Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1940-12-25
Palms Made
Too Much
PataVer
Whispering in the Night
Too Much for Damon
BY DAMON RUNYON

N REfOhl lTOill JOHN lylers
the ebon caretaker of the
Hermitage on Hibiscus Island,
down in Dade County, Florida,
states that Sidney the Rat has
been sitting out In the roadway
approaching the premises for
some days eagerly scanning the
passing automobiles. John thinks
Sidney is getting anxious about
us. He knows we are long
overdue for-the- hermiting in
those parts.
John Tyler also says the
mellaleuca trees in the yard are
all a-bloom and he does not
want us to miss that sight. We
suppose we have spelled mella-
leucas wrong again. 1t is either
mellaleucaS or meldlleucaS. we
never can remember which, and
it is not in our dictionary. AS a
matter of fact. we never knew
the trees were mellaleucas or
melalleucas until John kieran,
the sports writer and 'lnforma-
ton Please" fellow who knows
everything in this world. came
along one day and told Us.
And mention of the trees
reminds us that we probably
owe an explanation TO many
inquirers. II seems that the
trees have become a great mys-
terry. especially to visitors 10
Dade County. Florida. We have
been greatly puzzled in the past
by having people ask What
about those trees?" but have
always passed the query off
lightly and without letting them
pursue the theme, figuring it
might be a gag. Certainly we
never associated it with any
real morbid curiosity about the
foliage around the Hermitage
HOWEVER. here Gently
IL Irving Hoffman, The public
relations young man, met us on
Broadway and drew us into a
doorway and dropping his voice
to confidential whisper asked
why we do not have palm trees
around the Hermitage and we
requested Irving to explain his
question. He said he had just
come back from Miami Beach
and had taken a ride on one OF
the sightseeing boats that travel
BiScayne Bay and that on pass
ing Hibiscus Island the an
nouncer had said. rather omi-
nously. through his megaphone:
"0n the left you see the homo
of David Onion. Kindly observe
that there are no palm trees
anywhere on the place"
Irving said the announcer
Just left them with this and
that the passengers seemed
quite startled They kept look
ing back at the Hermitage and
Specializing darkly as to why
David Onion did not have palm
trees. Irving said he found him
self wondering if IL was not a
most suspicious circumstance.
why are there no palm trees
around your place" he de-
manded again, accusingly.
WELL. at first there was
w quite lot of them. Almost
everybody down in Dade County.
Florida. has palm trees, we
suppose it comes under the head
of local color. although fell
low once told US that the palm
tree is not indigenous TO Dade
County. But palm trees are the
most furtive trees in this world.
They whisper against the win
dows in the dead of night like
a bunch of conspirators. They
are always going puZ-puz-puz,
We we're all alone in the
Hermitage one night when we
suddenly became conscious OF
the whispering at the window.
PuZ- pLz.-Me knew il was
the palm trees out there. all
night. just as we knew that
light scratching at the outer
screen door was Sidney the Rat.
But the more we listened 10
those palm trees and the more
we reflected that we were all
alone in the house. the more we
became convinced that the
whispering BODIED no good to US.
1t limited of dastardly deeds in
the black of the night and Of
ghosts walking around in the
gloom outside.
GO WE jumped up and bolted
~ out of the house and tore up
the road and we did not pause
until we reached the bright
refuge of the causeway electric
lights. And the next day we
hunted up Mr.. DOM, the only
man we ever knew who sells
trees by the karat, and told
him to Ilease tear up those
palm trees by the roots and
replace them with noiseless
trees. Mr.. Dom was at first
greatly appalled, at the idea OF
a yard in Dade County. Fla
without palm trees. but when
we explained our reason he was
most sympathetic. He said he
had suffered from palm trees
himself.