Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-06-08
This and That
By Charles E. Traceweu.
ALEXANDRIA, Va.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.
Dear Sir:
Il want to express my admiration for
the exquisite way in which you edited
my letter to you on mice. regret that
you didn't seem to quite believe it, yet
it was all true.
Also: Why do people expect enter
tainment from animAls2 They owe us
nothing. We owe them much.
animals deserve respect, all but dogs
Dogs have too long been close to men,
Few dogs have been able to preserve
the dignity Of full creatures. Cats
have it.
Il wish you would write about the
song Of the frogs. On a warm night
hear them in the fields. They re-
semble Brahms harmony, nasal,
sleepy, resigned
Il remember the year OF the locust.
My home was then In an untouched
forest in the Southeast section. They
have destroyed it now. This forest was
on hill descending In terraces. The
locusts formed an enormous orches-
ira, each terrace taking its turn. It
was magnificent. and beyond under
standing. Sincerely, r. D."
"P. Son reading this over, beyond
our understanding A poet once said
Of field loud with songs of birds and
insects, All creatures hymn the glory
Of God
1--WE say, unless they eat too much
grain. Do they eat too much grain or
did We destroy too many fields?
I'VE lost understanding. Will we
make better start after the A bombs?"
We think this correspondent Is
rather severe on dogs.
Many dogs do deserve respect; not all,
OF course. any more than human be-
ings.
One has but to think of the noble
aspect of some old Newfoundland dog
to realize that all is not lost.
But as for the singing of frogs most
persons will agree that here is a fine
music, provided one listens with SYM
pathy.
No songbird exactly, the frog is a
musician of note, as is his small cousin,
the spring pepper. Perhaps nowhere in
nature is there q keener, clearer note
than that Of the hyla.
We remember well the orchestra of
the cicadas, 17-year locusts, as they are
popularity called.
Sensible people never tired of lis
tening to them, and were not worried
in the least by probable damage to
trees and shrubs. 1t is true that there
was some damage, but when it was
placed against the millions of insects,
was as nothing.
;rh t,, &alx
aspect of beauty to the well-intentioned
ear and mind, for, of course, one listens
with the mind, too. That is where
Brahms comes in!
Night noises, exclusive of man, have
little fear in them. It is only when
man intrudes, with his noisemakers, his
roaring planes and his internal bombs
that fear enters the picture.
Natural fear was called panic fear,
but mankind has added a new dimen-
sion to 1t, and made it panic terror.
The noises of birds are a music in
the air, and they make 1t best at dawn
There is real night music. The birds
are awakening, just as the streaks OF
light show. They are happy to be
awake, in their simple undiluted way
They make noises in the night, now
turning into day. Suburban dwellers
when first they move from the city
are sometimes annoyed by the bird
chorus at dawn.
Usually it takes only few days for
them to get used to it. and to sleep I'M
disturbed, or to rejoice.
Rejoicing is the best, of course. It is
better to lie awake and rejoice than
to have sad thoughts.
There are so many sad things in
the world today-all of mans crea-
tion-excrescences of his sad, sad mind
that it is best, If one can do 1t, to
turn the attention to the doings and
sounds of the pure creatures Of nature
In this way we may forget, for q time
the preposterous excrescences.