The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-10-08

EN- sIIlIl .LLlXlllks,----------L yLLlG.ElALyl.
HIS ash barrel III the back yard nnd snlft
from, n dstanoc tho subtle arofnae gott.
Grated by prosperity and 15fvpn gated by
continued good luck.
And, sttange to Say, nearly every mat,
che meets viii tell yo,i the sntne thing
that he, 100, lives Ii, olose propinuuity to
Easy street, and nil His life has been able
rs gaze Upon the promised lind md TO SIT
ovscasl Unsatisfactory whiffu Of its
inin,itahle reaolenoe.
Ia this connection another fact Is no.
ticeahlc: these who do NOT i've on Easy
Street can never be brought to confess
that there is any good In the residents Of
the favored thoroughfare. Whom we
envy We despise.
1t Is to be profoundly regretted that
that most investigdtive traveller the late
Leinuel C7ullver. never struck DAISY
Street In his peregrinations, for le was
u fair-ininded. deep-seeing man, and per-
chance might have given us an unbiased
account OF its people and their dolngs.
Az things are, however. we can never
get at tho facts-the real facts" as ro-
porters tautologcally express It.
And the reason is this--there is no
medal ground. You are either on Dnsy
street or you are or It. One thing or the
other: no half and hnlf business, sir. II
YOU are on It. you carol like a lark If
you are off 1t. your uulntions are like
those OF lean. hungry wolf.
When the mystery is solved and the
solution published, the honor WILL fall to
the lot of psychologists. for the idiosyn-
crases Of the Easy Strcetltcs constitute
the very warp and wool of human nature
In other words, folks Is folks no mat
ter where YOU put en- what you dress
en up in or how YOU feed en-
But the human vision is the most vari-
able Of all things. One saturated with
champagne and stuffed with roast turkey
and cranberry sauce sees so differently
from ones neighbor who merely buges
with boiled cabbage and exudes ~ frotl1
of lager beer.
And If one happens, whether Though
his own ingenuity or through sheer good
luck, to be at the nozzle OF n champagne
bottle instead of at the bunghole OF a
-keg. he somehow can't help turning
UP his nose at the chap who Is gizzltng
the cheaper drink
Nor can the animated receptacle OF the
beer help seeing the upturned nose OF his
neighbor and becoming resentful.
There IS no compromise. no truce no
amnesty Worse still, every mothers son
and fathers daughter OF us is the same.
We will insist on letting the human ma
ture crop out In us.
Although as this observer has init
mated, he has viewed Easy Street only
In the perspective. and has found It SOME
thing OF will % the -wisp when he
sought to inch up on It, he nevertheless
has gathered much hearsay evidence con-
corning the thoroughfare.
These accounts. for the most part, say
that the residents, whatever the cond1.
lions they have put behind them. dwell
only in the gllttering. git-edge present,
and countenance no thoughts OF the past.
The best of wines sparkle on their
tables but all are diluted with the waters
of Lethe. and the banqueters, one and al.
safe their thirst with forgetfulness.
They forget old friends, old neighbours.
old times. old troubles. old hardships,
and, first Of all, old highways and by
ways bestrewn with the stones OF ad-
versty and bedmmed with the choking
dust Of encouragement and defeat
The past with them is immutaby, ire
vocably dead-as dead as door-nail.
They would never suffer the fate OF Lots
wife, for they have no curiosity which
prompts them to look back. On Easy
Street memory has no place; Its residents
simply exult In a realization OF the pres
ent. tinctured with occasional anuclpa'
tions for the future.
While the aroma Of their prosperity
occasionally is waited down through
scrimpy Alley or across Poverty Flats.
they fail to recognize the existence OF
any mortais In these last mentioned Sec
tons.
On Easy Street LIES menu is ono long
dream OF pie and cream. while the days
routine knows no such thing as the max.
ing OF pronlissory notes or the monthly
dread OF Overwhelming bills.
You couldn't make an Easy STREET.-THE
believe that his fellow mortals are dying.
every day from hunger or want, or are
eating out their hearts with despair, vex-
alton, rage or grief. Such things are dis
agreeable to contemplate. Why. even
the dead horses are carted on IN covered
wagons, lest they offend the sensitive
eye.
Blessed, indeed are the Sybarites OF
Easy Street-blessed whether they be
paryenus or creatures who for genera
lions have wallowed in the lap OF lux
ury.
Never yet has trouble come to them in
any age-leastwise not but once, cad thus
exceptional rnortal's misfortune surely did
not worry him long. He lived centuries
ago In Italy and tho epigranmatlst sen
eca tells US the sybarite complained that
he could not rest comfortably at night
because he found rose leaf doubled
under him, and 1t hurt his precious hide.
But stop! o gentle Cor savage) reader.
All this Is hearsay evidence about Easy
Street, and in any court OF law 1t would
he regarded as inadmissable. Surely
there IS another side to the question. al.
ways providing, OF course, that the good
people O. the beatihc thoroughfare under
discussion care to involve themselves IN
g. controversy with mcancr clay.
Indeed 1t is violating no confidence to
say that this would-be impartial observ-
or once had a lengthy talk about the
whole matter with an Easy STREET.-THE,
True, the conversation was over long
distance telephone, for the man on velvet
was skittish abcut having poverty MI
crobes brought into his neghborhood, but
all the same 1t shed much important
l!ght on tho whole subject.
"Ot all Gods people VIC are tho most
m!studgcd." said the sybarlte. Our
oiuor fr,tr tcI fkIir