The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1922-11-30
SCRIBES AND
PHARISEES
Observation-Disclosures

WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE


osPTrtshL ~. b. tas sse@iiiAn C
~ YRS isa little iosn 10 thar part
A o. the country called the He-t
~ b. those who live east u The
AIIeEhanies. ahd referred 70 lovingly
a. back East b. those Who dwell
vest " the Rockies Il il a country
town shere. e. the song goes. you
know everybody and they al know
you and the country newspaper once
Il the social clearing house
In our little newspaper once We are
all reporters. and Ne know many inti'
mate things about people that se 90
not print
A. the merest Incident Of the daily
grind. Il came 10 the Office that the
bank cashier. whose retirement was
announced with half q column Of r..
gret. was caught 500 short. sitter
% years of faithful service. and that
bis wife sold the homestead 90 make
his shortage good
Though our loathed but esteemed
contemporary. tho Statesman. speaks
OF our town as "ihis city. aud calls
the marshal "chlef u police" We are
none the less a country town Like
hundreds Of It's kind. our little daily
newspaper Is equipped with typeset'
ting machines and is printed from
web perfectiug press, yet Il Is only a
country newspaper, and knowing this,
We refuse TO put on city airs. OF
course. we print the afternoon Associ-
hted Press report on the first page,
under formal heads and with some
pretense ~ dignity but that first page
II the parlor Of the paper, as Il is OF
most Of rs contemporaries, and In the
other pages they and We go around in
our shirt sleeves, calling people by
their first names teasing the boys and
girls goodnaturedly tickling the
pompous members OF the village with
straws from time TO time. and letting
out the family secrets Of the commu-
nifty without much regartfor the feel
ings Of the superclllous
Nine or ten thousand people in our
town 20 10 bed on this kind Of mental
pabulum. as DO country town dwellers
all over the United Sthtes aud al
though we DO not claim that N Is help
ful, we do contend that Il does not
hurt them. Certainly By poking mild
fun al the shams the town pharisees
I'VE make IL more difficult 10 main
tain the class lines which the pre-
tenders would establish Possibly by
printing the news % everything that
happens. suppressluE nothing ION ac-
count Of the responsibility Of the par
ties concerned we muy prevent some
evii-doers from going on with their
plans. but this is mere conjecture, and
we do not set ii down 60 our credit
What We maintain Is that 10 printing
our little country dailies. we, the
scrlbes. from one end Of the world to
the other, get more than our share Of
Fun out ~ life as we 81 along and
pass as much 81 Il On 70 our neIghbors
as We can spare
Because We live IN country towns,
where the only car gongs we hear are
on the bakers wagon. and where the
horses lu the Gre department work on
the streets. is no reason why city
jewellers should assume that We are
natives. We have no dialect worth
recording save that some OF Us west
erners burr our RS a little or drop
an occasional FINAL e. But you viii
ind that al the things advertised In
the backs ~ the magazines are IN our
houses. and that the young men In our
towns walking home at midnight with
their coats over their arms, whistle
the same popular airs that iovelorn
boys are whistllng Ia New York, Port
land San Francisco or New Orleans
that same evening our girls are those
pretty reliant. well dressed young
women whom you see AZ the summer
resorts from Coronado beach TO Buz-
yards bay Iii the fall and winter
these girls On the colleges ~ the East
and the state universities Of the West.
We take all The beautiful garden
magazines. ana our terra cotta works
are turning or crrdliable vases
which we pronounce VALVES YOU may
BE- sure-for formal gardens And
though SIC men for tho most pari run
our own laanmowers. end personally
look after ne work II the college boy
who takes care of the horse and the
COW for bis room. s,lli There are q few
az us proud and haa-Ay creatures
who have automobiles Al tie flower
parade Boz our own inIs tosn lost
October there we're rem automobiles
81 Ilae dese3 Uith paper flower. and
laden win pretty girls in lawns and
dimit.es ur1 HucHs-thaueh as s mat
Ter a. fact most o. tie Uuans we're
oniy InNa head" and our gnrtic-
ulur little country paner printed an
item o. rhe Fea ,hat tle real social
Ine 70 cleavage Do the town LIS mt
between he lass the Dew.
ots 20 hand painted china hH he
tween the re aotnty aho wear -gn-'
zine linen md -he base limitations who