Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-10
AROUND THE CITY

man sat on a bench in a park.
bench in a park may be either
! wooden thing painted green or vaude-
! vile stage on which many players take
their turn in the course of an after
noon For that one man, ii was a seat
of war To crumpIe up; elbows on
knees chin on hands and eyes on
, gravel. may mean nothing more, of
= course, than the slouchiness of a slack
or addicted TO wayside siestas, but.
rigid muscles. a mouth as HARDEST as
granite and eyes that seemed TO be
seeing inward stand for fight with
some Goliath of temptation that, SO
far has not been conquered and will
not down.
Children played around in the sun
shine of a May day that had froiicked into
March and their caretakers turned
other benches into libraries. work shops
or cafes, according 10 whether they
were reading, knitting or lunching
from paper bags-but the man took no
notice He was fighting. You could
tell by your own battles with the same
foe.
hTen David came-you notice that
he mostly does. otherwise this wouidnt
be Sucn a Satisfactory " Oi III ~ AiNt HI
Just 10 look at him. he was tiny
boy who had trotted up to the bench
and in an abandon of baby friendliness
flung himself against the rigid knees.
There was no response. and after
waiting an expectant instant. the
youngster trotted off. Then he sided
UP again and laid a flannel rabbit on
the mans lap. Then something hap
pened.
The man straishtened as if he had
been prodded into sudden life and spoke
10 the child Being a boy baby. the
little chap lost no time in coquettish
sloofness. but made another dive be
tween the knees.
When the two had chummed a bat
the man took from his pocket 4 blue
Slp-one of those business blues that
may mean either a check or = bill
md said TO the boy;
Tear il up-uuick"
And when the slip had fallen in q
blue shower on the gravel YOU could
tell-if YOU CHANGED TO be on an OPP
Posite scat-that the fight was over and
the victory won.
A woman devoted to thrills took
sightseeing trip to the place of mental
shadows.
Near the gate-inside-she met
ouiet-mannered. soft-voiced gentleman
who responded so pleasantly to her in
curry as TO the best way of getting TO
the building-which incidentally. was
straight ahead. but women must be So
ciable, dear folks, or die-that she
asked him question that had better
been left unsaid.
For the quiet-mannered gentleman
replied in beautifully soft and level
tones:
Want to see what a crazy person is
like, do you? Well. if you had stayed
at home and looked in your glass YOU
would have saved time and car fare"
It wasn't one of those gentle answers
warranted to turn away wrath, but
For rock-bottom common sense it
might have been voiced by a judge.
The woman admitted il to another
woman. who tabled it down-like this
Two men were talking about the war
To get II exactly straight. one man did
the talking while the other played au-
dlence-in a car.
L tell you, old man. the anarchist is
right This war hai 70 be: TO kill off
rulers and the titled class When it is
over you will see what a millennium
looks like, with the laboring man hav-
ing his rights for the first time on
earth Fact IS. there will be no labor
: ing man. because there will be no boss
Each will be free to help himself to the
pleasures and leisure that are his due
AS to all that bunk about the she'll
ing OF historic monuments what use
= are they? When YOU come right
down to II, what 90 We want with
anything the past can give US when we
have the future ahead? / wouldn't give
a hill of beans for all the old masters
and cathedrals you could make me
present of, except for the money thew
would bring I'm a plain man with no
rms, and i-sorry to have to get out
mere, but come around to my new place
-heres my address - phone me anv
evening and III get in couple of fell
lows for cards
The man who had PLAYED audience
chuck!ed over the card. and when a bit
later, he pressed button. il was plain
by me osent mindedneSs with which he
!et the thlns fall that ne had no inten-
uon OF accepting the invitation
Inere are always prying people. who
want 10 know more than the law al
ioWs-WhIch means an apology for the
woman IN the seat behind for swipinr
me card-Just for the fun sof finding
out by what name an anarchist defend
er' VINO despised the ancient landmarks
y! uhe. scorned ancestry and boosted
MS lack of frills, mi light go by
ana TO show also that a pryinc nor
son may be generous in the sharing of
khowledge. here is the card except for
It's nrSt name. "
- Smythe Sd
a thin old gentleman in fine clothes
was helped out of his carriage-rwo
: horses-and escorted by his driver into
5 "A hor1st shop-the evening of the bie