Evening star., 1932-04-04
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES L. TR4CEWELL.

Coming down town in the morning
on public vehicle is a strange COM
pound of the familiar and the unfa-
miliar.
The familiar is the same route
which one must take as it comes, with
out the possibility of changing it, as
one may do when in a private car.
The unfamiliar sights mostly include
people animals and traffic conditions
ever the same but perpetually new.
The journey is marked in its va
rious stages by houses, apartments
even trees the garden enthusiast VII
discover shrubs and flowers in season
which he eagerly looks for and Is glad
to find in bloom.
Every passenger, however. will make
his own landmarks and will bnd GER
tain high lights as he goes along as
we'll as dull stretches.
Every such route, it would seem, has
its special dull stretch, which seems
to consume as much time as the re-
mainder of the journey, although the
stretch" may be but small portion
of the entire route.
Often these portions are marked by
curves and difficult traffic conditions.
Closely placed lights often serve 10
make a veritable traffic bottle out of
a straightaway, turning it into a tor
tuous passage.
~
Those who wait until the last pos
sible moment to start down town nee
essarily miss something out OF the pub
lie journey.
Rapidly mounting traffic pressure
tends to take the travelling mind on The
iy,fo
way.
More than that, the inner pressure OF
more passengers prevents the contem-
plative rider from being perfectly at
ease
When one is not at ease he Is in
clined to take his mind off the land
scape and put it upon himself. Psy-
biologists will tell him that this Is
mistake, since introSpection IS not SO
good. for many natures, as looking out
ward into the world of facts.
The chief gain to getting an early
start is that it enables one to enjoy
the beginning of the day. rather than
be merely bored or merely g3ssive.
There is a great deal to be seen on
the trip down town. no matter what
section of the city one goes through
and ne is wise who gives himself tne
opportunity to see it without undue
pressure from the outside or inside.
The recognition of landmarkS-one
does not have to go on long Journey
to take part in this simple pleasure.
Never permit humdrum duty, such
as going down town TO work each day,
to become something to be got over,
merely. In other words, do not let
ennui overcome you, SO that you ride
as in sort OF daze.
Thousands of unfortunate people do
this. one can tell it by the glazed look
in their eyes. They are the brothers
and sisters of those countless thousands
who sit stupefied in railroad stations
throughout the land waiting for their
trains.
Yet a station, or depot. whatever one
chooses to call it. is one of the most in
teresting places in the world for the
observation of human types, If one is
interested in human types.
Can it be that these thousands of
waiting people, in waiting rooms the
land around, are not interested in their
fellow human beings?
Poor folk!
Are they so interested in their own
little existences that they cannot for
a half hour watch, with eager, open
eyes. the comedy and drama of the
everyday, passing ceaselessly before
their eyes?
No doubt it is lack of motion on the
part of the typical railroad station
would-be passenger which tends to dull
his eyes and interest at the same time.
If he were moving, all might be diff
fprPnt