Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-13
LITERARY CRITICISM

Desiring to become possessed with q
wholly natural and unbiased opinion OF
Miss Edith Wharton's much-discnssed
novel. -The House OF Mirth.'' the literary
editor gave copy OF that work OF nction
to Sam the Souse tho engaging sweep-out
OF q welI-known AZ street suds emporium.
who has lately addressed his evenings to
the cultivation OF current literature
"Well? said the literary editor, inquir-
ingly, when he found Sam the Souse
few evenings later. Did you find Miss Lily
Bart cowardly young woman in the end.
lifelong environment, and. finally, Of a
fate which the nature of her life had not
strengthened her to resist? Did She
I'm wit her from the flash o. tn rag
t. tn las nod on tn tape. II that's what
y'r tryin' t spin.'' interrupted Sam the
Souse, in a tone of interest. Me fr LII,
all tree ways across tn plank. at any
hgger they're layin', an I'd go t her jes
as quick IL she was hundred Z one chanel
as IL they was holdln' her out at to To-
TIL gals finish breaks 1t off in me up
aroun' tn neck, an ii I'd been .aroun' tn
works wen 1t was all a-comin' OF I'd ha
been there wit a bunch o. side-whips FIR
tn slanderin' bone-heads that sents her Z
tn rug FIR tn count that ud ha' made EN-
chuck their dicers into tn ring an yell FIR
tn cops.
They amt no other way O. dopin' 1t out
'ceptin that that queen got tn worst o. a
bum break, an it looks t. me as If tn cd
dub Of a starter, called Fate. had ticket
in his boot on somethin' else in TIL sprint
wen he sent tn field away.
1.-THE gal was Thoroughbred in lines,
conf rmashun, pedigree, an tn hull works.
and they wasn't amy other way FIR her t
rig up her game ceptin' tn way she done
it. She'd been plugged along by all hans
- IT,
orchids an middle-o'th'- winter vilets all
her life an she didn't know nothin' else.
She was kin o. a hot-house plant boomer
herself, was Lii, an then, when they went
out an lef' tn door open on her, VII an
tn chill winds BLOWN in on her, she shriv-
eled, that's all.
'Takei it this way: posin' I'd been brought
up all my life in one O. them chatoes, VII
bank roll all tn time as big as a
Plymouth rock rooster an nottin DO
W EN- l wanted anythin' but push TIL button
an lot of flunkeys would ha come a-run-
min S'posin' I'd ha' gone along this-a-way
till l was about tirty years OIL, an then
ID been sudden chucked out into tn night
air, wit me extry pair O. shoes tossed after
me, an been tot that l was all in as t tn
bank wad. an it was me t git wggie
on an start somethin' toward grabbin' on
de livin' coin? There I'd be wit a pair
O. hands like a gran op'ra tenor's, an a
appetite FIR orioles liyers an swell junk,
an wit no more idee o where could turn
FIR a handout an a place { poun' me ear
than If I was a two-year-
We'll, in a case like that dye tink I'd
up an hustle FIR job drivin' a truck or
movin' piannies? Dye t'ink I'd hike down
t de nearest dock an try t but In wit de
rough necks FIR a bert as longshore-
man wit cotton-hook? An, if / nailed
job like dat dye tink I'd git by wit 1t Z
Nix, beau! Nix-nix! I'd probably do tn
Dutch act, jes' like this here Lily gal were
pipin' about. I'd cash in an say, Here $
hull mn r
easy place.
9Th thing in tn book that gets me mussy
aroun' tn neck band is Were all o them
left jatbbers an upper cutters bot women
an men, begin t give TIL queen gal Lii tn
marble map an t. spread it aroun' that she
amt on tn dead horizontal That's tn part
w ere I'm there wit bunch t hit IN an
begin t. punch TIL first hammersmith |
as smokers in pants. jes pass tn void down
TIL line that LII amt no better than she
ought t. be, an all that kin O up-stage,
offside shootin' an that what gifts her
down an out an brings her t her dope fin
ish in a bum little hall room In one o them
punk New York boardin' houses.
Now. I'm on'y a bum, an | never was
mex. of course t. tn kin O high swingin,
them swell nobs o. TIL four hunnered put
up, but it looks t. me. from readin' this
book we're talkin' about, that them folks is
mighty loose an fippant wit their hand
lin o womens names an monakers. All
II
a-spinnin' down TIL line O. A1l-in Land Is t.
begin t. breeze an whisper that she's
wearin' a little too many good cle'es than
her bank roll-what they calls her income
entities her t wear, an then they've got
her pinned t. tn mattress wit half-Nel-
son, an she's got no more chanel t wrig-
gle out than caterpillar that's been swat
Tered by a barnyard duck. TIL knock
spreads an spreads like tn smell o tn fer
tiizer works on still day. an tn woman
that has t stan FIR it is tn one that's git
tin most O. tn poison. 1t finally truns her.
for it makes her too dopey an Indifferent t
try t scramble out an there she lays,
stunned and stung, an all on account o tn
mean an ornery little jabs o a lot o. mar
row pikers that are sore on her because
she's g. locker an because they know way
down in their gizzards that she's a tor
oughbred an tn real kazizza. whereas
they're nottin' but would-bes.
THAT may be the real gag as It's played
I'D in them streaks were the four hundred
does its weekend, house.party entertainin
an all that kim o four-iushin', but in TIL
circles were I creased along before l be-
come bum buck had t be mighty close
in tn face wen 1t come t chewin' on tn
name OF a square woman. an I'D no more
take chanel on unloadin crack about a
gal that was movin' aroun' among his wom-
en- fr'en's than he'd walk up t crossin'
cop an tip his helmet over his head. An
y got t show me where It's any more tn
real sweitzer FIR folks that's got ev'ryting
they want t. stick tn midnight needle into
tn reputation O. one O. tn women chums
they're minglng wit than it is for Mag
tn newsie T. try t slip Min the char gal an
offside poke about the kim o. expensive
hats she's wearin'.
Lii made tn right kim O. a finish. DO, con-
sderin' tn sort o. edge they all framed UP
on her. If, wen they'd got her down an
out, she'd succeeded in learnin the millin-
cry business-w'ich she didn't-and KEEP on
at that work, she'd ha' fiattened out. tn
way l look at it. 1t would ha' been like
that mare Artful. what win tn Futurity,
goin' out tn mex day an haulin' milk
wagon FIR hers, an I reckon anybody I'D
ha' been sore t. see that. TIL gal jes' count
ed her chips, sa " that her stack was run
SO low that she didn't have no chanel t git
anythin' wit what she had lef', an, if
that, she was likely tired, like lot o folks
gifts at some stages o. tn game O tn way
tn cards was a-sltppin out O. tn box. So
she jes' says t. herself, Me FIR that rest
thing an stretches out an passes TIL gag
up, havin' seen all she needed, an maybe a
little more. I Amt judgin' her. She done
what tn little OF voice whispered t her,
an that's about what we all do Wen our
minnit FIR action swings areun'. It's a@swell
book, DO. but tn mex time v slips me
some thin TO read t. put in me nights wit
hand me somethin' that doesn't tell about
tn kim o folks that hound women t death.