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

THINK it is too terrible for any
thing the suffering they are
having over in them Balkans"
said the Manicure Lady. 1.-The paper
yesterday said that there are hun.
dreds of thousands literarily starv.
ing to death. There has been so much
war over there that the soldiers has
destroyed all the crops and ate IN
all the live stock. So all the poor
women and the old men and the chill
dren amt got a thing to eat. Honess
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
and children, litersrily starve to
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
do"
George" declared the Manicure
Lady. Sometimes | think that you
have a heart like stone and a brain
like shriveled-up bean. Here was,
telling you about the terrible and
heart-rending things which is hap
pening over in them Balkans, aud
there are you, not paying a particle of
attention to the agony that is going
on there, but correcting me instead
about word-and you wrong at that.
Sometimes I get to thinking about
your lack of all tho m finer feelings
and swear that you and me will lust
pass the time of day hereafter, and
then l get lonesome and realize that
! have to talk to somebody or get
foolish, SO l talk to you"
Il didn't mean to interrupt YOU
said the Head Barber. Il guess Vol
are right; conditions must be awful
over there l notice that good old
Uncle Sam is right there to help OUT,
too-and England, and the other civ
ilized countries. That is why l say
the world is better than 1t was in
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
like that comes up, it gets into the
newspapers and the people that has
anything to give is quick enough COM
ing across"
Yes, there Is something in THAI"
admitted the Manicure lady. Il didn't
used to know what the power of the
press meant. used to think that ii
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 ia
then with his knock against the pa
pers, because once when he was rum
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.
"Wilfred had some wild schems
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 neighborhoed interested,
but none of them knew anything about
the starvation in the Balkans, and
only one of them even knew that
there was place by that name, AMI,
besides, none of them would trust
Wilfred no more, anyhow, after the
way he got into them.
Il guess them awful troubles is sent
here, George, to make us realize that
we amt so high and mighty, and 20
make us eontented with what we
have. Gee, business is awful, aint
it,"