Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-12
BY wEARE HoLBRooK.

~ VERY one who has enjoyed the
benefits of compulsory educa-
ton can recall the thrill of
IL anticipation that used to come
with the ides of May. The
calendar was a sort of crystal In which
the ardent gaZer could catch ghmpseS
of the land Of sweet do-nothing Four
teen days re-twelve-ten-a week
and then at last, school was over!
Even in later life the calendar
watching habit persists during the
month of May. But the thrill OF antici-
patton is lacking. Vacations aren't
what they used to be.
To the younger generation vacation
time means no more studying. BOOKS
are closed, rules and regulations are
forgotten and teachers are merely I'M
pleasant memories. But to the older
generation vacation time means exactly
the opposite Books are opened, rules
and regulations are memorized and
teachers are an omnipresent blot on
the landscape.
One of the penalties for being civilized
is everlasting study. Man must spend
the first half of his life learning how
to work when he would rather be
playing, and the last half Of his life
learning how to play when he would
rather be working. And the last half
is usually the hardest, because there
are so many professional helpers eager
to help him.
AS a nation we take our recreations
seriausly. We work harder to amuse
ourselves than any other people In the
world-except possibly the head-hunters
of New Guinea.
You may smile pityingly at the grim
earnestneSs of the savage who thumps
tom-tom and gyrates in an inter-
minable shutting dance. What, you
ask yourself are the mental processes
of human being who can derive pleas
ure from an endlessly repeated series
of motions, motions as futile and mo-
notonous as the pacing of Gagged
lion? Does he really enjoy his imbecile
routine? And when he finally sinks to
the ground exhausted, is he any happier
than he was when he began? To a
citizen of an enlightened republic 1T
all seems pretty silly.
But have you ever watched stout,
niddle-aged party in pluS-fours taking
a lesson from the professional at golf
club? There is earneStneSs at its
grimmest Statisticians have estimated
that if all the energy expended in
practice strokes on golf courses last
year could be harnessed it would pro-
pei cannonball from here to the moon
anu w q AOI hlO4C eOOd'
X X X X
THE middle of May is not bit too
early to begin your vocational
training. If you think you are going
to some quiet Summer resort this
year and lie around doing nothing,
you have another think coming. There's
work to be done, man! You remember
those hearty, healthy, noisy people that
you always meet when you go to the
lakes or to the mountains-the people
who are as brown as berries and hard
as nails and fit as fiddles, and who can
ride horses, sink puts, sail boats, swim
channels. play ukuleles, catch tarpo,
climb trees and call wild flowers by
! their first names.
i, Well. how do you suppose they got
that way? BY taking too much pare
goric and falling out of their peram-
bulators head first? No. indeed. Hard
work did it. They studied to prepare
| themselves for their vacation.
The modern Summer resort has all
the advantages of high-class boarding
school except compulsory chapel. The