Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-07-19


fringe on the
horizon, where
rChh"'N" you could see
the horizon in ( Sits between
the tall buildings.
Around him the homeless resi-
dents of the park were nesting
in rumpled pages of the late
racing editions. or pulling ragged
coats over their heads to keep
the rays from the street lights out
OF their eyes.
But our man was sitting
cross-legged on the grass, dig
ging weeds out Of the lawn with
his pen knife.
II was preposterous. Amy one
who makes himself at home In a
public park knows that taking
care OF IL II no concern of his.
That Is true of all public prop
erty. Ii il up to the govern
ment To provide and take care
of these properties for the bene-
fit Of people who want To use
them.
But our ridiculous man didn't
know that. He seemed 10 think
that rs long rs IL was public
property, IL was as much his
responsibility as any one else's.
Where he could have absorbed
such strange Idea, don't
know. Obviously he was for
eigner, because he spoke with a
thick accent. Perhaps he
brought his notion with him
across the ocean when he came
TO America No matter.
So there he sat. digging out
dandelions and plantain by the
roots and paying 40 attention 10
anything else until ! asked him
why he was doing it,
He explained patiently that the
weeds would crowd out the grass.
"See:" he said. picking out
plantain the size of saucer.
and showing the circle Of brown.
bare earth underneath. THE
grass dies. Too many weeds.
pretty soon no grass"
He was not in the mood 10 talk
much about himself. but was
courteous enough about answering
questions. There was q bronze
button IN his lapel-had he been
in the war;
That button" ne said
proudly. "is from Congress.
Only men in the war can wear
that button"
Did he live In Detroit?
yes. Live IN Detroit"
Did he come 10 the park often >
Yes. Sometimes after work"
He waved in the direction OF
Michigan avenue and named the
place whore he worked. but his
accent obscured II
Where was he from
I'm an American" he sad.
"a folded newspaper beside HIM
was a blur in the darkness. hut
one word in big type vas
DPoLsKI"
Did he always dig weeds With
his pen knife?
In answer, he pried another
dandeliOn out of the grass and
repeated patiently:
TOO many weeds, some day
no grass"
And he went IN digging weeds
with his pen knife. this indus
trious man who seemed Ia think
that public responsibilities were
his responsibilities.
Around him, as snug and quiet
rs the weeds. the sleepers slept.
RANDOM y O TIE S There 5
been considerable talk around
ItnMn- ahollLthe- number Epaep4l
who have been getting by without
buying federal use tax stamps for
their automobiles. No doubt there
is evasion. II is not as bad as i,
appears. however. Giles Kavanagh
ordering spot checkupS of cars
without the stamps discovered
that in nine out of 10 cases. tho
stampless cars were owned by
persons who had the stamps. but
hadn't bothered 20 paste them OF
the windShieldS. II you haven't
pasted the stamp on your car. &c
so now. II will reduce the volume
Of harmful rumorS Of tax evasjons
Gerry Halves. Of one of the
sirIines serving Detroit. offers
this optimistic clew 10 the popu-
Iarity of air travel after the
war. Not over one person out
of 10 il subject to airsickness,
he says, although people who
can stand sea travel aren't nee
essarily immune. On a recent
flight from Chicago, the only
person who was airsick was one
of group Of L. =. sailors.
1t was another airline official
who tells this story on himself
was entertaining some guests
nom he wished 10 impress. Two
more appeared He couldn't quite
remember them. but covered it ur