ON BEING
LATE
8B
By R. H. WILKINSON
©. Bell 8yndicate.~WNU Service
ARBARA WILLIAMS is the sort
B of person who never arrives any-
where on time.
If you have an appointment to
meet her on a certain street corner
at a certain time, you can depend
upon her being at least a half hour
late, and safely regulate your own
time of arrival accordingly.
No matter what the circumstances
or how important the function Bar
bara concerns herself not with prompt-
ness.
Of course she is always full of ex-
cuses and apologies, and actually gives
the impression of being frightfully
sorry that “something intervened so
she just couldn't make it.”
Moreover, she is a wholly lovable
person, possessed of an incredibly
sweet disposition, and delightful com-
pany.
And when she looks at you with deep
concern and pleading written in her
rather attractive brown eyes, you are
apt to cover your annoyance with a
forgiving smile and hope that next
time she'll make an effort to be more
accommodating,
There have been nuinberless sugges-
tions offered for cures for people hav-
ing this being-late fault,
But most always these suggestions
are offered by persons who don't have
to live with folks like Barbara Wi-
llams.
It is quite simple when you are not
dependent on a Barbara Willlams for
one thing and another, to suggest
tyrannical methods of effecting a cure.
% . -
Dick Williams, who is Barbara's hus-
band, is an easy going sort of person,
and for a time after their marriage In
1928 his wife's tardiness didn’t bother
him a great deal
But as their wedded life progressed,
the thing began to get on his nerves
After a year of meeting Barbara
downtown once each week on Thurs
day nights in order that they might
dine out together, and having to walt
80 minutes beyond the scheduled time,
he spoke of the matter, at first casual-
ly, then more seriously and finally in
an outburst of anger.
And on h occasions Barbara
would turn the full power of her large
brown eyes on him and nod her head
in sad agreement
“lI don’t blame you, darling,” she'd
say. “Not a bit. [I should try to be
on time, shouldn't I?
And Dick would rage:
ly should! Why, it's positively selfish,
Insulting. Folks invite you places and
You can't even pay them the courtesy
of arriving on time! You ought to be
ashamed !”
“lI am,” Barbara would admit hum-
bly. "I am ashamed, precious.”
And “precious” would get up and take
her in his arms and kiss ber and tell
her he wag sorry he had talked to
her so, but something really ought to
be done about it
. * *
such
“You certain-
Which would bring the matter to a
close, and Barbara on the day follow-
Ing would accept an invitation to a
bridge party at three In the afternoon
and would arrive at 3:30, having for-
gotten or disregarded her firm resolu-
tions made in Dick's presence on the
night before,
The thing at length reached a point
where Dick, driven to exasperation,
his nerves on edge, his pride injured,
determined that some drastic step
would have to be taken to effect a
cure.
It must end.
He loved Barbara, he knew, more
sincerely and deeply than did the
average husband in this day and age.
She had no other faults that were
worth mentioning.
She qualified in every respect as a
wife and companion and helpmate In
his chosen profession.
Yet, despite everything—everything,
by golly—she had to be cured of this
one deficiency, or one, perhaps both
of them, would go crazy.
. ® .
And forthwith®Dick set himself down
to think and scheme and plan to the
best of his ability.
And after an hour of deep mental
labor, he hit on an idea.
Today was Tuesday. Friday next
would mark thelr second anniversary.
It meant a lot to Barbara. A great
lot,
She had been talking about it, plan
ning on it for weeks. She had bought
a new frock In which to celebrate.
She had selected the place where
they were to dine, chosen the theater
which they would attend afterward.
It was, In fact, a big day in her
life,
A thrilling, romantie, cherished hour
during which she could be alone with
her husband and tell him how per
fectly adorable he was and how happy
she'd been during the past two years,
Dick’s plan, taking all the above
into consideration, was, on the sur
face, cruel
And yet he told himself savagely it
was no more than she deserved. s
It would, he wagered, cure her once
and for all of her great fault,
And so, having decided to promote
his brilliant idea, Dick advised his
wife that on Friday evening he would
meet her on the corner of Tremont
and Boylston streets at exactly five
o'clock. .
He would, he sald, leave the office
early in order to get there,
This would allow them plenty of
time for dinner, without having to
hurry.
Barbara was thrilled.
She thought he might have forgot-
ten,
The fact that he had voluntarily
mentioned the great day increased her
happiness 100 per cent.
She kissed him tenderly and agreed
to the time and place of the meeting.
* * .
During the intervening days before
Friday Dick felt rather low.
He hated to resort to such tricks:
he hated to make Barbara unhappy if
it could be prevented.
She was so wholly loveable and
trusting. Yet he must go through
with is. It was the only way.
She must be cured.
And so when, at last, Friday rolled
around, Dick left the office early as
previously planned, but instead of driv-
ing in town toward the agreed meeting
place, he turned his car toward the
suburbs and home.
He drove slowly, moodily.
Once or twice he almost changed
his mind, but the traffic was heavy
and turning about would be difficult.
He parked his car in the garage
which he rented, a couple of blocks
from the house, and sat in it a few
moments, unhappily contemplating the
blank wall ahead.
It was now 5:15, and he judged that
Barbara would just about be arriving
at Tremont and Bolyston,
He couldn't conceive of her being
more than a quarter hour late on thelr
anniversary.
® ® *
Presently he ellmbed from the ma-
chine, closed and locked the garage
doors, sighed heavily, and started
home. It was, he reflected, going to
be a pretty trying scene when they
faced each other later that evening.
He pictured her now, standing on
the corner, looking about for him, an
anxious expression In her big brown
eyes.
He saw her garbed In her new gown,
the dress she had bought and pre-
served for this occasion,
He saw the eager anticipation in her
face; the growing disappointment and
despair when he didn't come.
“It's no more than she deserves,” he
told himself savagely.
“T'll cure her once and for all of
this habit of being late. She deserves
iti»
Yet as he swung Into the walk and
unlocked the front door, a feeling of
utter misery swept over him.
He felt like a cad, sneaky, utterly
unhappy. He wished mightily that he
had decided against the idea.
It was an underhanded thing to do,
a pretty low way of getting back.
» * -
He entere«
hat on the diva
edly into 2
Guilt and
written on
and slumped deject-
shame and misery were
his face.
fighting against
He leaped to his feet, glanced at his
watch,
and decided that if he hurried
could get in town In ten minutes
could offer some excuse. A flat tire
Engine trouble, Anything to explain—
Abruptiy he stopped, stared, swal
lowed, rubbed his eyes,
The bedroom door had opened.
Barbara stood there, resplendent in
he
gloves in her hands, bag tucked under
her arm.
At sight of him her eyes widened.
She rushed across the room.
“Darling!
me!
ing to let me ride in on the dirty
street cars. And you got here just in
time, too, I was just about to leave!
Another moment and I would have
been gone!”
Dick stared and blinked and tried to
adjust his confused thoughts.
Five thirty-five his watch had sald
And she was just about to leave!
And on their-anniversary, too!
Rage seized him.
He opened his mouth to speak,
checked himself, saw her big brown
eyes looking at him so tenderly, so
loveably, so adorably.
A feeling of helplessness, utter,
stark helplessness took possession of
him. He wondered what he'd better
do, wondered what he could do, won-
dered what anyone else In his place
would do. And then decided that, un-
der the circumstances, there was only
one thing he could do. And he did It
He drew her toward him, folded his
arms about her and kissed her,
Switzerland Has Much Snow
Switzerland is an inland mountain
ous country in the central portion of
the Alps and has an area of 15076
square miles, The northwest of the
country, bounding France and Ger
many, consists of some of the parallel
ridges and valleys of the Jura moun:
tains, Between Lake Constance on
the Rhine and the Lake of Geneva on
the Rhone, are the Lakes Neuchatel,
Zurich, Lucerne, Brienz and Blenne,
which all drain to the Aar. Lake Ge
neva and Lake Constance each exceed
200 square miles In area. Owing to
ita elevation, much of Switzerland Is
under permanent snow, i
Ostrich Fast Runner
The ostrich, one of the swiftest crea.
tures on earth, uses its outspread
wings to help It In running, and it
can thus reach an amazing speed, Une
fortunately for the bird, It does not
run straight, but in large circles, so
that a hunter mounted on a horse
much less swift than the ostrich can
cut corners and thus get within gun.
shot of his quarry. The ostrich feeds
mostly on grass and vegetable mat.
ter, but it will eat almost anything,
including small animals and birds,
Common Colds Cause
Loss of Working Time
It is estimated, says Scientific
American, that the 306,000,000 wage
earners in the United States are ab-
sent from their work because of ill
ness at least 200,000,000 working
days per year, A life Insurance com:
pany found that common colds are
among the chief sources of lost time
(6,700 employees) amounting to 420.7
per 1,000 employees for the year,
In view of the recognized anti-In-
fective value of vitamin A, it seemed
logical to consider the possibilities of
decreasing the lost time of those de
pendent upon Industrial employment
for a livelihood by supplementing the
dietary with material rich in vitamin
A. Accordingly, an Investigation has
been conducted to determine whether
using cod-liver oil as a supplement to
the usual home diet would be of defi
nite economic value for decreasing
lost time caused by colds and similar
infections. The results of the experi-
ment are reported in “Industrial and
Engineering Chemistry.”
One hundred and eighty-five per.
sons served as subjects of the experi
ment (115 women and 70 men). The
control group of 128 persons con-
tained 88 women and 40 men, The
members of the experimental group
were given one tablespoonful of cod-
liver oil daily, during the morning or
afternoon rest period, as a supple-
ment to their usual home dietary,
What Girls Talk About
Do you know what the principal
topic of conversation is with girls
and young women? The opposite
sex, of course. Yes, sir, take them
in high school, college, office, fac-
tory, or where you will, It is always
the same, And more especially is it
true of working girls, The industrial
health research board of London,
England, “listened-in” on the discus
sion of girls working at monotonous
occupations for 54 weeks, Boys
(men) came In for the most talk,
then movies, dresses, and so on down
the line,
dated packages, When you buy Fer-
ry's Seeds you are sure of the finest
quality available, Ady.
Ancient Proverb
He that has a head of wax must
not walk in the sun,
«= sand what does it mean
to you? §
touch
the
tapu Is broken the transgressor suf-
fers great agony of mind, Some have
died In agony after learning that they
had eaten some food that was for
bidden,
S
Li
A.
OPEN AIR ROOF CARDEN
UNUSUAL SAMPLE ROOMS
DINING ROOMS
(Table @'Hote and s ls Carte Service)
CAFETERIA
GARAGE SERVICE
located,
J.FINK.. Managing Direclor
FR
om
50
daily |
FAMOUS RADIO ANNOUNCER
says: |
‘I'tl announce to the |
world that THE EDISON |
is a great Hotel” |
1
Performance
RECORDS
FIRESTONE
HIGH SPEED TIRES
for fourteen consecutive
years have been on the
winning cars in the
500 « mile Indiangpolis
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w=for seven consecutive
years have been on the
winning care in the
daring Pike's Peak climb
where a slip meant death.
wefor three consecutive
years have been on the
i131 busewr of the
Washington, (D. CC.)
Railway and Electric
Company, covering
ILASTR10 bus miles
without one minute's
delay due to tire trouble,
wespere on the Neimes
Motors® Ford Ve8 Truck
that made 8 new
coast-to-coast record eof
67 hours, 45 minutes, 30
seconds actual running
time,
cars of today.
throughout the United States.
DEEPER
NON_.SKID
GREATER
THICKNESS
@
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and WIDER
TREAD
MORE and
TOUGHER
RUBBER
SIZES
5.50-19 HD
6.00-17 HD
6.00-18 nD
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is
65
I
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