Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-04-01

nNE of our favorite amusements at lunch
" time is to walk down to Henry Rosa s
pastry shop, in 237 South Sixth street. and
buy slab Of cinnamon bun. Then we walk
round Washington square, musing. and grad
ually walking round md enguhng the CHINA
mon bun at the same time. 1t is surprising
what large circumference those buns Of
Henry's have. By the time we have gnashed
our way through one of those warm and
mystic phenomena we don't want to eat
again for a month.
The real reason for the cinnamon bun is
to fortify us for the contemplation and on
slaught upon tragic problem that Washing
ton square presents to our pondering soul
Washington square is a delightful place.
There are trees there, and publishing houses
and warm green grass and fire engine sta
tion. There are children playing about on
the broad pavements that criss-cross the
sward there is a fine roof of blue sky, kept
from falling down by the enormous building
at the north side of the square. But these
things present no problems. To our simple
philosophy tree is vegetable, a child is
an animal a building is a mineral, and this
classification needs 10 further scrutiny or
analysis. But there is one thing in Washing.
ton square that embodies an intellectual prob
lem, a graphing of the soul, a matter for
continual anguish and decision.
ON THE west side OF the square is the
" Swiss consulate, and il is this that
weighs upon our broodng spirit. How many
times we have paused before that quiet little
house and gazed upon the little red cross, a
Maltese Cross, or a Cross of st. Hleronymus.
or whatever the heraldic term is, that repre-
gents and symboliZes the diplomatic and spir.
itual presence of the Swiss republic We
have stood there and thought about William
Tell and the Berne Convention and the ST.
Gotthard Tunnel and st. Bernard dogs and
winter sports and alpenstocks and edeweiss
and the Jungfrau and all the other trappings
NlarF al
We have unused upon the Swiss military sys-
tenn, which Is so perfect that II has never
had to be tested b. war; and we have won
dered what is the name of the President of
Switzerland and how he keeps II out of the
papers so successfully One day we lugged
encyclopedia. and the Stctesman's Year
Book out to the square with us and sat down
on bench facing the consulate and read up
about the Swiss cabinet and the national
bank of Switzerland and her child labor
problems Accidentally we discovered the
name of the Swiss President, but as he has
kept It so dark we are not going to give
OUR dilemma is quite simple Where
" there is consulate there must be
consul. and IT seems TO us a dreadful thing
that inside that building there turks a Swiss
envoy who does not know that we here we
who are walking round the square with our
mouth full Of Henry Rosa's bun, once spent a
night in Switzerland. We want him to
know that; we think he ought TO know IL
we think II is part Of hia diplomatic duty 10
know IT, And yet how can we burst in on
him and tell him that apparently Irrelevant
piece OF information?
We have though. Of various WAYS OF
breaking It 10 him, Or should we say break.
ing him TO IL?
should we rush in and say the Swiss ma.
tional debt Is S., or--kopecks and then
lead on to other topics such as the compare.
tive heights OF mountain peaks letting the
consul gradually grasp the fact that we have
been IN Switzerland? Or should We call him
up on the telephone and make mysterious
appointment with him, when we could blurt
It out brutallyf
we are modest and dlfhdent man. ana
this little problem which woeld be so trifinr
TO many, presents inscrutable hafdships 10 us
A MOTHER aspect Of the matter is this.
"A We think the consul ought to k. ow that
we spent ons night 10 Switzerland once We
think he ought to know what we were doing
that night but we also think he ought 10
know just why it was that we spent only
one night IN he beautiful country we
don't want him to think we hurried away
because we were annoyed by anything. on
because the national Del was SO many rupses
or piastefs or bocaust child labor IN 6nitz-
erlahd is itla the thought that lhc
consul ana All his sian arc n total Irnorai,te
81 our existence 1hgi sails u.s. Hare He afo.
walking round and fc9uo the fouafc burst
Ing with M1fWaf|on nNl Nn|Nus|aan about
tW|a8 Ilrtt|||Rt t|tu| and |'|& t1t|1I Never
heard ~ U0 M.. I.. We |.|U.|I. 81. ....|.