Evening Star Newspaper, June 8, 1930, Page 93

SHALL WE ENJOL T he Neww Woman Has Had So Much Atten- . THE SUNDAY tion That the Old Man Has Been For- . gotten . His Rights., Here’s a Call for the Revival of By Weare Holbrook. UDY VALLEE has been invited to de-+ liver the commencement address at Binglethorpe College this year. Per- haps he hasn’t received the invita- tion yet, but it is on its way. If he accepts, the class song, “Ave Atque Vale,” will be revised in his honor and the statue of Alma Mater which stands on the campus with hands outstretched will be brought to its knees and re- ehristened Mammy. For the girls want Rudy, and at Binglethorpe the girls usually get what they want. ILess than a dozen years ago Binglethorpe became co- educational. A few young women were ad#® mitted cautiously during the war. More fol- lowed—until soon the classrooms resounded with girlish laughter; there was rouge on every door-knob and the dusty corridors of the ref- erence library reeked of Narcisse Noir. Today the classes are 98 per cent feminine; the student body is full of curves. There is be- ginning to be some talk of making the school - co-educational again and admitting men. Binglethorpe is only one of many institutions in similar circumstances. Women may have been submerged and deprived of educational advantages in the past, but they are making up for lost time now. They are coming into their own and everybody else’s. Even the college yells at foot ball games are an octave higher than they were. But although the commencement addresses and baccalaureate sermons this June will be de- livered before audiences made up almost en- tirely of ex-flappers, the speakers should not forget that there may be a few men present— men who, determined to get an education at any cost, have withstood the feminine invasion for four long years. They are inconspicuous in their black caps and gowns, and there is a wistful look in their eyes as they watch their fair classmates step forward to receive scholastic honors. Outnumbered and overshadowed, they have toiled diligently in an effort to compete with the toothpaste smiles of charming co-eds. But it is the girl with the golden hair that wears the laurel on the brow, brilliantine can accomplish more . than midnight oil. Many schools now award lavallieres as a matter of course, there is no demand for medals. So much atlention has been given to the New Woman lately that almost every one has forgotten about the Old Man. The fact that males constitute .an overwhelmed minority in this year’s crop of graduates dwss not mean that they should be ignored entirely. They have their problems just as the girls have and they need all the help and encouragement that our leather-lunged commencement orators can offer. moment that a college graduate steps ! across the threshold of his alma mater, diploma in hand—that moment marks the turning point in his life. He turns to the left or to the right and makes his way through the world, hoping for the best. Sometimes, after eomparing Things as They Are with Things as He Thought They Would Be, he turns around completely and re-enters his alma mater to work for an advanced degree. That, my dear, is how college professors are made. : But for the young man who comes out of college and stays out, there is no middle course. He must choose between marriage and a career. If he has been fortunate enough to win the love of a capable woman who will make up his mind for him, well and good. He will find plenty to keep him busy around the house. Home-making is a praiseworthy occupation, and too much cannot be said for it—although ed- itorial writters frequently try. There are men, however, who are not content to be mere husbands. They long for economic independence. Some of them remember dimly the days when wage earning was still a gentle- man’s privilege. Sitting by the fire on Winter nights, they have listened to grandpa tell stir- ring tales of the brave pioneering days when he used to go to an office every morning at 9 o'clock and work until 5. The office was run entirely by men, although they had a few wom- en to do the rough manual labor such as sweep- ing, dusting and washing the windows. “I tell you, we didn’t take life as easy as you boys do,” says grandpa, resuming his knitting, “but I rather enjoyed it.” A young man entering a business or pro- fessional field today will find his choice of oc- cupations limited. Most of the desirable jobs are held by women, and the few men who still occupy positions of importance are so closely guarded by woman secretaries that they are practically prisoners. He must be content to work for almost nothing at first, and to de un- skilled labor—addressing envelopes, answering telephones and running errands. “But if he applies himself earnestly to these tasks—addressing envelopes thoroughly on both sides, answering telephones even before they ring, and running errands positively ragged— he can make himself so fmdispensable to his employer that she will elevate him to a post of responsibility. Eventually he may become her personal secretary and learn more about the business than she knows herself. But he can never hope to step into his boss’ shoes as long as they are triple A’s with French heels. In spite of what the rabid feminists say, STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JUNE & 71032.' w - THE LADIES? Mouse removing as a profession affords little opportunity for advancement. there are some things that women cannot do as well as men can. Getting off a street car the right way, for instance, or lighting a cigar- ette in the wind, or removing a mouse from a trap is distinctly a man’s job. But one can- not make a living by getting off street cars or lighting cigarettes, and mouse removing as a profession affords very little opportunity for advancement. ONE of the few paying trades which have not been usurped by women is plumbing and steamfitting. I have yet to hear of a lady steamfitter. = Perhaps this is because steam- fitters are always called “Jake” and there has never been a lady of that name. Gardeners and under-gardeners (the latter look after pota- toes and onions) usually are men, but they are employed only on large estates where jobs are hereditary. A glance through the classified advertise- ments in the newspapers offers little encourage- ment to the young man just out of college. There are columns headed “Help Wanted— Male,” but apparently u’y are hoaxes per- petuated by practical jokers. The ads call for tuckers, shirrers, bushelmen, stationary doll’s eye setters, experienced glass benders, chan- delier chasers and other fantastic and highly specialized workers. They are amusing reading, and one should not take them seriously. It must be quite obvious that an experienced glass bender is merely a person who won't try to bend glass any more because he has learned by experience that it can't be done. And no self- respecting youth who has ever fallen for the left-handed monkey wrench gag is going to let any one send him out chasing chandeliers. A generation ago, when women began to in- vade business and professional fields, men re- garded them with tolerant amusement. It was generally agreed that their shrill insistence upon economic independence was a passing whim; once they got it, they would soon tire of it. It was a part of the feminist movement, like cirgarette smoking, short hair and soprano profanity. But a little earning is a dangerous thing. The girls lked their new jobs; they worked .t LEER “We didn’t take life as easy as you boys do,” says grandpa. ‘hard and reveled in their freedom from the charity that begins at home. The mysteries of money-making which had been jealously concealed from them for so many years proved to be comparatively simple. They discovered that the secret of success consists in acting busy whether one has anything to do or not, and they possessed a natural aptitude for act- ing busy. Soon they had pre-empted most of the positions of responsibility and authority; they were hiring and firing without the aid of a single big black cigar. A favorite phrase of commencement day orators is “the various walks of life.” It sounds pleasant and leisurely. But mere man cannot get far when he has to keep stepping aside to let the ladies by. It is high time that some one organized a Masculinist movement to re- store the rights of American husbands, brothers, fathers and sons. And the first thing that the . Masculinists should do is to recapture the uni- . versities—Academia Irredenta—and extermi¥- nate the co-eds. Send them off to Vassar, in daisy chains if necessary, and give the boys & chance! At the present time a young man in the average graduating class is outnumbered by women ten to one. He leaves his alma mater with a well developed inferiority complex; and when he gets out in the world and begins to look for a job it grows worse. He is a bright young man with an impressive degree, but he cannot compete with the hundreds of equally bright young women with equally impressive degrees. In fact, about all a fellow can do with a eol- lege diploma nowadays is to roll it up into a megaphone and croon through it. Protect Black Locust Trees '‘HE forest experts’ campaign against scrub growth and undergrowth, which present a menace to profitable forest development through adding to the fire hazard and through the stunting effect of too great congestion, finds no support so far as the production of black locust is concerned. This tree, which is rapidly coming to the forefront in filling the demand for fence and other posts which are forced to do service beneath the ground, is beset by one pest, locust borer. This borer tHrives in su and finds shaded areas little to its liking. Because of this, the growth of underbrush and weeds is encouraged in order that the sunshine may be kept from the Jower trifaks of the trees. The locusts, which have come intoc demand with the lessening of the chestnut supply, grow rapidly, and will produce a profitable return in 10 to 20 years on good soil. ‘They mature rapidly in any soil, but the growth is slower is dry, infertile lands. Because of the extensive root structure of the black locust, it serves an admirable purpose in the preventiom of soil erosion, and will aid farmers with sidehill farms to prevent the washing away. of top soil during heavy rains. -