Evening star., 1942-01-23

Henry MeL~more. here goes:
Do school children still play beam
bag In the classroom at recess on
rainy days, and do youngsters still
put newly pulled-out teeth under
their pillows in the hope that the
good fairy will leave them q nickel
or q dime?
There is nothing more uninterest-
ing than to hear people at winter
resorts tell how the sun affects
their particular skins. Yet they all
do 1t. AS If they were letting you
in on a vital fact, men and women
make it point to tell any one who'll
listen that they get sunburned
quickly, that they don't get sun
burned quickly, that they peel first
before getting q tan, that they bis
ter, that they get brown as Indians
In a week, or that no matter how
much they're out in the sun they
just get red like q lobster and stay
that way.
I do myself. I'm always telling
people that with my redheaded COM
plexion I can never get tanned.
Who cares2
Is 1t just my Imagination or is
it true that the Australian soldiers
get the dirtiest jobs to do in every
war? 1t seems to me that every
time I pick up a paper the Aussies
are being asked to make a counter
offensive in places where the going
Is toughest
Wonder where the swell boys who
made up the Australian Davis Cup
team are today? The last time 7
saw them was at the Davis Cup
challenge round in Philadelphia.
Just before they went out to play
they stood at attention around a
radio In the clubhouse and heard
the King declare war against Ger
many.
Something I haven't seen In a
long time is mo cut-outs allowed"
sign on a highway.
y -
Nothing looks so forlorn as a bird
dog being washed in a washtub.
They shake and they shiver and
droop their heads like that Indian
in "The End Of the Trail"
It's amazing to me that this coun-
try achieves such national unity,
even in time of war. To travel over
its 48 States Is to wonder that the
stickman at Las Vegas crap table
sees eye-to-eye with a Back Bay
Boston dowager. that a Kentucky
mountaineer feels the same these
days as q Philadelphia main line
commuter, that a Texas rancher
buys his Defense bonds In the same
spirit as Vermont storekeeper, that
backwoods Mississippian stands
shoulder to shoulder with New
Workers who never have been far
enough away from Times Square
not to be able to tell the time by the
Paramount Building clock.
Why is 1t that when you are mo-
toring through q strange town and
ask directions from native he auto
matically assumes that you know the
town perfectly and always says, go
right down to Elm street, follow it
along to First street and then turn
of on Ridgewood drive"
When you tell the native that you
are complete stranger and have no
idea where Elp street is, he always
gives you a look as II to say, "You
don't know where Elm street is2
Then you must be crazy"
II there Is anything worse than
trying to dry on q brand-new towel
I don't know what 1t Is. There
should be law requiring towel man
ufacturers to manufacture used
towels, ones that have been washed
q couple'of times.
My cocker spaniel pup, Cindy, has
her picture In the current issue Of
Look magazine. She is standing be-
tween Grantland Rice and me. and
friends who know her ignore us and
point out, why, that's Cindy." For
some reason this pleases me tre-
mendously.
Brunswick stew Is the best eating
in the world, but no one seems to
have a recipe for the stuff. If you
happen to know how to make it,
please communicate with my secre-
tary, Henry McLemore.