Show the new year and evolution s 3 E by it W D pennypacker Penny pacher T WAS more than a quarter century ago that john a young man then saw the present century ushered in As a man of mature years now lie he looks back to that epochal midnight with interest it seirs s ems strange that that new years eve appeared different fron from any other in his life and yet the reason is nut not far to si siek seek ek there could be no other such midnight in all ills his life af e no other century would be ring ringing in for him with such clamorous din oi of bells and d w whistles list es 0 0 0 0 0 0 As he draws his chair close cioe to the cheerful wood fire the smoke from which has given the rom an aroma as of resinous incense he cannot but become reminiscent before him are mental pictures imprinted upon his mind twenty nine bears ears ago pictures which the coming comin ant and going of many winters and the joys of as many summers can uever never efface for more ore than a decade prior to 1900 john his parents and groups of younger and older folk in a small town met tor for a social evening 5 14 and remained to welcome in the new year it wg was S K W N F t 4 11 uz in those old fash L J cloned times when ja iv young folks folk 9 and oil their elders frequently spent social I 1 gi evenings together t V gg As john peers into the ruddy embers bers ne he bolme wonders rs tt it N such bilings could be possible now lie ile knows that parents and chit chil dren tire lire rarely it if ever seen together now cow at social functions and that they are seldom seen at theaters th enters or in it church in the same groups but we did lt it anyway lie he mur murs aurs in a tone of somewhat s sup tip pressed wonder that it could ever have heen been possible 1 and this Is as he recalls it 0 the evening was cool and crisp the sky shy bri bright bt and cloudless the lie ground covered with snow heavily crusted consciously he was not aware that this was dIt different Terent from rom any other night yet subconsciously he realized something aus its unusual lie ile might see sec many more new years eves eve as indeed he has been privileged to do but lie he would never tl again ain see the passing of 0 nn fin old century with its great epochal struggles and moment coonie nt ous achievements and the arrival of a new one with a clean slate upon which humanity must hi 14 record of what would the next nest one be white and the page of nf an unwritten book the abar air spread before him he cle was to be me fine of the worlds billions of people to inave part pan in transcribing 1 a new record the thought was impressive 0 0 0 0 OP 0 A broad grin sweeps his face un nn noticed by others rs in the arvern tin dim light and the duckling warmth of the fireside made ali drowsy late hours an and dewild wild festivities are no part of 0 the present life of one who had reached adult life when the bells clanged and whistles tooted and horns blew ns as 1000 was ushered in children and in some cases grand children are anre out in the wild jazziness of the night every cne Is doing it he thinks bin bill hims allf A world ale as ure niad mad Is seeing a new years arrival amidst a gaiety and thoughtless frivol that Is astounding it Is all in the way y we are brought up he admits to himself and Is broadminded broad minded enough to recognize that with the turning of the wheel of time a gradual but none the less effective evolution has taken place tie he Is conscious that the young man and young woman of today those of the flapper age he calls it are as different in their thoughts and mental reactions as are our present highly bred domestic ani animals ninis anti anil their prehistoric ancestors of the stone age As he be takes another long pull pill I 1 on oil his friendly pipe there Is a glow followed by a dense cloud of smoke the curl ing rings ascending lit in the half light of a lessening fire give the appearance of and in reality cause the full effect of dreaminess his mind die hackward backward and he is again la in the happy events and great real accomplishments of the past how long john sloops ale ps in the quiet room while younger members of its his family are out to welcome a new year we could riot not say to tn the oppressive silence the tick rick of the mantel clock can be heard distinctly its regularity would not suggest that a u year Is dying nor would it suggest the joy of the colln of a new year and the possibility of 1930 1030 being one of earths happiest new years years save tor for the clock all Is silent then there Is the outbreak of whistles the din of tin fin horns and bells for a mo ment mant protracted into ten minutes or more the darkness dar knea of the night Is rent Z with distracting noises john rouses with a start starl HIS pip pill V has fallen to ohp floor and the fire Is 13 out ue lie is still Y nione filone As he be nad had dozed away john had ln in fancy been back in file old days H he had returned to III his young manhood d and the big recep tion everyone pave gave to the coming in of the new century it Is only another new year now seem much closer than they did then ile he has seen many of them so many in fact that they mean little except to suggest in its widest sense a common brotherhood of all mankind 0 4 0 alle when alice and jack r returned home in the wee hours the color was just coming into them the eastern sky they wished dad a happy new fiur year Ye arand and they meant it sincerely tho though tigh both were conscious that he be lith briged to a lIf HI Terent ferent epoch the breaking day with an auspicious opening was a happy one for the lite entire toss ross family and all were conscious that it marked more than a new year they sensed that it marked the beginning of number cycle in the evol evolution it of t the race 49 V estern newspaper union |