Evening star., 1920-02-08
HEARD AND SEEN

UEhnU ANU OEEN
Is the stork to give way before the
progress of science?
Recent indications point to the utter
elimination Of the convenient bird that
has done yeoman service in all the
families Of the world whenever the in
quisitive lips of childhood have ques-
toned beyond their age.
Really. it would be too bad il the
stork should be done away with after
all these years, and a more up-to-date
and scientific vehicle substituted for
the faithful bird. but the indications
are. as stated, that science is out after
the head of the stork.
In Washington family another lit
tie girl came to add to the garden of
American girls, the pride of all the
United States. Little Lois, who recent
ly had seen an airplane over her house.
was quite overwhelmed by her good
! fortune in having for her own a little
sister.
"Oh. father" she said. bursting in on
that gentleman. the airplane has
Canary birds are golden in color, but
at last it seems as If they are golden
in price as we'll
Most people have pleasant recollec-
tions of some canary bird. it's sweet
singing and the place it occupied in the
family life. One Of the most striking
shadows l have ever seen was that of
canary bird placed inside a window
gaslight behind it and blind before
! 1t. Every wire of the cage, the bird
In every detail and almost every seed
on the floor of its habitation, was out
lined upon the blind. forming striking
contrast to the golden glow in the
night. -
But when canary bird becomes
worth its weight in gold. or more than
that, perhaps the recollection of this
little flyer may not be quite so pJea e.
ant.
woman who is a lover of the
beautiful, and who can tell children's $
stories in a manner which makes
them live again to her hearers, last
week stopped in a store to admire a
canary in beautiful cage.
1t was jewelers. shop-maybe that
was why the bird came so high.
How much is this canary?" asked
the woman.
Fifty dollars" said the clerk. calmly.
Fifty dollars" exclaimed the wom-
an. why. If canary costs fifty
dollars. what would a good hen cost ?''
The clerk ignored the question
"Oh, the canary is ornamental" he
| replied, loftily.
Tapping on wood" is an old super
stition.
The rite is done after this fashion:
Whenever one says anything that
a hif hr9 opinO a lxyo r.,
ones present good health, luck or
what-not, the sayer must run to wood
and tap. vigorously thereon several
times. in order to allay the turn of
fortune which will follow, it is said
unless the tapping is conscientiously
performed.
This is a survival of strange. old
ways of thinking, undoubtedly. in the
childhood of the race. when people
thought that jealous gods watched
their every movement. and were en-
vious of too much happiness on the
part of mortals. Let man boast of
his good health. the god-probably
Pan. the god of nature. whose home
was In the woods-would surely hear
him and send him ill health to mock
him.
! So down through the ages has come
, the superstition Of tapping on wood"
1t is done blindly nowadays. usually
on a chair, or table, or door-any-
thing wooden, sometimes even on
heads as a jest. People have forgot
form the rite.
Since the world has turned from
forest habitation to apartment houses,
it is not strange that most of the
tapping is done on wood worked into
the shape of table, door or chair.
Perhaps the antiquity of the thing
explains the perplexity of two women
who were walking along 18th street
one day last week
They were passing a block filled
with particularly large trees.
II have been in fne health recent
ly." said one girl.
TAP on wood! cried the other, in
mock alarm.
some wood to tap on, but no wood
met her gaze-at least. not the Kind
she was familiar with.
She looked so hard for wood" in
fact, that she forgot the trees
A traction question: Why does the
car ahead go SO slow?
This question was propounded by an
irate gentleman who hardly had al
lowed himself time to get down to
the Office, and was taking it out on
the street car system, the motorman,
the conductor and the very car itself.
Funny thing, he Snorted, loudly.
These cars don't make such bad time.
except when there is another car in
front of them. NV that they don't
have to stop at every crossroad on the
way down town the cars make pretty
fair speed when they have an open
track.
but just let one catch up on the
track with another car. Then it slows
down as if the brakes were on,
and it creeps along just like this car
is doing. to the end of the line, l sup
pose.
Now, I want to know why the car in
front has to go so slow. Time and
time again 1 have observed it, and it
is always the same. Why can't the
car ahead make as good time as the
car behind, and let the car behind
keep on at it's usual pace?
"Why must the car ahead creep to
the barn, forcing the car behind to
creep along behind it? There isn't
any chance for the hindmost car tol
take the lead. 1t has got to let the
foremost car set the pace. And the
pace is always slow. Why can't the
car ahead go as fast as the car be-
hind?"
Perhaps the motorman might have
explained 1t. but he didn't.