Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-17
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRAcEWELL.

Now that the great sneezing season
Is about to open, 1t is really too bad
| that so many people do not know how
to control their sneezes.
It is impossible to believe that men
and women Sneeze openly in public
vehicles because they want to. 1t must
be that they sneeze because they think
they cannot help 1t.
Now, there Is an almost sure way to
keep from sneezing, but 1t would seem
to be unknown to thousands Of persons,
! else We would not witness the spectacle
| OF normal person deliberately sneeZ-
! ing In some one elSe's face
Almost every sneeze can be nipped in
the bud, as 1t were, by placing the
index finger on the upper lip and press
ing firmly Just below the nose.
This procedure will prevent out OF
10 sneezeS. A particularly determined
sneeze will get by, but the majority Of
them will fail Of utterance Just how
this Sneeze check works we don't know,
but suppose 1t Is due to q nerve pressure
of some description.
The big thing is that 1t works. Any
one who doubts 1t can try It out for
himself at the next opportune moment
and what moment is more opportune
than when one is sitting in public
vehicle?
Surely the number OF seeming Doors
in the world could be reduced magi-
cally by this method. The ease with
which some men and women sneeze all
over unknown people is a mystery.
II a man expectorates upon another,
1t is a fighting matter. but any old Tom,
Dick or Harry may sneeze upon a fellow
human being without so much as muir
muring an apology.
The world of street car and bus riders
has been whipped into a cowardly sub
mission In this matter. So many people
have sneezed and sprayed so many bill
lions OF cold, grip and influenza germs
over so many helpless persons that the
bulk Of bus and street car passengers
have come to look upon the annoyance
as q normal part Of things without
which no ride would be complete.
SO thoroughly has this idea taken
hold Of the general public that obServa-
ton not only shows that not one in a
hundred passengers makes any attempt
to check a sneezc. but scarcely one in
q thousand voices any opposition to
being sneezed upon.
Yet q violent paroxysm Of sneezing,
which brings up from hidden chest
regions moist saliva, with attendant
cold germs In most cases. would be re-
garded as most noxious II 1t were not
so common.
If one can imagine q savage who had
never heard a sneeze, he can see a
human being who would be amazed and
no doubt disguised at the sight. But
we who call ourselves civilized have be-
come so accustomed to sneezing that It
has largely lost its unwholesome char
acter-lost. that is. until one stops to
think about it: then 1t Immediately
takes its proper place as q disgusting
habit, whether one Is able to check 1t
or not. Sometimes there Is no stonning
it. Like Summer thunderstorm which
comes up before a city Is aware. deep
seated sneeze will get the best Of an
individual and come ker-chooing forth
before the best intentioned handkerchief
can be placed before the mouth.
Il +
Sneezing, like pairing the finger nails,
is something that ought to be done at
home. Manicuring en- transit has long
been looked upon as a sign Of a person
who has not yet learned the niceties of
life.
Some day, we are convinced, public
sneezing will occupy a similar place in
the public mind. just now the world
is in the free-sneezing era. Later the
race will look back upon this time with
establishment not only that such con-
ditions could have been tolerated, but
more that so many persons seemed TO