The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1911-11-13
THE OBSERVER.


New York woman who finds her way
into print without the aid of a murder
or suicide Is q society .woman-recently
won fame as a philanthroplst and a
sweet, kind-hearted lady through her
care Of q thirty-eight-year-old horse.
That her name is Mrs. John Henry
Pells and that she has home on River
side Drive makes little difference Her
fame came through her motherly watch
fulness over the ancient equine. When
the horse could not stand in Its stall
Mrs. Pell had a derrick contrivance built
which enabled It to swing restfully in
air. She padded the stall 50 that the
patriarchial Quadruped might not batter
its old bones when 1t fell. And when 1t
died she had IT embalmed and gave II an
imposing burial.
Several days ago, when the first au-
tumnal cold snap reached Washington,
wandered through the business section
Of town after dark when the keen, chill
ing breeze with the damn GOODNESS OF
the air carried cheering suggestions Of
pneumonia.
On Pennsylvania avenue. where the
throng was thickest, noted the varied
types that passed me; each wrapped in
his own thoughts and comfortably OBJ
livious to those around him. Among
the theatergoers were men in their
heavy coats and women in comfortable
wraps, all well-fed and bent on enjoy
ment.
Also, stealing by as II ashamed, I saw
the other half Of Washington. Here
was a cripple, ragged and thin. peddling
gum. Here was a boy, his torn stock
ings exposing thin legs, who whined
about his sick mother" and tried there
by to sell the inevitable shoestrings.
I was near the boy when a we'll
dressed man and woman passed. The
man jocularIy asked whether 1t was the
same mother Of whom the boy had spoken
last year. The woman murmured pious-
ly: THE little deceiver."
Was this not a Mrs. PeA?" One
glance at the woman's gentle face was
convincing Undoubtedly the boy had
lied about his mother. He had lied be-
cause he thought that "sIck mother
might sell shoestrings that no one would
otherwise be tempted to buy. Therefore
Mrs. Pelr' might virtuously decline to
aid deception.
Mrs. Pell." II her dog fell I'll, would
weep and call for veterinarians. Mrs.
Pell' might even bury him in state. But
though she could tenderly nurse the little
pet she must be more discriminating in
cases of human charity.
That the lad with the shoestrings was
ragged, cold. and probably hungry was
obvious. That he would not sell many
pairs Of shoestrlngs TO a well-shod thea
ter crowd was no less obvious. That his
age and environment-and the fact that
he lied about mother-would rapidly &C
complish what dirt and disease did not
must have been self-evident.
Yet. because he lied he should be pun
ished, not aided. She should be arrested,
and at best, be sent to a reform school
And II he was lucky he might hope for a
burial slightly more pretentious than
the one given the thirty-eight-year-old
horse.
As I stroIled down the street I fell
to thinking of all OF the kindly Mrs.
Pells" who so cheerfully aid when the
aiding involves no self-sacrifice and who
so willingly find reasons for not aiding
when the problem How to assist " ap-
pears complex. Mrs. Pelr' is the wom-
an who weeps when the rector tells her
that five Senegambians have seen the
light Of the gospel and their first pair
of trousers, and who starts affrightedly
when some one suggests a visit to the
alley slums.
Yet, possibly Mrs. Pelr' is right, HUI
manity demands formality in all of its
actions. To be unconventional or for
a moment to leave the groove OF rou-
II 80, ,,lN
an imbeciIe Don Quixote, battling with
windmills in an effort to right mag
mary wrongs.
We have our municipal charities. They
are enough. Some day, when the mil
lennium comes, our paupers will receive
a better burial than the old horse. Until
then Mrs. Pell" will denounce any sug-
gestion that she forego her pets for
an unknown humanity as a cruel inva-
sion Of her rights.
So poor little Observation-Disclosures,
the guileless sweetheart Of ex-Portu-
guese King, has been compelled to pay
for a dinner that Count Yves de Villers
ordered in honor OF her birthday. 1t
seems sad that Gaby. poor, charming
child, should have supposed that the
count had funds.
A few words, dear Gaby. and am
through. Remember that the only men
who fall good and hard are American
miIIionaires and kings. Various -four
ishing dynasties have gone to smash
through the former and large. fortunes
have gone to smash through the latter
Nine Lima Cavalieri could have told
you all about 1t. Beware OF counts,
mon Gaby, else some willy title will en-
snare you and you will support 1t to
your dying day. Since america Is pay
ing your salary, Gaby, it regards you
as one of its heiresses, and We Ameri-
cans hate to see our heiresses stolen by