Evening Star Newspaper, December 14, 1930, Page 101

THE,_ ,SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGION, D. C, DECEMBER 14 1900 i, ot bl s st Wi Enjoying It So!” B)/F anicie Hurst A Story of That Long- Dcluycd T'rip to Europc. T was a satisfaction to have reached the age of 52 and be able to afford that trip to Europe. Tirst class, mind you, and for a family of five. None of those tourist tips, either. The Magnus family, the three boys, Dora and Pop, were not going to be ticd down to schedule or bzlong to any traveling del>gation with “tourist” labeled all over them. They departed Meyersville one perfect June morning with what they called an “elastic itinerary” and, except for the necessary pre- caution of booking passage on one of the largest liners for outgoing and returning dates, laid plans to wander as the wind did blow. What with Dora, whose pretty brawn eyes all her life had been fixad upon the vision of Parig shops in which to wander; Steve, her eldest, who dreamed of becoming a civil engineer and must see the great engineering feats of the old world; Bobbie, th> second boy, who was bound he would collect hetel labels from 10 BEuropean metropolises; Leonard, only 11, who wanted to see the Alps that had been crosszd by Napoleon, there were plenty of reasons for the Magnus family to travel ad lib. Even Pop, who de- clared that with evarything so new to him it did not matter much what he saw first, ex- pressed a great desire to visit Sheffield, Eng- land, as early as possibie in the itinerary. It was not unnatural that onc in the retail hard- ware business over a periol of 28 years should harbor a desire to see Shefficld. IT was worth it, all right, that trip, Pop kept assuring himsell every minut> and every inch of the way. Why, just to bz able to buy a map of the city off one of those venders perpetually haunting the sightsecing busses of practically every town visited was worth the price of the trip itself. Great thing for a man to be able to afford his youngstiers the finest opportunities to sharpen their ycung No education like travel! And the wife! To se2 her in Paris was worth every ach2 in ev Dora just blcomed, that's what Dora did. Great thing, travel. A man got fed up on the being soaked part. No us2 denying that. Cer- tainly is the limit the way they tried to put it over on the Americans. And for his part, Pop wasn't going to pretend anything about the galleries! Fine thing for Dora and the growing boys. Why, travel mad> a conversationalist of one, and Pop did nct intend to have his boys ignoramuses, like the embarrassed young men on-the backs of magazines who had not pur- chased certain sets of boois. Those advertisements on the backs of maga- zines had directed at Pon more than one secret jibe. You cannctgteach an old horse new tricks, or undoubtedly he at his time of life would have set about to correct his own de- ficiencies. Well, thank goodness, Dora, sweet one, did not seem to mind his social short- comings. But the boys were going to have their chance. Galleries might not b> the place for a man of 50 with callouses and a back of the neck that seemed to bz the nesting place of cricks, but it was a pleasuve just to loaf around the streets and hotel lobbies waiting while Dora and the boys did the galleries or Na- poleori’s tomb or that of the Unknown Soldier. Something to ram>mber for a lifetime. Some- thing worth having saved up for during a life- time, There were, of course, minor catastrophes. The second month out, Steve developed a tendon in his left heel which made it difficult for him to walz the miles of galleries, and half the time he nappzd in th> hotel, while Dora and the other boys made the rounds. Then, too, as luck would have it, Martin, Pop’s most vaiued employc of 20 years’ standing, fell from a ladder broke his hip, and that left the store pract ly in the hands of young Monroe, a sa man of comparatively reccnt standing, in whom Pop placed no great con- fidence. BUT on the principle thait this was probably the trip of a lifetime, Pop’s and Dora's lifetime at least, and certainly one which the boys could not hope t5 repeat for many a year to come, Pop wrote a 50-page letter of instruc- tions to Monroe, and proceeded to discipline himself to “forget business.” Vienna was a fine town! Except for the fact that no one scemed ever to have heard of “Wienerwurst!” It was a treat to be able to sit out in front of a cafe and for a few pfennig drink as fine a glass of beer as had ever been brewed back heme in the good old days. And Pop. had certainly taken a fancy to Munich, where you could sit in the Hofbrau house while Dora and the boys saw the sights, and even if you were no more of a drinking man than Magnus, whose limit was two mugs of Munchen, 'y bone of his body.’ could enjoy the fine spectacle of camaraderie among these seemingly leisurely people. Now with Italy—oh, fine, and all that—it was nevertheless different. To begin with, German, especially after you had been in the hardware business in Meysrsville all these years, was something you had picked up from cus- tomers who lived in a part of town vulgarly known as “Sauerkraut Patch.” One felt at home with the Germans because there were £0 many of them in Meyersville. But the Eyetalians certainly were hard nuts to crack. No getting n2xt to those fcllows. Fine for Dora and the boys. Steve had a chance to see some of the big things Mussolini was planning in an enginesring way, and Rome and Florence certainly wer> filled with mighty old things. But funny, just next to” impcssible to get a decent dish of spaghetti in Italy. - “A Big Night for Cacsar.” -~ Continued jrom Tenth Page will credit your mother’s account with it, and that man can be taken care of later.” “No,” said Caecar stoutly. K2 pul the wal- It into his pocket and pizked up his hat. “I weuldn't like to do it,” said Mr. Mellish sofily, as they reached the door, “to turn you boys over to the police. But rcbbery at the pcint of a gun is an off:ns2 that——" D erately, Caesar threw open thz door, and with Bum close at his heels piung:d out into the hall. They ran hgadlong into the arms of a police officzr, “Easy there, me lads,” boomed the officer. “Don’'t trip up the law. Go along qui:tly now, for Mr. Nelson's waiting downstairs.” “As for meself,” he added grimly, “I have business with the gintleman inside.” GEORGE NELSON rose from a chair in the lounge, and regarded the boys with a beam- ing smile. “First of all,” he said, “I want to apologize for snitching your wallet, Caesar.” ‘What?"” Caesar and Bum founded. “Yes, I took it just as I shoved you onto the subway train.” “Why—why did you take the wallet?” said Caesar in bewilderment. were dum- “For love,” said the engaging Mr. Nelson. “That is—'t occurred to me as I list2ned to your cenversaton back there that this clbow- pincher, Mellish, was altog:ther too acquisitive. Wanting cash and all that. So I went around to a poice eaptain friend of mine and inquired abcut him, and found cut that h’s record was spotted like an Aslatic leopard. And I found out here at the hot-l that he is not just taking a business trip to Chicago, but {§ che2cking out permanently, So I sicked the officer onto him.” “He’s the Viking, all right” commented Czesar a little later as the two boys sat seli-conscious. ly in Caesar’s bedrocm. “Ewell of Mr. Nelson to have got that wallet back to the fat gent, wasn't it? Say! Did you hear that sque21? That means that mother's being kissed.” “Yeh?” said Bum. “Package for Mr. Caesar,” announced Mrs. Eugene O’'Shaughnessy, poking a Celtic red head inside the door. * 'Tis a birthday present from ‘the gintleman.” P “Oh,” trembled Caesar. It was a very Jong, large and wide box,- He pounced upon it eagerly, and with nervous fingers stripped off the cover. Th-re it lay, the glittering, the beau- tiful, the totally gadgetless new suiv—with two pairs of long trousers. . (Copyrighted, 1930.) . Diversification Brings Farmers Prosperity. NOW and then an outsider can step in and tell a man how to run his business and rezlly point the way out of a financial mess. For instance, some time ago a news dispatch frcm a county in Georgia was to the effect that proczperity had come to the farmors of that county because the bankers had told them what to plant and insisted upon compliance as a consideration for the extension of cradit. Hepelessly in debt, or szemingly so, because they had depended upon onz or two crops to furnich them money and a living and the mariet had failed to yicld a prciit, these farm- ers followed thz bankers’ inctructions and di- Th2y had kitchen gardens, tobac-o, p!gs, a dairy on a small scale and various other crops which go to provide the inzome of a general all-around farmer. In this day of specializating farmers have tended to drift away from tae old condition wherein a farmer was certain when Winter rolied around to have a celiar full of food and fuel enough to keep him going piled by the wood shed. Nearby his byrn was full of hay and straw, his silo with corn, clover, alfalfa and other fodder crops. His cackling hens were certain of plenty of fe>d from the crcwded corn crib and the sacks of wheal and oats in the grane:y. It is no uncommon sight th'se days to see a farmer with a load of milk cai.s stop off at the village store and buy butter bread, cheese, bacon and other products w:ich farmers of two or three generations ago were offering for sale from their surplus of these foodstuffs. Growing more and more dependent upon s cash crop for their own livelihocs, the farmers of the present are at the mercy of market conditions. A falling market can spell disaster while at the same time the market for some other farm products may be skyrocketing. Realizing this, the Georgia bankers made the farmers sceking loans or extensions on existing loans to diversify, to spread their eggs over more than -one or two baskets, and as a result these farmers, largely small-scale farmers with 50 or less acres, had a prosperous season. It took a banker to show th2 farmer how to farm, and the Colquit County farmers recognize the wisdom of the plan. Junkmen’s 1 >rofits. HE lowly junkman, with his rickety wagon or wheezing old truck, may appear on ths surface to b2 engaged in a very unproductive business, yet the combined efforts of all junk- men, large and small, brought about the recovery last year of $331,000,000 in non- ferreus metals alone. These metals include copper, lead, aluminum, zine, tin, antimony and nickel, . ~ Cycle Business Grows. NE hears much cf the business cycles these days, but so far as one business was con- cerned—the cycle business—1929 was a pros- perous year. There were 16 per cent more workers employed turning cut bicycles and motor cycles than in 1927 and the total value of the products, $23,843,000, was an increase of 11 per cent over 1927, Pop enjoyed being able to sit out in front of a cafe. Vienna was a fine town, all right, except that no one seemed to have ever heard of “wienerwurst.” Well, it was all part of the philosophy of “live and learn.” There was the whole thing in a nutshell. Live and learn. Dora was living this trip! To see her eyes shine over the blue crepe dress frcm Paris testified to that. Boys were too young to realize it, but every single day was storing up in those ycung minds impressions of a lifetime. Days might drag a bit for Pop, Monrce and his ill equipment for running the business might weigh more heavily than Pop would have liked, but just the same the means justified the end. T was at the conclusion of the third month that Pop came to what, for him, was & heroic conciusicn. After all, trip of a life- time; boys at the formative pericd; Dora have ing tke time «f her life—the thing to do, even if he had to wire his brother in Wichita for a loan of $1,000 cn collateral of his building loan asscciation stock, was to stick it out ane other month! = Two wezks in Paris was mighty little for a woman who had looked forward to it all her life. Why, as the guide he had engaged to do the galleries with them had remarked, “the Louvre itself was worth two weeks of intensive study,” to say nothing of the fact that the Eiffel Tower and places like that were worthy of Steve's careful consideration. And history! To stand at the top of the Champs Elysees and look down that fine street was to live .all.over the days of Napoleon who had planned out that street. Yes, sir, it might mean long .hours of sitting around the street cafes of theMewny and Pop certainly did ‘not care for the sfrupy drinks or tie inky cofTee that seemed the order of those terraces, but again on the principle— only ecome to Europe once, Pop, as his sur- prise of the voyage, sprang his news to the family—after the money had been wired for fromt Wichita, the original return passage can- celed, and the new passage for six weeks later purchased. It seemed to Dora that if ever her influence over her three sons had reached its triumphant peak it was during Pop's release of his tidings one evening in their narrow hotel sitting room in the Hotel Griffon in Paris. Leonard, whose nostalgia for his swimming hole at Cracks Creek back home had been something which which his mother had secrelly struggled the Summer through, began frankly to cry, but then Lennie was the baby and Pop never even noticed. But Steve, who should have known better, actually started to be rude to Father and explain that the ten- don in his heel had all been a hoax to eéscape one more day of the agony of traipsing Europe and except for the heel of Dora's shoe, dug into his instep, would have wounded his father for life. The same way with Bobbie. There was a dreadful moment when it ed that the bosy would explode some of the secret nos- talgia. with which Dora had been coping all these months had she not jumped quick- ly into the breach, tiding over the disaster of letting Pop kncw the horrible truth. “Why Dad, that’s mighty darling generous of you, But I declare, honey, I think me and the boys have had about enough...” “There yoa go again, sacrificing your own desires to wyat Jou imagine are mine. This time, thcugh, T've foreseen all that. This trip ain’t over, honey—it’s just about to begin for you and the boys—you're noi going to siy when you get home that you didn't see Europe. See that packige there! That's guide boogs!” As Dora afterward 3xplained, tearfully, prayerfully, to her three insurgent sons, “Stick it out, darlings—fcr my sake! If I can make the best of it, surely you young ones can. We'll be home again in eight weecks, darlings. X know it seems awful lorz now—but Mother wilt do her best to let you out of the traipsing, Stick it out, darlings, for Pop's sake. Pop is enjuying it so!” v Copvrieh, 1938) v o0