From the day
Perspective: The Anxious Local · Tactile
The rough wool of my overcoat chafes my neck as I clutch the newspaper, my palms sweating over the news that Patriot Legions will visit the Capital by special trains Monday to urge action against Germany. It’s enough to give a man the cooties just thinking of the crowds, especially with those pacifists tagging along to cause a row. I gripped the rough-hewn cedar of the Lincoln Logs I bought for my boy, though six cents for a loaf of bread makes such wooden trifles feel like a sin. Everything is tightening, from the price of grain to the tension in the air, as if we are all just waiting for the strike of a match.