Eastern High School of Commerce - Eastern Echo Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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CANDLES IN TALL l-ICDLDERS at 1,1.1 at fsfllflll' Sforv, First .ltetzrzlf her family to call her Yirginia . but such The Crescent was within a whispers length of one of the city's busiest thorough- fares, which imparted to it a peculiar isolation of its own as complete as though miles of wilderness surrounded it. Each house on the Fri-scent was it counterpart of its neighbour. for the breath of a metropolis had long since given each a coating of dirt. dust, smoke and grime. successfully hiding each trace of dif- ference and presenting a dreary sameness to the onlooker. Within the tiny compass of these houses. the Mctlows had spent the better part of their livesfif the comparative can be used in talking of anything so mono- tonously drab as the existence of the Blctlows, There were seven of them. When the in- habitants of the Crescent thought of the llctlows, they unconsciously graded them as Mrs. and Mr. Mctiow, ,linny and the kids . This arrangement is significant. Mrs, McGow had taken on the complexion of the house she dwelt in, her individuality drained dry of any personality, as if each succeeding child had taken a portion of her vitality for its own. After the tirst baby, McGow had called her Ma , and from then on that name placed her in a detinite niche of life as inescapable as death itself. Her name, Yirginia, unable to survive the obscur- ing process that was marriage, had been given to her first-born. But from the day a tired minister had sprinkled that name upon her protesting countenance. that girl had been known as jinny, In her own personal thoughts, however, she was Virginia. Yirginial In a small way that made up for an awkward figure. lifeless hair, poor teeth, and a sallow skin. Jinny had, it is true, tried unsuccessfully to get EASTERN ECHO an effort was beyond their narrow concep- tions. -linny was hlinny , and nothing could alter that, lndeed. Blctlow. with his usual petty maliciousness. had shortened it to Elin. His daughters obvious dislike of the diminu- tion had amused him considerably. She hates .lin worse than a temperance societyu, he once brought out in a sudden burst of wit. This brilliant witticism became a classic in his limited repertoire. to be trotted forth whenever an occasion presented itself- and even more frequently. Blcliow was a weak, vacillating creature. lazy and vinrlictive. who worked off his grudge against the supremely indifferent world by bullying his helpless family, With characteristic stupidity he threw up his job as sweeper in a department store when his independence was threatened by hints from his superors that the quality of his work fell - lf!XXlf' X .1 ff .X - itttttfl my W- I ,X Thirty-one

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J SHIIIIIIUI' E'l'CllI'lI.Q'H Drizzle '3Ppv'n1111ruI by kim! pfrnrisrl ll n' Jlr, Ifzwrrlt Rlmhnrnuqll Thirly EASTERN ECHO

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short of the standard expected by fussy and over-particular employers. Of course this was in 1930 when a depression was merely a low level between two hills. His wife said noth- ing. by which she established no precedentg but jinnys shoulders bowed a little more and the downward twist to her narrow lips became permanent. jinny earned 58,00 a week in Ernsteins Trouser Company, where she had worked as a pattern critter since she had left school. She was an efficient worker and was highly regarded by Ernstein himself, an affable jew, who constantly surprised people by treating his workers as human beings. Therefore, knowing jinny's future to be secure and with a light conscience as a result. jinny's father appropriated 7Sc of her meagre weekly earn- ings for tobacco After all, a man's got to have his smoke, don't he? , he told his wife reasonably and indignantly. To this unanswerable piece of logic. she was of course silent. That this meant jinny had to rise an hour earlier to walk to work. was of course unfortunate- but unavoidable. However, hlinny found that even this in- convenience had its compensations. Her daily pilgrimage led past the windows of the large department stores which displayed. with theatrical perfection, the latest in furniture and furnishings. Jinny found an absorbing interest in these inanimate beauties. Some- times, even in the middle of her perpetual Ethel M. Dell novel, she would find herself in the room she had seen that morning, handling the beautiful china, stroking with the hands of a lover the gleaming expanse of the table. feasting her eyes on the gleam of the silverware and caressing with delight the creamy softness of the linen. Then, with the cruelness of .1 physical blow, she would return to her surroundings, and, hastily, as an antidote. would lose herself once more in her vicarious romancings. Her favorite plan was refurnishing their own house. Drying the dishes at night, she would hold forth to her mother, brothers and sisters on the art of interior decorating, which they listened to as a sort of fairy tale. Not even the snores of their father from the bedroom disturbed them. So it went. McGow joined a Communist group and abused an uncaring government jinny still avidly the with a new set of catch-words, walked to work and watched Thirty-two changes in the window displays. One day she stopped short fo admire a beautiful din- ing-room suite 451.11900 - lOl down: balance in twelve equal monthly paymentsj. Though she unconsciously admired the whole. her real attention was rivetted on a beauti- ful pair of silver candlesticks that adorned the table. Although she could not feel it. to her subconscious mind they were a symbol of all her cravings, of her starved love for beauty now perverted into a passion for dead things of wood and glass and metal. Weeks afterwards she remembered vividly the slend- er intricacy of those Candlesticks. tall and gleaming. holding their tapering green candles. That night she described the dining-room to her family, but as an added feature she said. and, Ma, on our dining-room table we'll have candles, green candles, in tall holders. Not just candles. mind you. but green ones, in tall holders. Good Lord! Jinny. what for? . asked her mother. Ain't we got electricity? But jinny was finding something beauti- ful in the handleless cup she was drying and only smiled in answer. Meanwhile, in the morning, the winter wind grew more bitter. Jinny was saving for a winter coat, but her shabby tweed with its mangy collar must suffice a little longer. Now she hurried past the windows only darting glances at them. for bone and mar- row chilled if she lingered. But one morning the candlesticks, the same ones, were again part of a display, and breathless, jinny was compelled to stop. Heedless of the biting wind that moulded and permeated her frail body, she stood and gazed, drinking in each detail but always conscious of those two Candlesticks. like silver flames issuing from the smoky, glowing oak. Then. shivering and with teeth chattering, she hurried on. half-running, to make up for lost time. That night when she returned home, she still shivered although she had a hectic Hush on her cheeks. The next morning she couldnt talk, and, in spite of her fathers worried warnings, decided that it was impossible for her to drag her racked body to work, The doctor was considered. but that night, after a mustard plaster and hot lemonade. jinnys condition had improved and she assured her anxious parent that she would return to work on the morrow. Mrs. McGow attended to EASTERN Ecao