Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-12-15
THE CHAFFING DISH

fiat" And SO l have lost that deathless
masterpiece | say deathless, for somehow
or other a MS. which is no good attodys
comes up grubby and smiling when the years
have fed" l use the lyrics nowaday, when
young ladies ask me to write in their keep
sake books. They are astounded at my ia
cility in writing impromptu, and L don't let
on. | can never get anybody on the ship to
think me clever, so ! have to vamp up n
little adulatiOn among those charming people
who live ashore and don't know me well
enough to discover the flaws in the casting.
hypnotism the other day. (No, this isn't
a drinking story.) One of the shore gang of
mechanics was loafng on job and l got on
to him, which is my job. He not only de-
clined to recognize me as having any juris-
diction, but he referred darkly to what l
used to do in New Orleans.
81 heard all about you working the crowd
off their feet down in New Orleans before
the war. You won't do it to me-"
well y ] said 81 want to get the job
done quick"
Yes he said, you've got that bloody
limejuice" idea of rushing things. 1t don't
go here
"Are you an American?" I inquired.
Eyes, thank God / am he asseverated
piously
Well, / went up and got him fred, of
course, and he Is now broodng upon the
queer fate which dogs his footsteps every =
where. ] asked the superintendent "He
says he's an American I'm sorry for that"
American !" says he with a snort. ''He
got his final papers last week and he was
born in Mapping and never sato the United
States until the war started ~ The boss
,,,I nE I'll
Mac, you won't get men to work the same as
you used to-"
'saor slang for British"
WHAT want to know is, Is this perma-
w nent? Are we slowing up? More i'm
portant still, are we to have no more of
that doing job because you are fond of it?
These men nowadays who are getting pro-
digious wages and all sorts of fine things
said about them by governments and employ
ers seem to have no heart. They have no
nervous energy. What you call pep, l sup
pose The force that makes a thing go
| through in a sort of regulated frenzy, a
passionate desire to see it done and done
with a conscientious adherence to the way
you were taught No, any old way will do.
| Anything TO get out of the toll and trouble
| of life. We have got to a pitch when it is
dll lIduN uuloH anu uO
ters of the people who are shouting about
| trade unionism are not what We call
"tradesmen" that is, man who has been
apprenticed to and knows his trade. / don L
believe the union leaders are blind to this.
They are aware that this spirit of gloomy
inertia which is hanging over many of the
men is bad for them in the .long run. My
own explanation is that they have discov-
| cred to their amazement and CONSERVATION
that merely getting big wages does nothing
to make them any happier. ! have queer
idea that after this Bolshevik business has
died away there will be a great revival OF
piety and simple faith. l do really. be
lieve men, in say ten years time, will begin
to tire of all this ceaseless material pros
perity. There WILL of course, be saints, ant
drinking songs and good ale, and monas
teries where bachelors can get little peace
and no doubt we shall have martyrs burning
brightly in the market place. And you auC
/ will beat up the watch and hear the chimes
at midnight, Master Shallow.
DY THE way, came across a strang,
ID thing in Pepys' Diary the other day H,
goes to a play and is impressed chiefly b!
the sweetness of the wind music "whcn th
angel comes down." and he uses these re
markable words;
$50 sweet II did raYish me- and indeed
IN word. did wrap up my soul SO that
It made noe really sick Just as I have