Evening star., 1942-03-20

Asnr, MeLeners. bands and the
singers, and the millions Of whts.
tiers and hummers In our popula-
ton, and We can really wear out
tune In record time.
Washington Is . terrificaIy busy
place right now. Not only Is 1t the
Capital of this Nation but the cap
ital Of the world. Yet can per.
sonally vouch for the fact that no
one here is too busy to take time
off from any enterprise to see to
it that Deep in the Heart Of Tex
as" gets the proper amount OF
hand -clapping in the proper places.
The hotel in which I am staying
houses more distinguished political
figures, more business bigwigs, more
foreign dignitaries, than any single
building in town. You can't cross
the lobby, get lemonade IN the
cocktail lounge. ride the elevators.
or stroll the corridors without
humping into gentlemen whose pic
lures are likely to be On Times cover
next week.
And all Of them, one way Or IN.
other, are deep In the heart OF
Texas. Some in tune. Some off tune.
Some sing it with q New England
accent. Others whistle 1t In foreign
languages. Night and day you can
hear it coming over radios in the
rooms and from the orchestras In
the hotel public rooms. A good
share Of our war effort is mixture
of tanks, sage in bloom, bombers.
like perfume, Garand rifles, stars are
bright, lease-lend. and the boy I
love.
Another alarming aspect Of what
this Nation does to tune when 1t
takes a liking to 1t, is that those OF
our best minds who aren't deep In
the heart of Texas are spending
much Of their time recalling what
their mammas done told EN- when
they were in knee pants.
This is a result OF the Blues In
the Night" epidemic that Is running
wild.
No matter how lightly you hold
American statesmen, 1t still does
something to citizen to turn . cor
ner In q hotel corridor and como
face to face with q distinguished
public figure. wearing that piped
vest business and pince-nez on
black ribbon, who Is briskly singing:
From Natchez to Mobile, from
Memphis to st. Joe. wherever the
four winds blow" II been In some
big towns, an heard me some big
talk, but there is one thing know
a woman's q two-faoe, . worrisoms
thing
This happened to me only yes
terday. At first was shocked. With
the Japs unchecked In the Pacific
it came as q blow to find one Of our
pillars Of Government fretttng
about . woman being . vorrisoms
object, and Dragging about his trav-
els to some Of the bigger towns In
the Midwest.
Then all Of . sudden I was CRATE.
full to the Senator. Just a minute be.
fore I was puzzling just how tho
song went-whether 1t was from
Natchez to Mobile or from Mobile
to Natchez, and, naturally. I accepted
the version Of a man American cit
liens had elected to high ONCE.
A man is at the mercy Of a song
In q hotel. At home he can turn
of the radio If he gets tired Of
worrying about the welfare Of The
Bluebirds Over the Cliffs Of Dover"
He can let the children have 1t over
tho head with the record Of Chat
tanooga Choo-Choo" when he gets
tlred OF tnat particular Train r1oe.
He can tear out Of the front door
when his wife accompanies herself
on the piano and tries for the 5oth
time to mutter those words In the
middle Of Rose ODay."
But in q hotel-well, thereu al.
ways be bluebirds over Rose ODay,
and it's no fun to be deep In the
heart Of q Chattanooga choo-choo.
II you don't believe 1t. have proof
Of all this.
My mamma done tol' me, when
was In the Mayflower.
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