it was in the apartment of such a wife that i became enormously involved with a medicine cabinet one morning not long ago. i had spent the weekend with this couple. they live on east 10th street near fifth avenue. such a weekend has left me reluctant to rise up in the morning with bright and shining face and go to work. they got up and went to work, but i didn t get up until about 2:30 in the afternoon. i had my face all lathered for shaving and the wash bowl was full of hot water when suddenly i cut myself with the razor. i cut my ear. very few men cut their ears with razors. but on the other hand, i was one of them. possibly because i was taught the old spencerian free wrist movement by my writing teacher in the grammar grades. the ear bleeds profusely. more angry than hurt, i jerked open the door and out fell from the top shelf a little black paper packet containing nine
needles. it seems that this wife kept a little paper packet containing nine needles on the top shelf of the medicine cabinet. the packet fell into the soapy water of the wash bowl where the paper rapidly disintegrated leaving nine needles at large in the bowl. i was naturally enough not in the best condition either physical or mental to recover nine needles from a wash bowl. no gentleman who has lather on the face and ears bleeding is in the best condition for anything, even handling of nine large blunt objects. it did not seem wise to me to pull the plug out of the wash bowl and let the needles go down the drain. i had visions of clogging up the plumbing system of the house and also a vague fear of causing short circuits somehow or other. i know very little about electricity. and i don t want to have it explained to me. finally, i groped very gently around the bowl and eventually