Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1916-09-21
THE RAMBLER.
Paragraphic Points Picked upAhs our
Man on the Street.

- B. D.
Man on the Street.
] rambled around Alexandria for an
hour or two ten years ago and I've
rambled over most of the globe since,
but | believe that hardly a single day
has passed without remembrance OF the
quaint, old-world charm of the place
and of the exquisite courtesy extended
to me by some of it's people.
"A man, who is now dead, created ~
my heart a picture that | am sure
will! never fade. / can't word paint 1t
for you except, perhaps, very FAINT
lv. It is picture of simple kindness
to stranger, but so beautifully and
naturally done that it has helped to
color my whole life. You see ne
taught me courtesy, the real thing,
not the mere act of bowling and scrap
ing. And as l grow older am dis
covering, more and more each day,
that, excepting only gratitude, col'r-
tesy is the rarest of all humanity ex-
ercised qualities. 1t is the one thing
which so many people seem really TO
hate to extend without hope of return;
and yet it costs nothing to give.
And now upon my return to Alex
andria, | find vastly more courtesy
than | have found in a great majority
of the places in which I have been
since. And I am glad-for Alexan-
dria. It is Worthwhile asset to pos
sess-the reputation for courtesy on
the part of it's inhabitants. Many in
stitutions have achieved success simply
through their habitual courtesy.
But, frankly, Alexandria seems to
have been standing still in so far as
physical progress is concerned. Why!
| haven't had time as yet to find out,
but I'm going to do so and try to tell
you in this column.
Not very long ago, while en- route
for New York from the West, / met
a man from Oregon. He was three
thousand miles from home. Within
two minutes after we had come to-
gether he was boosting his particular
little old home town and had given
me one of the very finest apples
grown in his own orchard-that my
teeth have ever explored. He talk
ed as proudly as a mother of her
first-born.
In hotel I sojourned in while in
Philadelphia recently | met man
from Wichita, Kansas. Did | know
that Wichita milled some of the finest
-four in the world? l did not. But now
do. 1 could as easily have pushed
an engine from the track with my
shoulder as have made him let up
boosting before he felt that he had
convinced me.
Neither of these men tried to sell
me anything. They were just happy
to have the chance to praise the COM
munity in which they had found JOY
in living. And the spirit which ener-
gized both these men is characteristic
of all the thriving communities of
this country. However capable or ac-
tive a Board of Trade or Chamber
of Commerce may be it cannot ac-
eomplish large results unless backed
by population Of Boosters ranging
from those just beginning to get their
teeth to those-alas!- who are loos-
ing them.
F.. The youngsters in the schools must
be taught why their town is the town
or how it may be made the town. And
so all along the line in every place
where people gather together. for
whatever purpose. And even fellow
with glass eyes could find reasons. for
boosting Alexandria.
Brother, if you've discovered that