St Johns College - Ozanam Yearbook (Toledo, OH)

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THE OZANAM 35 ment but is succeeded by a long thoughtful look suggesting that he has not only been hurt but surprised. Well, you are aware, Percival, times are not what they should be. We're under a big expense and the way things are-I don't know. Let's see, how long have you been with us ? You tell him and he swings in his swivel chair and faces the window, seemingly pondering over the terrific expense connected with the mainte- nance of the business. You had en- tertained an idea that the concern was highly prosperous. All your calcula- tions have been apparently unfound- ed, and you gravely accept the sad news that the firm is on the brink of failure. There is something the mat- ter with your heart, you find. Too much smoking, I suppose is what you tell yourself. If you now have sense enough to keep quiet the boss will make the next move. Well, I guess it's all rightg you can tell Barker on the way out that I said you could have five dollars more after this week. You beam and know not how to ex- press your thanks. The boss waves you out of the office, then he turns again to his desk and you steal out of the room leaving him to the figures on the papers in front of him. After running up and down several rows of figures he finds that he beat Colonel So and So by two strokes, one of which was probably that mashie shot for the eighth hole. The door closes and you take a few steps which no Russian dancer could ever execute. You tell Barker, trying to keep your voice down where it be- longs and notice that Barker smiles. You do not know what that smile means but you will some day when you are a Barker. That evening you tell your friends. A thing like this must be told at just the right moment. The telling must not be delayed, nor should it be too abrupt. One thing is sure, you will tell it casually. Should you be smok- ing, you will flick the ash from your cigarette as a period to the sentence and if you are not smoking you will brush an imaginary spot from your knee. These are the only two ortho- dox gestures in relating the result of that exciting experience, Asking for a Raise. CA Bewitching Smile By URBAN L. Prnuon A The smile of a beautiful girl, Haunting your days and your dreams, Puts your thoughts in a whirl. The smile of a beautiful girl, In the shadow of a curl, Will not leave, it seems- The smile of a beautiful girl Haunting your days and your dreams.

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qflsking for' a Raise By THOMAS P. KENNY Have you ever asked for a raise? If you haven't you still have something coming to you in the way of a brand new feeling, I mean the sensation you experience while approaching the boss on this mission or, if you prefer, this quest. It is not the same as seasick- ness nor is it exactly similar to drop- ping ten stories in an elevator, yet it may be said to have characteristics particular to each, and at times, to a combination of the two. Walking into a dentist's office with an aching tooth to be upainlessly extracted, as we read in the advertisements, comes closer to it than anything else, al- though in this case the sufferer is not the one you would naturally expectg the boss is the one who has the pain while you are the one to do the pulling. As much depends upon your ap- proach to the boss as your approach to the green-to use an expression from the golfers' vocabulary-for you must neither shoot too far, nor must you foozle, and make an extra attempt necessary. Go right in as if you be- longed there. Don't speak about the weather as a conversation opener, tell him what is on your mind. He can find out about the atmospheric condi- tions by consulting a barometer or even by a casual glance out the win- dow, if it happens to be open, or through it, if the artificial clouds have been dispersed at an expense which will turn up on the next bill from the window cleaners. When you go in on the carpet the boss is very busy. He is frowning and looks decidedly agitated. The thought comes over you that you will not say what you intended, and that this is not the proper time to ask for the raise which he will undoubtedly re- fuse, and should you ask, he will only make you feel uncomfortably foolish. These thoughts do not come separate- ly but in one fleeting Bash to your brain. It is very fortunate that the boss does not turn around and see the expression on your face because he'd think you had either lost your reason or were taken violently ill. But he does not even look up from the papers on his desk in opening the ordeal which is sure to follow. Well, Percival? He manages to put these two words in a paternal tone and ejects some- thing into them which makes you feel that he would be offended at your re- quest for a raise. How this is done is a subject on which only a boss could write. Your panic-stricken feeling abates just enough for you to form a mental picture of Horatius at the Bridge, or Washington crossing the Delaware, or something of the sort. With these ex- amples of heroism encouraging you the words slip from your tongue. They are not the words you have re- hearsedg no indeed, they are plain English words lacking the construc- tion of grammatical sentences, and en- tirely different from what you were planning to say. However, they are out and you feel somewhat better. A wince of pain and a shudder seems to pass through the boss as though he had been secretly and sud- denly stabbed. This is over in a mo-

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a . 1 X X ll with use Editors II Downtown Many busy scenes are ever In Tglgdg happening in our downtown section. There big business interests vie daily with one another in an ar- dent struggle for growth and influence amid a constant tingle of silver and gold. Even the casual visitor can hardly fail to be im- pressed by all this if he exhibits any interest whatever as he ambles about. Here are the magnificent hotels to which an almost endless line of cabs hurriedly ar- rives and as quickly departsg where the trav- eler is met at the curb by neatly uniformed bellhops who burden themselves with every available piece of luggage, and yet somehow manage to open the door and bow him in. There are massive office buildings which cast their cool, imposing shadows over wide circles as the day ages. From the cigar store in the lobby one can see swift elevators noise- lessly depart to the quiet of the floors above, laden with human freights, each engrossed in his own affairs. Across the way through the broad win- dows of a bank many clerks are seen busily engaged in their pecuniary transactions. F ar- ther down the street one pauses to view with interest the many spacious display windows, each splendidly arrayed. They awe us, these windows do, and we wonder at the brilliant originality of the man who would appealingly make use of such costly gowns, suits, silks and furniture. The opulence of such dis- plays hypnotizes us: speaks softly and entice- ingly, until we are often enmeshed in the com- mercial net within. The immaculate restaurants where people scurry for a quick repast, the numerous thea- ters Haunting, on gaudy posters, their enter- taining wares, the policeman's whistle, and the rush of vehicles are all emblems of com- mercial activity. They exemplify prosperity and we are proud of them. Yet there is another building within easy walking distance of all this bustle of which we can be justly proud. To many who pass it by on their way to work it may be only a landmarkg a spot as quiet as the worn cannon which adorns the corner of the lawn. It is a dark brown edihce of stone overgrown in summer by a heavy green climber of some kind, and surrounded by a well-groomed lawn and some shrubbery. Trees border its sidewalk. An unpretentious building, it opens its portals only to those who care to enter. It holds forth no enticing offers. It stands for service, neither begging nor banning anyone. We enter to find ourselves at once transferred from the noise and din of the city to a sweet, tranquil atmosphere where even the noise of many feet is muffled by the absorbant floor covering. Comfortable arm chairs and broad- topped tables are conveniently placed about. The walls are lined with books and book- cases: other racks set perpendicularly to them form cosy little nooks admirable for quiet reading or reflection. Tall windows reach from above the book shelves to the high ceil- ing and afford an ever fresh atmosphere and an abundance of exhilerating sunlight. One cannot refrain from appreciating one's won- derful resources and convenient advantages. One can laugh with the wits, sing with poets, or simply gorge oneself with current fiction. Books of every description on almost any subject are within easy access. We are in the company of the sages of all time. So supple and fleet is the imagination that we can roam in books from the frozen barrens of the arctics to the swelling tropics around the equator. We can jump from philosophy to science and from science to fiction. We can imbibe the greatest reflections of ancients. There are works for all. Yet this is a spot which would probably be overlooked by a chance wanderer among the sites of enter-