Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-01-08

TT YOU ask me, I'll say it was
combination of indoor croquet
and too many sausage and pan
cake breakfasts. Anyway, some
thing went wrong with the peace and
quiet Of our ninth-floor southern eX-
posure home. I hardly noticed it at
first. but the next thing I knew our
domestic happiness was on the rocks.
In other words, Inez and her Uncle
Nels had worked up a mutual crouch
that left them barely on speaking
terms.
And yet can see how 1 was partly
to blame. in a way: for when Inez
came 60 me, about a week before
Christmas. asking what in the world
she should get for Uncle Nels, I had
suggested games. 1t had seemed a
good bunch at the time, for he's
supplemented old boy, you know, and
what he lacked most was amusement.
And perhaps you remember how We
found him sailing toy boats in bath
tubs when we first discovered him
here. So told her to get games.
What kinda games?" Inez de-
manded.
much noise or clutter" says I. Go
scout around the toy shops"
But 1 want to state right here that
I had nothing like croquet in mind.
Absolutely. It's a game I don't care
for at all. I don't know who invented
it, but I'll say he had a grudge against
hts own kind and got up this scheme
for getting even. Probably he was
the village pest. for croquet is small
town stuff. It's a hich vice-a flag
station blight.
OUR cities may be wicked. with
their gunner gangs and deis of
iniquity, but at least there's no room
for croquet in them. And only a per-
son whose childhood has been en-
Filtered by the game knowsuHhat the
city-bred youngster has escaped. I'm
not airing any secondhand prejudice,
either. About the first thing 1 re-
member was hearing Nav and Paw
Dodge squabbling over whose turn 1t
was to shoot. That was out at the
Clearing, three miles from Tamarack
Junction. Oh. yes. even there We had
a croquet set. We always had one.
When most of the balls got lost and
all the maIlet heads came loose. paw
would send a dollar eighty-nine to
mail -order house and get another out
fit. We were too poor to have window
screens, or shoes for all the kids. or
fresh meat more than once a month.
but we never passed a whole summer
without the equipment for getting up
a family row.
Did you ever watch croquet game
that didn't end in a row Say, used
to think I belonged to the scrappiest
family, in Minnesota, for about three
times a day during the croquet sea-
son a young riot would break out in
our front yard, and before 1t was set
tied half our collection Of youngsters
would have to be spanked and put to
bed Being the oldest Of nine and
tho only ono Of the first crop. 1 was
generally too busy washing dishes,
and so on, to really get into the muss
very often.
But later on. as grew. older and
got down to the Junction oftener, 1
found that other folks reacted to
croquet about tho same. noticed
that you didn't have to play with your
brothers or sisters to get scrappy
over the game. Neighbors would Jaw
at each other over the fne points. and
even the Baptist and Methodist min
listers got into q row at = union lawn
festival and didn't speak to each other
for months afterward As I remem-
Der. ono Of EN- claimed he'd gone
through the birdcage wicket fair and