And What We Gain 203 



from one end of the week to the other passed 

 in the very heart of the city's turmoil, working 

 for many hours in a busy newspaper office the 

 very place where interesting talk is supposed 

 to centre visiting a club or two, going to the 

 theatre and to the opera several times I do 

 not believe that in this busy week I hear 

 enough interesting talk to compensate me for 

 the loss of one hour in my orchard or on the 

 bay. You cannot get out of people what is 

 not in them. You cannot expect the success- 

 ful dealer in butter, sugar, or candle-grease to 

 tell you anything you do not know, unless it is 

 about things he buys and sells, and I am not 

 interested in these things. Of all the dreary 

 stuff with which our dreary newspapers are 

 filled, by all odds the most dreary to me con- 

 sists of the reproductions of the talk of these 

 good people. The personal-gossip column, 

 which of late years has grown to great lengths 

 millionaire A's explanation of the recent rise 

 in the price of leather, Senator B's reasons for 

 believing that Coroner Jones will again be 

 elected this year, are matters that do not in- 

 terest me in the least. An ocean of gabble 



