Evening star., 1948-12-01
This and That
BIZ Charles E. Trdce,Del

Two factors have caused revolution in wash
day in Washington and vicinity.
One is the labor angle, together with the
revitalized washing machines, throwing the
family wash once more back to the family.
The lady of the house has come into her
own again, in that she can see that the clothes
are done as she wants them done
It Is, in other words, up to her, whether she
likes 1t or not.
The other factor is the well-known unre-
liability of the weather-and the weather man.
The home washer can no more trust the
one than the other. She must rely on her own
good Judgment. She must seize the bright
morning as 1t comes and greet it with flut-
tering array Of clothes whittier than her neigh
bor's If possible, and every ad of soap or soap
substitute says it is.
a.
One may wonder why some ambitious manu-
facturer does not make the most of the present
interest in bird life in the home grounds by
putting out a series Of bird clothespins.
A fight of cardinals, blue jays or plain Eng
lish sparrows, holding that fluttering family
wash. would make gay sight in any yard.
The element of repetition would make them
interesting to all beholders. (Men, rows Of
soldiers, ETC.; women, rows of buttons, etc.
Looked at fairly, without prejudice, the Eng
lish sparrow is pretty bird. There are really
many variations among them, not always
realized especially by those who cannot see"
them. How expressive that slang phrase Is,
about not being able to "see" something or
other! 1t is acute when it comes to birds, be-
cause those who say they cannot "see' the
common sparrows, or the jays, or the starlings.
literally will not look at them long enough or
carefully enough to find their good points.
The twttering music which plain sparrows
make for instance. is scarcely known except by
those who feel them and like them, too. This
exhibition they reserve for their friends. And
even these, hearing it for the first time, may
not appreciate it, exactly; the rumble and the
roar Of trafic, or the even harsher rumble and
roar Of national and international events, set
ting up noise peculiar, gets in the way of
the best sort OF listening Like all true music,
however, 1t grows with the hearing, and in
time the careful listener will hear something
else besides the harsh chirps" the books so
Misunderstanding tell us about. Why this
Is not Ill music, but good! Friends Of sparrows
have this music to hug to their breasts. 1t Is
not given to common people to understand
such delight. Hence. hence, We sinking
mechanicals" as Shakespeare said Hence,
hence. We absurd bird lover" who wants noth-
ing less than bluebird. Plain sparrows are
birds as well as any and there are twice,
thrice as many Of them which ought to count
for something in an age when numbers have
come to the fore as never before Gan odd
combination that, fore" and before" Our
tongue is full of them, and happy those who
realize them as they go along. There are
more ways of getting fun out of life than are
known in thy philosophy. Horatio. Most excel.
lent Theophilus painfully indicated his lines
with q stylus, but we bang away on machine
today)
Nearest winter approach we have to the
chorus Of birds in late springtime dawn is the
songfest held by English sparrows at intervals
while visiting feeding stations in the home
garden.
Try 1t and see
Try it and listen.
Lay aside thy previous misconceptions, be
kind to the sparroWS in the cold, and let them
satisfy thy beart's desire for good music.
Greedy though they are, these little ones in
gray and brown and black, with here and
there bit of white, cannot eat continuously.
They must and do retire to the shrubbery,
where, seated in the branches they sing pleas
antly to each other until hunger returns.
This music occurs mostly in the afternoon.
It begins suddenly, and ends suddenly, almost
as if conductor has waved baton. Strains
of pure happiness in the morning song of wild
birds in spring are almost equalled, at least
in the fair listening ear, by the winter songs
of the English sparrows, as with full stomachs
they perch in the big rose vine. Theirs not to
reason why; theirs but to sing or burst with the
amount Of seed previously consumed. Perhaps
the opening OF the bills and the sounds issuing
forth are physical relief but the happy lis.
tener will feel that it is far. far more q
veritable symphony Of the afternoon. mesheo
in wilfully with human symphonies and much
aasier tn understand,