| Show L THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNit SUNDAY MORNING 4 RT H HOW real are the little tragedies of childhood! t:t '4 S A Theyhappen—are gone But always they stand out poignant and sharp against the tangled web of the events of the past Now that I am Just graduated frcim college I can't help rtmembering the little girl that used to be me before all those years of schooling filled her life: she was so small and so earnest' and so childish And now—I am she Gee us kids sure liked wash days Mother'd take three little buckets that used to have lard in 'em—but all the lard'd been used—stick in two pieces o' bread an' butter an' peanut butter an' Jelly an' Bill an' Jimmy'an' me would go sit on the back porch steps and eat it The best place on the step t' sit was on the side farthest away from th' wall So we'd take turns sitting there But ol' Jimmy'd always try to get the outside no matter whose turn it wuz One' awn hot day 'bout three or four weeks after the big kids got outa school ter the summer I came tearing outa the house with m' lunch bucket hollering "My turn t' be on the outside!" and hurried up an! sat down lore they could say it wasn't either Jimmy just about pushed me outa my place when he heard me yelling but I'd beat 11m so he sat down on the side that was the closest to the wall of the house "Bill" he Says pointing his finger at 'is brother "you be in the mid- dle today" "No" said Bill "it ain't my turn" He Starts Eatin' hat back and wavedhis-stra- forth and acted like he wasn't going to move even if it was hot in the sun I wasn't gonna sit and listen to them fightin' all day so I opened my bucket and pulled out my bread and peanut butter and started eatin1 Bill quit waving his hat then and ' Sat down in the middle Jimmy was a'ready chewing and the corners of his mouth were all purple with grape jelly Then he says with his mouth so full we could hardly len what he was talkin' about "Get wash days is swell I wish moth7t had to wash every day" "Yeah" said fliy "then we hive a lut4h every day" I saVup talky "Jimmy and me CAN have onythat often" I says "when we sta l t goin' to school this could Setember4 "Aw shux" said Bill like that was nothin' "I can too if you can" I looked at 1m He was on'y a baby—purty near two years younger 'n Jimmy and me "You cannot You're only four an' a 'half and so yoU can't go to school this Seternber-Th- ey ohif let lads go that's six like me an' Jimmy An' It you don't come to school you can't have a lunch 'cept on wash days" ' When we got through eatin1 we all tried tt think of sump'n to do We wuz sick a' playin' pirate cuz we'd played that all morning "Well" said Bill "play like I'm the Pioneer scout and Linda she can be the Indian brave and Jimmy—" S "No" I says I hadn't been listening to Bill cuz I'd just thought of sump'n swell "Let's have a show!" Bill scratched his head "Nay I wanta be the Pioneer scout" he says Decide on Show But Jimmy stuck up for me: "Sure let's have a show You c'n be the Pioneer scout in it Bill" I Jumped up "Sure and we'll go get some sunflowers and fie up a stage like it was the plains" We started around the house and across the street to the field where we wuz gonna pick the flowers We'd (t just comeouta the shadow of the house when we saw that a man In blue overalls and a black shirt was 'digging up our field with a thing' that was hitched to two great big horses "Gosh" said Bill pointing at 'em "looky" "Wbat they doin'?" I asked' 'Jimmy stuck his hands in pockets nooks t' me like they're a hole" diggin' "Yeah" I said grabbin' his arm 'but what they doin' it for?" Jimmy pulled away frum me "Oh just to be diggin! one I gum' I started stcross the street "Come 'on kidS—let's go ask our mothers!' It was sure gonna be swell Even when Jimmi'epamy Uncle Bay —broUght us Mute a fish couldn't make us stop taildn' about in a big bucket it We just put '1m filled up with water named rim Minnie and went across the street to see the man in th' 'overalls unload bricks They was swell purple' ones—a lot purtier than just plain re4 like our houses But that 'Ng day when the bricks wu ben' unloaded there was a new kid walking pp an't Own in trout at 'em PockSIVand tät his Um lt -- the time they got it but Instead he stuck his chin He saw us coming of stain' like it out some more an1beganto whistle Just like a bird on walking up an' down ae' looked at the workmen like he was seeing If they wuz making the cement awright We stopped a little ways away and watched Nothing happened for a while Then the new kid walked over to us His hands were still in 'is pockets and he acted kinds smart HITOoke—dTttns Then he says "I just finished with the dipteerya" Billy looked at him Us kids had He "Pooh" said the newpoy "that's nothin1 measles an' chickenpox ain't nothin' to dipteerya Dipteerya's the worst thing you can have" "Well we ain't had the dipteerya maybe" said Jimmy- gettin' kinda mad "but we got a fish named Minnie He's a minnow" "Oh well" an' the new kid started to go away "that ain't nothin' I'd rather have a dog any day than a old fish" "our mammaS "Well" I says won't let us have a dog" He looked at me like he'd jus' seen me I felt funny Then he pointed 'is finger at me and frowned—"She's a girl" Then 'e kep' on lookin' at me like we oughta say somep'n back But Jimnyclidn't say anything and Billy just scratched 'is head I felt like yuli do the first time you put on that prickly winter underwear "I ant not a girl" I says your Jutmer he "Well-what'- s asked me I tor 'im it was Linda "See" he shouted "she's a girl I told you she was" he went on turnin' around to my cousins "She's a girl and you guys is sissies fer playin' with girls" "We are not sissies" said Jimmy real loud lookin' at me outa the corner of his eye "She's our cousin and we got t' play with her" "Aw yuh do not" I says "You to It's play with me cuz yuh want ' fun playin' with me" - New Kid- Laughs new The kid opened his big mouth an' laughed till his shoul- mixer on ders shook The the road by us 'd started to turn so he had t1 shout back "Well I got a sister but I don't play with her I ain't gonna be a sissy like you guys" cent allstoortarotuAJeelin' kinda funny an' didn't say anything Jimmy stood on one foot and then changed over Billy pushed his hair outa his eye I jus' swallowed of The sun shone through dust where the workmen shook a sack they'd just dumped the pow- dery stuff out of The piles of bricks were s' hot you couldn't stand to touch 'ern It was purty near too hot t' even breathe There wasn't any noise 'ceptin' the ce- ment mixer turning I stood still but I watched ev'rything them three kids did and most of all I watched that new kid that VIUZ actin' s' stuck up My cousins wuz lookin' at the new boy too but I knew they'd rather play with me any day I was so sure that I started walking back across thI street yelling over m' shoulder "Come on kids let's go have our show" But they didn't come after me an' I stopped In the middle of the dusty road to see why not- Bill 'd walked up nearet to the new kid His eyes wtre all round and he was smilin' "Gee I'd ire like to go in that new house I guess you c'n go in that house about Any time you want to" The new boy leaned down and flipped a piece of dust ofrn one leg of 'Is pants lore he says smarty like "Shure I can I can go in 'at old house any or time I want to" "Can yuh?" says Jimmy comin' over too and looking at the new kid like he was sumpin swell— We Gosh!" I was scald but I stiyed in the road an' yelled "Hey ain't you kids comin'?" They Tell Names The new boy acted like he'd forgot all about me till I hollered Then he looked over towards me and wrinkled up his forehead and pressed his lips together tight But be didn't say nothin' to me lie Just turned around and asked my cousins what their names wuz They told him and then 'they says "What's yours?" He said it WEt3 Paul "Mother says you gotta play with me" I told 'em while I was walking back to the place where the three kids :was 'an tell 441 yal0 ut I'M By GIRL A and shook her hair again "let's forget about boys Whew! It's sure hot Let's make some sody water" NI MARGARET PARSONS (University of Utah Student) pp don't-I'-ll Indian scout like I could for Jim an' Bill to play—an' I bet if I went t' Californy to live they'd be sorry An' I was gonna do it too But then sump'n happ'ned It was in the first of August that another kid showed up It wuz Paull sister She was two years older than him an' she had a pink organdie an' gum She had some purty white slippers an' socks too an a pink parasol with ruffles over it An' besides that she had a swell brown nurse her mamma gave 1er cuz it was dirty an' the handle was tore off W'en I first saw 'er she was standing a little ways away from the new house so's she wouldn't get her dreu dirty watchint-tmen work I was all alone over on our frontlawn and wished she'd look over at me She did too after a little while an' waved fer me t1 come over I went across the street Her name was Sally Ann but she wasn't purty atall Sne was skinny an' when she'd smile at yuh you could see where 'er new teeth hadn't grew in yet But she was quite nice Besides she knew a lot of things I hadn't ever heard of She showed me how yuh play sacks an She said my dolls was dressed too young 'cause they didn't have any party dress that showed their bare back Paul Just laughed and says "Girls Is like that—tattle tales" "You're an old tattle tale yer- self" I yelled "An' you better watch out too" "Yeah? I ain't scairt 'a' you!" he says Then he turned around to ward the ouse and hollered out "Come on 'kids let's get some cement an' stick rocks together" I saw Jim and Billy run after him Just jumpin' up 'and down like they was s' glad That made me mad as heck "You better watch out" I says "You'll beoorry I'll get a dog too An' you kids-xan- 't play with him neither when I get 'in" Boy I wished I had a new house I wouldn't never let—Paut -- even stand on the sidewalk in front of It An' I'd never let Jimmy an' Bill In neither 'ceptin' about once It was so darn hot my hair stuck to m1 forehead looked jus' like pieces a' black string I sat down '' lifthe shade of the back porch and watched Minnie swimmin' around In all that cold water I wished I was a fish—Gosh! t hi ad Always Doin"rhings I never had a bit a fun after that day but Jimmy an' Billy wuz always doin' keen things One time they went swimmin' with Paul in the creek two blocks' down the street Course it was only a ditch an' yuh couldn't do anything but wade and maybe lay down in it belly buster sometimes but it sure was fun I bet Another time Paul built a- bonfire in the field down by the corner an' tried to cook some eggs and potatoes Jimmy an' Billy was sorry they done that though cur they got spanked- fer playin' with matches That was the pn'y good thing that happened the whole time after that one wash day All I did was jus' tag mother all around the house while she was workin' and say "What'll I do now?" Finally she got sick of havin' me in 'er way all the time an' says "Oh quit whining go play with your cousins an' that new little boy that's been with them lately He'll be your neighbor soon anyway" I already knew that an' as long' as I couldn't think of anything that could happen to stop it there was no use of talking to her any more I'd just have V wait fer the next wash day Jimmy an' Billy'd hafta eat lunch with me then cuz mother'd make us some samiches to stick in the lard bucket An' while we were eatin"em I'd tell Jim and Bill what an or smarty cat Paul wax anLthenthey'd quit playin with 'int an' we'd all ack mad and wouldn't speak to 'int Wash Day Again Finally it was wash day again We sat down on the back porch steps with our lunch stuck on our lap I opened up mine and pulled out a samich Jimmy and Billy didn't open theirs though so I says real nice "Come on an' eat kids" Just then I heard somebody walkiir up the sidewalk It was Paul coming He was hurrying along the path swinging a tin lard bucket by the handle an' acting like Ihe owned the world He was grinning as hard as an or booby cat when he stopped down at the bottom' of the stepti and says to my cousins "Come on kids" He didn't even look at me Jimmy got up kinda slow and started to walk over by Paul On the next to the last step he stopped and turned around to me Billy' turned around too Then Jimmy wiggled his shoulders an' monkeyed with the handle of his lunch bucket "We're gonna eat in the new house" he says I felt kinds sick 4o my 'stomach I never—thought Paul would butt in on wash days Then Paul stuck one hand on his hip and says "Say Jim how's our fish?' I stood up "He's not YOUR fish" "He is too" Paul says back "Jim give 'im to me Didn't yuh Jim?" He looked at me "What good is a Throws Lunch Away Then they all went away to the new house Bill an' Jim wouldn't even play with me on Wash day I threw my lunch over the back fence sat down on the steps an' bawled I didn't see why or Paul had to come and live across the street anyhow' There was lotsa other fields his mamma could 'a built 'im a house In I bet he couldn't think splioodNames-abouVitra- ta an' Indian-Woul- ture taken or sump'n but after lor to see if I was getting any uglier We played a lot a' things Ev'ry day Sally'd wanta play sump'n different I didn't see Jim an' Bill very many times but I knew they'd ask to play with me some more some time Blore Sally Ann came I'd wantee'em t' come back the most of anything but after I played with her a while I started thinking about a whole lot of other stuff Course Jimmy an' Billy were th' most fun But Sally Ann was fun to play with too She liked me cuz she could beat me when we wuz playin' games or makin' doll clothes or thinking up things to play An' I got so su'prised at all the funny things she tol' me she began t' get the swelled head I on'y talked about boys to her one time It was a hot day w'en we were laying on the grass in our back yard Some bees wuz flying In circles around the rose that grew on the back fence I dug down In the grass an' found a funny bug that wuz tryin' to crawl away I started playing with it an' kicking my foot up an' down Sally Ann layed on 'er stomick an' pulled up pieces of grass biting off the white roots an' chewing 'em There wasn't much taste to 'em but she liked t1 do it - Liked Sally Best - morell about anybody so I tol"er about Jim and Billy an' Me She stopped biting the grass and got up on 'er elbows Then she looked at me There was two little wrinkles in between 'er eyes "Heck" she said throwing her head so her long hair Jumped "who wants t' playwith boys? Dirty kids that always wants to play Indian or somep'n" She layed down again an' put her cheek up against the grass She acted about Jimmy an' Billy the same as Paul acted about me I couldn't see why she did "T know" I says still pushing at the funny bug while I tried t' figger out whut she meant "but mother's married to daddy an' nobody says he's a sissy" "That's diff'rent" said Sally Ann 'They're grown up Besides if your father wasn't around who'd fix the screens an' water the lawn an'—" "But Sally" I tried to tell 'er "You says Raymond was your beau You says it yerself" She turned over on her back and looked up at the sky "Yes but ev'rybody has a beau somebodr they like But yuh don't play with 'era It's lust aorta someone you think about sometimes that you choose at parties or something" I still didn't know what she was talking about but I didn't know what else to say Did that mean I could on'y choose Jimmy and Billy at parties? If it did which one 'ud I choose?" galltsat girls" she says We thoughtbe 'sure wuz actin' silly But as we ent around the corner of the hous he stopped yelling an' scratched is ear He was frowning Ev'ry time he wanted to have a game a' baseball with the other kids and tried to make Sally an' me jealous by telling us about it lissen to 'im because we'd made a swell thing to on an' we'd rather play do that Anyway I didn't care whut he said any mores I didn't care if I WUZ a girl— lb was lots more fun to play with Sally b'cause she knew s' many swell games an' as hop-scot- ch ball Everything Yellow It was atill hot in the daytime but in the afternoons it got cooler so it was just right The dust in the air 'made everything look yel- low even the trees and the street We had some yellow flowers too that were growing in a straight' line along by the back porch steps I sat on the top step an' played jacks by myself'cuz Sally Ann was home helpin' to get her stuff ready tr move in the new house I knew Hilly and Jimmy had been called in to take their baths and Paul knew It too so when he came an' sat on the bottom- step I guessed he' was just gonna try t' act smart again He sat up real straight like he was trying to have football shoul- ders "Well" he says "I fed Minnie a piece a' bread and he died "You-le- - You - backand-- - wen- t- on-- - playing- - Congress has been get- 171'"' ting more mbney out ' of us lately than Dill linger Dillinger 1 take it till after you get it but Congress is VAC making us all sign O U S for all we "1 will ever get during 7' 'our lifetime Well its just as well for they have passed the big inheritance tax and that gets you when you are gone You used to could die and be able to beat taxes but not now Will Regent The undertaker dont your body as carefully SI the assessor does your accumiliated assets and he gets his before the undertaker They have it on these big fortunes now where they pay as high as 60 to 70 per cent of what they leave 'rhats mighty expensive dying when it runs into money like that and you wont see em dropping off as casually as they have been They are always talking about Diss couraging capital from doing something" Well this is going to disscourage em from ceding off this earth'S mortal &Alit Course I think its a good law You have bad the use of it during your lifetime so turn it over to the Clovernment and they can do some darn fool thing with it no telling what maby something just as foolish as the children of the deceased would What is it they say "Its only one generation from a pick handle to a putter and one more from a tuxedo to a tramp" This thing of finding things to tax is becoming quite a problem You see when -- -tt 4 -Over taxes first started(whostarted pnylbowW Noah caustlav jaketrintotthi I I I didn't feel a bit mad like I always thought I would if I got the chance t' talk to 11m- Course he'd made -- Jinuny an' Billy quit playin1 with lent but now it jus' didn't seem as bad as it did at first "Yeah" said Paul "I guess I did - —but we give 11m a swell funeral—" He didn't say anything fer a minute Then he stood up— "Guess we'll be startin' school 'cept Billy pretty soon" I 'could tell he was mad euz I ack like I cared about what he was sayin' He kicked the toe of one of 'IS khoes against the top step an' like he was givin' me a million dollars says: "You can be my beau" "But I don't want to" says "and- - thanks jug' the same" He stopped kicking an' his eies opened real wide "Don't want - 1 3 I I - to!" Looks at Him I iat still an' looked at him I felt just like I was kits ma sittin' there watching that little piece of yellow hair that kep' falling down In his eye I wanted to push it back an' smooth it down for 1m but I knew if I did he'd get mad -- Bo I just sat still and felt kinda sad It wuz funny— He looked at the yellow flowers a while I sat on the top step in my clean blue dress and looked at the new shoesI had on My ball was in one hillot and the jacks were still thrown out ready ler two's an' upsies didn't know what to say "I can't play with you Paul" I started out He gond up jthe like that there peacock they got over in the zoo—in the cage :lex' t' the reindeers He wanted to know why not It seemed like all at once I knew I tried t1 tell Paul so's he'd know too and wouldn't-kee- p on-be- in' mad at me So I sat on the top step with my little girls' toys spread out around me I could feel the new blue dress come crinkling over my knees I shook my head "I can't play with you Paul" I gays "You see—I'm a girl" Can't Hide Anything From the Tax Thinkers-U- p No Matter How Hard You Try Well all I know is just what I read IA the papers In fact all I know la just what I read about Dillinger and Congress : d Will Rogers Says: - It wuz s' warm an' ev'rything an' Sally was so nice that I liked her - I r that I started looking in the mil I fish to GIRLS anyhow?" "We eave your half a Minnie t' Paul" Bill says "We ain't gonna be sissies Paul ain't one an' we ain't We ain't gonna have nothin' to do with girls cause Paul says only sissies plays with girls" other We didn't pay any attenshun to him while he stood an' watched us from behtlid a little hill of dirt In front of the house All of a sudden he opened his mouth an' yelled at the top of his voice and started dancing around like he d do thought a wild Continue Drinking But we went right on drinking our soda water event! it was awn nasty an' warm Purty soon Paul quit dancin1 an' stood in front of the hill this time looking at us Finallk be hollered out "Hey atcha got?" "Shut up" said Sally—she W as always talkin1 mean when she said anything to him Then she says to me "Come on Let's go around the back" When Paul saw us getting up to go he picked up a bunch of little rocks and threw 'em at us They all fell in the middle of the road but be didn't care He wiggled around an' hollered "Ha ha you're Pretty and Ugly One day while we were making one Sally says "You're purty now but that's a sign you'll be ugly when you're old" Then she quit threading her needle an' looked at me with her head over on one side "But rm ugly now so that's a sign be pretty when I'm old" I was kinda scald I never used to look at m'sell much 'cept when I was gettin' ready to have in' pic- - soon as she moved into the new house we was gonna make some dishes outs mud and bake 'mu hard in the sun I guess that'd be lots more fun than playin' foot Making Soda Water She jumped Then she up grabbed my hand and pulled me up too I never heard a' makin' soda water All I iever tasted was a'ready made an' in bottles with corks on 'em that daddy had to get off It seemed kinda funny to forget Billy an' Jimmy t' think about It We started looking for some soda though and found‘9ut ours wuz all gone "Well" said 4 Sally :let's borrow some drom your aunt not' door" We went down the back porch steps "Maybe she hasn't got any either: But I guess we c'n see" I says We knocked on the door an' when Aunt Jean came Sally acted awf'l Wine "Linda's mother's makin' a cake an she'd like to borrow some soda" she says I was scairt to death That was a lie Sally told A real reglar lie But she didn't care She put some soda an' water an' a little bit a' 'sugar in some glasses and' says "Come on let's go drink it out on the front lawn an' bring a spoon so's we c'n stir it" I went outside In back of her carrying my glass Paul was over on the other side of the street climbing a plank up to the big hole that was gonna be the door ter the new house We acted like we didn't even see 1m In a little while he started seeing If he could walk down the plank without fallin' off He stuOt his arms out and walked down the board leaning from one side to the fin- Begins to Whistle measles in' chickenpox once told 'im we did too ff hhss SScciinn By Writers TORTE his nose in the air He was about as old as us and he had yellow hair that was combed back till it was all slick an' shiny He had some rea! long pants too an' a tie with one a' those fancy pins stuck in it We guessed he was the owner of the new house and that he mus' be purty swell cuz that house was gonna cost purty near a MILLION dollars b' ished MAY 13 1934 Ark two taxes one male and one female and did they multiply beautifully! Next to guinea pigs taxes must have been the most prolific of animals But with all their multiplying proclivities the politicians outmultiplled ein Most things ass bred for a certain pur pose but a state or federal job seeker might just drop from the trees or be spawned in a lake and you once get him on there he is a barnacle There is no use going into dry dock with him he will drop off till you back the ship out and then clutch on again Now as I started in to say when I was so rudely interrupted by this non birth control statistics in those early days your tax was just on the lands They dident know there WU anything else they could tax but as more men commenced coming Into the stately old legislative halls They each brought with em in addition to a plug of tobacco and jug of pure eorn they each had a "Bill" A "Bill" Is a thing thats read not listened too and then voted on in the afirmitative If the bill dont pass it wont take you but a couple of weeks to think up one that will In fact its much harder to think up one that wont pass There is only one fundamental thing that must be the backbone of every bill and that is a tax You shut your eyes and think of an object then you open em and write your "Bai" Now if that object you thought of huentheen taxed in the last week why you and your !'Bill" win So thats what we got over six hundred of em down there for (100 in the Senate and 500 in the Rouse) They are just thinking of objects maby its chewing guth maby its cigarette butts or maby its a dead millionaire but they are in there thinking every minute So no mat: ter what you got hid away some of those six hundred will find it out and you will wake up in the morning and read in the Congress found it and papers when slapped the tax on it (Copyeight 1934bli the "'"'"m Syndicatqlnie- to |
