Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1923-11-01

God knew what. Their ego had
been slapped in the face and com
pressed into a mould. they were
subconsciously trying to rebuild it
to its original proportions by feel
ing older than their fathers and
showeFing their awful contempt
upon those ancient and desplesbie
loadstones, loyalty and patriot.
ism" Writers who had remained
safely at home had taken the cue
and become mildly pscifist. Il
sounded intellectual and it certain
ly was the fashion
Clayering, whose ancestors had
fought in every var in American
history, had enlisted in 1917 with
neither sentimentalism. enthusi-
asm, nor resentment 1t was idle
to vent ones wrath and contempt
upon statesmen who could not set
tie their quarrels with their brains,
for the centuries that stood be-
tween the present and utter bar
barism were too few to have ac-
complished more than the initial
stages OF a true civilization. No
doubt a thousand years hence
these stages would appear as rudi-
mentary as the age Of the Neander-
thals had seemed to the twentieth
century. And as man made prog
ress so did he rarely outstrip it.
So far he had done less for him
self than for what passed for prog
Tess and the higher civilization.
Naturally enough. when the Frank
enstein monster heayed itself erect
and began to run amok with seven.
leagued boots, all the pigmies
could do was to revert hysterically
to Neanderthal methods and use
the limited amount of brains the
intervening centuries had given
them, to scheme for victory. A
thousand years hence the Franken-
stein might be buried and mans
brain gigantic Then and then
only would civilization be perfect
ed. and the sayagery and asininity
OF war blot on the history of his
race to which no man cared to re-
fer. But that was q long way off
When a mans country was in dan
ger there was nothing 10 do bu+
fight Noblesse oblige. And 6ght
without growing and whining
Clarering had liked army disci-
pine, sitting in filthy trenches.
wounds, hospitals. and killing his
fellow men as little as any decent
man; but what had these surly
grumblers expected? To fsh,
when they fell Ike it. sleep IN
feather beds and shoot at targets?
Ddsillusionoent, Patriotism mar
dered by Truth! One woau
think tRry were fighting the fret
war in history.
It was not tho war thoy took So
~iously, but themselves
Like other mon of his closs 4pf
traditions, Clavering had emerged
from the war hoping il would BE-
the last Of his time. but with his
ego unbruised his point of view Of
life in general undistortod and a
quick Punishment Of hide aus
memories (EIis chief surviving
memory was hideous boredoml
One more war had gone into hi9-
tory That he had taken sn in
finitesimal part in 1t instead Of
reading an account Of it hY some
accomplished historian was merely
the accident OF his years As far
as he could see he was precisely
the man he was before he was sent
to France, and he had only unmiti-
gated contempt for these war re
actions in men sound in limb 7nd
with no arrangement OF the duct
less glands
As for the women. when they
began to talk their intellectual
pacificism, he told. them that
their new doctrine Of nonresist
snce became them i'll. but as oven
the most advanced were still WON.
en-, consistency was not to bo ex-
pccted--nor desired. Their pa
cifcism. however. when not mere
affectation -servility to the fash
ion of the moment-was due to an
obscure fear Of seeing the world
depopulated of men, or of repress-
ed religious instinct. or apology
for being females and unable to
fight He was extremely rude.
And now this internal woman
had completely thrown him off his
balance He could think Of moth.
ing else. His work had been de-
plorable-~the last week at all
events-and although month
since nothing would have given
him more exquisite satisfaction
than to write a paper on the au-
! thentic drama, he would now be
/ quite Indifferent il censorship had
closed every theatre on Broadway
: Such an ass, such a cursed ass had