Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-10-29
Ninth Street at Night

OF ALL gifts to earth, the first ana
" greatest was darkness. Darkness pre-
ceded light you will remember, in Genesis.
Perhaps that is why darkness seems to man
natural and universal. 1t requires no ex-
PLANTATION and no cause. We postulate. II.
Whereas light. being to our minds merely
the cleansing vibration that dispels the
black requires some origin, some lamp
whence to shine From the appalling torch
of the sun down to the pale belly of the
xlowworm we deem light derivative
miracle, proceeding from some conceivable
source. We can conceive darkness without
thought of light; but we cannot conceive
light without darkness. Day Is but an IN
terval between two nights. In other words,
darkness is a matter which includes iight
lust as the conception of joke includes that
of humor One can think (alaso OF Jokes
without humor; but no one can conceive OF
humor without Jokes
YTyHiS philosophy, probably scoffable Tor
/ the trained thinker, is a clumsy preface
TO the thought that city streets at night are
the most fascinating work OF man. Like
all other handouts of nature, man has taken
darkness and made 1t agreeable, trimmed
and refined and made 1t acceptable for the
very incest people. And the suburbanite
who finds himself living in town for a week
or so Is likely to spend his whole evenings
in wandering espal, porlng over the glow
ing caves of shop windows and rejoicing
in the rich patterns of light wherewith man
has made night lovely. Night by herself.
naked and primitive and embracing, is en-
barrassing; she crowds one so; there Is SO
much Of her. So we push her up the side
streets and into the movie halls and out to
the suburbs. and taking her little at
time we really learn to enjoy her company
TNHERE Is a restaurant on Arch street
i near Ninth where one may dine on ex-
iop nn,e1at and coffee. after whtCn
il is good to stroll along Ninth street (Which
I esteem the best street In Philadelphia) TO
admire the different tints of light that man
has set out in order to get look AZ tine
darkness There Ia the wan white glow OF
the alabaster inverted bowls that are favored
In BARRIERS shops. There Is the lucent gold
of jewelers. windows. where naked electric
bulbs Of great candlepower are masked IN
silvered refiectors along the top ana potIom
of the pane. There Is the bleak moonshine
of tiled and enameled restaurants. where
they lose much lghtness by having every
thing too white. II dfor instance) the
mattresses would only wear scarlet or plack
dreases, how much more brilliant the scene
would be.
THE long musty corridor Of the postofics
i is an interesting place about 8 o'clock In
the evening. Particularly In these last
weeks, when movies. saloons and theatres
have been closed on account OF the innuenAa
epidemic. the postomce mas pecome ~ ss,"e
place for men in uniform and young ladies'
The gloomy halls at each end OF the cor
ridor are good ground for giggling colioauy;
light love (curiously) approves the dusk
Through the little windows one caAcneS
siin,pses of tiers of pigeonholes packed with
letters, and wonders what secrets q tns
variable human heart are there connoe9 70
the indulgent secrecy OF Uncle sam. =
novelist of Imaginative sympathy might
spend week in reading throush tnoss
pigeonholes. what book he could MAKE or
them! Or could we only peer over me
shoulders Of those who stand writing n sne
biacksned. nk-stainsd desks. what mssnss .Ss
Of Joy and pain We might see ravsled ~ 'ne
lives of plain men and women. The great
tapestry of human life lies all round Us:
and we have to pluck at its pattern tnreaa
by thread. ,ss
NVHE Secretary Of the Treasury Gays y =
u notiae 'Ibitsrfng sAout thle hul}l1l z
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