Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-11-12
AS ONE WOMAN SEES IT
Outside View Of Philadelphls That u
10 q Series Of Connected VII. r.
lagos Is Somewhat Borne ...
Out by the Facts t
by SARAH ID. LOWRIE

by SAhAH u. LOWHIE
n WOMAN who has been of doing war
work and then reconstruction work for
four years and has Just returned assured me
that she found Philadelphia changed
She said that she had met whole families
OF us swarming on the coasts OF New Eng
land In the late summer just after she landed,
and the expression of our faces was different.
said:
well, before the war II you had been met
IN punches ut q summer place your eyes
would have been Indifferent, verging on to
hostile, as though you were murmuring at
:is sight :, cf stranger: What new enemy is
Whereas now" asked.
whereas now, you 20 out Of your way
to talk to strangers, as though you had
much in common 49,,
I asked her why she judged us of our
own ground-at Northeast Harbor instead Of
Chestnut Hill.
She said that she always felt humans
were at a disadvantage out Of their environ
ment. and that only when person was at q
disadvantage could one really get the essence
Of him.
T REMEMBER an interesting outside
L view of Philadelphia by 4 man who had
every reason to know It we'll, and who GER
tainly judged II very kindly. He said 1t was
a series of connected villages, each village
having had an original life Of Its own. and
having kept certain Of its qualities intact.
SO that West Philadelphia was not South
Philadelphia, and North Philadelphia was
not Germantown, and Germantown was not
Chestnut Hill, neither was Overbrook the
West Park, or Manayunk, Conshohockpn.
Bryn Mawr could never act like Swarth-
more, nor could Darby feel like Jenkintown.
Each section Of the town aud each suburb
of the town kept the tang Of its original
yt11ayo oil - xha, had In
that they were settled by persons who had
spread out from one main village on the
banks Of the Delaware, the first village Of
Philadelphia-or IL they were not settled
from that main village altogether, some
family Of Importance from that main village
lying village. SO that there was certain
family resemblance.
As for instance, he went on to explain,
most of the villagers of the connected vii
lages that make up Philadelphia and Its sub
urbs liked good food. and insisted upon the
best quality Of food they are very fond Of
outdoor, open air sports. The farmers have
hunted for generations, rowing and cricket
and tennis and golf and horse racing and
gardening, fishing and shooting, relay rae
ing, hockey, soccer ball, stock farms, dog
fanciers, cattle breeders, dairy farmers--in
fact. outdoor men of all types and outdoor
games of all types come naturally to Phila-
delphians. There are more country clubs
and more spaces for exercise in the open
near Philadelphia than any other city in
the world possesses Its foreign populations
swarm In the narrow streets in intersecting
alleys; the veritable Philadelphians make for |
the country as early in the year as is pos |
sible and stay as late as Is possible. Those |
who can afford only one house go to more |
ample streets in outlying sections.
AS A RESULT, the kindly critic went on |
n to explain. though the main villagers OF |
the first Philadelphia are scattered now from
whitemarsh to West Chester and from the
Main Line to Torresdale, they can always
be counted upon to rally back to the center
of things-which Is not far yet from lnde-
pendence SQuare-to help or to enjoy any.
thing that belongs to the life OF the old
Philadelphia.
Hc insisted, by way Of proving this theory,
that the old village famnes were still thn
ones to take the most interest IN the oh
village; that you saw the same names on
every charity and public undertaking from
Republican committee, with only now and
then an outsider or newcomer. And he maln-
taincd that the newcomer was generallv
there because he had married into on ola
village family, or was by triendshlp or py
business intimately connected with one.
Well, II Is a pleasant theory. Maybe it Is
true!
COMETHING happened last week in my |
y little neighborhood that seemed to carry
out the theory that 1t still has village In
s.incts.
A woman who kept little stationery shop
a blo'k or so away died suddenly OF heart
disease the other morning. Her first Gus.
TONER found her very i'll in her little room
hack of the shop and summoned two or her
neishbors. Something like CONSERVATION has
been felt since then by US all. We % not
al xx.tth
Ierly or without her shop. Her mother Kept
II before her, and when she celebrated the |
fftieth anniversary of the little store nos
long ago most Of us either wrote or stopped |
WAS miss Bella" to some Of US, and she |
passed her notes around for our enjoyment.
George Peppers, whom she called ,Mr.
George" was specially appreciated.
TIME newspaperman and the dry cleaner |
i and the apothecary and the postman and |
the umbrella merchant, the tobacco mist, the |
rorncr grocer. the upholstfrrr and nll the |
rest of US who live up and down and across
and back have met ara xntd snaSs Shr Sbs hnI c
everything to the cripples' home because she |
was always interested in shut -ins and helped |
us to be when we stopped in to get our desk |
gupplcs. We all feel sorry for that last
lonely suffering night she had when she |
wrote a little diary of hel surcrings 80 that |
all Of us night know just how she felt Turing |
the attack. We exchange theories as TO
whether the fall down the stairs at the |
pennsylvania Station the week before may |
NOT have brought on the acute end.
We are all agreed that 1t Is mercy she |
did not have to be laid aside or miss single |
day behind her counter, We deplore all her |
stock being sold, yet would resent a stranger
Now if that Is not village instinct to the |
fore, what is2 1t is the eaine nelghborhood |
interest that impeled my opposite n"ighhcr |
n night or two ago to call me up and to tell |
me that a lamp was turned up dangerously |
bigh In the third floor front. SO it was, and |
I had been sitting under it when the phone
rang, all unheeding my danger. In what
otber city of l 800 600 inhabitants would |
INV one bother to do that or know the name |
of her opposite neighbour
WHEN I arrived home too late to regis
w ter for voting on the regular DAYS was /