The Washington herald., 1920-07-03

TT you are a philosopher you
can do this thing: you can 80
to thstop of a high building,
look down upon your fellowmen
three hundred feet below, and de-
spise them as insects.
From this high view the city It
self becomes degraded to an un-
intelligible mass of distorted
buildings and impossible per-
spectives: the revered ocean Is
duck pond; the earth itself q lost
golf ball. All the minutiae Of life
are gone. The philosopher gases
into the infinite heavens above
him. and Arrows his soul TO ex-
pand In the influence of his new
view. He feels that he Is the
heir to Eternity and the child Of
Time. Space, too, should be his
by the right Of his immortal heri-
tage, and he thrills at the thought
that some day his kind shall ira
erse those mysterious aerial roads
between planet and planet. The
tiny world beneath his feet upon
which this towering structure OF
steel rests as a speck of dust upon
Q Himalayan mountain-it Is but
one of a countless number OF
such whirling atoms. What are
the ambitions, the achievements,
the paltry conquests and loves of
those restless black insects below
compared with the serene and
awful immensity OF the universe
that lies above and around their
Insignificant city?
It Is guaranteed that the PHI
losopher will have these thoughts.
They have been. expressly COM
piled from the philosophers of the
world and set down with the
proper Interrogation point at the
end OF them to represent the In
variable musings of deep thinkers
on high places. And when the
philosopher takes the elevator
down hi mind is broader, his
heart Is at peace, and his con-
ception of the cosmogony of Gre
alton Is as wide as the buckle of
Orion's summer belt.
But IL your name happened to
be Daisy, and you worked in an
Eighth avenue candy store and
lived in a little cold hall bed
room five feet by eight. and
earned six dollars per week, and
ate ten-cent lunches and were
10 years old. and got up At
$3.50 and worked till .. and never
had studied philosophy. maybe
things wouldn't look that way to
you from the top of a skyscraper.
Two sighed for the hand OF
Daisy. the unphilosophical. One
was Joe, who kept the smallest
store in New York. 1t was sbsut
the size OF a tool-box of the ID.
p. W., and IVES stuck like a swal-
lows nest against a corner of a
downtown skyscraper. Its stock
consisted of fruit. candy, news
papers, song books, cigarettes,
and lemonade in season. When
stern winter shook his CONCEALED
locks and Joe had to move him
self and the fruit inside, there
was exactly room in the store for
the proprietor, his wares, a stove
the size of a vinegar cruet, and
one customer.
Joe was not of the nation that
keeps US forever in a furore
with fugues and fruit. He was
a capable American youth who
was laying by money. and want
ed Daisy to help him spend IL.
Three times he had asked her.
II got money saved up, Daisy"
was his love song; land you
know how bad 1 want you. That
store of mine amt very big, but
"oh. amt it?" would be the an
tiphony OF the unphilosophical
was trying to get you to sublet
part of your floor space for next
year"
Daisy passed Joe's corner ev-
cry morning and evening"
Hello, Two-by-Fourw was her
usual greeting. Seems to me
your store looks emptier. You
must have sold a package of
chewing gum"
Amt much room in here,
sure" Joe would answer, with
his slow grin. except for you,
Daisy. Ne and the store are
wsitin' for you whenever you'll
take us. Don't you think you
might before long,"
Store."-a fine scorn was ex-
pressed by Dsisy's uplifted nose
sardlhe box! Waitin' for me,
you say? Gee. you'd have to
throw 7out about hundred
pounds of candy before 1 could
get inside of 1t. joe"
Il wouldn't mind an even swan
like that" said Joe. compliment
tary.
Daisys existence was limited in
every way. She had to walk side
ways between the counter and the
shelves in the candy store. In
her own hall bedroom coziness
had been carried close to cohesive
ness. The walls were so near To
one another that the paper on