Evening star., 1934-07-22

little cat in the adage who few backward be-
cause she wanted to look at king, We are will
ing to let H. G. Wells worry about the future.
In his later sos man can no longer con-
vince himself that he belongs to the younger
generation. He may still be able to run upstairs
two steps at time without painting like bull
pup. His doctor may assure him that he is as
sound as nut-without specifying what kind
of nut. But he is no flaming youth, and he
knows it.
At the same time he refuses to admit that he
is typical of the older generation. Though off
with the new, he is not yet with the old.
Hence he may be said to belong to the lost
generation" which is neither here nor there.
The members of the lost generation are mel
Iowy reminiscent just They look back
with tolerant amusement at the foibles of their
salad days-and what, after all is more refresh-
ing than nice fresh foible with French dress
ing?
BEFORE reading some OF the recent books
= Of by and for the lost generation, had
never really appreciated the glamour of the
immediate past. The other day when over
heard some STRIPPING in telephone booth say,
~Aw come on and go to the ball game, honey.
1t may be your last chance to see Babe Ruth,
he's getting pretty old'-it saddened me to
reflect that the Babe was only two years my
sweet young thing asked me in all seriousness
if l had been with Dewey at Manila. And
when Boy Scout rose to give me his seat IN
the subway the act seemed symbolic sort OF
coming of -old-age ceremony. In spirit / was
ready for the lethal chamber.
But since identifying myself with the lost
generation have taken a new lease on life
with six months renewal clause. Like Evelyn
Nesbit Thaw, I feel that represent an era
The young whppersnappers and fibbertigibbets
of today NAV have their knee action wheels,
their Napoleon brandy and their working
agreements with the Government. But, by
gad, sir-I have my memories!
can remember the time when it was as
much as your life was worth to take a drink.
In the early days of prohibition the pioneers
led a precarious hip-to- mouth existence which
seems unbelievable today With oases few and
far between, each person carried supply OF
rations with him, like st. Bernard IN the
Alps In fact, I knew one poor fellow VINO,
his mind unbalanced by prolonged hardships.
persuaded himself that he actually was st.
Bernard. Whenever he and the moon hap
pened to be full at the same time he would
sit in the back yard and howl all night.
With each of us providing his own sus-
tenance and shifting for himself, we developed
a spirit of sturdy independence which is sell
dom found nowadays. No venerable Vintages
from overseas titillated our tonsils. Often we
lacked even the beer necessities of life. Our
only luxuries were gin and jtters; our only
cup bearers, Hebe and Jebe.
A That survivors of the great drought of
Wv 1920-33 can even forget the taste Of
gin, warmed to body temperature in pocket
flask and slipped surreptitiously from the old
white china tumbler in the bath room? That
tumbler impaired to the beverage a peculiar
pungent favor, a blend of tooth paste and
ia which he GODcafa0
today.
At that time the Federal Government still
believed, with Tennyson, that there lies more
faith in honest drought believe me, than in
half the creedS" The bard as usual, was
wrong. When dining in public kept
bottles hidden under the table. Some of us
even kept ourselves hidden under the table
This may have been contrary to all rules of
social decorum, but we were rough and
ready crowd. We burned our bridges at both
eEds and never counted our checks before they
were snatched. Many a night I have slept
under the open sky with only curbstone for
a pillow, my faithful pink elephant tethered
to nearby lamp post and the pale moon cir
cling overhead
The young people of today don't appreciate
their advantages. No jobs, no investments to
worry about. yachts, racing stables or
country estates to add 10 their responsible
ties-what an idyllic existencel In nv day
you wouldn't have found 400 600 people with
leisure enough to read Anthony Adverse"
We we're too busy buying stocks on margin, in
creaslng production, forming holding CON-
panies, closing banks and settling the country
so that the younger generation might enjoy its
present idleneSS
But for US this years college graduate would
be toiling at an executives desk now. instead of
staying at home and helping the mater dry the
dishes, We even did our best TO promote an
other war, that the men who were too young
TO take part in the last one might have a
glimpse of military glamour. And what thanks
did get? They simply informed us that we
AZ cfv nld hat