Evening star., 1942-08-12


for misuse of the
Scent stamp. I;
The general
- trend Of the let
nsnr, MeLsnsrs. ters was this:
That I was . mentally twisted
fellow who took his meals at Belle
vue, and, who, because Of some NAL.
formation Of the noggin, was inca.
pable of appreciating the sweet song
of the cricket, the lulling peck OF
the woodpecker, the delights OF din
ing in Gods great out-of-doors with
Gods great winged and long
beaked creatures biting me on the
back of the neck, and the thrills OF
breathing air that staggered into
the room after fighting its way
through mighty oaks, pines. elmss
and q mass of assorted underbrush.,
These letters made me mad. They.
made me mad for half dozen rea-
sons In the first place. rs 1t was 50
nicely pointed out by Voltaire, man
has right to his opinion, even If
that opinion is as wrong IS rain on
a holiday week end. In the second
place (Which. incidentally, Is where
my horses usually fnish) the letters
indicated that my readers felt that
I was a art-aleck Of q city boy
and had had no experience with the
country. This burned me up, be-
cause I was born and raised In towns
at least two wheel greases from the
highway: in towns where the pigs,
and cows had the right Of way on
the highway, and where . fellow
saved his white overalls for Sunday
best wear.
My childhood was spent In places
where the citizens used hoot owls,
for alarm clocks, and where the men
who could afford celluloid collars
and leather ties were the bankers
and lived In the houses on the hill.
One letter writer (his home is In
q suburb some Is miles from New
York; was 80 bitter that I invited
him to come and spend . night with
me in New York and test for him.,
self the merits Of living in the city
and living in the country.
He accepted.
He arrived In Grand Central at
5:55 In the afternoon.
Grand Central Station was at
its best. thank goodness. when he
got Oh the train. The breeze
stirred up by the Red Caps, the
5000 soldiers coming and going, the.
commuters arriving and departing.
the Travellers Aid folk answering
questions and the dispatchers CALI
ing trains, was cooling one. and
one Of sufficient strength to whistle
and sigh through the trees, II there
had been any trees. .
plopped my visitor In . cab. .
It was . cab that was open In the
back and whose back seats were
shaded by little awning. It was
twice as cool as any station wagon
or sedan that was ever met In at q
station by a suburban or country
dweller.
AS We drove up the avenue We
passed dozens of air-cooled oases,
BY the nod of his head my guest
could have stopped the car and
ducked into soft-lighted rooms and
been swept by the incest air Of all
the air that sits on . block Of ice
until . patron beckons 1t by BREATH
ing heavily.
After dinner I took my guest to
theater that was 50 cold that
Admiral Byrd would have had his
hands In his pockets by the time
the double feature was completed
1t was . theater that had . roof in
which stars blinked-much bright
er stars than you get by standing
on a front porch in the country
(while mosquitoes bite yoU and
looking straight up. These were
sure-f1re stars. They are turned on
by the theater electrician at Z each
evening and never fade until he
turns them of after the late show il
over at midnight. y
When he retired for the night
stories about the noise Of the city,
excepting those noises caused by the
subway. taxi, street construction.
and the party in the apartment onei
hoor above-my country guest wasa
whipped by stiff breeze. An cleo,
trio fan saw to that. Nature some.
times gets tired of providing q
breeze and just says "to hell with
it-let the boys and girls rustic for
themselves" But q Westinghouse
fan never shirks. A push of the
button and its little rubber blades
blow on the just and the unjust:
alike. Moreover, the fan, As 1t re-
volved back and forth, gave of .
gentle. whirring sound. that has o,
cricket licked by . length.
When morning came. my guest
got tomato Juice out Of . can. He
didn't have to wonder II the garden
was going to produce him . break
fast drink. It was there. A can
opener, not . gardener, took care Of
him.
When 1t vas a11 over asked him.
how he liked the city. I asked him,
II he didn't think he was making ..
mistake to live In the suburbs, . prey
of nature. He didn't answer. Just
walked out Of the door.
This bothered me until I remem.'
bered that he probably was worry
ing about getting enough fuel oil to,
heat mis- home In the country during,
the winter; was desperate from wor--
nv that his wife and bahAs would