Evening Star Newspaper, August 7, 1897, Page 14

14 Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. “It is a rare thing nowadays for a cus- tomer to ask for hair oil,"" remarked a barber to a Star reporter, “though twenty or thirty years ago it was equally rare it @ customer did not. There were hundreds of oil preparations or hair tonics, as they were called, in old-fashioned days, though I think bear's grease or bear's oil was most in demand. Pomatums were also much used and sold, for in those days barbers sold all the hair preparations. As time passed along this trade, which was very profitable, went to the drug stores. In all hair preparations castor oil was the grease used. For the so-called tonics it was ‘cut’ with alcohol and colored with alkanet or cochineal and perfumed. In Iatter days about the only grease called for or used by customers is vaseline. To tell the truth, after forty years’ experience in the barber business, I don’t know of any- thing that will make the hair grow. I know this, though, when barbers controlled the hair tonic and hairdressing preparations trade, there was nore money in the bust- ness than there is now, for many is the week I made good wages fixing up and selling hair tonic. We often sold a gallon of it ina day. Now you can't sell a gallon in six months.” ee ek eK “The reference in The Star last Satur- day,” observed an old resident to a Star re- porter, “to some of the old-time stores in this city reminded me of other general stores where everything from groceries to ary goods, hardware, boots, shoes and hats was sold, among them being the store of Mr. Pirth, at the corner of Indiana avenue and Sd street northwest. The younger peo- ple of the present generation, of course, do not remember it, though it was only closed in the past fifteen years, but their par- ents &nd grandparents do. Mr. Birth’s store was an institution of that section of the city, and many is the older resideat who was not only fed from there but clothed as well, for he kept almost every thing. One of Mr. Birth’s specialties was which he disposed of in large qua He had it in three forms, new, me- nd hard. All of it was good, but his hard cider was very hard. People from all sections of the city dealt with him, and there was a saying that anything ‘that came from Birth's was good. In slavery days Mr. Birth sold much of the domestics and ginghams which were worn by the Ss who were kept in this city. Much of his trade was with country people,whese wagons could be seen packed about his place on market days, after market nour: A famed 7th street store was Paulus Th: son’s, between I and K streets. Mr. Thy- son's was a hardware store, and though he may not have carried as large a stock as some of the modern stores in that line do, it was very large and comprised about everything that could be asked tor from a knitting needle to 2 steam engine. Builders could always find everything in their line at Thyson's, and he did an enormous bus!- ness. Nearly all the farmers who came in from Montgomery and Priace George's counties, Md., got their supplies from him. The boys regarded an old-fashioned Barlow jack knife bought at Thyson’s, as the greatest prize which could be had. xe eK “I have been much interested of late in hunting up the origin of the yellow envel ope as a vehicle of transmitting depart- mental discharges.” said a literary man to a Star reporter, “but I have not met with the success I desired. Most of those with whom I taiked about it think the yellow envelepe had its origin in the Treasury De- partment, but I have been unable to au- thenticate their impressions by any official paper or authority. The thought came to me that may be The Star would take inter- est enough to allow its columns to be used for the purpose. The saying ‘he got the yellow envelope’ is common here, though it is never heard in any other city. How the yellow envelope came to be used in cover- ing discharges, or what was the origin of the custom, is what I am after. I have never heard of an appointment being sent out in a yellow envelope, and canno* under- stand why the yellow envelope has always been used in connection with discharges. Mr. Fitzgerald, the librarian of the War Department, who is an authority on such subjects, essures me that, though he is un- able to cite any authority, he is confident that the yellow envelope was first.used for discharges in the Treasury Department. je thinks that the phrase ‘the yellow en- velope’ is nearly as old as the departments themselves. ‘The yellow envelope has never been used in Europe in an official way, the only envelopés used there being white and blue. I have ascertained that, though the yellow envelope in former days was nearly always used in sending out discharges and removals, it is seldom used in latter times, there being no distinction made officially between discharges and appointments. It has been suggested to me that as yellow is the color of mourning of the oldest nation, the Chinese, and as discharges frequently have been the cause of mourning, the yellow eavelope was used on this account. The thing had to have an origin, and thi t I am after, more than sugges- eR RK “There may be some instances, though I o not now remember any, where a man ever amassed great wealth by his own personal efforts, but my experience has been that when men have secured great riches it is because they have been for- tenate in combining the efforts of others in their interests and thus increasing their Possessions,” explained a prominent and very wealthy man to a Star reporter. #‘I can speak better of my own case than any other, and it fully illustrates my idea. I started out in life as a professional man, but only did fairly well at my profession. I then satisfied myself I could do better in a financial way by engaging others and putting them at work to my profit. My Start was in merchandizing in the west- ern country. I did all the buying and em- ployed cthers to do the selling. Some I kept in the store. Others I put on the road drumming up trade. When I got the busi- ness in pretty good shape I employed one of my best clerks as a manager, though 1 kept my eyes on the business. As soon as I found that the business was running along well I started into other enterprises, using the same tactics. In one thing and another in ten or fifteen years I had a dozen different business enterprises in run- ning operation. I managed to get a little profit on each one that I employed,and after awhile I had hundreds working for me. ‘The profit from each one was small, but when it was combined it counted up. I have dealt very extensively in land and timber speculations, and was always con- tent to sell out when I could do so at a profit. Of course, | employed middle men to sell the properties, and I never worried about how much they made, provided I came out of the transaction at an advance of the price paid. I always believed in the highest wages for those I employed, and as | often told them, I would just as l= ly pay them % per day as five shillings, provided I made something by the employ- ment of them. Of Geers pore has to = business judgment in a@ nui ber of enterprises pare and a them pay their expenses and a profit ing to admit that all my success has been in getting others to work for me. They made the money for me.” ee * % “Judiciary Square and the buildings on ft have been put to @ great number of uses,” says an old Washingtonian. “The conrt heus2 building for many years was occu- pied by the corporation of Washington as well as the United States courts, the clerk and the marshal; thus municipal business and the administration of justice by the courts was transacted under one roof. The east end was the judicial side and the west the corporation side, and in the larger rcoms on Sundays religious meetings were held and week nights societies, including Odd Fellows, occupléd them. In the base- ment rooms the janitors lived, several military companies their armories—the oid Columbian Artillery with their brass. field pieces in the northwest rooms—and lawyers made their offices, About on the nerth line of E street was located a two- storied building which did.duty as the jail till about the latter part of the 40's, and from that time to 1862, when it was burn- ed, as the Washington Infirmary. A new jail building in the northeast corner of the Square accommodated prisoners for some trirty years to 1869, when the new build- ing on the Eastern branch was opened. The ‘city hall lot’ was to some extent a pleasure ground, especially for men and boys, quoit pitching Being @ favorite exer- cise for a number of jawyers. inauguration balls were sometimes held in buildings erected for the purpose on the grounds, ard more than one industrial exhibition: or fair was held in the let and many ci cuses and menagerie pitched their tents in it. The pension office building now occupies much of what long was neglected common, all traces of the jail having been obliter- ated.” 2 x eK KX “The supposition that the sunflower would absorb malaria has long since passed away,” explained a health office physician to a Star reporter, “though there is no doubt that there was some good connected with it. At one time, many years ago, there was an idea prevalent that there was considerable malaria about the old naval observatory. Some of the professors were told that in South America and other coun- tries where malaria was supposed to abound, that the sunflower was regarded as a preventative, and they ordered a quan- tity of the seed. The flowers, as many of our older residents will remember, were grown about the observatory in great pro- fusion for their hygienic advantages. There was no harm done by the growth of this flower, for it crowded out certain plants and weeds which were by no means a3 beautiful or as valuable in any respect. Tke naval observatory is therefore the original home of the sunflower in this coun- try, and it is entitled to the credit of bring- ing it here. Whether it absorbs malaria or not, it is certain that it beautifies waste places. The flowers which grow along the banks of Rock creek, within sight of the cable car bridge, were originally planted there over twenty years ago, and they have been coming up regularly since.” ee OK OE & “Indian arrow heads, which were once £0 plentiful, being ‘found in many places in large quantities, are becoming very scarce and valuable,” volunteered a scientist to a Star reporter. “There was a time when they had but little or no value, but the enormous quantities of them exhibited in the numerous museums in this country and the world, has almost consumed the stock to be found. ‘It is a lost art among the In- dians, and I doubt if there is an Indian now living who can make an arrow head. They were made of the various flints, most- ly of white flints, though in some sections the Indians were forced to use a yellow or pink-stained flint. Arrow heads of the lat- ter colored flint now sell at wholesale from $2.50 to $3 per dozen, the ordinary white flint arrow heads now commanding $1 to $1.50 per dozen when the specimens are carefully made. In the corn fields of Fair- fax county, Va., quite a number have been found during the corn planting this season, but they are bought up as readily as they can be had.” * * * * * “The Navy Department clerks have a good one on me,” said Senator Jones re- cently to a Star reporter. “I have had fre- quent occasion to visit the State, War and Navy Department building during the ses- sion of Congress, and somehow always managed to get there about noon each day, though I had no particular object in getting there the same hour each day. But it hap- pened that way. I noticed on several oc- casions as I passed through the halls of the building that some of the clerks or mes- sengers sang out ‘down’ as I passed them, and, though I could not understand the reason, I did not connect it with myself. When the thing happened three or four times in succession, it began to make me think. About three weeks ago I had busi- ness there, and just as I entered a room looking for a friend, an official, a clerk broke out with the usual ‘down,’ looking at me straight in the eyes. I got a little hot under the collar at it, and said, ‘Young man. There is nothing rticuiarly down about me that I know of, and will you please explain why all of you speak of me as down as I pass through? The clerk reddened up somewhat and explained that his ‘down’ had no reference to me what- ever; that what he meant by it, as also the others, was that the time ball which is dropped from the flag staff at the top of the building at noon each day had dropped for 12 o'clock; that it was a custom of the clerks and. messengers of that building whenever they happened to be watching the ball to sing out ‘down,’ so as to in- form their fellow clerks who were not watching the ball that it was down. Of course, the explanation was satisfactory and that fs all there is of it. I admit, how- ever, that the clerks in that building have one on me, and I'll try to even it up some time with them.” eee KK “Submarine diving,” explained one of the inspectors who is supervising the work of strengthening the pier of the Aqueduct bridge, and where dally thousands of per- sons stop to Icok at the diver, clad in his armor, who is at work there as he comes to the top of the water every hour or so, “is now way in advance of what it was, and divers are now able to ascertain and report clearly and intelligently as to the bottoms of rivers. They cannot only feel, but can see exactly the conditions on the bottoms of rivers. The outfit of a diver costs from $500 to $600. This means the rubber armor, the helmet or brass head piece, the air pump and the hose which is used to carry the air down to him. It also includes a “elephone service down to him, by which he can carry on a conversation while he is at work. The diver at work at the Aqueduct bridge has no telephone. His brother always manages the air hose for him, while two laborers by the pump keep up a constant stream of air to him. The diver has been working so long with his brother that by the aid of his signal rope he can almost carry on a conversation by signals and jerks. For instance, some days since the diver in examining the bottom of the cofferdam around the pier found that he needed a piece of board nineteen inches long and seven inches wide at one end and but four at the other. He sent up the in- formation by signals and the board was cut to suit him. Later on he sent up word by the signal rope that he had mislaid his hammer end ordered another one sent down, which was done. Though divers are well paid while they are at work their work, however, is very uncertain, as many years they do not get three months’ work in meney is in going down and searching wrecks. This is generally paid for by the good.” job and the price paid is SES Sa Ate the Evidence. From the San Francisco Post.” A Chinese fisherman was on trial at Sausalito on a charge. of catching striped bass that weighed less than two pounds. The constable who made the arrest testified to catching the Chinese with the fish in his "Where are the fish = are te Bie — " asked the attorney ae they wouldn't keep,” answered the “What did you do. with them?” “Oh, I di of them.” “What A CRACK SHOT. ‘The Execelicnt Marksmanship of a r cellent Ma f Hunter Rod and Gun Club was talking off a few solemn and inspiring truths for the benefit of several younger members. . “When I was a boy,” he was saying, “I was about like other boys, I guess, only I think I had better notions than some have I know of now. Now, there’s my son—” “Oi interrupted one of the listeners, ‘you don’t want to take a boy handicapped like that. ‘ ‘Don’t you worry about me,” retorted the veteran. “That boy will be all the greater for winning with the handicap. Let me tell you about his marksmarship. One day lest winter he went out with me to hunt rabbits and the luck was pocr. We had been out about four hours and all of a sudden a great big rabbit like a calf jump- ed up right at his feet—the boy’s feet, I miean—and the boy kicked him ane in the ribs and knocked.him out in a minute. Well, we were three or four miles from home and we thought we might as well take up our game and tote it in, and come cut again when there was something more in sight. We jogged along, the boy carry- ing the rabbit in his same bag, till some- how it kind of come to’ and was about to get away, when I noticed it. “ ‘Here,’ said I, thinking of something, ‘it won't ever do to take that home and tell the folks you kicked it to death. It’s got to be shot, and: we might as well do it now as any other time.’ “So I gets out a string and ties it.to the rabbit’s hind leg and I hangs him on the limb of a tree, and the boy gets off about fifty yards with a rifle to make it kind of sporty, and after sighting a long time, bang! gocs the gun, down comes the rab- bit, and the way he skinned out for the short timber was a caution to winged fowls, for he fairly flew. I looked at the rabbit for about a second and then I gazed on that boy.” “What in-thunder,’ I began, when he in- terrupted me. “ ‘Oh, I-say, pop,’ he said, ‘did you see my marksmanship? That string to the rab- it’s hind leg wasn’t thicker than a darning needle, and blamed if I didn’t cut it off ciean at fifty yards with a rifle. Have you get a record like that, guv’nor’ “Had I? Of course, I hadn't, and that boy had just gone to work and missed that rabbit and by a chance cut the string and let the cotton-tail get away. that was all; but what could I say after that marksman- ship snap he dropped on me? Nothing, and I had to let it go at that. Now, what have you got to say to that boy's nandi- cap? Say?” ———-___—_ ECONOMY IN HAMMOCKS. The Amount of Money So Spent Does Not Always Mean Extravagance, “You spend too much money,” said Mr. Diggles of Capitol Hill, to his estimable wife. “I don’t spend any more than you give me,” she responded. “Well, do you suppose I give you money for no other purpose than to have you spend it?” “Really, John, I never supposed anything atout it. All I know is that when I need money to buy things we need more than we need money, I ask you for it, and when I get it I spend it, and when I do not I do not spend it.” “That's just about on a average with a weman’s logic.” “Well, what would you think if I asked you for money just to hide away and hoard for the future?” “I'd think you were a very saving wo- man.” “Perhaps you would, and everybody else would think I was a fool. I'm much obliged, Mr. Deebles, but you will please excuse me from using your money that Sszten “It is, at least, not an extravagant way of disposing of it.” “Extravagant? I'd like for you to name a thing I've bought in the last month trat we did not need, and that I did not get as economically as I possibly could.” Mr. Diggles was stumped for a minute. “Well, there’s that hammock,” he said, finally, as he thought how late his daugh- ter sat in it every night, and not alone, either. =< Mrs. Diggles’ face grew red, for this hammock had been a source of triumph to her, and she would not for an instant per- mit its efficacy tu be questioned, whatever the cost. “Yes,” she answered, in a tone of sup- pressed feeling; “there's that hammock. What did it cost?” “Four dollars, when there were plenty of them for sale at eighty-nine cents, marked down from a dollar.” “Yes; and such hammocks. John -Dig- gles, you talk like an idiot,” and the good lady began to speak very seriously. “You talk to me about that hammoek being a piece of extravagance when you ‘lon’t know the first priaciples of hammocks. Of course 1 could have got one for eighty-nine cents, but do you think I was going to permit the eighty-nine-cent-hammock style of young man to come up here seven or eight nights in the week and flirt with Katie, and she our only daughter? No, indeed; I didn’t, John Diggles, and I want you to un- derstand that since that hammock has been on the place there’s always some young man waiting for his turn, and instead cf having those nine-hundred-dollar govern: ment clerks hanging around, Katie won't look at one with less than fourteen hun- dred, not to mention a real estate man in business for himself. A month ago Katie was as good as engaged to that young snip in the Agricultural Department at seventy-five dollars a month, and only last night she rejected a State Department clerk with $1,200 a year. Still, Mr. Diggles, you think it is extravagant to pay four dol- lars for a hammock that has some style about it, and would like to see your wife save three dollars and eleven cenis and de- stroy the happiness of our daughter for- ever. A nice husband and father, indeed, you are, John Diggles,” and Mrs. D. burst into tears, —_——.__ A Dream Invention. From the Ohio State Journal. Possibly the most interesting woman’s invention was patented by the wife of a well-known western man. There had been seme trouble with a lock, either at her home or at her husband's office, and she had been much wrought up about it. When she went to bed at night she dreamed of a new lock made on a plan entirely different from any she had ever seen. In the morn- ing she made a model of her dream lock out of a cake of soap. Then she took the model to a machinist, who duplicated the soap lock in steel, and it worked so satis- factorily that a large firm of lockmakers offered a royalty to her for the privilege of manufacturing locks after her design, and she is still in receipt of a considerable in- ecme every year from that gource. -—______ Excusable. From the Clevelanl Piain Dealer. “I have just taken a lifé to save my own.” “What do you mean?” “If I hadn’t taken that ‘Life of Grant’ the woman book agent would have talked me to death.” A Sad Lack. - ‘An old member of the South Mountain, Likely ‘to MILLIONS OF LOBSTERS An Baothnous Sumber Required to Supply e ee , Be a Falling Of in the Catch This Year—How These ShelMish Are Trapped. { “The poopie $f this country have a great liking for lobster, for many millions of the shellfish ‘are eaten them every year, without counting the other millions that go on the ntarket in: cans,” said a large wholesale fish dealer of New York to a Star writer. “There is, however, every indication that this year’s supply of lob- sters will fall considerably short of the demand, as the catch thus far has been So scanty at such fishing grounds as Neenk, Stonington, Block Island and places further to the eastward as to compel hun- dreds of fishermen to abandon the hunt altogether. Lobsters, at present, readily bring from 14 to 16 cents a pound, and later in the season, if the Halifax catch = ds ears than our own, an advance m 2 rt E SHE 4 cents per pound may he _ Fishing for lobsters has been, up to within recent years, a very lucrative busi- hess, but owing to the immense quantities of the shellfish that have been taken along the Maine and ‘other shores for large cans ning factories there are now but compara- tively few lobsters to be found on grounds Where they once swarmed. The canners had hundreds of fishermen in their employ, who were constantly trapping for then. hey did not care about the size, age or cordition of the lobsters caught. The fishermen were simply instructed to get lobsters, and they obeyed orders. Big, little, good, bad and indifferent, they aii went Into the cans together. The incessant demand of the New England canning es. tablishments has had its effect, not so much in lessening the number ‘of these stelifisn that are sent to market, but in is ie size and siere marketed and quality of the lob- jtere 4s no fun in catching lobsters for a living. It is all hard and expensive mote, To engage in the business of lobster trap. ping with anything like profit a fisherman must possess or control from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty traps, set over a fishing ground of ten miles at least in cir- cuit. These traps must be set at night and visited every morning. In the winter this means going out no amall distance from the Shore, the lobsters being in the deepest Water, and the fishermen in making their rounds, in small smacks and steamers, are to fight the Bales and ice and fierce storms that frequently rage ov. their lobster beds. eee ee “Each fisherman has his own mark on his traps, and such a thing as one fisherman disturbing or sequestrating a trap belonging to another is unknown among them. In fact, no matter where a derelict trap may be found, the finder will Spare no trouble in having it returned to its cwner as soon as possible. This is an un- Written law among these rude und hardy fisherfolk, and the man who would violate it would be regarded as having committed the unpardonable sin, and be shunned and be denounééd by all his fellows. ., Prepping Lobsters. “A lobgter. pot is a simple enough con- trivance.,It resembles more than anything else an immense bird cage made of wooden slats. Both epds are covered with loose strong netting made from tarredsrope, with a hole in the middle of each net. This trap is sunk by weighting it with stones, and Hes on the bottom in a horizontal position. A buoy ffstened to it by means of ropes in- dicates tg, its;owner the locati 9 its; @ location of each trap. A ¢od’s;head or other bait that will tempt the ever-ravenous and hungry lob- ster, is placed inside the pot, where it is secured on strong iron hooks to keep it stationary. This soon attracts the lobster, and he. reconhoiters about the pot to see how he may. get at the aggravating morsel. In his,frantic skirmishing he discovers the netting and he turns and backs him. self through. ft. He no sooner gets. in, though, than he realizes that he is in & fix. He immediately loses all inclination to sample. the bait that tempted him to get into the scrape. He moves about in the trap, looking for a way to get out just as frantically as he searched for a way to get in only“a ‘short ‘time before. So agitated does he become that he forgets that his best pedestrian work is accomplished by a backward. movement, and he doesn’t try. to back out of the hole in the net as he backed in, but exerts himself to get out head first, a feat that is. utterly impossible for him, to accamplish, because of his enor- mous claws, that catch in the petti defeat his efforts. ea “But let the crazed lobster be released from the pot and he will no sooner have reached the outside than a desire to pos- sess the tempting bait takes possession of him again, and he once more makes frantic search for a way to get into the trap. Having entered, he immediately be- comes panic-stricken again, and renews his crazy efforts to escape..No matter how many times a lobster may get out of a trap, he will just as often set at once to work to bécome a prisoner again. That lobsters are seized with this strange panic the moment they find themselves in a trap is evident from the fact that, although as many as twenty are often found in one pot when it is taken up, the bait will sel- dom, if ever, show any sign of having been touched by any of them. “The pots would be no obstacle to the lobster’s freedom if the courteous creature only knew its power, for half a dozen of them could smash a pot to pieces in a twinkling, or one sweep of a lobster’s great claw would serve to tear the tarred rope netting from the frame as if it had been Private gauze. “Only the largest lobsters are shipped from fhe fisheries, the smaller ones being sold to the canners. Not many years ago the average lobster that came to market from New England was from nineteen to twenty inches long, not counting the claws. The largest average now is not more than half that length. There used to be pienty of twelve-pound lobsters, ard I have seen them weighing cighteen pounds. A lobster as large a3 that would have to be thirty years old at least. This shellfish grows very slowly, and at three years old is not much_ large: na crawfish. A lobster vrder five y old is not fit for market, but quantities of such youngsters have to pats muster in all city fish stalls now- adays.” —_——__. The Value of Rest. From the Pittsburg Dispatch. A doctor, writing on the subject of the suppression “of useless noises in cities, which he claims will hasten toward con- valescence many -a patient whose nerves are now too racked by perpetual racket to give the systém a chance of recuperat- ing, sayé ‘he ‘remembers one delightful ward in ‘hi8®training schcol wherein the “sister” used’ to insist on a “silent hour,” from 2:3) ‘fo'B:30 daily. it was the only ward inthe hospital which enforced this golden rule,;@like beneficial to the nurses fortunate enesgh to be drafted there and the patignts,therein, who flourished and blossom forth into amazing convales- cence ulder, Siygted Syst2m and the nad the: sympa which caus her- to late the baim — healipg of that one quiet hour in the y~ It wasta° male. surgical ward, and the pati first admission, used to chate Somewhat . at “‘sister’s’* Sst —aseinet. wi! ‘tl a THE REPORT OF A REVOLVER. A Young Man Who Had a Weapon to Selt and Sold It. ‘The farmer from Loudoun county hadn't 4 seen a anake for three weeks, and when he came into town the other day he was not up on snakes, but he had a story to-tell. “Speaking of that Maryland farmer that they seld the gold brick to last month,” he said, with a chuckle of great superiority, “I guess I must have had one of them Maryland men dding some work on my farm about ten days ago.” “Did you pay him off in gold bricks or wall paper cut to currency size?” inquired the reporter. “I come mighty near not raying him off at ali,” he laughed. “He come walking in on me one day when I needed a hand and he didn’t look much like a man that would earn much more than he got, but I wasn’t very "particular. He waiked in on my porch where I was takirg a minute's breath af- ter dinner and begun operations by asking me if I didn’t want to buy a revolver, and he handed me out one that was a beauty. “Well,” says I, after looking over the gun a minute, ‘I haven't got any money to buy revolvers with, but I tell you what I'll do. I need help, and if you want to work it out you can.’ “*What’ll you allow fer work?’ says he. “Fifty cents a day and found,’ says I, ‘but you've got to sleep in the barn.’ ‘I want five dollars fer the gun,’ says ‘he, calculating on it a minute, ‘and that'll be ten days, won't it? ““To a t-y ty,’ says I. “Then. he took me up and handed me over the gun and went to work as soon as ke got his dinner. “I didn’t hear a peep from him for nearly a_week and one day in the middle of the afternoon he come over where I was run- ning a hay rake. “Say, mister,’ he begun prompt, ‘how's this?” ““How’s what? says I, having an idee vhat was up. Vhis revolver business,’ says he. hat about it?” says 1. ““*Well,’ says he, seratching his head slow and calculating, ‘it kinder seems to me that I a‘n’t gittin’ even on that there sseck- leaticn jist as 1 orter. I've been a workin’ bere fer most a week and you've got the gun and I don't seem to be any nearder gitting my five dollars than I was at the start. Like’s not I may be wrong, mister, but ef you'll kinder explanify and show me jist how the business stands betwixt us I reckon as how I won't be worryin’ so much and kin work harder. ’Tain’t ’peared to me to be jist right since I took you up that day we made~the bargain.” “Course,” concluded the Loudoun philan- thropist, “I showed him how it was and give him a big laugh and had fun with him, but I give him back his gun and lowed him wages and board for the time he had been working, and he kept the gun.” > FOR POST-MORTEM USE. Why a Mountaineer Would Not Sell His Crop of Walnuts. As I pulled up out of the steepest part of the Cumberland mountain road and drove along the bench of the mountain with a beautiful view off down the valley I stopped a moment to gaze upon the loveliness of nature and to breathe in deep drafts of the invigorating mountain air. < At a turn into a little recessed vale un- der the crag stood a vine-clad cabin much better in appearance than any I had seen since crossing over to the Tennessee side of the mountain. About it was a thrifty little mountain farm, and on the woodpile in front sat a solemn specimen of the male mountaineer. “Good morning,” I said to this, “can tell me where William Skaggs lives?” “What do you want uv him, stranger?” he replied. There was no use of contending a point on the ground that it was none of his. busi- ness what I wanted with Mr. Skaggs, be- cause I was sure to gain nothing by it, so I submitted. “I understand he has some walnut trees for sale,” I said. “He hain’t got any now.” “How do you know?” I asked in some surprise, for the usual mountaineer was not so communicative. “Caze I’m William Skaggs, an’ I reckon I ought to know what Bill’s got.” “Oh, I beg your pardon,” I hastened to explain. “Of course, I did not know who you were. They told me at Gray’s Miil last night that ycu had a lot of walnut. “Well, they wuz about half right, stran- ger, but since day before yistiddy things has changed. The Skaggs has had a scrim- mage with the Hankins and there’s likely to be war fer the next six months or a year. Thar’s about forty-six men on our side to about fifty on tother side. But they air pore white trash livin’ in hogpens, kinder, while we has places like this,” sweeping his hand toward his house and farm, “and we air proud uv ourselves and ain’t goin’ to git below the level that we air useter. That's why thar ain’t no walnut trees fer sale. Every one uv them Hankins that we air goin’ to do away with is goin’ to his last rest in a yaller poplar box, but when a Skaggs has a funeral, you'll see him goin’ down to his last restin’ place in a walnut coffin. That’s what, and them trees uv mine’ll furnish the timber. That's why they ain’t fer sale, mister, jist at present.”” you ——__. STORES AND SALOONS WERE OPEN, But the Morton Cadets Could Not Get Shaved on Sunday. “The people of San Antonio have some very queer ideas—queer at least from our Point of view,” said a Washington boy who was with the Morton Cadets on their fa- mous trip to Texas. “You know we were in the Alama ‘city on a Sunday, and the place was crowded with visitors. Activity prevailed everywhere. Were it not for the calendar the day might well have been mis- taken for a busy Saturday. It was pos- sible to purchase anything from a ten- penny nail to a mowing machine, from a Paper collar to a suit of clothes. All the stores were open for business, and the sa- loons, of which there are many io a block, were doing a holiday trade. Mingling with the sounds of the church bells, summoning worshipers to service, was heard the clink- ing of glasses and the popping of corks. The doors cf the Saloons were wide open, as were those of the business houses, ro attempt being made to operate the side en- trance plan. Peddlers and fakirs obstructed the streets with their carts and tables, as did the stands of bootblacks. “In view of all this it is little short of re- markable that the barber shops of the city were hermetically clased, so to speak. traversed the city from end to end in quest ef a tonsorial artist, but with absolutely no success. Even the side door, ‘last re- sort’ at the big hotels, proved of no avail. “‘‘Aren’t any of the barber shops open?’ I finally asked a well-dressed resident, as he emerged from a saloon, wiping his mouth in an unmistakably suggestive manner. “What, on Sunday?’ he remarked, in tones fraught with mingled surprise and horror. “I gave up the quest, after learuing that it is unlawful for barbers to pursue their calling Sundays, under penalty of a big fine.” Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. A Protest. “Klondike”—“Klondike"—fortunes where! That Roarer Bory Alice has bewitched us, I declare. And they're leavin’ farm and fam’ly for to try their luck afar. But I tell you, they won't ketch me under- neath no polar star. For what's the good of metal where the prices is so high ‘That you have to pay a fortune for a piece of apple pie? You'll dream about the generous boughs, with fruit a-bendin’ low, And find only disappointment in its yellow, mocking glow. You may fondle it and pet it, Yet with tear-drops you may wet it, For it’s no good till you get it Where the corn and melons grow. every- “Klondike” —*Klondike”—is there Brighter than the western tints that make the twilight fair? Ef you had all the dollars that kin grow "twixt earth and sky, You couldn't do no more than laugh, and weep and hope and die. You resk your health and conscience in a way that’s sad to see, Jes’ fer pointin’ suthin’ “That belongs to me.” You can’t enjoy but jes’ so much, as through the world you go, An’ the honest, willin’ worker never finds his spirits low. Gold—such doubts an’ fears beset it That yer likely to regret it, Fer it's no good ull ye get it Where the corn and melons grow. * the treasure out an’ sayin’ * * A Lingering Loyalty. “Charley, dear,” said young Mrs. Torkins, “would you like to have me read aloud to you about how our base ball club is doing?” Her husband gave a start which caused the tea he had just lifted to spill over his hands, “Haven't I been kind to you?” he asked. “Certainly. And that’s why I want to cheer you up by reading about the doings of your favorite ball club.” “Who said it was my favorite club?” “Why, early in the season you declared that there wasn’t another like it in the country. I hadn’t heard you say you took it back.” “I haven't taken it back. It’s the only thing of its kind en earth. It’s @ curiosity. Somebody ought’ to take a pot of glue and stick labels on ft and put it in the Na- tional Museu:n along with the petrified relies.”” “Dear me!” mean to i “I haven't held you responsible, have I?” = But I like to take an interest in the things that are nearest and dearest your heart. And I have spent so much time listening to everything I could hear about the ball club, so as to be able to converse intelligently on something besides frivolous topics!” “And_you were trying to awaken me to ecstatic joy by telling me about the funerai Procession we have been conducting through the United States?” “I supposed we must be doing very well, indeed,” she faltered. “On what did you base that supposition?” “On what the friend who called to see you last night said. He seemed to attach @ great deal of importance to it.” “To what?” “To the fact that nearly all the men in the clubs we played against got home safe. I can’t help thinking, Charley dear, that it must be all the umpire’s fault if we don’t get credit for having the best team, after they chased everybody off the grounds like that!” she exclaimed. “I didn’t * ** * A Burst of Sarcasm. _ The sculptor’s friend found him sitting in idleness with an expression that was distinctly sardonic. “What's the mat- was the in- “Nothing to jo?" “Yes. I have plen- ty to do. But what is the use of doing itr” “Never mind. Pos- terity will appreciate you “That's what I told the man who runs the hotel where 1 live. He said he thought so, too. But he also remarked that posterity is like- ly to have a great deal to think about, and won't take the trouble to give him the share in my glory that he unquestionably deserves for having trusted me for board.” “Perhaps your next work will bring you success.” “No. But I have a fine idea, and I am Boing to carry the effort to a conclusion.” “What is it?” “A statue representing Adam. Of course, I don’t expect that it will bring me any recognition. I can't depict him as wearing golf stockings or checked trousers or a Prince Albert coat, or any of the other things that are considered essentials in modern art. But I am going ahead and make the statue for my own satisfaction.” “Then why are you rot busy about it “I had dropped into a reverie when you arrived.” “A sentimental mood?” ° “No. I was thinking about my subject. I was thinking of what a lucky thing it was for Adam that when he first made his ap- pearance in clay that there was no com- mittee to come around and undertake to ccnsign him to oblivion.” * x * A Song of the Deep. Listen, my lad, and I'll tellatale . Of the bounding ocean wave, Though it’s not of the wild, weird winds that wail O’er a mariner’s unmarked grave. It’s all-of a simple but sad event ‘That once occurred to me, ‘When, on pleasure bent, a few days I spent At Sunburne by the Sea. woman with gold spectacles and an Alpine to get books and use them. ‘The printing presses ir hat, ~ sitting around making tidies and splash towels when we might just Well have the be of all this printe ink that is being generously distribut “Yes, Indeed,” mur- mured the litle wo- man who had means, — throughou all history of = vating one class of mankind to a position in which it could hold others in subjection? Tell me that. ‘The oratrix paused for a reply, and the little woman, after embarrassed silence, ventured: “It is something about the crime of *7%, isn’t it?” “It's education; that’s what it is. From the time when the Egyptian priests utilized @ superior knowledge of science to convince their fellow men that they were magicians until the present day, when obstacles of all kinds are set up to prevent the admission of women to colleges, education has been held and cherished as the chief weapon of tyranny.” And, to prevent another awkward pau the little woman said she thought it wos @ mean trick. “But the imposition ts reaching its en While these men who unblushingly mon- opolize the offices and compile documents to be published at the taxpayers’ expense imagine they are only erecting monuments to their vanity, they are in reality putting into our hands the means of their ewn humiliation!” “Are those books that the government publishes easily gotten?” asked the little woman. “They are to be had for the asking.” I wish I had known that.” 0 you want some?” Yes. I wish you would get me several large ones. The woman who next door to me has some and they ure just lovely to paste recipes into. totems A SHIP GRAVEYARD. Where Many Vessels Found Their Last Resting Place. Nut Island, a picturesque little place, situated ia Quincy Bay, Mass., about eleven miles from Boston, is mostly inhabited by fishermen. It might be very appropriately called Wreckers’ Island, for there numbers of the condemned vesseis bought by Boston junk dealers are burned, and some famous old ships, with histories, have been broken up to the last rib on its shore. It was here that the Galena, in which General Grant went round the world, was burned after being condemned and sold, and the famous old men-of-war Niagara, Brooklyn and Wy- oming were also burned on the island. There are still parts of the hulls of the Galena, Brooklyn and Niagara lying here and there about the island, up from hich water mark. The pilot houses, cabin doors, windows, etc., of each of the famous old ships have been utilized largely in the con- struction of fishermen’s and wi rs’ huts on the island. There is very little ieft of the Niagara, as only small parts of the ma- terial from her hull were used to build om of the smallest huts. Mrs. Joseph French of Quincy, who owns Nut Island, has the brass figure 2 taken from the water mark gauge at the Niagara's bow. The Niagura was taken to Nut Island to be burned about twelve years. She was one of the most celebrated of our old war vessels. In her day she was the smartest-looking warstip in the world. She was built at Greenpoint, L. 1, and was designed George Steers, the designer of the t the America and Wancerer. At the con gress of the navies on the Thames, tng- land, in 1Si9 the Niagara won the prize as the herdsomest war vessel in the world It was the Niagara which laid part of the Atlantic cable. From the Galena several interesting relics have been preserved. One hut is built al- most entirely of the cabin doors and panel- ings, and a window that was in the state room which General Grant occupied now dces service in the hut. Mrs. French has the footboard to the bunk in which General Grant slept. There is another hut built entirely trom sections of the cabins and deck houses of the man-of-war Brooklyn, which did good service in the battle of Hampton Koads, Va., ir. 1862, The Brooklyn and the Galena were taken to Nut Island to be burned about seven years ago. Jim Fisk's steamer Empire was also burned at Nut Istand by the wreckers who bought her for junk, and some of her timbers are still to be seen doing duty as plank walks and fences about the island. In many respects Nut Island is a very interesting place. With the exception of the slightly sloping beach on the southern shore, where the wreckers and lobster fishermen have made their headquarters; the island is merely a high hill of no great area. It it in a sheltered spot on the coast, and commands a beautiful view of Boston harbor and the outlying shores. The island has been for many years the resort of har- bor picnic parties and of young men who spend a week or two during the summer camping out by the sea. —_—— He Saved Fifty Cents. From the Cleveland Leader. “John,” said Mrs. Danglebrook, “how could you be so short-sighted as to lose half a day’s wages just to sce a base ball game, instead of waiting until Saturday, when you have half a day off, anyhow! We need every dollar that you can and you ought to know it, if you don’t.” “But, my dear, by Danglebrook ex; ou it would be wise to Jose a dollar, Seeker to save fifty cents, did you “Pshaw!” he ejaculated; “you women never can see thi in the right light. Confound it, didn’t you I had a pass?” —_+ 0+ —___ Willing to Die. From the Pittsburg Chronicle-Telegraph. “Pardner,” said Weary Willie to Tat- tered Tommy, “what is the easiest sort of death?” “Yer ain't thinkin’ o’ committin’ suicide, are yer?” ~ 4 “Yes, I am.”