Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-25
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEEELL.

the interaction of the two sorts. alb
surdly disproportioned, comes what
the world sets its heart on.
X 4 X
! Take radio. for instance
It is an astonishing thing, when you
come to think of it. that so many
millions of persons have followed the
leader in installing receiving sets in
! their homes
You might think offhand that some
one would have the courage TO say to
| his friends, No. 1 don't want radio
| for every time l hear one it is whang-
ing away on some absurd so-called
popular song 1 could stand them
playing 1t, perhaps, but when the tenor
| insists on singing the chorus 1t is toe
much for me-
For me!
A mawkish, slushy ballad. with silly
words, might not be too much for you
but 1t might be for me. 1 might not
care for it. I might rather prefer to
hear Kreisler play his violin once a
year than listen to the Jazz orchestraS
forever
Take the theater.
The drama is old, and one would
speak against 1t in vain, so no one
would think Of speaking against it, OF
ever. who do not go to plays, not be-
cause they do not respect the art. but
because they would rather do something
else. or have found the entertainment
to pail upon them.
1t will be seen that having and doing
are the two essentials in which one who
pines to be intensely individualistic may
satisfy himself II should be stated. in
passing, that such individualism Is a
failure If it comes about through much
taking thought. 1t can be a success
only when the individual comes to 1t
through honest dislike of the ways OF
stance, at the ball park recently and
heard the crowd booing Goose" Cos
lin for his failure to hit as well this
year as last, when he led the league
Such unsportsmanlike conduct on the
part Of so many of the fans" may
have disguised him. as 1t did hundreds
who remembered He felt an inclina-
ton to turn away from being in crowds
where fairness and common sense could
be so easily overlooked, and where the
worst traits Of human beings come to
the surface.
Such an individualist will feel in
clined to pass up ball games. where
such things can happen. He will be
by keeping out of all crowds. He will
find himself passing up the best SELL
ers" among books and looking for the
less favorably received volumes. Some
times he will overlook a genuine fine
work, but often enough he will discover
a great book before the mob is told
about 1t.
He will look for the best ways Of &C
ton In all lines of activity, and thus
have a warm spot in his heart and
mind for the unorthodox, the different
thing, the individualistic. Such line
of action and liking may lead him into
fads, but il his judgments are halfway
true they will lead him out Of them be-
fore long.
Such q man must expect to be called
eccentric. and to be branded everything
from q socialist, no longer the term OF
reproach it once was, to bolshevik. He
knows better, Of course. He Is no crank,
but simply one who wants to satisfy
his own ideals as to distinction, the
one constant ideal of every human be-
ing. II he can be distinguished in no
other way. he will be so by not doing
and thinking and saying what every
one else does and thinks and says.
Through a negative virtue he hopes to
arrive at positive results.