Evening star., 1942-05-26

Henri MsLsmors. the Gem Of the
Ocean could be maintained.
A recent order Of the Ofice Of De-
tense Transportation has provided
me with that occasion. We refer
to that o. D. T. order prohibiting
the use Of sightseeing buses for
sightseeing. In the future the
buses will be utilized for more essen
tial work, such as hauling of troops,
workers and materials.
A wise move. but sightseeing must
go on, nevertheless. We are Ma
ton Of sight-seers and to abandon
the habit Of going about, staring at
objects, both animate and inani-
mate, would be to take another step
toward the complete overhauling of
this country's structure. As we see
it. the preservation Of the Constitu-
ton Is no more important than the
preservation Of the nature and
habits Of the people the Constitu-
ton belongs TO. Let Us change too
much and there Is always the
chance that we won't want q Con.
stitution.
But to get back to buses-and the
last one there is rotten egg. If
we have no buses, we must sight-see
without them. We must keep IN
practice 50 that when the war Is
over and the buses are returned by
the Government Gust as hot and
stuffy and uncomfortable as they
were when taken over, trust) the
citizens will be ready to utilize them.
As a starter toward keeping sight
seeing alive, parents should take
their children on conducted tours of
the neighborhood. Not on hap
hazard tours, but on well conducted
ones. 1t would be wise to allow
those who are going on the tours
to vote the night before ON what
part Of the neighborhood and en-
virons they would most like to visit.
Then. by counting the votes Cor the
hands If the visual method Of ballot
ing Is used, or the ayes If the oral
Is employed the tour conductor
could select the section that received
the fewest number of votes. To
make a tour real, to give 1t the
character of honest-to-goodness
ones, the majority Of those who go
on it must be dissatisfied, must
want to be somewhere else. This
makes for that delightful lack of
camaraderie and good temper that
provides tours with their zest and
1ng.
The conductor Of the tour must
realize that he Is the most important
member Of the tour, the big
Cheese" to use phrase the French
50 seldom employ. He will never
be a good guide unless deep In his
heart he believes that he Is q more
impressive figure than any statue
or object he could possibly point
out, and that every person on the
tour counts on him to be as witty
as Robert Benchley.
The conductor of the family tour.
II he cares to be authentic, must
learn to initiate the diction of a
licensed guide, which Is the result
Of years Of boredom, a cleft palate
and faulty acoustics. This isn't as
difncult as 1t sounds. II he hasn't
q voice which is naturally unin-
telligible, he can come close to get
ting the same effect by placing q
handful Of grapes In his mouth
and talking so as not to break a
SINCE one Of them.
The family tour will be made
more realistic If the departure time
is set a full hour before departure
actually is to be made. Tours that
leave on time are as false as a
"Hiya, Butch" from Summer Welles.
If you plan to leave at in the
afternoon, have every one there at
2. 1t is during this hours wait.
with every one stamping up and
down and looking at his watch and
getting hot, that the members of a
conducted tour develop the tiny
frictions and the petty hates that
are a part Of q tour.
One final tip to family tour con-
ductors: Point out three dull places
for every interesting one. This Il
an unwritten law in the sightseeing
business.
distributed BY McNaught Syndicate. Inc.l