Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-10-01
ELLEN ADAIR is
INVITED TO GO
OUT ON A PARTY
She Feels the Loneliness of
Lodging House Life and
Accepts a New Invitation.


after the long day In that big city office
and used to sit beside the open window
of the lodging house and watch the
crowds go hurrying by.
used to weave odd fances sitting
there alone above the lamp-lit street. and
TO each face that hurried by l would
sffix tale. oh! little window you and
have often watched the shadows
lengthen, and gray dawn come In! The
looker-on at life sees far below the out
ward surface of the scheme. Perhaps II
Is as we'll to be just mere lookcr-on,
and yet, want, 1 want so badly just
TO livel
oh. little shadow-shapes that come and
go, and flicker on the dusty street below,
what Is the meaning and the use OF life?
Are the old dreams and wishes merely
fairy tales? Are we
'No other than n moving row
or Magic shedow-shapcs that come and go.
RGund TS With this m sun, Il IIigminSH i:as,srn % held
l wish that I could live without these
restless questioninEs, these old vague
STRINGS that no pain or loneliness can
ever auench! "The heavy and the weary
weight of all this uninteligible world"
is here tonight-I cannot shake 1t OF!
Below me on the street 1 see young,
happy faces and I wonder why life is
80 hard for some, so happy for the rest
oh Moon of my Desire!
In this quaint lodging house l meet the
oldest types of men and women. That
r. human nature Is the strangest thing. 1
Aye discovered. too. Its twists and turns
We unaccountablc. The Eruffcst, surliest
men may do the kindest, most fnr-sighted
" things, done, too, in a quiet and unob-
trusive way; while gushing would-be
y abPehds may prove the most uncharitablc.
~ LIES lessons daily now come home to
me. and I am learning in new expert
,AeDce. They say experience Is the hardest
= SCHOOL, fear that l will serve a long
apprenticeship!
An old, gray-headed vIolinist comes
sometimes to this street to play. ! hear
&ASm tuning up his instrument just now.
s "a wonder what the air will be. 1t Is
bless evening, hot and still.
iviolInst has started, and recognize
4 Old, sweet melody. On Christmas Eve
once heard choir boys sing the same.
Ind angels voices never sounded half SO
called "Nty Ain Countree"-it takes me
back to days that have gone by.
- There's hope In every sorrow
p,it There's ere a. a balm In In every pain.
Come never back again.
There's a light upon the deep
But the weary ne'er return
To their Ain Countree"
20 many things have happened since
j came to this new continent that In the
telling of the tale find 1t difficult to
chronicle events Ten weeks have passed
now since l landed here, ten weeks just
pregnant with new happenings
l spent my second week as Substitute"
In big city office. and found the work
was tirtnS, and the hours too long. I
could not typewrltc properly. the keys
would get confused. and sometimes lock.
while words would twist themselves into
strange hleroglyphcs!
II parents only could foretell the future
or could get one glimpse OF happenings
TO come they would prepare their chill
dren for n definite career and fit them
for the battlefield of life. But older folks
don't always see with younger eyes, and
when the wheel of fortune is unkind
whole families nre left quite unequipped
10 face lifes battle and must therefore
fight losing iGht.
think that rich and poor alike should
follow some profession, learn some trade.
Then when the winds come and the
temp"sts roar the house among the
uuicksands will not sink because beneath
II there will be the bedrock of a definite
career, oh! II only could have learnt
some one thing that | really could do
well, how many strange perplexities
would have been solved long since
During my second week in philad delphla,
when 7 was working in a sadly inefficient
way in the big city office every one was
very kind TO me. The fRir-halred man
he was quite younG-from offices below,
who came up several times to talk TO
me, was an old friend OF the assistant
mana gers for whom ! worked. His in
Vitations, which indeed We're many so
often filled me with strange embarrass-
ment, To watch prize fight in Olympia
with this young man did not allure me
in the very least; In fact, no picture
sketch that he could draw OF sporting
Joys could tempt me 10 the place. | did
not like to disappoint him, but / simply
could not bring myself TO GO
The next bright scheme that he evolved
from some strange region in his brain
was one-day excursion TO Atlantic City.
tete-a-tete; he said he loved 70 be beside
the sea, the sea with me, the beautiful
sea, would l not come and join him by
the sea? certainly would not. I knew
that where the mere man Is concerned.
the pure ozone OF the Atlantic breeze
affects his judgment In the oldest way.
The balance and the mental equipoise OF
this young man did not appear TO be his
brightest points in any case. Hence
declined the pleasures OF the sea.
s-Rlthough / thought the young man very
kind, he had a very pleasant. genial look.
In a third scheme for entertaining me-
his friend, the assistant manager backed
him UP. He told me that this youth was
his best friend. that he meant very we'll.
and was quite hurt that / refused all
his requests. Would / not go with this
young man out ION a party'-it would be
great fun?
/, did not understand Just what II
meant 10 go "Out on a party"-but. after
: long arguments and long persusslons. /
hnally consented. II proved 10 be the
oldest, strangest episodel