The Washington times., 1935-03-16

spurs Oh 1GS CAu, CI1Ll1B ueelS'
Miners no longer shot up the
town; stevedores no longer sang,
bronze naked, in the grain sheds.
Nor did shanghaied sailors drop
Imply through the floors Of
waterfront dives into q rocking
boat.
GrapevineS crimsoned in the
valleys Of the Sacramento and
the San Joaquin. Miners shut
fled sadly back to San Francisco
and took regular jobs. The hood
luns stopped stoning the Chinese
laundrymen. The w. c. T. U.
began to make q fuss about our
50 saloons.
Teachings
But 1t was still the West.
There were still broncho o-buStings,
pig-StickingS, Portuguese Holy
Ghost festivals, Mexican shiva'
reeS. And we still had our dis.
tinctly Western way Of settling
things.
Going down to the station to
see my sister, Winnie, off to the
university, saw a mob walk on
a mans face. Nobody did any.
thing about 1t. The men opined
he had it coming to him. What
did he expect, using loaded dice
in q friendly game?
Incidents like that. Nature at
her frankest. All, Of course, YER
boten to Nice Girls. But what
child ever refused a free pass to
anything? Certainly not this one!
Whatever 1t was, I took it all in,
stored 1t away. Learned, uncon.
sciously, how to be brave-or to
poker-face my terrors If I wasn't.
Learned to take pain, loneliness,
disappointment, the sound Of
bullets, the smell Of blood.
Life was teaching me. So was
my father. In spite Of my Nice
Little Girl status, he brought
me up as q boy, by q boys hard
creed. If q boy could stand
things, so could I. If o boy
mustn't whine, tattle or sneak,
neither must I. Girls weren't any
nicer than boys; had no right
to special favorS.
It was q radical creed-against
every tradition. But didn't even
know it was unusual, then. I
accepted it as I accepted every
thing.
Where was I heading? I hadn't
the slightest idea. I was taking
everything in but I hadn't, as yet,
begun to reach out. However, If
I had no practical plan, ] had
many urges.
I "wisht I could be-" an artist
or a missionary: or that I might
die tragically and make all the
Old Meanies sorry: or be Awfully
Rich and Proud, or Awfully Poor
but Brave and Beautiful. Or, best
of all, I longed to be a Very Bad
Woman with Marvellous Red Hair
and Violet Eyes whom Men
Couldn't Resist, like the ladief
in the Duchess" novels.
Always, of course, I wanted :
baby. A little cuddly baby witt
blueberry eyes and a wabbly head
One thing, however, had def
nitely decided upon. I was going
to be a Socialist; in fact, was
already a Socialist. Joking? Not
at all. Children are naturally
Social Democratic, eager to fight
for Causes. It is only the fear
and greed and conceit Of their
stupid elders which divide them
into classes and set them on a
course of cowardly compromises.
Cruelty Wrong
There were plenty of Causes
all around me, despite the seem
ing Joy and glamour Of that place
they'd called "the blessed! Ad-
venture is only the bright foam
above the dark and driving tide
Of human necessity.
Tragedy stalked that rambling,
rutted street. Tragedy thickened
in the outer world, where the
Western workers were beginning
to fight for the right to unionize.
The big railroad strike was on.
I remember seeing my first
Hungry Man. Not a tramp, but
an obviously Nice Man who
stood talking to my father at
the kitchen door. 1 could not
understand what they were say
ing, but I saw anger and pity
flame in my fathers face.
He was a poor man himself.
His fine body, which should have
grown old so Splendidly, was al
ready bent from overwork, broken
by illness. His labored breathing
dragged at every word, but his
eyes were always free and fight
ing.
And now, as he drew the man
into our kitchen, I knew that
something had stirred him to his
hottest rage. The talk went on
while my father Strode in and
out Of the pantry, covering the
table with food. Then presently
the man was eating.
I did not understand the talk.
I had never heard Of Economics,
Capitalism and Rights Of Labor.
But 7 watched with horror while
the Nice Man grabbed the food,
wolfed it down. could under
stand that. had seen a starving
dog wolf food like that. But it
was awful to see a man eating
so. There must be something
cruelty wrong in the world II
Nice Men had to gulp like starv.
ing dogs.