The sun., 1908-10-18
FRONT HELPS.
ENCOURAGEMENT for the Man Who Keeps
Up Good Appea rance.

w Uovu AppehrAnce,
Taking 1t altogether, this past yeal
has Noen about the worst twelvemontl
/ over experienced observed Hardrap.
meditatively, -ohiehy because haven
been able to get steady work
1t isn't 30 easy as you'd imagine fol
man verging upon 10 to get W ork In New
York unless he's q specialist. / can
do anything but keep books, and book.
keepers. as maybe you know have beer
hit hard in this town by the slack tirnet
since last years financial disturbance
I've had an odd job OF bookkeeping hert
and there. just temporary propositions
and I've contrived to keep my head above
water somehow or another, although
1t has been keen fiddling at times.
Most difficult end OF 1t Is in keeping
up what's called ones front can nearly
always manage to squeeze out the price
OF shelter and something TO eat-I'm moi
saying much. though. about the quality
Of the shelter or of the fare, But 1t take
hard guessing to keep up the front.
The exterior that is 10 say. The outer
raiment, decent shoes. clean linen
passable hat-oh. yes, occasionally I've
had to ink my hat around the worn spots
But contrive to keep up at least SEM
blanoe OF front.
Il learned long time ago, you see
that whom fellow loses his front, why
he's goner. There's no hope for him
He's down and out then.
"Its an odd thing, but most of us take
ourselves at just the valuation other
people put upon us instead OF the valua-
tion We put or ought to put upon our
selves, II the world in general sizes us
up as persons that wop't do, why, we're
pretty liable sooner or later to look upon
ourselves in just that way too.
And when chaps front is all run
down. why, he himself just begins to feel
as shabby and measly as his 'othes,
and the first thing he knows his self
respect begins to evaporate-and when a
fellows self-respect is gone, why, there
he is, you know, just as down and out as
he can be, and no mistake. So that as
long as can fight to keep it up, III never
lose at least some kind Of front.
What / started to say, though. was
that a fellow who feels sort Of down
hearted and low spirited and lonesome
and all that because he hasn't any work
or anything-a fellow in that shape often
gets little nudge along, quite by chance,
that helps his dropping self respect.
I'm speaking now OF when fellow In
that estate begins to have doubts as to
whether he's really keeping up his front
or not. You see a man. especially sensi-
tive man. may imagine that no looks
terribly seedy. whereas be doesn't look
that way to other folks at all. This is
odd, but it's fact.
when the front isn't just right in a
fellows own fyes he gets to imagine
that everybody he meets is dead next
TO his state Of chronic impeouniosity
and that they are secretly commiseratinR
him. and II there's anything a fellow
hates it's that, to have people, feeling
sorry for him because he's looking shabby
or imagines that he is.
Just to give you an instance of how
little things happen to make fellow feel
a little better over things when he's down
in his luok:
"A couple Of dsys ago was tr,idgine
up Broadway trying to figure out how
| was going to pay my weeks room rent
and wondering II I'd better write another
letter about job that had been half
promised me, and feeling pretty shabby
and blue. all In all. when met up with
wearing their brand new
spiok and span fall togs-I was trudRinR
along. L say. feeling like this, when a
taxicab driver pulled his machine along
side the curb. held up his hand to attract
my attention. and called out to me:
TAXI, sir?'
well, you've no idea, really. how COM
paratively cheerful that little incident
made me feel. It sure did
"Of course shook my head at the taxi
cab man-Id have given him half dol
lar II I'd been flush just for what he did
for me. couldn't ride anywhere In a
taxi. Of course. But the thing was this:
That taxicab man had sized me up and
he'd doped 1t out that I looked like likely
fare. My front looked good enough TO
him 10 cause him TO consider me.
$50 there was. helped along quite a
little bit and cheerful enough over the
business. and I'm sure that I picked up
my moocasins and walked heap more
springily after that.
Yesterday two more pleasant little
OF similar character happened
10 me.
Il was strolling along Sixth avenue.
,ot particularly ohirky over the way
,hings were going when a shrewd eyed
'ellow standing by the curb said some
hing to me as passed by that didn't
,atch the import Of. So I took a step
,earer and asked what he'd said.
-I asked you he replied In broken
English. IL you had any old clothes you
wanted to SELL
aOf course I told him that / hadn't
md passed on. But there ! was again
you see, these old Go men are No
'ools. They know what's what. They
,an pick out the fellow who looks as n
le might have something. And that
Did olo' man sure thought that 1 was
sufficiently prosperous to have some old
,lothes hanging back home In a closet.
,lothes that wouldn't deign to wear
my more and that I'd be willing to sell,
he Ts rSs 9sSe Sdss sns
ny shoulders back, that question from
the old olo' man did.
Small matters, Of course. these things
hat mention, but they all helped. |
Gou can take II from me that a chan
ort OF needs little helps Of that kind
vhen he's clubbing along doing the best |
le can to keep up front and In more or |
ese terror, all the time Of his front going |
'ack on him and fearing that he's he.
dnning 10 look seedy and shabby and |
Ikega permanent member Of the Down |
Ad Out Cluh,s