Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-14
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES K. TRACEW ELL.

, The windows OF childhood are es-
sentially different from the windows
of maturity In the little Gays OF
every day. when one was only Few leet
high. windows seemed up In the ar,
| irnpassable barriers when one WOULD
willingly be out-of doors. =.
Windows take on the immutabllity OF
! fate itself on a rainy day, When one is
ONLY years old. How the water pourS
across the pane. with crazy drops ooing
slides for life in the most lrreconcllaple
manner! They stop, run, break, WIN
| out rhyme or reason. a.
| Whether windows are more matter
of looking out or looking in Is hard
| to say. Mostly they seem TO be mace
| to look out Of rather than into, although
there are certain times and places
| where the glance from the exterior INTO
the interior is illuminating
Mostly we look out OF windows their
real function Is to afford the eyesight
passageway to the great outdoors. III
NAV be held that this Is more I'M
portant purpose, even, than the ad-
mittance of light and air. Inc ap-
nmrtenances are of integral Importance
with the opening The plan OF a cele-
brated engineer to do away with win
dow ventilation is doomed to failure,
for it overlooks the desire OF man to
look out at what is going on.
Even house cats appreciate windows
for the same reason. Who has not
seen an honest Tom, Smugly seated on
the sill. gravely catching the passing
automobiles and pedestrians? Surely
he enjoys his vantage point. Cats
seem to recognize that window, IKE
a door, really means what 1t says, ana
is not mere trick Of architecture, de-
,Ix, rIn VI
saws TO the cat. Look through me, but
don't try to dash through my crystal
clear pane" And the strange part OF
it is that the cat obeys the mandate OF
the window. How Tom knows that he
cannot push through must remain
mystery. for the glass is clearer than
nothing at all. and less impalpable, so
that no householder could blame the
family pet it, in a moment of forget
fulncss. the creature calmly walked
through a pane
As one grows older, windows take on
more and more Importance, They be-
come old friends beside which one sits
in silent communion with himself or
the great spirits Of the past known in
books
Windows now are not Just things to
be dashed recklesSly up or down, but
quiet places of refuge, safe from the
hurly-burly of the street. where one
may sit at ease, and yet not be entirely
removed from the restless life of the
world of youth and activity.
Windows become watching places,
towers. indeed, from which the mother
looks forth to see IL her little ones
are safe at their play Through these
panes Old Age peers silently at the
stream Of life, with perhaps a bit more
understanding, although no one can be
certain about that much; and thus
enters into what is left Of thoughtleSs
Joy and happiness which can make it
self felt through space and the wall
of house
Windows have had lamps left burning
in them for many years--lampS hope
fully lit for the home coming of some
one dear and gone--some one who
peered out of the home windows for a
last look
Such are windows of sorrow; but
there are sadder windows. even--win-
dows closed and darkened, and from
which eyes look no more. Then the
invisible windows of the spirit are all
that are left, but 1t is the hope of man
kind that beautiful use may be made
of them, and that In the end the
prospect from them shall be no less
sure or wonderful than those known
before