Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-08

The fellow does, In fact consider for
moment the FEASIBILITY OF getting up
and going out on that same sleeping
porch TO see If the trees actually are
making rs great q how-de-do with the
wind as they sound.
There seems to be little plausibility in
the idea, after all. The wind win blow,
no matter how much he looks at 1t, and
the trees will bend and sway, and rustic,
and do all that sort Of thing, just as
trees have insisted on doing these mil
lions of years.
No, he will stay in bed, with the light
burning at the head. and read again
Sinclair Lewis Rabbit" which after
all these years has earned for its au-
thor the Nobel prize in literature.
Good boyl
The suburbanite is as proud Of that
award, almost, as If he had written
going around ever since 1922, boring
his friends with his belief that Bah
bitt" was the great American novel, y
II there ever was to be such thing?
Yes, he had never wavered in his al
legiance. The advent Of "ArrowSmtth"
and of Elmer Gantry" left him un.
moved. 'Babbitt," he said, was Sim
clair Lewis greatest story.
Well, they think so over in Europe,
too. Surely, there is no mystery about
it. Rabbit" is Zolaesque, foreign In
mood and conception, although treating
of the American scene. Those who
hand out the Nobel prize in literature
would have given it to Emile lola for
his great "L'AsSommoir," and possibly
for his Mana" or "Germinal." Bah
bitt" is their successor.
Nature asserts herself at this time OF
the year in other ways, too. Tne
sparkle she puts into the air she faln
would put into the blood of human
beings by causing them to extend their
rusty legs in the healthful exercise OF
walking :,
A country road, even a modern, well
paved country road, is the best place
for real walking. Fast-running motor
cars cannot wholly spoil 1t. One merely
steps well over to one side and hopes
that the driver will have pity. A hui
man being is so small and soft, after
all and an automobile is so hard ana
fast, as 1t were.
Here one comes on q smash-up at
the corner. It is all over now, but the
participants are standing, as they al
ways do stand, in groups, looking IN
tently at their machines and at eacn
other. And, as usual, several OF the
participants are very quiet, while one
does all the talking.
It is interesting to speculate on this
accident, which, let 1t be stated again,
was quite static by the time OF the ar
rival of the pedestrian. The big truck
is on the road, the sedan Is up against
the telephone post. The cars right
fender and hood are much the worse
for sudden wear and tear.
Did the truck and the car come to
the same point about the same time,
and did the car, in an effort to avoid
butting into the side Of truck, veer to
the left and strike the pole? Every one
knows that the road is too narrow. and
every one knows that most drivers on
It 60 too fast Why then, do not all
drivers approaching it from side streets
come to an absolute halt, as the signs
demand?
It is an academic question, Of course;
the happy pedestrian leaves it to the
participants and goes on along the
road, turning the bend, doing his best
to please Nature by flexing the muscles
In his legs at the rate of some 12S
hexes per minute.