The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-12-13
ON SECOND THOUGHT
BY JAY =. HOUSE.
(FroR Phiiadslphia Public LedssE.1

At this comparatively early hour
| the day bears the aspect of total
| loss. Only two topics suggest them
selves for discussion. One is the SEN
ator-elect from Montana, who, until
4 he was admonished, calmly smoked
] cigar in the sacred senate chamber.
/ The other is a letter from a reader
in New Jersey who wants us to sug-
gest a book suitable as gift to- a
| middle-aged bachelor who never goes
anywhere and works all the time.
The question is, Can we evolve 3
/ column from these uncorre.ated ana
! insign- ficant incidents? We shall make
an effort to do, so.
| What we should like to know is
whether the senator-elect from Mon
/ tana was embarrassed. Due to the
fact that reporting is not what 1T was
| when we were actively engaged IN
| that field of endeavor, no light Is
thrown on that phase of the matter.
II the senator displayed unconcern..
| that indicates he is sustaining the.
traditions of the great wide-open'
spaces IT, on the. other hand, he
seemed shamed, that, is evidence he
already is succumbing to the yltIatlng
influence of eastern culture.
And that naturally brings US to
discussion of hfe's most embarrassing
moments. Two Of these stand out in
memory One is predicareds son the
occasion of sitting nonchalantly in
theater box one leg crossed Jauntily
over the other, ebetraying to a large
and interested audience a beautiful
yellow garter displayed across the in
step of a nice black shoe. The other
was the time we visited the publication
office of the Youths Companion aHd
tried to talk to one Of the editors.
But Bill Mackey was the most en-
barrassed man We ever knew. Theo-
dore Roosevelt was penetrating the
vast reaches of the west in a SPECIAL
train. He had many guests. The train
was full of statesmen politicians,
newspapermen and journalists. The
focal point was the buffet car. Bill
had not started with the party; he
got on the train at Wan1ego. Now. in
the lodge of. Free and .Openhanded
Hospitality. B II was the presiding Of
ficer. The first thing ne did after
attaining the sanctuary of the buffet
car was to order a round of drinks for
everybody present. Then he tried to
pay for them. and they had to tell him
nobody could pay for anything on a
presid ent's train. Bill shriveled up and
sank thru the floor.
Many years afterward we sat with
bill on the station platform atsCleve-
land, Okla, awaiting a belated train.
The conversation, at first informal.
grew intimate. And Bill confessed
that he still sizzled in the fiery glow
of that unhappy moment. .e
A symposium of life's most en-
barrassing moments doubtless would
be interesting. What was yours?
For a middle-aged bachelor who
never goes anywhere and works all
the time we Aecommend the works of
Gene Stratton Porter. They won t
put any notions in his head. In all
the range of current literature there
are not more than half dozen books !
a middle-aged bachelor can read with /
safety. og |
Hoist by Our Own Petard.
Sri. grieyez that havtngb cbeen |
backed into IA corner thee should
choose no better defense than that of (
exposing thy. teeth and. snar1ing, ST ,
never said it," Thee should avoid
mental states and strive to /
concentrate. Referring to the archives,
thee will find Mistress BelTs last |
hom:ly capped with the inquiry, What |
do you make of this?" And when !
friend Dietitian ventures to make ap-
plesauce of it, thee exhibits temper
and proposes a new candidate for the i
Ananias club. Thee would do wei to
keep in mind the retroactive proper
ties of boomerang. That am an old
friend thee will perceive from my sig
nature. VERITAS.
With our own stuff we have precise
cisely the same trouble we have with
a musical comedy. BY breakfast time
on the morning of its appearance we
have forgotten what it was about. The
processes which enable us to write off
the memory of a musical comedy are
a trifle speed.er. We can forget a
comedy while we are walking
out of the th1ater.
The faculty is, in many respects, a
happy one. We have never written
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TTYz4r% n FS