The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-01-03
ON SECOND THOUGHT
By JAZZ Z. HOUSE.
(Trcn Philadelphia Public Ledgsf.)
The Whispering Post

Inc whispering IoSt.
n. MANY thanks! You're right
about it; none of the major league
poets could have expressed it so eff
fectively.
B. D. H-No. it's an antique REM
ington-a No. Z.
r. B. C.-The lampshade, praise be
to Allah. is completed, but the newt
able sweater is scarcely begun.
Anonymous-You feat of scream
ing ten miles while riding with a
drunken driver constitutes record for
both distance and endurance.
I. S. C.-Fou have been impressed
by the number of cats in Philadel-
phia- Our reaction to the town is that
it contains more people who, as mat
ter of neighborly solicitude and kind
illness. are willing to stop and pick a
raveling off ones coat or brush a bit
of dust from his back than any other
city in the world. Fancy New York
er stopping a stranger to commiser-
ate with him upon the misfortune of
having recently leaned against the
fresh paint! You can't do it.
Adk ?pj&sel 9ex.
Sir-I can answer the question about
the original typewriter at the Centen-
NAL exposition. He was a brunette.
1 was about fifteen at the time. on a
visit from my old Kentucky home, and
was looking at the Corliss engine when
my attention was attracted by a man
writing letters on a machine. A sign
indicated-that he would write a letter
for so cents--a big price to me at the
time-but / decided to invest because
l was then much in love with a Ken
lucky blonde. Being asked to dictate.
1 became confused, and the|man Of
fered to write the letter for me, which
was satisfactory. I gave the name and
address, and in less than a minute he
handed me a typewriter letter of a
page beginning: Standing beside the
great Corliss engine, which moved the
mighty forces of the Centennial exhibit
tino, am thinking of you'll" and more
was content, but waited round bit
until some one else approached and
had about the same experience. I
looked over his shoulder and saw that
his letter was an exact counterpart of
mine, and this took out all the joy of
life. because L thought my letter was
individual. Taking chance, I man
aged to get into his booth and found
that he had a hundred letters of the
same sort all waiting to be addressed
and signed. That was one of my first
disillusions and have never cared for
the typewriting machine since.
J. NJ. r.
We continue to note the febriTe in
cidents in the odyssey of Oscar Egg.
While Oscar still goes round and round
he isn't doing so we'll. He has regis
tered 2,267 miles six laps but has
! dropped into tie for fifth place. His
position seems parlous.
The episode stirs our curiosity upon
a point of which we are in dire ignor-
ance. Does the ath-a-lete who wins a
six-day bicycle race get anything for
doing it, and, if so, why?
The column will not be found in vio-
lent opposition to the proposed Puritan
Sunday. We are perfectly familiar
with the Puritan Sunday having been
reared in a community in which it was
vigorously observed. Having no
m orals. we are not prepared to dis
cuss its moral effect. But we are pre-
pared to say it has far-reaching edu-
cational value. From the men and
boys who gathered in sequestered
hooks on that day of rest we learned
many things with which We might not
otherwise have grown familiar.
Among other things, we learned to
play poker and to shoot craps We
heard marvellous repertoire of vie
stories. Over such of those as cling
to memory we still blueh in shame.
made familiar with most of the repre-
hensible practices of mankind. The
advantages of such association TO a
growing boy of twelve or fourteen
years cannot be overestimated.
To most of the revelations which the
Puritan Sunday brought US we have
grown blase. Advancing years and a
broader outlook have robbed them of
much of their charm. But we are no
dog in the manger. We don't wish
to deprive other boys Of the privileges
We enjoyed.
Our attitude toward IONA Gales
heroine. Miss Lulu Bett, may be
likened to our attitude toward Maud
Muller. We can't understand what
the guys saw in her.
Since We are thus, and much against
our will, forced into a further dis
cussion of current literature. we give
it as our opinion that Mr.. Wadsworth
Cannn cd he