Evening star., 1923-09-17
Washington Sketches
The Var Worker Who Stayed.

She is a new resident. She came
here when Washington didn't even
know itself
Every SONG was war song. Every
uniform was a badge of honor. The
. flag occupied the place in respect
and reverence of citizens which it
should always occupy The town it
self was bustling, hustling, swarm
ing beehive of activity-the heart
of a monster war machine-the con-
troll center of the worlds destiny.
Street car traffic couldn't stand up
under the strain. Experts had to
come here to give skip stops and
other methods of relieving conges-
tion. Fifteenth street above the
Treasury became second Wall
street. f street became a second
Broadway. Profiteers thrived.
This wa= the town that she came
TO- Out from the cornfields of Iowa
and KansaS-from rock-ribbed farms
the country. she and her sisters came,
moved by the impulse that moved
America, to help win the war.
When she arrived here: she passed
through a stage of wonderment at
the city and its work. She stood
aside and gasped at the proportions
and the activities which were caus-
ing the city itself to rub it's head and
wonder where it was. She found
rooms hard to get. Almost every
other person she met was some one
from some other place. Unless she
was lucky, she found no intimate or
immediate contact with the native
The war kept on. She became en-
mesMed in the routine of govern
ment department.
Steadily and slowly came the read-
justment She began. to live her life
in an orderly fashion, Every now
and then she ran down to Quantico
for one of the marine dances. NOW
and again she would entertain at one
of the hutS scattered throughout the
town. She began to make friends.
Then came the fake arTnistice. Wild
iubiIation and public ecstasy. Trucks
flying through the street with people
singing wildly shouting madly. All
the town turned inside Out at me
news of victory for the allies. Girls
on the streets running up to every
uniformed man win free kisses.
Arrived another readjustment. The
armiStice really was signed 1eW
days later. The tow n settled down TO
cleaning UP the details of the war.
The task of ending the war became
as great one from the clerks view
point as that of starting the United
States in the conflict.
saw nothing in reality of Washing
ton. She did not have time to get
inside the heart of this strange city
She did not have the possibilities Tor
meeting real Washingtonians. her
opinion generally was that Washing
ton was a town OF snobs and pront-
cering landlords, Oh cold hearts and
high fences of reserve.
Then the weeding-out process be-
gan Those war workers who could
not stand up under the efficiency de-
manded in normal times-those who
didn't want to stay any longer since
the war was over-that that would
rather go back home-thoSe who had
the wanderlust--moved on.
Then the one that stayed began to
learn Washington. She began to mix
with Washingtonians. She began to
become a Washingtonian.
She found that the average Wash
Ingtonian had a heart, after all. She
even began to have her own heart
affected by some OF them. Ihe
records in Col Krolrs office in the
marriage license bureau will attest
to that.
And washingtonians. on the other
hand, began to like these war
workers who stayed. Washington
began to open her arms to them and
have them pass into the city cor
porate. The assimilation began.
Today the war worker who stayed
is bound by ties of either friendship,
relationship through marriage OF dC-
quaintanceship to Washington and
Neutrality-suspicious.. And, in general.
you'll find that she's a distinct asset
TO the city, bringing here a view
point from another part of the coun-
try, feeding the city's arteries with
new blood stream that makes the city
itself more robust.
And today there is n repeatal of |
what happened after the civil war, |
when folks from other towns came |
here after peace had been declared |
and became genuine, dyed-in-the- |
wool Washington inhabitants.