Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-05-07

must confess that the situation had
it's humors.
1t is to laugh to think of us New
Workers., who should be Injured to any
kind of noise, objecting to the laugh
ter and walls of eXuberant child
hood.
But here is a strange anomaly of
nature. l have aiways noticed that
the cliff-dwellers who protest most
loudly against children in the house
are particularly fond of mechanical
musical instruments, human and
otherwise, and birds and beasts no.
torious for their vocal powers.
Who that has dwelt upon the
heights-apartmen heights-is not
familiar with that feathered fiend,
the parrot, singing his one monoton-
Gus tune over and over again for
hours at time? And just as the
listeners nerves are about to give
way under the strain he drops this
to croak. Polly wants a cracker"
five hundred times without stopping
and then winds up the remarkable
accomplishment with a series of
whistles which for shrillness would
put a calliope to shame.
oh, the pets of our friends and
neighbors. l can recall at the mo-
ment a singularly loud-mouthed and
across the courI. He had the habit
of sitting on the fire escape at night
until the dawn broke, indulging in
a continuous and hair-raising mono-
logue. No lady should have had to
listen to such language; twas so sui
phurous that l am sure he must have
been a reincarnation of one of the
worst pirates that ever sailed the
Spanish Main.
And the dogs! 1 love dogs, es-
pecially in the country, where they
can run in the open. l always feel
sorry for them cooped up in a city
apartment. Nevertheless, have sew
eral warm friends among house
dogs, and also several enemies-little
beasts that yelp at the top of their
voices when L am trying to talk and
drive their needle-like teeth into my
new slippers, and worry my ankles.
l own to being a music fan. During
the musical season l am always fiat
broke in time and money. But my
daughter, who sings" and the same
record played over and over again
day after day have driven me from
more than one apartment.
Live and Let Live" Should Be
Apartment House Motto
But if the notes in our neighbors'
eyes sometimes offend us-the cats
and dogs and jazz melodies that they
love-we ought not to forget that
beam in our own. i seem to recall
occasions when the humping of my
typewriter has evoked vigorous pro-
test from the floor below. 1t could
hardly be otherwise where people of
different tastes and ideas and predil-
ectionk are so closely hived together.
Live and Let Live" should be carved
over the door of every apartment
house.
house.
And who has a better right to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness
than the kiddfes? Granted that baby
carriage tracks across the rugs and
tiling of marble foyer do not i'm
prove it's appearance; and that said
pals, teddy bears and headless dolls
detract somewhat from the stately
calm of uniformed Jamaicans and
tubs of palms. Granted that the top
drum and tin trumpet are anathema
to sensitive ears. Still, just try to
imagine what a solemn, dreary,
cheerless, hideous world this would
be without them.
So, whatever may be said on the
other side, l am inclined to share
in the indignation of my correspond
ent. There should be no house in
New York, not one, where either the
grumpiness OF Its tenants or the
splendor of it's fittings should serve
as an excuse to bar out the sunshine
of childhood. The best we have is
none too good for these, our citizens
of tomorrow.
The children are here among us
now, and If we, the people with
whom they must live, cannot, in the
midst of our own selfish comfort,
find in our hearts the welcome they
so confidently expect, then it is time
for us to look to our own moral and
spiritual condition.
For them all places should be
temples, all seasons summer.