Evening star., 1924-10-18
THIS AND THAT
BY c. E. TRACEWELL.

| abstracted eye. those neat gold eye
| glasses-all these can mean but one
| thing: Tho man works in the Bureau
| OF Chemistry, or some similar Office.
| There Is no mIstaking the type. II
you were to walk up to him. and
demand to know his business, he
would tell you, II am employed in
| the Bureau of Chemistry. sir" But
| why trouble him? He has science
written all over him.
His neat gray suit is the color and
cut worn by successful men who
have made their mark in life and are
content to let the young men try out
| the latest cuts and drapes Of coats
and trousers.
Clsshes are for him an adjunct Of
living, not a real part of life. His
:rue life he lives in his mind where
| there are neither trousers nor press
ing t7ousers. or coats or overcoats, or
ANY of the other necessary things of
the physical world.
The life of the mind, after all IL
said and done, Is perhaps the best
life there is. in that IL possesses
pleasures and rewards not known to
the physical man, with a freedom
from damage unknown to other
forms of life.
While there are unfortunates in
whom the mind is deranged, the great
| majority of men go through life with
a brain that never goes back on them,
within the limits of its Inherited ca
pacity. The brain takes no colds, has
no rheumatism, scarcely ever gets
tired. except as a reflex action from
the body. 1t is about the one best
friend a man has.
Our scientist, beard of scientific
cut, eye glasses of cleaning gold, his
hah IN n
them, comes bearing a tray Of ONE
let as If he were walking on eggs.
No wonder! He has been walking
on eggs all his life. trying to bring
up his family on the salary meted
out to him by Uncle Sam.
r X
Here is a young man, a young man
of the usual type. Does that mean
anything to you? Does it bring up
a picture of the average young man?
He might be a clerk or a stenog-
rapher or a bank clerk or a bonds
salesman or any one of a hundred
different occupations There are at
least SO other young men in this
restaurant who look just like him.
He is we'll built, well dressed. well
groomed-but he has no distinction.
When he enters the gathering does
not sit up and say: Who is this?'
He does not attract attention be-
cause Of excessive grooming or be-
cause of the lack of it. Maybe he
has reached that happy golden mean
of which the philosophers wrote.
Maybe be has--but it would be better
for him if he could attract attention
some way or other.
There is a man over there at that
table who is a dead ringer for Charles
W. Bryan, Democratic candidate for
Vice President. He has bristling
white mustache, staring eyes. clean
cut appearance.
His mustache wriggles furiously
as he eats. 'Well-well-let US go
let US CO." he says, at last The
words remind one of a radio message
sent out from the Navy Department.:
Navy Department-Navy Depart
ment-take this-take this-l35-
135-uniforIns-unform etc.
A snappy girl enters, one OF the
few in this place. AS if she had
the heads of all the men on wires.
her entrance snaps forward their
eyes. So 1t was when julius Caesar
made one of his triumphal entries
into Rome. He kept turning around
in his chariot to look at a black
eyed Roman maiden in the crowd.
'Ah. ha! Yon damsel hath the great
Caesar by the neck" admonished a
friend.
Here is a broad, red-faced public
chauffeur. consuming an Irish stew.
Here is a Government clerk, eating
apple pie with ice cream upon it. His
proud boast is that he has eaten this
very lunch for 80 years.
Slides now down the aisle the
"wipe-up man." short. thin. old.
whose duty it is to take up the used
dishes and give the white-topped
tables a cleansing swipe with his
rag. Like all men who have a place
in the world, he seems happy at his
job.
Let our last look be at this very
pleasant trio, this countryman, his
wife and little girl. The child has
flaming red ribbon on her hair.
the mother is drab and friendly in
brown, the man is husky, hearty,
laughing all over his face.