Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-18
And So They
We're Married
BY HAZEL DEYO BATCHELOR
Copyright, 1919, bv Public Ledger Co.
START THIS STORY TO-DAY


TIFE downtown is as different from
IL life uptown in New York as day is
from night. to use the time. worn sim
lie. Uptown it is like a little village,
or to be more exact, number OF lit
\tle villages, each with its own little
community center. One sees the same
people in the little shops dickering
over the prices of fresh vegetables, day
in and day out, girls stroll up and
down the city blocks at even time with
their arms linked and usually hatless.
Downtown, the realization is born Ill
upon one that it is New York and not
a small part of New YORK that Is
swallowing one up.
For instance. the block where Ruth
and Scott had decided to live had no
row of residences to recommend it as
home street. Business buildings had
crept in and lowered over the few re-
naming three and four stories, there
were no children in the street, and at
night an almost entire quiet reigned save
: for the distant roar of the noisier
streets. the clang of the l., and the oc-
casional fire engine which is so much
more prevalent downtown.
Ruth had to walk over to Third
avenue to market, and she rarely saw
the same faces there they were always
changing. This was because there
wasn't a great deal of retail trade, be-
cause there were comparatively few fam
flies who could afford to trade at the
. one enterprising shop of the neighbor-
hood. Most of the East Siders pre-
H. ,s, 70 ho
pendent fruit and vegetable establish
ments where prices were never stable
and things could be bid for.
The first morning that Ruth woke
up in her new place she lay awake for
a long time looking about ner. Her
legs still ached and the muscles in her
arms were sore, but the apartment was
adorable.
The windows stretched almost from
the floor to the ceiling and there were
window seats which had been freshly
scrubbed and glistening panes which
looked out on the houses in the back
street and several yards which al
though not decorative, were not un-
pleasant.
The living room was the piece de re-
sistance. 1t had a generous skylight In
addition to the big old fashioned win
dows, their furniture did not look so
out of place as it had in the new apart
nnent house uptown; it toned in with
everything. The big old fashioned dav-
enport that Ruth had always been
ashamed of seemed just the thing down
here.
. IL I'D
neck to see into the front room. The
shade was pulled across the skylight
SO that only dim light came down
from above, a light breeze was blowing
in the curtains of a daring black and
blue and orange which Ruth had picked
UP for a bargain because the pattern had
not been stamped straight.
, Everything looked different somehow
Ruth decided with a sudden inspira
ton that the place actually had at.
mosphere. 1t wasn't like other people
apartments, -s-.--.- .gt
One of the things that had hurt hel
most was the doing away with her din
ing room. At first she had refused tc
do this and had insisted upon trying tc
crowd her furniture into the one big
room. 1t made everything look like q
hodgepodge, however, and she was
forced to admit it herself, and so they
had sold their dining room table anc
their china closet to an auction room
and at the same place had picked up 9
settle chair which could be transformed
into a table at a moments notice. Scot
had painted it dull yellow, and it die
look charming.
The parting with the dining room
had been an epoch with Ruth. She hac
always eaten at a dining room table il
q room set apart for eating. 1t was {
matter of custom with her. and i
spelled comfortable civilization, al
through she couldn't for the world hav,
told why. To give up her dining room
meant giving up what other peopl,
counted a necessity. OF course, wher
one began to reason it out there wa:
no real reason why it should be neces
sary to have separate room to eat m
1t was one of those things that, nc
cepted, can never be exactly explained
1t is custom, that's all the American
custom of imitation.
1t was deliciously exciting to slide Out
of bed. and to bathe in the big tub, ant
to slip into fresh things and to pull thu
settle table up into the window, and t.
whisk out a clean cloth. and to 90 ou
into the alcove and get things ready fol
Scott's breakfast. Ruth hadn't hat
such a good time in ages.
tTomorrow--A surprise from up