Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-01-14

last issue Of Over Here. the ofileiai newspspsg
Ledger star.)
LNOR so many years we have been such an
L aggressively free people. taking a delight
In doing many things simply to show that
We had the right to do them and nobody
could stop us from doing them, that to be
suddenly brought up on the launches by
the pull of a sharp curb bit by the Govern
mcnt at Washington gave new sensation.
and not altogether pleasant sensation, to
the average American. For example:
was In the Bellevue -Stratford Hotel one
noon at luncheon A young man Of large
fortune and accustomed to having his own
way through life, called for n second portion
of bread The waiter politely said that 1t
was against the rule; he could only serve
him one order of bread whereupon the
young man in question exclaimed: II have
money TO buy what l want and I intend to
get what / want" He had spoken loudly
everybody in the room heard the remark
moment later the same crowd heard an
elderly man sitting back of the first speaker
exclatm Was that fellow made in Ger
many or is he just trying to initiate a Ger
man? He had better shut up or somebody
viii split his head open"
Thc young man didn't get his second por-
ton Of bread, but he did leave the room
without finishing his luncheon. and ne has
not repeated In public the remark that "he
had enough money to buy what he wanted
and intended to buy It,"
But some of these things do pinch hard.
l was taking lunch myself one night after
one of the hardest days work l had
put In. l had ordered a baked apple and n
cup or coffee. was given n tablespoonful of
in
my apple. which happened to be very tart.
then when | looked for the sugar for my
coffee was politely told that the order from
washington was that only one portion of
sugar could be served to any one person.
needed the coffee. but 1t was the worst pun
!shment l had had in long time to drink
that sour stuff minus the sugar-a little
thing, but coming at the end of IL hard day
ii somehow got home
Another odd feature has been the change in
railway travel. 1t is hard to make you,
overseas, understand just at how many points
the new railway policy brought friction and
provoked anger. Everybody now sees that
it was the best possible policy that the
Government had to take.
on four or five occasions was forced to
board trains without either railroad or Pull
man ticket. After more than half an hour
of waiting had been unable to reach either
window. A little later the Government COR
rected many of these faults by opening In
large stations. four or five times the number
of tcket.selling windows but as these were
in charge Of unframed girls, the improve
ment was not very great; still, nobody
grumbled.
one time. while waiting in line in New
York, somebody started to grumble. and
recalled to my neighbor the experience of a
friend from San Francisco. who once said
that the people of Philadelphia were the
most polite" people in the world, and when
l asked him 20 prove 1t he answered.
the Reading Terminal. There must have
been twenty-five persons In that line. A man
slapped down II half dollar on the counter
and said to the ticket agent: Give me a
ticket to New York. The agent said You
can't go as far as New Yorh for fifty cents
The man argued with the agent for four
or five minutes. Meanwhile the opening and
shutting of doors brought icy blasts of wind
against the tired crowd"
At last the man at the head of the line
eXca lined: We'll. where can | go for half
dollar?" Half dozen men in the line,
out OF the kindness of their heart, shouted:
You can go TO he'll"
Repeating this little story seemed to put
everybody in good humor and that was the
lose his temper for moment give vent to
his feelings, and then. suddenly. the humor-
Gus angle would strike some one. and in a
moment the atmosphere would change. Yes
were suffering "ovcr there"
The effect on travel was curious. To be
out on the back platform of train and
suddenly have the brakeman put his hand
on your shoulder and say: Don't you
know it is against the rules to stand on the
back platform? No one Is allowed to stand
here during war times; somebody might drop
something on bridge" brought a flush OF
resentment for second. perhaps intensified
by the rough man who had given the order
IL, IT.,
came apparent, and the feeling was one Of
approval.
I recognized that perhaps the people at
Washington knew what was best; that by
and-by they would get after the people who
We're eating half pound of sugar un-
checked while | was denied an ounce and
put the same rule into my habit OF life
day by day, when nobody was near to check
me or to force upon me the Government s
wish believe that am an average Amer
lean, and ] think the whole nation has ac-
Ccp;ed every order from Washington, or sug-
gestion which was virtually order. in
the same spirit, believing that the Govern
mont was acting as our agent that IL was
handling a tremendous problem that our
best and wiseSt men We're at Washington
consulting. planning, studying the situation
in all its hearings, and that when they put
out an order to the people whom they repre-
sented, it was the old experience of follow
ing the leader" and obeying cheerfully ever,
the order they could not understand.
In the matter of food-day after day
have tried but unsuccessfully. to eat some
of the war bread" at first served at the
Bellevue Stratford This is one OF the hotels
which pledged not TO use any wheat but to
make its bread wholly of substitutes, ano
| thought most of the substitutes were saw.
dust or cement. After you swallowed half
a roll you seemed to be laying a new brick
pavement along the outer edge of your intes,
tines. Just as your appetite was keen for
meat you were informed that it was q
'meatless day"