The Washington herald., 1920-06-27
New York City
By 90. Mcintyre

wisdom at the feet of Father Knick-
erbocker has New York had great.
big, human. understanding ofnciai
In public life. That is. not until
New York found and claimed ]. A
Ritchie. president of the Fifth Ave-
nue. Coach Company. as its own.
Ritchie Is head of the company that
operates those swaying circulars
staircased busses that weave their
way Iumberingly but safely
through the maze Of Fifth avenue
traffic.
Most New Workers. hail from the
small towns, but they forget. un-
fortunately, their small town
bringing up" They wax mint
hearted and citified before they
drop suspenders for belts. But
/ Ritchie hasn't and he is response
BILE for the success of the most uni
formly courteous public utility In
America.
The glamour of New York means
nothing to him. He sees 1t as dead
tinsel and knows that IL Is after all
just a great big over-grown island
with a bunch of people just as hu-
man as the folk back in his home
town in Illinois. His town used to
| be on the map in lead pencil but
\ recently some fresh baking soda
drummer rubbed 1t of.
Not long ago some woman. soured
perhaps by an early amour. wrote
letter to Mr.. Ritchie, complaining
about the spooners atop the Fifth
avenue buses. She said il was dis
gusting" and revolving" Think
! what would have happened in our
youth IL some woman had written
the local editor about our hand
holding buggy rides? Terrible to
| contemplate.
But Mr.. Ritchie knew how to
handle the matter. His reply be-
| gan: Dear Madam: What is this
! that he had a proper bringing up
and hasn't forgotten 1t. He sum-
moned the stars, the moon, the old
front porch and the old gray horse
to witness advantages denied to the
| youth of New York. He omits lit
tie save the horsehair sofa. the oak
| by the old mill dam and the singu-
| lar drawing power of the Wednes-
day night prayer meeting. He is
indeed a poet. scarcely disguised by
corporate title.
In another passage he says: ITO
be sure, atop Fifth avenue bus
may be an unconventional place for
participation in this the greatest
of all pastimes. But where in this
great big city of ours are Bob and
Betty to go. safe from the slander
of idle tongues, to carry on their
lcve making"
There is a man for you. 1t makes
us believe again that the true Her
bert Spencers of this age come from
the crossroads and that what New
Workers are pleased to call agrarian
mossbacks or to put 1t slangily
"Rubes," still have wisdom by the
scruff and detain knowledge with a
tail hold:
Then upon another recent occa-
sion a man wrote to Mr.. Ritchie that
right in the midst of threats OF
general strikes. coal shortage. rent
raising and profiteering. when the
crouch has become the national
emblem. one of the Fifth avenue bus
conductors whistled while at work
The writer complained that the
merry whistled tunes of said con-
ductor added nothing to his general
interest in life as life goes nova.
days and asked that Mr.. Ritchit
! take the necessary measures to in.
sure the patrons of the buse.
against fiat renditions of sucf
classics as ''I!ll See You in CUBA
Did Mr.. Ritchie fire the conduc'
tor? He did not. He not only de-
Tended him but praised him for be.
ing splendid type of worker
Don't you really think" he said Ir
his reply that a conductor in thai
healthy state of physical perfection
and mental serenity is more efficient
and capable of meeting successfully
the problems of the day and like,
wise more apt to take and Absorb
without retaliation the many form.
of abuse in which a certain element
, of our clientele seem to find delight
than is the man who is compelled
to suppress his emotions-'
And so it goes from day to day
Always Ritchie has the ready reply
brimming with philosophy. He hai
a big and important job just wher,
he is, but bigger things are for hin
| and no obstacles will withstand hi:
wholesome spirit of optimism.
II. G.. Wells once remarked tina
literary life is one of the moderr
forms of adventure" And one Il
easily led to believe II by the --latest
volume from the pen of my friend
Charles Phelps Cushing.
"Cush," as he is known by hi!
Kelly pool associates. has writer
a book, published by Mcbride, called
IF You Don't Write Fiction
1t is TIE philosophy of the fire.,
lance. the gay spirit who sees the
world and its reople by merely
scribing the details for whomevel
will buy.
And Mr.. Cushing is one of tn,
kings of free lance. He knocked
about newspaper shops for awhil,
and then came to New York. HI
sells everything he writes. But n,
doesn't write fiction.
He tells in this volume the pit.
, falls that are in the path Of tn,
free lance and he also tells of it,
joys. And take it from the write
!, who has been a free lance 10
these many years-there is no lif'
, that will permit you to sleep unit
noon and work whenever the spiri
moves like the life of a free lance
: If you don't mind going hungr,
preme. Modern methods made it inn
may eat at front table at Child
in the end-and have a mighty gooc
time going along. Every persoi
who has the urge to write shoult
read Cushing's book.
Somewhere in New York a yount
French maid trembles whenevei
someone knocks at the door. Will
her Is casket of Jewels which sh,
took from the apartment of Mis-
Gina Reilly, a moving picture &C