The Topeka state journal., 1922-06-17
ON SECOND THOUGHT
BY JAY e. HOUSE
tFrom Philadelphia Public Ledger.l

A correspondent complains because
the word sweat" was excised from
his communication and ''perspiration''
substituted. We don't like the word.
1t is as offensive to us as ''slob." 1t
isn't permitted in this column, and
there are no exceptions to the rule
Attention has been directed to the
fact that George Creel Hour" set by
the column for June 5. went unob-
served. We think we have a perfectly
satisfa ctory explanation for the delin-
ouency. June came on Monday.
Pay day that week fell on June 6. We
were not, on June 5, in funds suffi-
cient properly to observe the hour
set aside for Mr.. Creel, and so we
postponed 1t. George Creel Hour"
will be celebrated later in the season.
We have not yet selected the month
and date, but it will be on a Wednes-
day.
Other dates on the columns calen-
dar are Babe Ruth Hour on August
q. "Bill Haywood Hour" on Octo-
ber Is and an "Al Jolson Hour" on
December 10.
The Dog Question.
Sir--PIease refer to the news item
from Emporia, Kan, in the Public
Ledger in re the sentim entail mush
ladled by William Allen White. Judg-
ing from the starved appearance of
80 per cent of the NANCY ours in the
United States, it is my opinion having
them shot is an act of kindness. 1t is
my belief that the people listed with
the soup-houses have the greatest
number of dogs. Does w. A. w. get
the degree of "Sap?" H. K. S.
We are glad H. K. S. brought up
AI- ant to n
it. There ought to be somewhere sane
middle ground between the dog haters
and the dog lovers. AS the owner OF
the finest Airedale that ever chased a
motorcar. and as one who stili
mourns the finest bull terrier ever
poisoned by a fiend in human form,
we shall endeavor to do SO.
H. K. S. believes a number of things
that are not true. Ninety per cent of
the dogs in the United States are
neither NANCY nor starved. They are
fat and well kept. They belong to
people who can afford to keep dogs if
they want them. The others belong
to people who probably can't afford
to keep them, but that's their affair.
If man wasn't a dog-or half a dozen
dogs-and can manage to keep them,
who has the authority to say he
mustn't do it?
Mr. Whites tears lie very near the
surface, but so do his genial good
humor, his spirit of heIpfulness and
his keen comprehension of human
nature. AS we read his lucubratioH, it
was not particularly a plea or de-
fense of the dog 1t was rather
keen, mastery, Interpretation of the
heart of boyville, an exercise at which.
with the possible exception of Booth
Harrington, Mr.. White has no superior
in the ranks of the literati. If it was
over the heads of H K. S. and the
other dog haters, that is their mis-
fortune.
But, as we have indicated. there
ought som ewhere to be sane, middle
ground between the dog lovers and
the dog haters. The hatred of the
latter is no more preposterous and
uncalled for than the dog" fiction of
the former, now current in so many
publications. The dog" fictionists
have pretty nearly spoiled dogs for US.
We have reached the point at which
we shy from a dog story as a dog
with his hide full of birdshot shies at
the flash of a gun
do tell u.s. writes F. ]. Walter. of
San Diego, ''if Adelaide really exists,
for she interests us greatly" We are
reluctant to go on record in the mat
ter. It would destroy the element of
speculation concerning her existence
which seems to animate so many peo-
pie So long IS we can keep them
guessing Adelaide is good for a para
graph now and then. No hard-work-
ing columnist wishes to dry up his
material at its source.
However, if Mr.. Walter will go
down town and ask Billy Sterne, Ed
Sample, George White, Harry Timp-
ken, Harry Wright or any one of half
dozen other San Diego citizens we
might mention, he can find out what
he wishes to know. Billy Sterne would
be the best source of information. He
knew Adelaide when she wore her
hair down her back in a braid.
did you" "Southerner" writes to
inquire, read Irwin S. Cobb's story in
the Saturday Evening Post this week?