Evening star., 1924-08-22
THIS AND THAT
DY Q. T.. rnACEwELI.

painting the tall nag poles on the
plasa at the front door clear back to
the end Of the train sheds
All 10 hustle and hustle in the
station. which the National Capital
Justly claims to be about the finest
railroad depot in the United States.
There may b one larger. but not
any finer or better, everything taken
into consideration.
The station during these vacation
days IL going through q hectic Pc
riod, somewhat similar to that ex-
perienced during the Christmas rush.
or. in moro augmented form, At in
auguation time.
Now its comfortable benches are
filled morning and afternoon with
vacation Foers and persons pouring
into the city to spend their vacation
here. Oh, yes. hundreds do! The
news has spread that Washington is
not as hot az painted. The weather
always moderates here, whereas In
some Of the States 1t remains hot for
weeks on end.
Tho steeplejack adjusts his seat
and tackle, while hve men in Summer
attire group around to give him ad-
vice. Not one of them ever climbed
such a pole, and perhaps not a one
Of them would do 1t on a bet Yet.
strange to say. not a one Of them
hesitates to tell the man who has
made the climb just what he ought
to do.
The steeplejack. 1.-the, muscular.
in his khaki trousers and blue shirt
open at the neck. does not appear to
pay much attention to his advisers.
He tends to business, finally hosting
himself to the peak OF the pole while
the men cape up at him. These
poles 1t always seemed to me. are
out Of harmony with the station and
ought to come down. The view from
the entrance to the stately Capitol
ought not to be broken by either
pole or statue. Perhaps it Is too late
ever to make any change, but I am
not the only one who feels this way.
Red-capped porters hurry around
to earn their living. 1t may not be
generally known that these men re-
ceive practically no wage, the vast
bulk Of their earnings being made
I'D from the tips they receive.
One porter wheels in an old lady
in a chair, and gets her comfortably
seated on a bench. He will come
back later to take her to her train.
Two other porters, keeping watch
on two patrons in a seat, are argu-
ing about the Bible.
II believe dat Cod" begins one.
The other is a doubter. ~ far as
can be learned. He does not believe
in much OF anything. 1t is the old.
old argument, old when the Bible
was written down. Earnestly the
red cap with gold eyeglasses at
tempts to make the other see the
light. Perhaps he is porter by day
and preacher by night.
Children are everywhere In Union
Station.
There is q nice-looking lassie, she
OF the dark bobbed hair. dark skin.
blue dress and hat with red around
the brim. How is 1t that certain
types Of children always wear the
same color combinations? Are they
gifted with intuition, or have they
gifted mothers? Probably the latter.
Anywhere you see child or this
type you find her dressed In dark
blue and red.
The children sprawl over the
peoples laps, make general small
nuisances out Of themselves. They
run here and there. Some Of them
cry. No station would be complete
without plenty Of children.
- y
Tho benches in the large general
public waiting room are perhaps the
most comfortable seats In any depot
in the United States. They invite one
to dreams. They lull to rest. They
comfort the weary. They could be no
softer IL they had cushions, such Is
their general comfort
Large and deep, person OF any
frame or makeup finds them to his
liking, places of refuge for the tired
the waiting, the woman Tar from
home, the man waiting to go home.
the child. even the invalid.
1t would take a poet to sing the
worth of these benches. Any one.
however, may enjoy their comfort.
in and year out. They are clean and
well kept, too, as Is the station in
general.
There is no sort Of man. woman Or
child who has not. at one time or
other, sat on these benches. See yon-
der little fellow blue -shirted, deeply
engrossed in his book, his large. black
handbag Dy MS Sloe.
See a man, his elbows on his knees.
his head sunk on his hands. He might
serve as q model for 4 statue of De-
lection.
There IL tho woman the porter just
wheeled in. She seems we'll and
happy. comfortable in her bench.
r y
This Is . typical Union Station
group. this trio, with their suit cases,
bags and umbrellas, taking up al
most an entire bench.
A gray-haired woman is on the end.
In the center sits q young woman.
slender, bobbed hair, wearing bob
bed hosies" BY her side Is young
man. He must be her fellow"
They are talking about-well, you
never would guess in the world!
Nothing more or less than chiggers.
Evidently one of the trio has fallen
afoul of some of the pesky critters.
''They tell you not to scratch, but
I don't see how in the world any one
could help it," says the older woman,
who must be the mother Of the girl.
An older man and woman whose
age is between that of the girl and
gray-haired woman come up. They
sit down, taking up the remainder OF
the bench. They belong to the other
three. Now we have to revise our
whole mapping OF the group. ihiS
new man is father, the fellow Is
brother, and-but what's the use?
Together they represent what each
similar group here represents-an
American family. Just an average
family, with its ambitions, its fears,
its ideals. here to Ego away for the
Summer"
Here families are no less families
because they are in public. They are
out of their homes for the moment,
but they have brought with them
something of what they leave behind.
Behind this family, dim, shadowy,