Evening star., 1946-10-16
This and That
By Charles E. TrdceWeU.


Dear Sir:
This message is being forwarded In
order that you may know how much
appreciate your column in The Evening
Star. Not the least of its virtues is the
clean taste it deposits in the turmoiled
thoughts of present-day newspaper
readers.
"I especially appreciated the article
about whistling which appeared several
months ago. However, 1 believe you
overlooked one valuable point. You
mentioned that postmen still whistled.
They do, and for very good reason:
Postal regulations prohibit smoking on
duty, and we all know that whiStling
and cigarette smoking, simultaneously,
are impossible.
with best wishes for your continued
success, am,
very truly yours, E. W. b.
H4x
Perhaps the greatest temptation the
faithful mailman faces on his daily
rounds is to kick the stufing out of
some one mean dog on his route.
Postal laws and regulations protect
him in this, too, but since the average
postman is pretty decent fellow, he
does not take advantage of them more
than he can help.
He is permitted not to deliver mail
at any house where mean and silly
dog is allowed to poster him repeatedly.
Usually, however, being a regular fel-
low, he refuses to do this, and takes
his chances with the teeth of the Of
fender.
Mean dogs are few and far between,
fortunately, but it is no fun to be set
upon every day, twice day, by the same
mutt, when one is trying to do his
owners service.
1t is much to the credit of Americas
postmen that such difficulties in the
daily work are usually ironed out peace
fully, without invoking the powers given
them.
After all, most dogs love postmen.
They like nothing better than to trail
around after them.
Every man on a route, trampled in
heat and sun, snow and zero weather,
knows the friendship of some one good
dog of those he serves.
Sometimes several dogs follow him so
that by the time he comes to the end OF
his route he has regular retinue OF
canine followers.
Milkmen, too, now that they have
human daylight hours, have their dog
followers, and in these cases the four
legged fellows often draw good drink
of milk on the company
The dog that follows milk delivery
man usually gets to ride part of the way,
so that he may be said to have method
in his madness.
When dog gets something to eat,
and good ride to boot, he has achieved
dog heaven on earth, perhaps
y
Just what tunes do mailmen whistle,
whatever the reason for their merry
making?
We believe at least from our listening
that opera wins hands down.
Maybe it is just because we haven't
forgotten the ringing tones of our whis-
ting mailman.
Opera, especially Italian, was his
meat. There was nothing in "Rigoletto'
or the rest of them that he could not do.
When we say "do," we mean just that
1t is not the easiest thing in the world
to whistle the famous 'sextette' but
this mailman could do it, from begin
ming to end, without false note.
He needed no restriction, we feel sure,
because you could tell by the way he
whistled that he loved those tunes And
he was right, the tune is the thing
from western" song to symphony, from
simple Hawaiian melody to the most
intricate work Remember how
Brahms jazzed it up in his first move
ment of his First Symphony? Recall how
Bach, in some of his organ works,
showed how syncopation could be used
hundreds of years before "hot jazz"
enthusiasts discovered it? The tune is
the thing, and we must thank all whis-
tiers, whatever their reason, for keeping
melody alive in our streets.