Evening star., 1919-03-16


they have their rise and fall Just as
empires have had and as republics
may. The Rambler purposely avoids
writing that roads have their ups and
downs. because that might be mis-
taken for an ancient pun. ana a pun
must be very pungent to be clever.
which few Of them are. man must
be q confirmed antiquarian. or even
worse than that, who can find any
nnil In, beauty or Interest In an old
bun. 4 pun 10 q cra.i thing. The
very name comes from an Anglo
saxon word which means 80 round"
Or ITO bruise." and has thus come to
Slgnify . word that has been pounded
Or beaten into another meaning. IN
EJuvsnal' Dryden writes Of q man who
dealt in dossrel or who punned in
prose-" and In "Troilus and Cressida"
Will Shakespeare makes the scurril-
6us Grecian Thersites say to Ajax
that Achilles would pun thee into
Ahivers with his fist as sailor breaks
3 biscuit"
Old puns make one think Of old
foxes. Perhaps the best Jokes are
BID ones and perhaps the cynic might
bay that the only Jokes are old ones.
IN old joke may bring . laugh. but
tribute to the humor VI the Joke. but
4 tribute to Its age. And sometimes
the laugh Is on the jSker and not at
the Joke. But the Rambler will not
discuss whether there is sucn a thing
Is a now Joke. Ther. is not. All
Jokes have been told.
The road In question Is not hilly
one. 1t is about three-quarters Of a
ihils long and for two-thirds Of Its
length 1t passes over land that Is
hearty nat and then begins an easy
descent into the vale Of a minor
stream, the name OF which. II there is
One. IL not known to the Rambler.
THAT minor stream flows into Cabin
John run and the road runs along
Sy its side: having f9r h some s,aeka 6is.anes ee
kranite to keep tho stream from tres
passing ON Its right OF way. But In
bpits Of the stone wall the little
6tream In moments OF fury, excite
ehent and freshet floods the road.
telling the story Of Hermon Chapel:
wrote that It stahas In the vertex OF
fhe anglo formed by Potomac pike
leading in q northwest direction and
foaA leading toward the noItn. Inc
chapel in tho VORTEX OF the angle.
but that was q trivial mistake when
compared with the great mistakes
Ehich are being made today ny men zen
fktth whom We do not asree. IL 10 .ne
II Hsrmon Chapel that the Rambler
IL watkins on today. There Is no
ton gestion OF trafiic on this way. Only
& few 0of-prints and wheel-tracks
kre marked In the dirt and they are
Half way along the road. where
there Is high bank on the west side.
the Rambler sat down to rest and TO
think OF something to S'rite about. or
least to think ink Of q, %bsh hs eoud
make the story for this Sunday. Per-
haps 1t may be said that some mon do
hot have to think at all In order TO
think Of something to write about.
And this may be true: There are are
Impression. We all know persons who
nan always think of something to say
without thinking at all. and who are
always able 70 say a great deal with
but saying anything.
there is anything especially praise.
Eorthy in the mere act or passion OF
thinking. 1t is what the thinking is
kbout and what the thoughts are that
bught to count. We often say ne is
! thinking man" or thoughtful
han" when we mean to praise fell
low But great scoundrels have been
deep thinkers. Every man who Is
feading these lines would call to
mind even If the Rambler should not
mention 1t, that lean and hungry Cas-
6ius was a thinking man. Some men
Hill think a week as to whether 1T
were better to plant onion seed or
parsley in the back yard or whether
the border should be planted in mas
turtiums or sweet alyssum. Some
mon are so thoughtful that they Will
mediate at the bedside In the morn
ing as to whether they should put on
&he right shoe or the left shoe first.
Some very iiard thinkers can come to
Is bad conclusions as anybody else
and other men can come at proper
Conclusions without breaking blood
vessel in the brain by heavy thinking.
It often happens that the stupidest
fnen are those who want couple of
days ito think 1t over" What they
fealiy want is a couple of days to
think UP excuses for not doing what
you want them to do.
Yet, q man who thinks as pom
derously as some men snore will get
the reputation in a community for
being wise. II he never ATTEMPTS to
!, do anything but what his ancestors
Ind others ancestors have done
million times before, and never takes
q chauca NV which he might lose n