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PART III
HaU of Fame
I
A
TRADITION,
established by the old melodrama,
Ten
Nights in a Barroom,
since strengthened by much
pulpit and other oratory, and aided and abetted by Con–
gressional eloquence-not infrequently belched from
"moist" throats for the satisfaction of the ears of ballot- ,,
boxes in parched regions-maintains that a barroom was
a vile place. No man of any self-respect would venture
thereinto, in broad daylight, without looking to right or
left to make sure that nobody whose good opinion he
valued was in sight. One is quoting a tradition.
Entrance to such a "gin mill" was gained through a
pair of shutters, or by passing to one side of a shuttered
screen. Loitering in the offing were shabby women and
hungry children, aware that Father was inside, squan–
dering in drink the money that should provide them
with food and clothes. Finally, after their hours of vigil,
Father would stagger out-or be thrown out. A timid
wife would tearfully approach and beseech him to regard
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