The Topeka state journal., 1922-05-11
ON SECOND THOUGHT
BY JAY z. HOUSE
tFrom Philadelphia Public Ledger.i

We remove the cover from the
antique Remington with visions of an
enjoyable day. The run of piSh-poSh
in the morning mail was very close to
| high-water mark. It inundated the
desk and the surrounding low1ands-
from pish-posh; an unusual flow of it
makes" the day for US.
There was a letter from our friend,
]. c. T. In it he says: I'm this morn
| ing's column you say, We believe the
average public official is as honest and
conscientious as the average banker.
\ merchant, manufacturer or farmer
| Precisely; and experience has shown
that this average citizen is not to be
trusted with chance to loot the pub
lie till Hence the clumbsy but ap-
parently necessary device of civil
service
Here, apparently. is a normal young
chap of good family and some educa-
ton. He is neither a dumbben nor
a moron. He is, rather, of the type
that is classified as a bulwark of the
republic And yet he believes the
average citizen is looking for an op-
portunity to steal from the public and
that this tendency can be corrected
or checked by the device of civil serv-
ice. Do you wonder that we laugh
our head off atthe people? Are you
amazed that we do not wish to intrust
them with the business of govern
ment2
We find, too, a note from DIR. Albert
c. Getchen, of Worcester, Mass. DR..
GetchelI read a recent reference in
this column to the literature which
was the sOlace and entertainment of
rather drab bOyhOod. In the connec-
ton he observes: "And this is the man
who can find neither pleasure nor
profit in Shakespeare. Since he writes
for the public, ''tis true It's pity, and
pity tbs 'tis true!'
Well why is it such a heluva pity?
Will Doctor GetchelI kindly elucidate
his point? If we can, without know
ing much about Shakespeare, earn a
living as a writing man, what's the
objection if we do it? We set no
great store by our facility in the mat
ter of projecting thought thru the
medium of words and phrases, but we
can write rings around the Shake
spearean fans who bark at this col
umn. And while the audiences We
have addressed thru the medium OF
the antique Remington for many years
have, at times, been visibly annoyed
and moved to harsh measures, we do
not recall that they were ever over
come by an irresistible desire to yawn.
However. we wish to do the righL
thing. If it appears. after due con-
pleasure and profit in Shakespeare
renders US a harmful influence, wen
try to get into some other nice, easy
business.
Recurring for a moment to yester
days flow of pish-posh and returning
to the stream just below the point at
which we left it, it seems to us that
the effort of a lady who is interested
in the release of four Philadel-
~, nf 7
marked the crest of the flood. In an
effort to prove to us that the prisoners
in question should be released she sent
us clipping from the New Republic
In Which HamIct's Melancholy Is
Explained.
Sir-My interest in golf is more
academic than actual, altho I have
played the game with Andrew Carne-
gle, Sir Thomas Upton, Frederic Har-
They were under the impression 1t
was one of the good things that hau
a Scottish origin. Nevertheless, they
were all wrong, as when the subject
came up I took occasion to tell them.
Mr.. Edward W. Box is right as far
as he goes, but before reaching Hol-
land golf was known in Denmark
"Kolb" is the German form of CLUB"
Which also is in Denmark met,
And by a little patient rub
The name of golf from 1t we get
As many of the Scots themselves
originated in Scandinavia, when they
found sufficient leisure in their adopt
ed country they took kindly to the
clubs and balls as to old friends. The
game originally was played on the
links beside the sea. Besides many
other words of our common speech,
golf has provided US with "scrape,
which originally was a rabbit-scrape,
or hole. When the golf ball fell into
one of the ''scrapes'' on the links n
special rule came into operation;
hence to "get into a scrape" and "to
get out of a scrape''-phases now used
in speaking and writing without any
Thought of their first employment.
JAMES D. LAW.
We had often wondered about Ham
let's melancholy. 1t seemed so out of
proportion to the reason assigned for
it Happily, Mr.. Law clears the mat
ter up. The mad young Dane was
a golfer Maybe he was off with
his wood: maybe he failed to hole a
twelve-inch putt on seventeen. In any
event, his chronic state of perturba-
tion has been explained and justified.
George Matthew Adams
Daily Talk