Evening star., 1918-02-03
AROUND |tHE CITY

do thtngS-probably Tor the reason lhde
they so seldom know themselves.
Take. say. the couple of carnations
that somebody stuck in the fork of a
tree in front of that marble yard as
you round Capitol Hill. No woman
could have reached up and, naturally,
no oldish man would have bothered.
So it must have been some young chap
and a young chap implies romance.
Do YOU suppose he bought those foW-
ers for his girl. stuck them up there
while he attended to some business
matter and then went off and forgot
The average youngster is more likely
| to forget his business than his girl
| of course, still, there are always ex-
| ceptions-which is one of the reasons
that this is such a nice surprising world
to live in.
Then, again, maybe-just maybe-the
dead year. typified by the bare gray
trees and the death Of man. betokened
| by the bare gray headstones. may have
appealed to somebody contrasting
background for the fresh-blood crimson
\ of his carnations-don't stop to bother
how he came to have them. Artists are
that way. don't you know. And poets.
and even some everyday people-isn't IL
Todd?
| Anyhow, the carnations famed against
the gray for two days and then shriv-
eled into the brown that nature makes
I ner EhrOuQS o. men lnt SHOW CdiuC
land when it dropped of its own heavi-
mess from the trees the flowers had
disappeared and only the wind knows
where they went
| And the wind won't tell 1t VIII
whistle or moan, according to the hu-
NOR it is in. but you can't get it TO
gossip. which is a pity.
| The wind must know so. many things.
| She wanted information TO ma
lures immediate intentions. So she
stepped up TO a track guard at Union
station:
"Mr Officer, can L get home before II
| SHOWS again.
The oracle looked up at the sky and
voiced wisdom:
| What direction do you want to go?"
Up by the Library of Congress-"
| You can make IT, easy if you take a
| car, but if you are walking you will
| have to look sharp"
| The woman nodded thankful relief
| and sprinted onward And the human
kiosk smiled. as if considering his new
| duties as a weather bureau.
| A man who overheard asked the OF.
| ficer how he came to- be on such inti-
mate terms with snowstorms. and the
| smile broadened into chuckle.
| 'One guess is as good as the next.
! especially when it doesn't matter either
way ri tell you: A woman feels that
| she owns. by rights. her minister. her
| doctor. her market man and every po-
| liceman she comes across. And she
| never misses her chance to let us know
it. bless all their good little hearts. And
I'll tell you another thing: It's only
the good women who feel that way
about cops. woman who has ever
| found out what a blotter means can't
| keep too far from the man in blue
| knowledge always comes in handy
| therefore this passing on.
Blame it on the husky marines.
The four of them were seated togeth-
er in car the other afternoon. while
the aisle was packed with women on
their way home from work. All OF
them were tired: some Were old and
one carried a bag that bulged with
balls of yarn. And the bag woman said
unto another:
| Il have been knitting for soldiers and
sailors right straight along. but I've
done my last stitch Why should L
spend my hard-earned money and my
time working for selfish men like these.
who know as we'll as 1 do what the
women of the country are doing for
their comfort? 1t isn't just this once.
1t is every day-and ! am through.
miss your nice big sweater and your
dear little helmet. and feel that some
woman had failed in her duty by you
blame the four husky marines.
| Two customers were buying a floral
piece for some one who had gone west.
| The woman had rejected such designs
las the sheaf of wheat mounted on a
tinfoil reaper, the broken column. the
pillow with sleep" done in purple
| limmortelles. and the gilt foundation
for the gates ajar.''
/ They are all too hackneyed. / want
something that means something"
| The florist directed attention to u
lfresh-made cross of white blossoms
and crown of bronze leaves inter-
woven with field daisies.
| THE cross means something. The
man said it to the woman.
"It means everything. But you know.
Jim. the poor old boy. had nothing but
lcrosses all his life"
That's SO. This crown would be all
right. wouldn't it?''
when you know how he hated weeds?
You never saw farmer yet that would
stand for a daisy-I know what he would
like: Just big. loose bunch of lilacs-
like the ones he used to watch for on the
old bush in the kitchen garden"
| A bunch of purple lilacs from
kitchen garden bush seemed to bear no
kinship to the snowy white plumes
from the hothouse beds. which tho
woman had to pay for. but