The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-09-01

to bed at night, getting up in the morning, coffee
without cream, soiled napkins, fat greasy Germans,
fat greasy people, rejection Slips and cold weather.
From Public to Private Life
'Resigning from THE Sun in October 1916 to
have try at magazine work Writing stories and
verses. Getting some accepted. Getting more re-
Jected. The United States in the war Trying to
enlist and being rejected twice for underweight.
Wondering, fatuously, what to do next. Hegira to
Binghamton Cottage by the river. Lots of sleep
and rustic diet. Gained weight Appearing at the
Binghamton armory for another physical examina-
ton. First drinking many quarts of water. Passed
examination!
July %, 1917, private in Company H, First
Infantry, New York National Guard, the Captain
of which was old school chum. Drilling. Bis
tiers. Hiking. More blsters. August, a troop
train to Van Cortlandt Park, New York city. The
farewell parade of the New York guardsmen down
Fifth avenue. September troop train to Camp
Wadsworth, Spartanburg S. C. wilderness, at
first. The sport of kings-bunking with private
soldiers, the best companions in the world Raising
mustache for foreign service. December still in
camp! The breaking up of the old First Infantry
order TO fill other regiments of the division up to
European war strength. Transferring to the SAM
tary Train, where there was another company of
Blnghamton lads knew. Talking to Captain, an
old friend, who said seductively: CHICK, if YOU
want to start for France by the fifteenth Of Janr-
airy, join the outfit IN getting up Joining
it. Mustache for foreign service growing fast
January 18th, still in camp. February 10, still in
camp. March -, ditto April Is, ditto. unfair
TO musache.) May -, ditto. At last a troop train
to an embarkation camp. Another period of wait
ing, several endless weeks. Throbbng mental ques-
3. IL
branch of the service where II get somewhcre7
Or, why didn't | wait TO be drafted and get there
first? Then, at length, my transport.
Being with sanitary troops, l expect to 90
through the war unframed and come back and be
run over by baby carriage.
Age, 80 Unmarried A. B., Cornell 1912
Recreatons: Tennis baseball, dancing. reading
writing, eating, drinking. My ideas on poetry:
Inchoate.'
The Man Opposite.
|1LBERT K. CHESTERTON is-we were 60
~ ing to say, in the familiar formula, liberal
education; but liberal is hardly the word Some
one might uppercase the first letter and make it a
Liberal education, which, vaguely as we know Eng
llsh politics, realize would never do Mr. CHEs-
TEEToN is liberal educator and an educator of
liberals lido your worst with the uppercase letter.
and that Is right enough. lie packs good deal
into small compass. If explorers, who have to
travel light, had to carry with them a condensed
education for the heather we should hand them
book by CHEsTERToN and call it full ration
In one sentence of his last weeks letter he
summed up completely the main characteristic of
the Victorians-SwINBURNE, TENNYsoN,. DICKENS
the whole crew. They started things of which they
never the ending Mr.. CHEsTERToN was not so
unkind as to say, or hint, that the Nictorians
started things they couldn't finish; and it would
be, matter of fact, unfair to charge them with
that. They did not have time to finish them 1t is
we who have to do that. 1t is we who have to
finish CARLYLE's superman. 1t is we who have to
finish the lovely dream that there is in the world
such thing as Positive Evil
A Terrible Vindication.
The war has been tremendous and terrible vim
dicatiOn of GILBERT K. CHESTERToN Naturally,
the did not have It's origin in some obscure
design Of Providence TO vindicate a denizen of
Fleet Street. Hardly. But whatever the design
the vindicatOn of CHEsTERToN was an interesting
detail of its working out.
For years We had all been learning that such a