Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-06-12
Advertisements We covet

"pARDoN my frankness, my dear fellow
but must beg you not to tell me your
name, your business connections, your tele-
phone number, your wife's maiden name and
the title of your favorite book"
The decisive accent in the voic caught my
ear, and though it is not my custom to caves
drop upon strangers, l was irresistibly in
tcrested in this odd pronouncement. The
two men were just getting into taxicab
and lcaped on behind. Nesting within the
curvature of the spare tire / was able to hear
distinctly what was said, for both the pas
sengcrs spoke in the loud and assured tones
of those accustomed to travel in the smoking
compartment of Pullman car.
"You Sec" said the first speaker, with
certain nervousness in his tones, II you
tell me those data | shall never be able to
forget them. A memory like mine is posi-
tive curse Once | talk with a man | am
never able to forget all the details of his
affairs. Just met fellow hadn't seen for
fifteen years in the lobby OF the hotel,
but as soon as | laid eyes on him blurted
out: of course l place you. You are the
fellow I met at the bar in the Hotel Ham
string in Omaha on the 26th OF July, l9o4.
How is that hare lip of your wife's brother!
Did that operation succeed| We'll, after
little talk saw that had mortally offended
him, because Nebraska has been dry for some
time and he is now leading official of the
Anti Rumhounds.
YES" he went on. ''it is terribly trying.
You know how many boobs one meets. It's
very oppressive to have to remember their
names and telephone numbers. But they re
simply fled and indeXed in my brain
cant get rid of them. Whenever l lunch
with a man I'm always the III st to remepber
TO call for the check That means l usually
have TO pay the bill. \ poor memory is a
fine albi for all sorts of perplexities. It's
the man who remembers who gets stuck every
time. That's why / am pleading with you
not to tell me your telephone number. L
wouldn't ever forget it, and you might have
il changed you know. The old number would
20 on ringing in my brain down all the
ages"
What a frightful affiiction!' cried the
other man, edging toward the door o. the
cab. ''How do you get that wayT
Il went to Rotary Club luncheon in
Seattle said the first, 'and there l met
| a memory expert. He was feeling fine that
! day and offered to give MS memory course
| free to one of the guests. l was the one
| chosen. Since that day my mind shuts down
! like a steel trap on facts and figures and
| faces You notice / am steadily averting my
! gaze from you, so as not to fix your features
| in my memory. The worst of it is, the man s
memory course is so easy, It's just like
| play. In three simple lessons he can fix you
| so that you can stand on your feet and talk
| an after dinner crowd senseless. As he him
self says, it's as simple as falling off log.
But who wants to fall off log?"
| The taxicab spun around sharp corner
and fell off. / thought l had better put
down this conversation before forgot it.
It's jolly to be able to forget things, don't
| you think?
| Mr.. Pennell, writing to a New York paper
| about the Independence Hall grand stands,
| says, "A match thrown in any part will set
| the whole ablaze.
We wish we could get hold of some of the
kind of matches that Mr.. Pennell uses.
Philip Hale the learned and ingenious wag
! of the Boston Herald, has written pleasant
little essay on sternutation, which, for non :
Bostonians we may explain means sneezing.
| He quotes Plutarch's Discourse Concern
ing Socrates His Demon" in which Plu-
tarch tells us:
Socrates's demon was nothing else but
the sneezinR either of himself or others
for IL another sneezed either before, be-
hind him, or on his right hand, then he
pursued his design and went on to action
but II on the left hand he desisted; one
sort OF sneezing confirmed him while de-
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