteen . | asked the sales
man.
"'Oh, no. he replied, smiling, but, you
know, those wide brimmed sailor strawS
are generally worn by-they're more
suitable for the young fellows, y'know.'
81 hadn't entirely got into the habit
of chasing myself as anything else but
one of the young fellows, but of course
had to accept the polite salesman S YER
dict that was in the fogy class-I can't
say that l enjoyed it.
But that salesman's opinion wasn't
the first to nudge me along to the some
what unpleasant realization that I'm
really not one of the young fellows any
more. Last winter | went into a shoe
store and said, sort of off-hand, to the
salesman: Show me some shoes, size
| eight and blamed if he didn't look me
| square-tOed, very sort leather congress
gaiters-those shoes with the elastic
tabs at the side, you know, that old
codgers wear SO that they can clip 'em
on and off easily. was foolish enough
| to depart from that shoe store in a
sort of huff, but when thought it over
| and cooled out, perceived that the shoe
| salesman wasn't really to blame-it was
| myself that was to blame for getting
into the middle-age class and taking on
that congress gallery look! So went
back to the shoe store and bought nv
shoes there. Congress CATERS? Not
much! l bought pair of buttoned pat
ent leathers-G'ye think I'm going to
permit them to naturally force me to be
middle-aged by their implications that
have reached that stage?
| Il began to notice, too, awhile back
that great many of the young fellows
With whom | came into business or So
clal contact-chaps of from 25 to 30
were falling into the habit of calling
me sir. 1 hate to own up how much that
distressed me when l noticed it. Iknew
that held no exalted station that would
| euIilIe ue 10 tne SIT business from
anybody, and then was reluctantly
great scott! how Northumberland
to the conclusion-beyond all doubt the
correct conclusion-that the only rea-
SON why these fellows of 25 and 80 were
addressing me as sir was that thew
wanted to evince proper respect toward
me as a middle-aged man! After sir
ring me these same fellows would. right
In my presence. roilickingly address fell
lows OF. their own age sHy their first
names. 1t makes me feel like one oui
of the picture-like one dished. I had
passed that Queerly indefinable line OF
demarceaon between the young fellow
and TIE settled man. without knowing
1t or approaching the significance of the
change - and then, when wa.
forced to think it over, the knowl-
edge Of 1T came swooping in upor
me like an avalanche had reached
the middle age nd joined the
settled crow; aii ..nawares: I'll gel
used to it in time. no doubtful have tl