Evening star., 1924-10-22
THIS AND THAT
BY G.. E. TRACEWELL.

TT IL a common calamity; at some
time we have all been mad" said John
Baptista Mantuanus.
Whether one cares to go that far or
not. sharing even partly In such an
opinion will make him view with true
charity the cases of those strange
characters which every great city
knows-those persons who are Just a
little bit off"
Washington at one time had a
larger share OF them than II pos
sesses today. What has become of
them. in the passage of the years,
who can say?
Two decades ago almost every
neighborhood in the National Capital
had one or more OF these harmless
persons whose actions we're a source
of unending delight to the children,
especially the boys, who persisted in
batting them.
Today the lads are forced to con-
centrate their efforts on the worthy
lamplighter, screaming at him:
"Guiny. Guiny lamplighter! Guiny,
Guiny lamplighter!"
If the Industrious street lamp man
is wise. he pays not the slightest bit
Of attention to the thoughtless in
suits OF the boys, but goes on about
his business with his peculiar half
run, half-walk.
II he Is not so wise-and more often
than not he Is not-he will reply with
imprecatlons in mingled English and
Italian, whereat the boys will scream
out their taunts louder and longer
than ever.
Poor. harmless, seeming ferocious
creatures of our childhood days. For
all the harm we did them, for all the
misery we caused them. forgive US, o
Lord. We did not know any better.
There was Old Booze.
How this colored man came to be
given this name so unanimously by
the boys of an entire neighborhood is
not difficult to figure out
He was a thick-set fellow, black as
coal, with breath that always
smelled Of liquor His business in life
work he had wheelbarrow. rake and
sickle.
1t was the sickle that gave Old
Booze his great charm. Boys, like
men, like a sport best in which there
is bit of danger. That was why Old
Booze easily was the peer Of all his
fellows.
The muttered imprecations Of these
men and women yes, there were
women, too-were very enthralling 10
the boys, but the real spice Of such
batting came when pursuit was
offered.
When Old Booze tore after one with
his whetted sickle cleaning in the
sun, II was almost as good as a cir
Gus and twice as exciting. No boy
expected to get caught, of course
Gee, he would cut your heart out, I'll
bet, if he caught va!
AS far as the memory OF man run
meth. Old Booze never managed to
catch up with a one of his tormenters
AS soon as he hove in sight, trun-
ding his barrow, some boy would
begin to cry:
"Old Booze! Old Booze. Ya-a-a,
Old Booze! Old Booze. Old Booze"
Other boys would take II up. From
up the street, from down the thor
oughfare, across lots-there were lots
of lots in those days!-cries would
arise:
"Old Booze, Old Boo-o-o-ooze!
Ya-a-a -aidy Old Booze"
The elderly colored man who thus
bore a slang designation for intoxi-
eating liquors did his best not to be
annoyed. His poor brain, however
not a trained mind. be it remem-
bered--at last fell before the vocal
onslaughts.
"OId Booze, Old Booze"
Persistently, with maddening regu-
larity, that name rang out. No won
der Old Booze got sore. Did you ever
have child keep repeating a word
or phrase in your hearing until you
thought you would go crazy?
If so you can Sympathize with the
predicament of Booze. bent on cutting
grass and minding his own business
That was one trait even the children
had to admit Old Booze possessed
II you let him alone he would let you
alone.
Boys would gather behind a hedge,