Evening Star Newspaper, June 25, 1922, Page 64

PROF. BY ANNE JORDAN. VERYBODY thinks of Sappho as a lady who was carried up- stairs once in a play, but that was just a make-believe Sap- pho invented by a French fictionist. The real, origii Sappho never had anybody to carry her upstairs, and had no stairs to be carried up, any-| way. She was a poet, and lived in a self-assertive little isle called Mity- lene, somewhere around 600 B. C. She was a promising lass from the ground up. At the age of 1% she was intelligent that she would never accept a spoonful of paregoria unless the bottle bore the signature of the She early developed a fatal tendency to versification. and became known the Tenth Muse even before she knew the names of the other nine. One of her first poems went like this: so author. as 0 Olive 01! Hypotenuse! T am a Muse, I am a Muse! Her father heard her reciting this, and looked at her indulgently over his stein of imitation ambresia. “What are you amused over, daugh- ter?” Sappho swept his countenance with her wistful eyves and went off to the Leucadian cliffs to brood. “What an ignorant old dumb-bell my father is!" she moaned. “Us gZeniuses have a terrible time trylng to be understood.” Sappho rambled around the sea- shore with her pet dithyvrambics and vearned for somebody to come into her life, so she could write odes to something besides the moon, her soul, life, death and trailing arbutus. Circumstances forced her to be- come a school teacher. She couldn’t sell her poetry, and her father had to have a new pair of sandals, so she had to get a job. AROUND HERE are more ways of fishing than Izaak W. tells about. If I the tragedy of Tampa Bay gave you a sinister interest in the barracuda, you probably started off without line, hook, sinker or bait to angle among the government's specimens for the murder fish whose alias is “Tiger of the Sea But you didn’'t find him, did you? All the same, the trip was not a failure, for the good reason that your hunt through both muséums and the fish- eries bureau gave you a right to snift at superior people and papers who class sea serpent reports as silly- season fakes. Why, listen. That old Pacific walrus that has been occuying a glass case ever since you used to play with Noah's little boy owns a whiskered head that would make any sea serpent hide his own. And among the casts, each outrivaling the other in terrifying grotesquesness, is our own innocent little sunfish, exaggerated into an oceanic monster with teeth human enough to feature a dental display. A Japanese crab that might have been made of native bamboo carries at_the claw-ends of his yarls of feelers a double row of grinders that sets you to wondering why so many of these Dante-made swimmers of the seven seas shoulll go armed with such formldable teeth—big gorilla teeth— unless to fight under world leviathans fhat rise to the surface often enough to furnish sea serpent tales that no one believes except the few who see them. And there you have had your day’s catch, as truly—and far more com- fortably—than if you had hauled each fish out of the water, with Walton bossing the job. * ok K X ‘EAR Milliners and Dressmakers: ! Here is a secret tip as to how the most famous of European design- ers comes by his “genius” for colors: it you will go over to the new mu- seum, to a vast and silent hall, you will find a table as big as the one Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum used to eat bad chil- dren on—remember? Only it isn't a table, but a cabinet, with drawers down to the floor—fifty on each side, which makes a hundred. Inside these drawers you will find every color you ever saw in all your life and many, many, many that you never dreamed of—all blazoned on prism-winged butterflies from every country under the sun. The variations are so count- less in tone and contrast, and the gossamer creatures so suggestive of human types, that all you have to do is to take notes, embody them into hats, gowns and accessories, charge a goodish price for “origi- nality”—same as the big designer r there—and for the rest of your strawberries and cream! Just for an advance hint: There are fresh-widow butterfifiles in allur- ingest combinations of woe and watch-me effects; widowy butterflies taking notice in lavenders that no orchid or wistaria ever aspired to; flapper flies in riotous sports colors; brides in rapturous chiffons and fairy- wrought laces; novice butterfiles in austerest convent white, and jungle butterflies so vampish in scarlets, HASBEAN CLAIMS TO HAV y Nannie Lancaster. E FOUND EVIDENC WITH A SKI were just like the women of . New York, or of Centralia, Mo., are today. They had a weakness for clubs and culture and poetry, o Sap- advertised abroad .that pho had it she was going to open Sappho's Se lect School for Sapheads (free trans- 1ation). Rich ladies, weary with endowing a: asylums for homeless dromedaries and such charities, flocked to Sappho" school to learn how to write lamble pentameters. Young men who had neu- | ralgla of the ‘soul, “and sighed so !much that they seemed to have chronic hiccups, also attended her poetry clinics. And every spring, { when the love fever wasat its helght, {she had to have night classes to ac- [commodate the crowds. The well known blank verse con- tractor, Alcaeus, became envious of his female rival's growing tame. He came to Sappho's school, disguised as a free verse peddler, and immediate- Iy became a slave to her charms. He scratched this burning couplet on a desk: 0 wondrous wise and lusclous teacher! 1 wonder can I ever reach her! i Sappho rapped him over the knuck- lles for defacing her furniture and | he went off to pout. During vacation time, Sappho grew tired of being a bachelor girl. One night,. while suffering under the in- fluence of memory and moonlight, she met a lad named Cercolas, of Andros. | She sang this touching apostrophe to him: You have a beauteous name, I think; 1t sound to me like & soft drink! This was too much for him, and he asked her to become Mrs. Sappho Cercolas. Thus began an apple cider THE CITY | | purples and every other jewel-flecked diablerie of color as to run the whole | gamut of seven deadly sins—the most | glamorously enticing color for every | cocasion and everybody, 'cep'n old | maids, and they better go down to | the fishieries bureau, where aquarl- | ums provide every age-atmosphere of | spinsterism, from the hope-on, hope- ever hue of the silver gar down to cobblestone bass for ladies as has give up struggling. * Xx * ¥ THE street car public will agree unanimously that a cross-seat is preferable to one on the side. There- fore, it may have occurred to you to wonder why so many very young | girls seem eager for the less com- | fortable location. And their insist- |ence upon vacating cross-seats for mature women has, of course, ap-| nealed to you as evidence that gay little flappers are assuming the | chivalrous obligations that men seem | to be throwing away—most men, not all. Revelation that things are not nec- | essarily what they seem came to one | passenger the other day, when a | pretty youngster seated In the sun refused her pantomimed proffer of an | open-window place beside her which | had just been vacated by a man. The rejection was made with a smiling decision to stay put. The Samaritan lady accepted her turndown as a lady Samaritan should, and that would | have been the end of it, except that another woman behind leaned for- vard to dispense an explanation: “Flappers don’'t want cross-seats because cross-seats hide their stockings. If they can’t sit on the side where they can show every thread of stocking the law allows, they hang onto straps”—and so on. All of which may {be true, but all the same: Seeing that our little sisters of the silken knees have to pay for such {fragile elegancies as pastel-tinted {hose and nifty slippers that strap-or buckle or lace around their callow ankle bones, why not let them enjoy the worth of their money? Youth, ibeing of that airy. irldescent froth that soap bubbles are made of, wants its gay audacities as naturally as grass wants the morning dew. And | when you think of the years ahead of | most little flaps; prosalc lisle thread, |likely of the black that turns rusty in the wash; ugly, serviceable shoes; tubs, dishes, stoves and every other {cramping drudgery of everyday mar- riage—the sublime self-effacement of motherhood. You notice that men—the worth- while ones who know. their, little book —are more understanding of flapper folly and kindlier In criticism than women, which seems soft of queer, seeing that there isn't a mature wom- an alive who wouldn't be a flapper if she could! : B 1 { **x x x PRES!DENT JOHN GRIER HIBBON of Princeton Unliversity believes that something is wrong with the world. To as many ‘f the alumgl, guests and students of the university as could secure tickets for his bac- calaureate sermon last” Sunday he declared that the problem of evil, al- ways presedt, always mysterious, e THE N C\ \\\‘: i THAT SAPPHO AGGRAVATED HER HUSBAND BY STRIKING HIM REPEATEDLY ILLET. ‘\ 7OMEN of Lespos in the B. C. days | existence that soured all too soon [the teacher, and she complimented him into vinegar. A heavy weight of hours—18 to 20 a day—bore too heavily upon one.of Sappho'a " tender ~ sensibilitiés. ~She wrote,the threnody of her domestic woes in these immortal words: Alllgone to soap. my Youth's fair. wishes, 1o’ wadhingthese darn greasy dlshes. 1t may, readily be seen.that there Were ' extenuating ~ circumstances.’ don- nected’ wita Sappho'a divorce from Papa Cercolas, though the eminént archeolo- gist, Prof. Hasbean claims to have found evidence that Sappho aggravated her husband by striking him repeatedly with a skillet. From this the professor infers that the custody of thelr caild, Cleis, undoubtedly should .have been awarded to the father. Of this I am In doubt, but I am Inclined to be lenient with Sappho in this write-up, because the poor girl was a poet and that pun- ishment enough. Sappino, deliriously happy in her re- gained freedom, lived for a space on toasted moonbeams and humming -bird notes. When she discovered that she | was growing thin on this diet, she ran a new ad, and opened school again with new energy. Cercolas, who had hoped to be supported by his wife in spite of the divorce, found & sign, “Room to Rent,” on his bungalow and caugat a banana galley for the continent. * ok ok ok BACK at school, Sappho realized that she was again in her element. She found a spray of fresh mignonette on her desk each morning, and, beaming at her from the front row, a handsome young face. It was the face, dear read- er, of none other than Phaon. It wasn't long before Sappno was keeping him after school for flirting with the other girls—slim as was the pretext. Phgon wrote heart-melting lyrica to presents itself today In its most acute and most sppalling forms. He must have meant the world out- side of his distinguished audlience, since only the most noble qualities could be associated with the academic life of the university—students train- ing for high achlevements; an alumni body notable in every endeavor that stands for honored success; guests whose names are gold written on the scroll of fame—unless one might ar- gue a bit of jealousy In the matter of Translated From the Fremch BY WILLIAM L. McPHERSON. YLVAIN DUBAYET had inherited from his parents a country es- tate which was fairly productive and which guaranteed him a comfortable existence, free from cares. At twenty-nine he kept saying to himself that he couldn't always live alone and that he ought to marry. But, being distrustful and timid, and fearing that he might fall into the hands of a wife who was cross-grain- ed or extravagant, he postponed from day to-day the decision to take one. So he was much upset when he learn- ed that a distant cousin had left him a hundred thousand francs on condl- tion that he should marry Mille, Co- lette Barlier, daughter of a gentleman farmer. in.a neighboring canton, and goddaughter of the testator. What a singular idea this relative had had. But, In spite of the disturb- ance caused in his hitherto peaceful life, Sylvaih was not insensible to the value of the’ bequest, which would permit him to enlarge his own estate and would be otherwise highly advan- eous. Nevertheless, the prospect of .a_compulsory marriage was thor- oughly displeasing to him. know the young girl whom he had to wed. He understood vaguely that her father was an old friend of the dead cousin. His hesitation would doubtless have been prolonged if he had not received a letter from M. Barlier, who, in cor- dial and simple terms, invited Sylvain to visit him. Realizing the necessity of this preliminary step, the young man started off one fine day in June. From the station where he left the train he made his way to the house pointed out to him as M. Barlier's. * Kk % NERVOUS about a visit: whose im- portance his shyness exaggerat- ed, he slowed up his steps as_he ap- proached - the house. But, however measured his gait, he arrived at last at the outer gate, and, seeing it open, decldéd .to penetrate /into the court. A bilg dog ran toward him, barking. He was about to beat & retreat when a young girl appeared at the house door. She wore a white apron, -had her|marrying & .8irl who s coquettish,! sleeves rolled back and held in her hands a bowl of doygh which she was doubtless busy kneading. * “Be quiet, Medor,” she called to the dog. ‘Then, addressing the visitor: “What s it you wish, monsieur?” “I have come to see M. Barlier. am Sylvain Dubayet.” ' The young 'gifl'gave & quickly repressed. “M: Barlier isn't - home, A Test for Dubayet. By Paul Gaulot. He didn't I|kneading is finished and the cake Httle start, | if she said; B “but ‘won't “you ‘please’ come in and SUNDAY STAR WASHINGTON, D. C,. JUNE both professionally and personally. She decided to quit teaching.women, and run a strictly male class of poetry. But as soon as she had a real target for her verses. she found her pupils dropping off. Those who remained were jealous of ‘her star student, and shot pop-guns at his back until he began to dread com- ing to school. Little by little - he eased off, and Sappho's verses took .a mournful turn that made them, really celebrated. “Her fame crossed the ~Mediterranean, .and even the Papyrus Publishing Company of Alexandria begged her for d&ontracts. She wrote 8o constantly that she ruined her eyesight dabbling with weak ‘Ink. Phaon, growing fat on his 14dy love's remunerative calling, found himself cut from the primrose path and fast losing his youthful shape. He sneaked over the back fence, and left wita Sappho's family silver. Sappho burned ‘incense to Aphrodite and bégged her to send back the siiver, if not Phaon. But' the giggly goddess, always favoring men, stuffed cotton in her ears and told Phaon to go to it. Disgusted .with the world in general, Sappho decided to give her daughter Clels a chance to collect her life insur- ance. Attired in a ricaly brocaded counter- pane draped Greecefully about her classic figure, she went down to the spot “where the Leucadian breezes sweep o'er Sappho's memory-haunted billow." Taking her faithful lute in hand, Sappho gulped her last sad warble. There were eleven reels, all addressed to the fickle Phaon and her secretary copled them caretully and tearfully. Then, powdering her nose like a true fatalist, Sappho dived remorsefully off the cliff. Her last words floated up to the vigilant secretary: Our life iz but & sorry -Joke— 0, False Phaon, I hope you choke. tlekets, whith’ was fmade necessary by the limitation of the chapel. The tickets were sought for by every in- fluential means. One fortunate mem- { ber of the audlence, when called on tor an explangtion of his luck, ad- mitted with prideful secrecy: “I bought it for a pint of gin." Which seems to show that the president of Princeton is somewhat of a prophet. This little story was brought home by a Washington ' lumnu ‘walt for him, while I go on with my & work?” He obeyed mechanically, entered,| took a seat and watched the young! girl, who, resuming her task, kneaded the dough, now exposed on a big, wooden board. “You will excuse me,” she said. “It {8 I who must excuse myself,” he answered.” Then he asked: “Are you the servant?” She lifted her head, smiled and said, after a few seconds’ hesitation: “As you see. And you are the heir?” “You know about {t?” “They have certainly talked enough about it.” The opportunity seemed good. He plucked up courage. “What does Mile. Barlier say?” “This thing, that thing. She seems very wel] satisfled. Why shouldn’t she be? You are a catch, especially since | the inheritance.” “Is she fond of money?” “Yes and no. At least not of put- ting it into an old stocking.” "'Of spending it?" “Rather. When one is young and coquettish one loves -clothes. That 1s very natural, isn't it? And clothes cost a good deal, nowadays.” “In the country one doesn’t have many opportunities to wear fine clothes.” “Evidently. of living in the city.” “Living in the city? Does she expect to have.all her wishes satisfied?” “My faith, I should be sorry for the man who didn't let her have her way. When she has an idea in her head everything must yleld to it. It isn't {that she is bad at bottom, but her character is capricious.\' Perhaps I am wrong to tell you these things?” “Not at all; you are doing me a| service.” “Maybe, maybe not. Suppose that what 1 have satd should deter you |from marrying her.. You would be ia-heavy loser.’ A hundred thousand frarics are worth some concessions.” * * % x uYOU don’t know me,” he answered | with feeling: “If it were neces- ; sary to purchase the inheritance by | So I believe she drelmsi extravagant and self-willed, 1 would | renounce it right away.” “That's fine!"” cried the young girl in so convincing a tone that Sylvain was astonished. : “What did you say?” *T sald: ‘That's fine!" You see, the will be 'good. You will enjoy eating £ “I.shall not eat it, and I am: sorry. jut 1 think I'd better go.” “You aren't going away like’ that? 25, 1 “Yes. \Since they haven't seen me, please say nothing about my visit.” “You attach too much importance to my words. You must alwlys distrust what a servant says about a mistress. 1 was prompted by jealousy, parhap. “No. Your manner is too frank and 00 sincere for that. And, then, what interest would you have in deceiving me? My mind is made up. I'm going.” “Stay. Please stay.” No, no. Adieu, mademolselle.” He started for 'the door. He was about to cross the sill. She caught up with him. AR ‘This English Renaissance Cane Suite A charming living-room suite, exactly like illustra- tion, finished in mahogany, with upholstery and remov- able spring seat cushions in richly designéd velours. Tomorrow, very special.. ... c.ceveuneenaninennns A 7H andsome Pl T X IIHI: 922—PART 4. “No,” she cried. “You musn't go away like that Wait,'at least, till my.father comes.” ' = ~ He turned around .in surprise. ‘Your father?" 'Yes. Don’t you understand.” 4And with a little forced laugh, whith covered her embarrassment, she added: “I am Colette Barller. Amazed at this unexpected revela- tion, Sylvain didn’t know what to think or to say. But she began very seriously: * x % % uI OWE you an explanation. When I learned the condition: which my AT TR AR j (Exactly Like Picture) Ll $10.00 Cash—$2.00 Week (Exactly Like Picture) $15.00 Cash—$2.50 Week ——————— e godfathet attached to the iuheritance 1 had & strange feeling. It was di tasteful to me to see in you a suitor ready to marry me solely because 1 represented In his eyes a hundred thousand francs. I intended to mal myself as disagrcoable as possible when you dame. This accidental meet- ing and your misunderstanding gave me the idea of putting you to a test at the start. And you have no reason to complain, since I have thus been able to establish your disinterested- ness. That is not to.say that we shall marry. We must know each other better before binding ourselves for life. Do you think I shall sult you?" “As to that, ye Sylvain, whe had Jistened with delight to the pre ty girl's remarks. But he added with a sigh: too, on my side, nd I hardly dare to hope——" ‘Try to,” she murmured. There was so much tenderne: the smile which accompanied the; words that he saw in it even mo; than encouragement- must pleas: “Yes, mademoiselle.” “I am sure that you will like my cake. In any case, you know now that T am a good housekeeper, whc gladly puts her hand to the dough.’ AR J N > TWELVE FURNITURE STORES | (e For Homefurnishings of .the Better Kind At Less Money and Easier Terms 10-Piece Dining Room Buffet, China Closet, Extension Table, Seérving Table, five Side Chairs and one Armchair, in your choice of mahogany or walnut. genuine leather.”..... Chairs- covered- in: RSSRIMTTTRSSE MRS Philip Levys Are Exclusive Agents for Ostermoor Mattresses in Washington Elevated Oven Gas Range Exactly as sketched—four- burner type, with broiling and baking ovens; has white oven doors, han- 53900 dles, gas-cocks, $5 Cash—$1 Week and stove-pan.. 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Come in—see for yourself just how much money you.can say WE PAY THE FREIGHT A Suite like this was $300 in 1920 and $225 $15.00 Cash—$2.50 Week nly $1 terms. necessary. 0.00 Cash—$2.00 Week Liberal Credit Terms Get the use of your furnitire now by taking advantage of our liberal credit A sma2ll amount down, the bal- ance in convenient payments, is all that’s ‘149 in 1921 Cabinet Phonograph A dandy opportunity to buy a first-class cabinet up- right demonstrating talking 'machine similar to this pic- ture. Absolutely perfect. Guaranteed for three years. Large compartment for rec- ord beautiful mahogany finish. Plays any record with- ’ .75 out extra at- tachment ...... 3 Cash—$1 Week PP - Chittorobe Similar to_illustration—in oak _or mahogany finish; very well built; contains a large clothes 339_50 closet with hangers . $4 Cash—$1 Week b R AN