Evening star., 1921-11-13
AROUND THE CITY /

ed THE Riddle Of Man" To
look at 1t is just a few cords
of different colors and condi-
tions knotted together and braided
into an inch Of whole To understand
what it means you have to know the
INVENTOR wonder-man who prefers
solitude to Mr.. Hardy's madding
crowd. and who amuses himself with
odd trifies because. as he explains.
the wisest Of us carry a funny bone
in our mental elbow-only some OF US
won't own to it-and who described
his riddle like this:
The knot stands for the original
source of human life and the strings
represent inherited qualities. The red
savage with the desire and power to
kill. The black thread Is the treach-
cry and self1shness Of early. unre-
strained ancestry. This white, with
the soiled spots. typifies the every
day man who. fighting inheritance, Is
forever falling and rising to fight
again. This crooked string-you
know what crookedness' means-has
for neighbor clean white one--the
nobility strong enough to dominate
the darker colors Of human nature
and this strand Of shining gold means
the spirituality that weaves in and
out of the lives of all of us and saves
most of US from qualities that are
handed down.
BY that time he had unbraided the
strings and told his visitor to plait
them again. The outcome was not
artistic, because Of the uneven tex
ture of the threads and the hit-and-
miss jumbling of colors.
You notice how the crimes and vlr-
tues weave in and out: buried under
in one line, quality will crop out
- fotS
you are to consider the next genera
tion. with the gold of spirituality
shining in and out to show mans
strivings for a higher state. Take 1t
with you and remember this thing:
If your own web shows white and
gold you owe mercy and help to those
whose life lines have been shuttled
out of Fate's loom with the black and
red on top"
contraption called The Riddle Of
Man..
y < * *
A POLICEMAN with kindly eyes
but Spartan sense of duty. was
towing a small boy to the nearest
station. Behind the two tagged four
more small boys, who doubtless called
themselves 1.-The gang"
The criminal grinned with nervous
braggadocia. The boys obviously
aimed to convey the impression to a
passing world that they. too. were In
the hands of justice, and the whole
show provided comic supplement
picture of avenging law.
You could tell-anybody could tell
that the officer was merely giving
the youngster a lesson that would
stop on the free side of Jail. but the
comments of a couple of dear women
who insisted upon meddling into what
they did not understand, inspired the
prisoner into sudden reach for
in a falsetto yell several sizes too big
for his body:
Men, tell muh wife an children
that died fuh muh f-lag-an' keep
muh war medal to r'member me by!'
And he passed over his one skate to
the nearest buddie in waiting.
Naturally, that was where the off,
Ger lost out, but 1T was with ter
rible sternness that he gave warning
as he released his captive:
And don't let me catch you skating
on the car track again-hear me?"
The boy undoubtedly did, but as he
and his gang scooted out Of the Incl
dent, this has to end right here.
X 4 X
A MAN went into a business Office
His wife was with him and his
BILE, oldish man, with a friendly
greeting for the agent. smile for
the Office boy and an air Of extreme
attentiveness to the woman, who was
a goodish BIT younger, though no
chicken at that.
The business in hand must have
concerned house-renting. for as he
looked over ledger he shook his
head with a sigh of relief. as Of duty
done, and said to the woman:
We'll. my dear, 1 don't see that we
can better ourselves-being so COM
fortably settled. and"
The woman interrupted with the
suddenness of a lash:
Il told you before we started what
you were to do, If you think I mean
to bury myself in that house another
year--all right: If you sign that lease
you know what can do"
It was obviously standing threat,
for by the way the man touched his
lip with a finger to warn her that
others would hear. you could tell that
he was used to it and that, maybe.
his gentle sadness was due to the fact
would keep her word. Anyhow:
He signed the lease and the sulky,
Silk-kneed, richly coated woman, who
would have been nothing more than
any other midaged shrew, except for
the fine clothes the man gave her.
followed him out with a frown that
was hateful to see.
And if you had been there-espe-
cially had you chanced to be paying
for your own lease with money that
you had worked for and which did
not go far enough for fine feathers
you would possibly have felt called
on to ask the woman what she meant
by her mysterious brag.
She was too ridiculously old to run
home to mother. in the matrimonial
sense of the term; she lacked the
glamorous ability to vamp, and she
failed to create an impression of
ability to "do for herself in the mat
ter of honest support. She could only
serve to illustrate the adage about
.'biting the hand that feeds you" And
when you think of the lonely women
in the world who would have gone
down on their knees for blessings
that she was scorning, why
But what's the use!
I1ERE is a peek into the work of
one business girl. via a letter, in
which every line is crammed with &C
ton:
Must tell you one story. Worked
with the cleanup squad the American
Legion sent around to get the soldiers
claims in, and they had me filling in
olo question H1yau