South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1916-04-27
STATESMEN GREAT AND
NEAR-GREAT
BY Fred Kelly.

WASHINGTON, April 26.-John
Arthur Elston, new congressman
from California, was born with a
sort Of latent spirit Of adventure in
his bosom. II he had lived a few
hundred years sooner, he might have
been a knight. a gladiator, a chariot
driver, a dragOn-slayer, or something
like that. But Elston, lived in the
wrong age, and up 10 the time he
was graduated from college, he had
never experienced anything much
more adventurous than being caught
taking a farmers apples. putting up
a uCk-tacli, or attacking a students
! bedroom. so one summer he and
two or three cronies set out into The
mountains in quest Of adventure.
/ They intended to find a mythical pot
/ of gold. scale the highest peak, res
cue a poor miners daughter from a
/ foreign nobleuan, or do something
or other which should comprise ad-
venture. For some time they wan
dered about. invariably encountering
only the prosaic.
Finally, however. they did meet up
with a party OF young college girls
/ lAtlJNAlg TIA Olltnr Wiz WI Z OuL
for a bit OF mountain climbing. Els
tons heart jumped. Maybe, thought
he, here was the chance now TO res
cue n maiden in distress. The diff
Guilty was that none of the maidens
were in distress, or showing any
signs of being. One Of them-the
one ElstOn noticed particularly and
wished he might rescue from some
thing-WaS less in need of a capable
young hero TO look after her than
any of the rest. She was the cham
piOn mountain climber and dare
devil Of the party, and seemed amply
able TO take care Of herself This
was altogether disheartening TO Els
hero. He became so Disguised with
the seeming lack of demand for the
heroic. that he returned 10 the town
of Berkeley and laid plans to Re
merely a lawyer. The young woman
he had wished to rescue from some
thing, returned to the home of he:
parents, also in Berkeley, ard Elston
saw her freqJeutly-as often as she
and opportunity permitted. in fact;
but she had an annoying habit of
changing the subject whenever Els
ton got the conversation around 70 a
romantic basis.
Then she went 10 New York to
study art The branch Of art that
mics Elston made an investigation
which took him 10 the public library,
and he learned that rhythmics had
10 do with 1anoing only hfghbrow
stuff. This information rather an
nOyed Elston, for il looked as II
rhythmics was more appealing di-
version TO a certain type Of young
person than he himself was. Then
one evening he picked up a Berkeley
paper and saw an inconspfcuous item
TO the effect that this same young
woman We have just been talking
about, was fixing 70 do interpreta-
tive dancing onthe stage.
without waiting TO read the rest
OF the paper Elston went TO his
room and began 10 pack his grip.
As a publIc-spirited citizen, he was
determined that ne must stop that
interpretative dancing project at any
cost. II would never do 10 have II
said of Berkeley, Cal. that one of
her daughters " as on the stage. he
cared not a continental whether she
planned 10 do interpretative dane
ing. or clog dancing. SIZE would have
J 10 make other arrangements.
Five days later Elston was in New
? York city talking a certain youug
person into giving up rhythmics and
adopting him in its place as a sort
OK permanent hobby.
And so they were married, and Sc;
out for Europe the next day on a
wedding trip.