Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-24
The Manicure
Lady
BY WILLIAM F. KIRK.

EGTTHINK It is too terrible for any
thing the suffering they are
having over in them Balkans"
said the Manicure Lady. The paper
yesterday said that there are hun
dreds of thousands lterarily starv-
ing TO death. There has been 50 much
war over there that the soldiers has
destroyed all the crops and ate up
all the live stock So all the poor
women and the old men and the chill
dren amt got "A thing to eat. Honest
to goodness George, ! can't see where
this wonderful world that we are all
the time talking about is getting any
better. Certainly it can't be getting
much more civilized when they will
stand for war that will let hun
dreds of thousands, mostly women
death"
You don't mean 1iterarily;' you
mean literally, interrupted the
Head Barber. you are all the time
calling me down about my grammar
but you make more mistakes than 1
do"
George" declared the Manicure
Lady Sometimes ! think that you
have a heart like a stone and a brain
like a shriveled- up bean. Here was
telling you about the terrible and
heart rending things which is hap
pening over in them Balkans, and
there are you, not paying a particle of
~ 70. FL e.
on there, but correcting ME instead
about word-and you wrong at that.
Sometimes / get to thinking about
your lack of all them finer feelings
and swear that you and me will just
pass the time of day hereafter, and
then | get lonesome and realize thar
! have to talk to somebody or get
/ foolish, 80 | talk to you
81 didn't mean to interrupt you"
said the Head Barber. 81 guess you
are right. conditions must be awful
over there. | notice that good old
Uncle Sam is right there to help out,
| too-and England, and the other civ
| iliZed countries. That is why / say
the world is better than it was in
i them dark ages. In them days, when
| there was famine and fever and war,
/ there wasn't any civilized nations to
| step in and help them out Of their
/ misery. They just died like rats.
/ Now, when there Is anything awfu'
! Ike that comes up II gets into tha
newspapers and the people that has
anything to give is quick enough COM
/ ing across"
Yes, there Is something in that"
admitted the Manicure lady. 4 didn't
used to know what the power Of the
| press meant | used to think that it
meant how strong them big machines
! was to run off so many papers, but
! Wilfred explained to me that it meant
! the influence newspapers has in the
| world. The old gent had to come in
/ then with his knock against the pa
! pcrs because once when he was run
/ ming for office | guess some of the pa
! pers got after him pretty hard and
| he ran second instead OF first That
was his last deal in politics, but he
| has hated the papers ever since
"Wilfrcd had some wild scheme
! fixed up to get "A few boy scouts like
| him and start for the Balkans with
money and provisions, but when he
| started out trying to collect the let
! tuce nobody would Kick in with no
dough, He tried to get all the mer-
| chants in the neighborhood interested,
but none Of them knew anything about
the starvation in the Balkans, and
| only one of them even knew that
there was a place by that name, ana,
| besides, none of them would trust
Wilfred no more, anyhow, after tha
| way he got into them.
81 guess them awful troubles is sent
| here. George, 10 make us realize that
we amt so high and mighty, and 10
make us Contented with what we
have Gee. business is awful, ain'r
| it?"