Evening star., 1925-11-21

The Once Club, considered in this
column yesterday, has one serious
flaw. which may be called the inability
OF the average man to accept others
Tor what they are.
Once life would be happier for many
sensitive PEOPLE IL your average per-
son did not resent mans being diff
ferent. Too many members Of the
Office Club-that club which is the
only one thousands ever join-want
their fellows TO be just exactly like
themselves.
This desire for standardized beings
Is the big blot on the average office,
and Is the one that leads to SO much
totally unnecessary Kidding" Joking
and other kinds OF low.grade humor.
1t is not peculiar to American bust
ness.
Guy de Maupassant. that terrible
but great writer, in his story, The
Inheritance" gives picture Of a
certain ONCE In the ministry OF the
marine that has its counterpart every
where.
One by one the clerks are arriving
early. for New Year day. the time
for zeal and promotion" is approach
ing. Old Man Savon. the copying
clerk. is the particular butt Of this
ONCE.
Father Savon, says de Maupassa mt !.
had not stopped working. But for the
last few minutes he had dipped his
pen In the ink several times in sue
cession. and then persistently wiped
1t on the damp sponge. without being
able to trace a single letter
The black liquid ran down the
metal point and fell in round blots on
the paper. The old man. astonished
ana in despair, looked at the dispatch
he was copying, which he would have
to do over again, as he had been
forced TO do so many others in the
last few DAYS. and he said in low :,
sad voice: There's some more adul
terated ink"
A burst OF laughter followed this
exclamation. cacheln uhe order
clerk was shaking the table. Maze
was bent in two as IF he were about
TO enter the chimney backward
Pltolet was stamping. coughing. wav-
ing his right hand around as il j,
were wet and Boissel himself was
choking. although he usually took
things tragically rather than other
wise.
But Old Man Savon $50 de Maupas
END of his coat and said: There is
no cause for laughter. I am Obliged
TO repeat my work two or three
times"
He drew another sheet of paper
from his portfolio. adjusted the car
bon, and began: Monsieur le Minis
tire and dear colleague ." The
pen now held the ink and clearly
traced the letters. The old man took
his pose again and continued copying
The others had not stopped laugh
ing. They were choking This had
been happening for the last six
months. and the old man could never
see the joke that they were plavine
on him.
II consisted in pouring few drops
Of oil on the damp sponge. The steel
was thus covered with greasy LIQUID
and no longer held the ink. then the
old clerk would spend hours in be-
moaning his troubles, using up whole
boxes of pens and bottles OF ink; and
al last he would declare that the office
supplies We're entirely too defective
Then the joking was turned into
regular obseSsion and torture. Gun
powder was mixed In the old man >
snuff. drugs We're poured into the wa
ter of which he took a glass from
time 10 time. and they made him be
lieve that, since the Commune. the
majority of materials in daily use had
been thus adulterated by the social
lists in order to harm the government
and bring about revolution.
AS result, says our author, Father