Paging Emily Post RONA MORRIS WORKMAN • 1 The second week I was in camp, after my visit to the school, two little girls tapped at my door, De­ light and Judy, and breathlessly announced that I was invited to a tea-party at the school, a silver tea, because they had a picture of Lincoln and wanted to buy a frame for it, and would I come. At the same time they poked into my hands an elaborate in­ vitation written on the picture of a colored teapot in a cramped childish hand. I promptly did a verbal R.S.V.P. and said I would be there with my best bib-and- tucker on and with my silver do­ nation to a worthy cause clutched firmly in my hand. The GREAT DAY came and I went. My first public appearance in camp, and it was something like a “trail by jury.” If I dressed up too much, they would think 1 was "putting on the dog;” if I didn’t dress well enough, they would think I didn’t consider them worth it. Finally I compromised by wearing my new suit, but I didn’t wear a hat. And then, to my horror, I found I was late. The program by the children was already in full swing and I “snuck” in, trying to make my­ self as inconspicuous as possible. 1 am always late. Probably when Gabriel blows his horn, I’ll be the last one to gallop breathlessly into the judgment chamber, but I won’t feel any worse at that moment than I did this particular day. It was an excellent program. The teacher, who before coming up here with her logger husband had taught in Portland schools, says the children here are ail above the average in mentality, and I certainly believe her. It was after the program that my ordeal really began. Fifteen were looking at me; the teacher had time to introduce me to only two before she began preparing the tea, and these two failed to “pass me on.” I have heard the expression about “grabbing the bull by the horns” and right then it would have been easier for me to have grabbed our Rocking W Domino the Thirty-second by his wide horns than to start introduc­ ing myself to those women. But stading aloof and alone in a corner trying to look happy under those conditions was even worse, so I started around the room. “I’m Mrs. Workman,” I would say, holding out my hand, “and you?”- And the answers were. “1 am Mr3. So-and-so. My hus­ band is a truck driver,” or I am Mrs. This-and-that. My husband is a cat-skinner.” I began to wonder. Does one greet a Mrs. “Cat-skinner” with more cordial­ ity than a Mrs. Truck-driver” or less, and what about a Mrs. “Mechanic” or a “Faller” or “Bucker.” Finally I had a bit of a break. I recognized the name one women gave. “Oh,” I said, “then you are Ken’s wife?” I had met Ken and felt my feet on firmer ground. "Yes,” she laughed, “and you are Walt’s wife. That’s what we hear your husband called and we can’t think of him as Mr. Workman.” The ice was broken. I rounded the rest of the room with “I am Walt’s wife" and thus want to “get the low-down" on finished my first hazard with anything just talk to a women great eclat—or something. And in her kitchen. the coming of tea and cookies, Then came the usual casual plus the intimacy of chat around comments about the weather, the little tables, gave me smooth the camp, the logging, the dif- sailing for the rest of the after­ ficulities of raising flowers and noon. Pleasant women, all of grass up here, etc. until finally them, interested in their homes, I asked, rather abruptly, "What’s their children and the logging, the matter with me? I have and, save for the last item, no looked and I don’t see any small­ different in their talk than women pox or measles sign on my door.” at any other tea party. Why She looked at me with a little should we be ? A merchant's twinkle in her eyes. “Not a wife talks of the store; a farmer’s one of the women has come to call wife speaks of the farm and on me," I finished. She laughed. garden, and a mill-man's wife "I thought .that was what you knows what goes on at the mill, were going to say,” she replied, and to these she adds the usual opening the oven door to look at chit-chat of daily liffe. Social the pies. “You see none of the life in a logging camp is but the women here ever call upon the epitome of life in the big cities superintendent’s wife.” or the small towns. That rather made me blink, They were so charming and but I asked shortly, “Why?” She friendly that I came home feeling hesitated a moment. “Well, I that I had been ‘accepted socially’ guess it’s because the others will and put out my best cups and think they are “toadying” around spoons for a spot of coffee when the superintendent, so it just isn't my guests should begin to drop done.” Now, I ask you, what in during the afternoons. Two does one say to a remark like weeks passed. No one came. I that? began to feel like a social pariah. I sat there and looked at her. I wondered. Maybe I should Finally I said slowly, “That have worn a hat and gloves to makes it rather hard on me, does­ the party, but no, no one else n’t it? I like people, and even had worn a hat. It couldn’t be if Walt is the superintendent, he that. Had I said something I is still just a logger and I am should not have said T As near just a logger’s wife. He gets as I could remember, my remarks just as greasy and muddy and had been only the usual tea-talk. as tired as the other loggers, and Well, when in doubt ask questions. I get up at six, cook and wash I did. and scrub just like every other I took a walk, and on my re­ women in camp. Rather silly, turn through camp I tapped at a isn’t it?” half-open door of one of the She nodded. “I suppose so, family houses—picked at random but that is the way it has always for I didn’t know who lived where she finished her dishes. If you —and in answer to a cheery “Come in” I walked into a kitchen Certified Roofing where one had said her husband and Supply was a truckdriver was washing dishes and baking pumpkin pies. Roofin<; Siding and Painting Iles’dential or Commercial She wanted to take me into her ESTIMATES FREE little living room, but I insisted Phone 1103 upon a chair in the kitchen while INSURE NOW with— VERNONIA INSURANCE MS Bridge Street Pbwie Ml VerMaia BILL J. HORN, AGENT THE EAGLE, VERNONIA, ORE., THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 1947 son, Bill Hudson and Sister Hart motored ti Portland Sunday to get Mrs. Harry Boggs who is spending a visit with her daugh­ ter, Mrs. O. M. Hudson. Among the numerous flowers presented to Mrs. O. M. Hudson a beautiful nine blossom Easter Lily was given her by Polly Lynch. She is recovering from a short illness. Sunday evening guests at the Charles Reid home were Polly Lynch, Henry Hudson, Sister Hart Sister Alexauidyr, Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Long, and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Alferd Carlson and son, Duane, Mrs. Harvey Long, Barb­ ara Long, Charles Long, Jim Mar­ tin and Mr. and Mrs. Andriziek. Mr. and Mrs. Lief and Mr. and Mrs. Morris Falconbury and daughter, Juanita, ma*de a bus­ iness trip to Portland Saturday. Seamen Here For Weekend School lunches » RIVERVIEW—S2c Charles L. Hudson, S2c Don Bailey and S2c Bill Fergerson spent the week end at the O. M. Hudson home. Mrs. Polly Lynch, Henry Hud- Are You Driving Half a Car The way it performs may rr»,ke you think so. A thorough i i motor overhaul will give you back the other half! Let us do the job for you. Your neads for tasty, nourishing lunches can be found at King’s. Avail yourself of our large stock to prepare the best for your child­ ren. KING’S Grocery - Market “Where Your Money Buys More” At the Mile Bridge Lee Motors Sales and Service Phone 91 • The war is won. The world seeks peace. Until sound and lasting means can be found for insuring inter­ national co-operation, the surest, most effective basis for the preservation of peace lies in keeping a force-in-being so strong that it becomes a deterrent to the potential aggressor. w a ffl"! Ef • Li I 5 '' • • Like his father, his father’s father, and all those before him, this young man is eager to help his country. He is the product of a tradition founded and carried on by men born with a high sense of duty. Army Day, April 7, serves as a reminder that the need for strong, continuing support of the national defense has never been greater. There is a place for every qualified young American in the pat­ tern of preparedness. INSURE YOUR PART TOO If your home bums, after the mortgage note is paid will there be suffic­ ient money from the in­ surance to reimburse you for the value of your equity? Wouldn’t you be re­ lieved to know that your insurance is adequate to protect you, too? been in this camp." And that was that. But I am not licked yet. Each day as I return from my walk with the red dog, I stop at a different house and have an informal chat. Some day, soon perhaps, they will for­ get the “custom” of the camp, forget that I am the “superin­ tendent’s wife” and think of me only as Rona Workman, just a logger’s wife, so I keep pretty tea-cups and spoons ready. “Caste” and “custom” in a logging camp. Ohmigosh! • That is why today, probably more than at any other time in history, the Nation requires the help of its finest young men in meeting the needs set Riverview forth by the War Department as the minimum with which efficient armed forces can be maintained. Every man of military age can support this vital program by joining any one of these great military organizations: The Regular Army, the National Guard of United States or Organized Reserve Corps. If attending college he may enroll in the Reserve Officers Train­ ing Corps. All of these comprise the foundation upon which sound national security can be built. • As a member of one of these peace­ time groups you are lending a hand to a cause which is of the very first importance to the American people. The time for action is now. Do your part by taking part! A STRONG AMERICA IS A PEACEFUL AMERICA Thia message of groat public importance is publithod byi Lee Motors Vernonia Branch, Com. Bank of Banks Oregon-American Lumber Corporation Miller’s Department Store Safeway Store Vernonia Auto Company Vernonia Bakery Vernonia Service Station Nance Pharmacy—Vernonia Drug Nehalem Market and Grocery H. H. Sturdevant —-- - - ■--- - J J