Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-09
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

utter confusion, but oftener' to their
glory. The peasant envied the man OF
f1xed income and when he got there
himself held fast to his own. An in
dependent living was the practical idea.
OF these practical idealists. French
literature Is at one In portrayal OF
peasant character.
History and literature alike prove that
mankind, in fundamentals, Is amazingly
alike the world over. The French
peasant and the French shopkeeper
may be bit more distinct, in their
characteristics, but their likes may be
found In every land under the sun
And one of them everywhere is the re-
spect for property, and the care of it.
not only as matter of personal salts
faction, but as one of the best ways tc
keep up values.
Are Americans less shrewd than
peoples Of other races, or are they
more prodigal, greater seekers after the
easiest ways Of living?
To bring 1t down to the item under
discussion: Why are some Americans
unwilling to keep UP with the Joneses
In regard to lawns, terraces, gardens
house painting, roof upkeep, while only
too willing to enter into competition
with them In regard to automobiles
servants?
It is not because grounds and houses
are not visible that some Americans
seem to have so little regard for them
Every one who passes on the street
those mud holes in the lawn, those shiny
spots on the cutters and downspouts
| where the paint has worn of.
The litter Of paper in the back yard
blown in by every wind, but never
picked up by any hand, shouts to high
Heaven for observance. In the old days
it would have been the duty of some
member Of the family to have gone
around ut least once a day In search
| for just such offenders.
In the old days (are they gone beyond
| recallO, no hostess would have thought
OF permitting dinner guests to walk up
| to the front door through litter of
Autumn leaves. If she could have
found no one to sweep the walk clean,
she would have done 1t herself.
Nor would she have thought IT
those same guests to have stumbled
over bicycles, kiddie cars and roller
skates in the hall.
| X X
Today many do not seem to care
| Perhaps the Indifferent would reply
| that all those concerns we're foolish
even in their day and age, and that
now no one has time to bother about
them, there is so much to see and dc
in the world.
Every generation believes that it is
somehow tremendously different from
the humanity of the past. It Is an
exceptional person who Is able to see
clearly that Julius Caesar was Just as
much alive as Mussolini, that the
''modernity" of the Renaissance was
| Just as modern" as the palpitating
Present the present generation tends
to defy.
The age of Columbus in discovery
Shakespeare in letters, Leonardo in art
was as scintillating as this of Byrd
Kipling, Whistler. In the matter oil
hospitality there has been q slackening
1t would seem, until suspicion has oustec
some Of the finer points Of living.
| Courtesy on the grand scale has
given way to hair-trigger criticism. In
difference having crept into life and
manners, one Of the first things to fee
the effects was the home.
Some people no longer look with
pride on their houses. They are will
ing to confine their competition to au-
tomobiles, clothes. wild parties. They
are too busy keeping up with the
Joneses" to notice that Mr.. and Mrs
Jones. in setting the pace. also keer
home and grounds--inciuding ter
races-in tip-top shape.