The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1942-07-23
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NEW YORK
bY z CALLAHAN

at'on oat is rather a key SPOT
,or a concentrated scrap material
drive. In front OF theaters ami
apartment houses, great bins bave
pee placed and people are rradu-
ally filling them with stuff. How
ever. there is one big source of ma
teriai here which l think would
yieid scrap on an even greater
scale. All over town there orc
empty buildings standing bleak and
useless in their drab ugliness. Old
apartments. factories and stores
are literally rotting away. their
windows boarded up and with an
obvious appearance Of never being
lit for use again. Why couldn't
these unsightly buildings be torn
down and their materials be utiliz-
ed for the wal effort? No doubt
within their structures are immense
amount of steel fittings, rubber at
tachments. IRON fixtures and gadg-
cts O fin and lead. This situation
doubles applies in some degree to
every ether city and town in the
country and besides furnishing a
large amount of badly needed ma
terial, the demolition of these old
derelict buildings would greatly
improve the appearance of their
communities.
For every concerted movement,
It seems there is a slogan. In fact
we are in an epidemic of catch
phrases and epigrams, yet most Of
them are not remembered for very
long. The other day ! ran across a
literary gem on the front page Of
a weekly newspaper, which sticks
in the mind and is apt to remain
there for some time to come. 1t is
this: To-day well lived makes ev-
cry yesterday a dream of happi-
ness, every tomorrow a vision Of
hope"
Up to the ticket window of a de-
rot in a suburban town nearby
walked a diminutive pickaninny
and from his sweaty small hand
plunked down three pennies. The
ticket agent looked obviously at the
coins,then at the child in some con-
~sternatoin. Il wants a can Of white
shoe blackin'", seriously said the
young one. The ticket agent looked
patiently at his would-be customer,
with a strong impulse to bark out
at him; then he thought better.
Quietly he asked who had sem for
the polish. "That man over at the
ice house," came the very sincere
reply. "Well, you 60 bac's and tell
him that we're fresh ou- and may
have a shipment in later on the
agent grimly replied. Solemnly the
pickaninny nodded and then trudg-
ed away.
Coming into the city on a train,
/ CHANGED to sit beside a lady who
told me an interesting thing. She
Of her way to a national de-
Tense plant to get a job so that she
could send her husband to Warm
Springs, Ca, to be treated for in
fantile paralysis. His age is only "a
and he contracted the dread disease
two years ago while working at his
trade of making skis up in Ver-
mont. His wife ~fervently stated that
she wanted to get a job to pay his
way at Warm Springs not only be-
cause she felt that this was what ne
reeded but, even though their
funds had been all used up nov by
doctor bills and living expenses,
she thought that anyone as young
as he and so stricken should have
nothing but the best. How sad, l
thought, that this young man had
to endure such misfortune so early
in life; then I reflected, how for
tunate he was in having such a
brave and devoted wife who
thought of him first and was now
going out to show it.
Mayor La Guardia is some boy.
If he isn't engaged in some nation
al defense argument, he is pulling
off some circus-like stunt or bawl-
ing somebody out in a meeting. Re-
CARELESS of what people think Of
him though, everyone admits that
ne is colorful. About the time he
seems to have settled down and
you are only normally aware that
New York has a mayor somewhere
or somehow, he cuts loose with a
startling prank that makes choice
copy for newspapers and gossip for
the citizens. Like Napoleon, ne is
a small mar in size but he can cut
more Of a swath in the public eye
than the most popular heavyweight
boxing champion we have ever had.
This week he took time out from
municipal affairs to catch up on
his typical closing of a railroad
the old End Avenue Elevated. At
the back end of one of the old
trains, he rode and waved, chatting
with tenement jewellers and WISE
cracking with newspaper reporters.
Amusing to me is the sign which
plasters most of the city railroads.
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