Evening star., 1932-10-08

A whif OF SeaShore salt from wei
leaves-it is not an impossibility.
During the recent rainy spell 1t
came to many a pedestrian as ne
| walked along tree-lined streets.
Just how the tang of salt was given
to city leaves it is impossible to say.
Chemistry in very large doses would be
needed to solve such a problem.
The whiff itself, however, was quite
another thing
ANY one with a memory for fra
grances could "get it" without half
trying.
1t was elusive, however.
Only for a few seconds did 1t linger;
then it was blotted out by the sheer
smell of very wet foliage.
Perhaps it was that certain per-
centage Of sodium chloride actually was
OF the precipitation.
Just a whiff, of course-one would
not claim more.
No doubt it came to many a pedes-
trian who kept rather closely in touch
with his seaside memories. Not all
do this. The ocean Is just the ocean
| to them; they have no sentimental re-
gard for it.
To another large class Of human
beings, the sea is as full Of mystery
as the great writer's have insisted it Is.
The romance Of those who go down
in ships" is naturally very near to such
men. AS boys they were forever draw
ing sailboatS when they were supposed
to be doing their geography"
Boats made certain definite impress
sions on their very nerves, in those
days, SO that paper and pencil, instead
of learning, meant ships.
The favorite vessel was the schooner.
And every ship had its bowsprit,
SO that today, when the craft builder
sends up design for a cruiser with
out a bowSprit. the drawing Is sent
back firmly, with the note: Must have
boWSprit."
The smell Of salt in the air. even the
city air. has something soothing about
it. as all things have which brings back
pleasant memories
Mostly water memories are dear.
Especially to the city dweller who no
longer sees the foaming breakers. the
long line Of the horizon, the gulls far
out, the long pennant of steamships
smoke. the occasional rolling of the
doiphinS running down the coast ahead
Of a storm
These memories tend to restore the
days equilibrium, so easily lost In the
city life.
Few people seem to suspect that they
have lost their balance, or that it is
something which may be restored even
more quickly than it is lost
Yet few human beings go through as
much as one day, in this modern world,
without reading something, or hearing
something or seeing something or other
which upsets EN-
One word may do the trick
Then one finds ones self stopping
to wonder, hours later, what is weighing
upon the mind and spirit.
Perhaps it is this queer feeling, as
much as anything else which keeps
men believing in something they call the
human spirit
The mind bears the burden. the
brunt. OF these attacks. but the real
weight goes back to something which
most people instinctively feel is deeper,
even more far away, in sense.
Ones own spirit is often very far
away, indeed. At times it seems an
utter stranger. 1t has withdrawn, and
is looking over the rest Of one with
something amounting to contempt, per-
hapS, or else cool amusement, and
amusement in which there Is not much
sympathy.
This is the way the spirit OF man
feels when the man himself is doing
what he calls feeling ashamed Of him
self" But often enough the load on
the spirit on the mind is not such as
calls for this humiliation. Often it is
hurt, received through a word. maybe.
AS word brought 1t, so word may
take it away, or even less than a word,
a fragrance
Thoughts are less than words, and a
thought may remove the weight Of the
spirit.
Words are Celebrations Of thought.
Even the simplest word is complex. Re
cent dictionary advertisements, show