Evening star., 1928-03-09
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

He was q small, thin little fellow
with startling tie around his neck
and an earnest look In his cool blue
eyes.
At first 1t was the cravat that at.
tracted the attention. It was long ant
wide, Its main pattern being alternate
squares of vivid orange and brightest
blue, but this was not all, for there
were any number OF colors wandering
around in 1t.
On r street, the natural habitat oI
this little man; that tie could be seer
easily block away, in crowd. so !.
was no wonder we were nonplusscd by
1t at close range.
When we had somewhat accustomed
ourSelf to the glare of this masterpiece
liked those cool blue eyes
Earnestness is a tangible good quail
ity In man or beast. Perhaps the grca
appeal Of animals for some OF us /,
their tremendous seriousness
Our caller. we knew at a glance, wa!
Of the dancing type.
That thin. wiry build. those large
deXtrous feet tand one certainly ma,
be handy with his feet. OF course). tha'
slight sway of the shoulder rs HI
walked -- these bespoke the dancin,
man. one of those young fellows some.
where between youth and maturity
whose big interest in life is tripping 4
to the sounds Of jazz music.
X N X II
What wonderful thing it is to have
a sole and compelling interest In life!
Sometimes one, In a philosophical
mood. is inclined to believe that 1t doe:
~ eli Nf
what this interest Is -- within certain
intense enough.
It may be books. or automobiles. OF
dogs. or cats. or music, or aviation. OF
business. or bass drums, or motorcycles
or swimming. or base ball. or etchirgs
or radio, or mathematics, or dane
Just so long rs 1t occupies the center
OF the individual thought. 1t is the one
big topic Of life around which politics
nations. univerSes revolvc.
Sometimes one has To laugh up his
sleeve at the politicians. they arc 50
earnest In their own preoccupation,
while millions Of their fellow citizens
are not caring a hang about them,
whether they are elected or not.
II Is true that these same millions
will go to the polls and vote for one or
the other Of them. but II you want to
bring the keen sparkle of genuine in
tcrest TO those millions of pairs of eyes
you will have to touch upon their own
particular central subject of interest.
This topic, TO our visitor. was dane
ing. He wanted us to go with him
some evening on round of the dance
halls. and write 1t up" He assured us
that We would meet therein whole
new world especially new brand OF
human being. 'sct" OF boys and girls
who went from place to place from
night to night, living their own life,
speaking their own jargoa.
He thought 1t would do us good. and
them good, he went on. If we would
consent to make this personally con-
Quoted tour under his supervision. and
be introduced to the galaxy OF twinkle
toes and nimblc-footcd lads who sling a
mean hoof
Why. we have language all of our
own" he kept on insisting. Nobody
outside would know what we are talk
ing about. Suppose you heard one OF
us saying. That big brute Is flop.
You wouldn't know what that meant"
Sure I would" said we. rather net
tied
Well. you might" he admitted. You
seem to understand a lot OF things.
But mean just average persons"
u
He leaned forward in the attitude n.