Evening star., 1945-08-28
This and That
By Charles Z. Tracepell.

One OF the oddities of every world war
is the appearance of hand-painted silk
neckties at fancy prices.
NOW Templeton Jones would by no
means think of paying S. for tie, but
when he saw one particular cravat at
$l50 he decided to invest.
1t was neat silk with many conyen-
tionalized cats heads on it.
Jones saw it one day, as he hurried by
the shop, but decided against it.
He is a lover of cats, however. and the
appearance of that mammals head,
Whlskers and all, gave the tie an added
attraction.
When he got home. that tie hung in
his mind
He could not get it out, whiskers and
all
The heads ran riot over the back
ground, he recalled. The eyes and ears
were pretty natural, but the whiskers
were sort OF bars or ties beneath the
mouths. That was something exceeding
ly whimsical-to a friend OF cats. The
heads were every-which-way, some right
side up, some upside down.
They made a riot of cats, reminding
Jones OF the famous book about hun
dreds and thousands and millions of
cats"
The more our hero thought of that
tie, the more he was determined to buy
1t, after all.
If hardy steel workers thought moth
ing at all of buying themselves painted
ties, at S and 10 dollars a throw, then
Templeton Jones, esq, could afrord a
more modest sum to ride his cat hobby.
When he went to bed, he was think
ing about that cat tie, and when he
woke up he still had it on his mind. He
did not say anything about it, however
as he wanted 1t to be surprise. He
and Mrs. j. were all the time having
little surprises of that sort. Jones re-
called, with grin, the day he wore q
new topcoat home, and his wife thought
he was brush salesman!
Jones worried about the tie all the
way down town. Surely some one else
had purchased it. The shop was un-
known to him. He wondered If he
could find it again.
He pictured himself wandering up
and down blocks, trying to find a van
ishing shop. No, nobody had ever heard
of such q place. Was he sure, ETC.?
He must be mistaken. There was no
such place. (Often there isn't, when
one wants to find it,
He saw himself standing in front Of
the narrow window at last. They were
all wrong, and he was right, as usual.
Here was the shop, here was he, but
where was the tie +?
X \ y
Frantically he looked and looked.
Some one had bought it, no doubt
ton and buying decision than himself.
Jones had often lamented his in
ability to make up his mind in a hurry,
About the only thing he could hurry
about was getting on and of buses. He
often had wondered why people were
so slow. 1t must worry the bus drivers
Jones started down the block, and
there was the store in plain sight. He
hurried up to the window with mis-
giving, but as is often the case he was
wrong again-there was the cat tie,
bigger than life.
Jones took of his modest cravat and
changed in the store. As he walked
away, holding the plain blue tie in a
bag and wearing the cat tie, he gave
sideways glances to see If any one no.
ticed his sudden taste in neckwear.
None did. But at the ONCE all would
be different. What howls OF merriment
he told himself! What reception as
he came in the door!
With real anticipation he entered.
"Good morning, Mr.. JONES'" that was
all. No one paid any attention to his
novelty tie. Evidently they had seen
odd ones before. Even when he talked
about cats no one paid any attention
1t was q letdown, but Templeton Jones
didn't mind He knew where that tie
would be appreciated.