The Washington herald., 1916-02-03
The Detached People.
nx JOHN ID. nARRY.

lconcernedly or comfortably resting under trees.
One such figure has long remained in my memory.
As the train whirled past he was sitting on the
ground. bearded like the pard, with his pack be-
hind him, reading newspaper and smoking, the
picture of content. A passenger that happened
to be chatting with, looking out of the same win
dow, remarked: "That fellow has reduced life to
its essentials, hasn't hep He, too, was impressed
by the independence of the figure. That wanderer
was enjoying intimate relation with the fresh air
and the sunshine and the mountains, with the
simple elemental things that SO many of us, even
while they lay all about, were scarcely aware of.
He gave the impression of being free spirit. He
made me sympathize with the feeling that in
spired so many men to break away from the tram
mels of civilization and to take to the road In
the delightful "Vagabondia" volumes, collections
of verse priced by lovers of genuine poetry, in
spired by the spirit of youth with its longing to
be free, Richard Hovey and Bliss Carman had
sung of those rovcrs and had put into rare
preston their animating spirit.
1t used to surprise to notice that so many
of those wanderers were middle aged or old
They evidently belonged to those who had be-
come wearied of the strife in cities discour
aged or had finally succumbed to longing for
freedom that might have been in their minds
from youth Often, in their faces and in their
bearing, they displayed sturdiness that indicated
they not mere failures. The truth was, it
seemed to me, that in very true sense, they
dream into reality. They were doing what a
great many people longed to do and did not do
for lack of courage and initiative.
Most of u.s. | believe would be greatly sur
prised if we could find out the number of people
who feel unrelated to the kind Of living established
by our conventions, who are uncomfortable and
restless, often without knowing why, who belong
among the detached Some Of them, strangely
enough, would be found among the successful
those who, apparently, have most reason to be
SaftS Stn1 and toI a,I h,~N
to speak out what is in their minds and hearts
they would give startling revelations. They
would tell of irksome bonds which they would
break if they only dared, of paralyzng restraints
that debilitate the spirit and deny them the JOY
of living. One of the most successful men
know, publisher who has made great reputa-
Brooklyn heights where he has magnificent view
OF the New York Harbor. He says that he
sees ship sailing out OF the bay without envying
the people on board, even the humblest of the
sailors. All his life he has longed to be rover
He once conhded to me that there many
times in his busy life when he had to fight an
almost irresistible impulse to throw everything to
the winds and to run away. Meanwhile however.
he went through the days with the air Of one
who met his responsibilities with mind.
There are other kinds Of detachment that arc
more appealing for the that they may
be noted by casual observation. On Sundays and
holidays people aimlessy wandering
about the street, unrelated to interest, scarcely
knOWnlS "nerC 10 go or wnat 10 90, iOSt Wnen
they are not in the action provided by their daily
work They obviously include those who, through
lack OF opportunity or through faults of dispos
ton, unable to form those social ties which
lead people to meet in cheerful groups Natures
OF this sort are hard to help for the reason that
they are hard to reach. The we-intcntoned
philanthropists who go down into the poorer guar.
tiers to do settlement work find them included
among their most difficult problems. In some in
stances the trouble is due to the unfamiliarity
that from alien birth and alien experiences
land he rteI -
the current language and by the forming OF new
ties.
Among the most pathetic Of the detached
as "the lonely members of the pack" They are
the temperamentally isolated. Their type one
often sees reflected in the animal world. Oddly
enough, they sometimes people with very
strong social desires and of brilliant intellectual
qualities. | have in mind of this sort,
an dealist who devoted his whole life to service,
an admrer of Walt Whitman and Of all that lover
of mankind stood for, that versatile mixer. But
by some cur ious twist Of temperament he un-
able to reach close to those about him. to be on
easy and familiar terms with them, to get into
their hearts. Though he had natural distastc
for smoking, when he was among men he used
to try to smoke. 1t both amusing and sad
dening to see him trying to hide his discomfort.
He would also force himself to drink in spite of
his dislike of drinking. | used to wonder if his
devotion to Whitman not in some way as
sociated with his admiration of qualities that he
made great sacrifices to achieve. The things oui
OF his character that he tried do did not really
help. Whitman could have got along without do
ing them.
This quality of detachment has, l imagine,
characterized many people with real greatness,
though freedom from it is in itself kind of great
ness. All remarkable powers Of the mind may
have the effect of setting people apart. Besides,
there certain compensations that go with some
kinds of detachment. Those intimately related to
their kind dependent on people outside They
cannot endure to be alone Without companion
ship they perish Perhaps those to be envied arc
the small minority who can enjoy their own So
ciety and the society of their kind too, who are
able to find abundance of interests where there are
no people and to find in people an abundance OF
interest. Most of all are they to be enved who
can keep themselves unaffected by hostile CON
ditons who get above them and who even
in situations that might be described as slavery,
can achieve and maintain freedom of the spirit.
A Sinister Sentiment
Five negroes hung to a single lmbt That Is