Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-03-12

The plain necessity for giving ex-
plicit directions to children Is shown III
the following anecdote:
A small tiger-stripcd kitten, with a
face exactly like that OF a lion cub,
| ramblcd into the back yard.
Its countenance was so leoninc that
we Immediately dubbed 1t Leo.
Leo. however. was afflicted with what
| appeared to be the mango on the top
of its head The dcsirability Of having
| him around was leSsened immensely By
this fact. owing to the proximity Of the
other feline friends Of the household.
Seeing small Jeanne. We offered her
the kitten. and said.
Get your mamma to give you some
vaSelinc ard rub 1t between its ears
Then you will be doing o good deed
| Just like Boy Scout"
Jeanne went away happily, only 20
return in Is minutes with Leo UNI
ano!nted.
Mamma wouldn't let me have any
gasoline" she explained, putting the
kitten down in our back yard again.
Leo. happy in his ignorance Of the
cruel fate he had missed. purred con-
tentedly.
Yet il the child had managed to get
some gas" thus menacing her own
and the kittens health. no one in the
world could have been blamed for the
accident.
The incident shows how careful one
must be. in making statements to other
persons. not alone to children. perhaps.
The trouble comes In the assumption
on the part OF the first party that the
party OF the second part understands
everything that he says, when the plain
fact may be that the latter does not
get 1t" at all
There are so many factors involved
that oral explanations ought to be made
r-tight." II possible. in order to avoid
the slightest chance for a slip-up.
Every one has heard jokes In which
doctor orders such-and-such treatment
for patient, only to have 1t fnisunder-
stood in some simple, laundering
fashion.
Much the same misunderstanding
may occur. however. in any walk OF
life. through an inference on the part
OF one OF the two parties to conversa-
ton.
Recently Washingtonian was having
some work done in his home. He hired
man Of Italian birth to change the
stones In his fireplace. these men being
particularly adept at such work.
Maybe you have watched one Of these
craftsmen place the stones in the outer
wall OF house. He will select a stone.
ut 1t In. stand of and gaze at it. shake
his head. take 1t out, try another one.
Well this particular man signified
that he would return on the morrow to
complete the job but that he would
need half pound Of certain material,
The owner could not understand
what the substance might be. so finally
asked him II he could write the name
Tor him. This the mason did in fine
round hand, and here Is what he
wrote:
Lime block"
This was what It seemed to the
owner, at any rate, and he pronounced
1t So His pronunciation was met with
smiling approval.
SO he started out to hunt for Zine
block"
After trying several firms In vain,
he finally stumbled upon man who
put two and two together.
ON, you want lamp black" said he
\ **
These homely examples show how.
with the best faith In the world. one
may give another an entirely wrong
steer" through failure to make sure
that the other thoroughly understands
everything that is said TO him.
When one understands the huge
compass OF the English language. and
how so many OF It's words sound alike,
and how many idiomatic expressions 1t
uses, 1t Is not to be wondered at that