Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-03-27
The GOUnSmQn

and her theme Is pastry:
DO you mean to tell me that you don't
make those nice little cakes any moreT'
mo, madam, not during tho period OF the
war" a
Nor that other kind--you know what i
mean-that always get and like SO muchI
We are very sorry, madam, but we dont
make them, either"
well. must say that think that things
are coming to a pretty pass: we nave iar
too many privatons to endure
And she founced out of the shop INTO ner
limousine. at the door of which, attentive
stood supernumerary funky.
The second scene Is the doorway OF sta
ton; the persons. two women, not notaDiy
distinsuishable except for look OF resolve
shadowing the kindly face of the eider ana
for the tearstained cheeks OF the younger.
A train is drawing in, full Of bright-faced
boys in khaki their destination ultimately
somewhere in France"
You must not let him you crying,
Mary. Let's say good-by TO him with cheer
full faces There'll be time enough Tor tears
when he is gone"
And Mary dried her eyes and followed val
iantly to the platform to say good-by. with
mother. to all they had to give to their
NIOw the Gownsman has invented neither
IN Of these anecdotes. He scorns inven-
tlon with the world so full of things TO be
| seen and heard but there is food for anxious
| or madam. or niss-are you doing your duty?
| Or are you only undergoing privations"?
TT IS not many days since that word came
| i to Pennsylvania of the death in France of
| Arthur II. Wilson. Wilson was student
there some years ago-a quiet, scholarly
young man. doing his work without ostenta-
| ton and doing it thoroughly well. His was
| a divided interest. for his heart was in music
| and he answered the call of his hearts desire
| and went TO Europe, where he studied. re-
| turning an excellent pianist with certain
future before him. Unwilling to leave any
| thing at loose ends and incomplete, he re-
| turned to college and proceeded to his de-
| gree. He had already begun career OF sue
| cess as n teacher in the Chautauqua School
| when our declaration of war came. Wilson
| responded at once quietly and as matter
| of course; he was accepted In the aviation
| corps and In due time made his way among
| the first "over there" TO give to his country
| his ALL Are you abe-bodied. not in want
| and not really "the only support" OF IAN In
| digent father" "a bed-ridden mother or any
body else? And are you, by hook. crook or
subterfuge, stunning the draft lest you take
cold in II, to sit at home snug and warm
while better men are fighting for you? More
over, you grumbling at the discomforts
of the time, at the prices of things that you
used to pay less for. at the incessant babble
| of everybody about this beastly war" which
| you think II would be "in better taste" not
so frequently to mention--in a word, are you
doing your part only undergoing priva-
tons?
X/oU don't like this war? DO sou think
| i that anybody 'lSes" 1t? Even the Ger
| mans do not seem wholly to enjoy II. Judg-
| ing from reports of the repeated heroism OF
| London and the recent panic in the Rhine
| provinces where the Germans are now receiv-
ing a bit of their own physc, the English and
the French are far more bomb-proof than the
| Germans. The Chinese Of old time used to
wear hdeous masks with which to frghten
their enemies. If their masks were not to
| themselves frightful. they never would have
| used them to brighten" others. The Emperor
OF all the Germans and Of everything else
| he can grab has recently advised. with that
| delicate insight into the nature of his enemies
which is part of his Hohenzollern birthrght.
| that Germany continues ito keep the world
terrorized" A coward can never learn that
you cannot brighten" brave man. This
precious war; like the ingenious diabolical toy
that II is has branded upon II made in Ger
many" and it will have to be made In Ger
many once more and for some time to come
before we are well done with 1t. Are you
helping to carry this war of right against
might, this war of civilization against saw
agery. into the heart of every German to his
destruction II he remains the slave Of Kultur,
to his salvation IL his manhood can assert
itself above his Germanism? Or are YOU,
too. only undergoing with a wry face "pri-
vations??
TT IS persistent characteristic of human
l. nature that when there are great noises in
| the air. each man betakes himself to the
tnkling of his own little cymbals We are
| entering into death struggle with the most
} resourceful. the most relentless, the most
| merciless and morally abandoned brigand
| who has ever coveted his neighbor's goods
| down to his OK and his ass and everything
that is his. when n Mr. Storey (in the Yale
fatz
in "a Plea for Honesty" and asks us SOL
| emnly II we Americans are honor bright hon
| est ourselves? And. not to be outdone the
ccnstitutonally recalcitrant Mr. Hard of the
New Republic. follows close upon the trail
| with subtle variation of the theme entitled
"Is America Honest? Now the Gownsman
, Is Indifferent honest himself and vet he can.
l not quite see how this war is to be won by
honest" men only-barring putting Messrs
Storey and Hard single handed into the
| trenches-unless We succeed In inventng as
the Germans have nearly succeeded, a de.
| humanzed Frankenstein monster made ur
D of mechanism and chemicals. who has none
Of the original sin OF Adam in him and
= may therefore, be conceived of as trul,
honest" Are these honest" writers on hon
esty playing the Kaisers game or Americas s
3 | Are they helping TO win the war? Or ar,
, they. with the Metropolitan for March
which has been denied transportation through
the mail for a knock-down and -dra e-out hi
L
a | man courteously asks. only undergoing tn
Q privations of an excellent advertisement?
I DEOPLE used to believe tha. the gian
: i Atlas. who supported the load of tn
world on his broad and STOPPING shoulders
grew sad-eyed and weary. So must those be
= come. the giants of our world on whom
q depends the heavy weight of this war TIL
/, | Gownsman hears you. my little friend; yo
n didn't choose him or approve of any OF hi
Q followers or of single one of his idea
s or actions. We all know it--you keep u
o constantly informed of It with "damnabl
o iteration" and when not busy intrigun
for Governor or against him you tel
us what ought to have been done ''wh
o. didn't we jump into this war on the sink
n ing of the Lustania, as we Jumped int
Il | the Spanish War on the sinking of IN
"a Maine? Why didn't We make the wa
n a. foregone conclusion by preparing for It
n | why did we not elect a completely wise Cor
- | vraaa escheyvfng all folliea and EoIi.tt. .