The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1943-06-17

AT the present time there's only on,
sistiWg Of a horse, a buggy and a man
by the name of Jimmy Graves, whose
headquarters are somewhere in the
vicinity of the Botanic Garden. His
monopoly zoe unnoticed by the trust
busters and by harried Wa~shingtonians
who find that the home fires burn
brighter at the end of the day than the
thrilling monuments and edifices which,
in years past, attracted swarms of
travel-minded folks to the Capitol city.
Most of us dodge onion Station-even
taxi drivers have the allergy. When
of pure necessity, one enters the impos-
ing terminal he is greeted by the most
magnanimous push in the history of our
country. Impatient armchair strategists
would think a second front had been
opened in the general area of the Dis
trict of Columbia if they visited Union
Station, for every conceivable branch of
the service is represented there. Pre-
ceptible hmps in the walk of a large
per cent of the station patrons are less
likely to be physical deformities than
tired feet.
This famous Uniton Station is pos
itively the worst place in the world to
be caught in a practice blackout-bar
none. The vast spaces of the concourse
loom black and hazy in the dimout and
borrowing Diogenes' lamp would be the
only possible way to identify the per-
sons you came to meet. Loading taxi
cabs at the extreme end of the station
necessitates an uninviting hike. Only
by strategic and careful movement can
one locate the auction-like sounds which
manate from the platform and guide
cab seekers to their destination.
There's an amazing informality at all
the places which you choose to visit on
a self-imposed sightseeing tour. You
make conversation with strangers chief
ly because you don't NOW What goes on
and neither do they. Don't be at all sur
prised if you never saw that old ivy
covered well in front of the Capitol. A
passing soldier solved the mystery for
me by telling me what it was and from
"HChCC IL NdibC hho 4 'iuh t'ch "Sn
him and he didn't even turn his head
in my general direction.
There is an unnecessary feeling that
creeps right up your spine if you visit
the Capitol for any other reason than
business. The guard eyes with con-
s~ternation an overstuffed bag which
carries nothing more han the bare
essentials of a woman's existence. A
row of cameras, carefully checked, greet
the sightseer once he is inside the Cap
itoi foyer. One may or may not see
the Capitol to his own liking, depending
upon whether he successfully sidesteps
the erribly-glad-to-see-you tour guide.
Congressional oratory is no match for
the song of the guide who conducts you
through the halls of the Nations Cap
itol.
For the duration of Hitler, Hirohito
and other such pests, the FBI, the Blu
reau Of Engraving and Printing, the
State, War and Navy Departments and
tho wal agencies are closed to the pub
lie. But the Libraries, art galleries,
museums ana monuments are open. EVEN
a gaze at the White House from the
other side Of the street is permissible
though wide-eyed strangers no longer
roam in and out of the p~alatial East
Room and other sections of the presi-
dental residence.
It's too bad that people here in vital
war work don't have more time to en-
joy and appreciate their surroundings.
But enthusiasm, vitality and effort are
now pitched into the boiling pot in the
hope Of getting the war over as soon
as possible. Sightseeing will have to
wait. Though the past is prologue, peo-
ple nowadays have an eye to the future
when sightseeing will go unhampered
with wartime regulations Washington is
like that.
Editors Note:
If anyone in Holmes county has been
considering taking a vacation to Wash
ington, ID. c., this year he or she may
be interested in the article appearing in
a recent edition of the Washington Post
written under the by-line of one of our
own Holmes county girls, Miss Martha
Rhyme, who is now on the staff of The
Post in the nations capital.