The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-05-31


Love behind the door.
THE foregoing poem has had a place in our
scrapbook since the morning it topped the
Line" several years ago. In fact, We might
produce a scrapbook edition of "a Penny
Whistle" with few of the poems missing.
But, Dear Lady. You Must Remember That HE
Doesn't Write for Living.
Dear Mac: Say, old dear, I'm ashamed of
you To think that you would let J. Sig. pay
that dinner check after all he's done for you
Well, all I've got to say is that grateful is
what you is amt! PEGGY.
P s.: As the fappers would say, 1 was
thrilled to the bone" when l found myself in
The Diary of Pale Blue Ass. P.
STILL, if Peggy thinks we owe Sig. some
thing we'll try to repay him by some advertis
ing. He is when he isn't poeting) vice presi-
dent of the Cedar Rapids Life Insurance COM
pany, and if you feel that your W. k. loved
ones need bit more protection we can recon-
mend his policies to the Nth degree.
CHAPTERS FROM THE "REMINISCENCES OF
DUOGENERIAN.
l. Henry L. Mencken.
The writings of Mencken were first brought
to my attention during my junior year in col
lege by Sam W. Tate, a plump and erratic
young man with taste for the more hectic
Wilde and PCema Erotica. Sam was at that
time suffering from aggravated case, so the
other members Of English " thought of
amateur cynicitiS, which manifested itself in
long harangues upon the excellences of Smart
Set, Dresser and Cabell, and upon the desir-
ability of prohibition, the National Security
league the New York Society for the Suppress
sion of Vice and Anthony Comstock subjects
in which most of the class had no interest and
regarding which it entertained no opinions
either pro con. The results of Sans laud-
able missionary enterprise were that English
~ was soon regarded as an excellent place TO
make up lost sleep, Smart Set sales in Craw-
louisville fell off rs per cent and the pro-
fessor. ordinarily the most tolerant man in the
world, was reduced to reading to the class
from the works of Stuart P. Sherman.
-Four years passed, during which time the
mention of either Mencken Nathan brought
nothing to my mind save the exquisite boredom
which | had suffered in their names. Then one
day in railway station, having nothing else
to read purchased Smart Set and was sur
prised to find it excellent magazine. I pur-
chased a second, a third and a fourth as thew
appeared and, far from being disappointed in
any of them, / became more and more i'm
pressed by the abilities of Mencken.
Followed long period of alteration from
distance. Then one day in dining car
found myself opposite one whom l recognized
from photographs to be Mencken himself 7
watched him devour meal that recalled the
gustatory paragraphs of Repetition Generate
ana thought of his TRADES against the eight
eenth amendment as he scowled at a bottle of i
temperance beer. And later l found
him in the smoker reading The Go-Getter, and
learned that ne was a shoe salesman who had |
never heard of his double. -.
Al that time l cherished literary ambitions
ana Inc thought occurred to me that this editor
who was reputeQ to be the friend of the string
cling young author might interest himself in |
my behalf Accordingly 1 addressed a letter |
to him
1t is mark OF the truly great man that he !
is scrupulously careful to answer all letters. !
even the least important promptly Less than
d week AFTER had sent my letter to Mencken
received his reply. Even before I tore omen
me On envelope l recognized its source by the
baltimore postmark The letter follows;
me editors regret that they are unable
10 use the enclosed at the moment Thev read
personally all manuscripts submitted and ~
70 return all that are unavailable within five
Gays. In case of acceptance payment is made
ae once "lthout regard to the date of publ
cAIon. authors who are not already contrib
utors- TO the magazine will perhaps find some
thlng or interest in the notices on tho haob
RED.
REDS letter from Mencken has a STRANGELY
familiar ring. We are wondering where we
nave heard something like it before
Bulletin From Rockville, State of Tntoxication.
lzuma Corr. The August
Friday afternoon resident of IJirs l.
dale while driving along the r. r vaIIar
road near Henry Weidman at rand rata l.
IN an intoxicated state lost control of
ms car ran into Mr.. Weidmans mig
mouse, took one corner of, vent on a few
Feet and plunged into the end of the
barn, knocking hole the size of the
car through the concrete basement and Il
tearing me boards of in the upper part
and demolished the car SO it had tn he i
hauled back to Hillsdale in A trucJx
Strange TO say neither driver nor one
rldlng with him were hurt It PAYS to ii
let booze alone.
d, HAVE you read the latest instaIIment or
Horse on Max? 70 -
Well. read 1t II you like; but for beaven.s
sake don't mention it to us