Evening Star Newspaper, September 4, 1897, Page 14

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 189%24 PAGES. Written Exclusively for The Even “The abolition of the fe aro public parks of the observed watchman of one of the parks to The Star reporte done more for the parks than even the t earnest friend of the parks ever pated. It has been a source of education in many ways, end a gratification in every respect. Those of us who are old enough will remember the commotion which was produced when it was announced, some years ago, that the park fences had to go. Immediately the cry wert up that the parks would be ruin- ed: that the number of watchmen would heve to be increased, and that even ther there weuid be no protection in them; that the shrubbery, plants, grass and flowers would be ruined in a se or two, and that destruction would be sure to follow. The most serious argument was made in behalf of the children and nurses who Were to look after them. It was contend tha! cdlers, tramps and , verything that W 4 would, as it were, camp in the 7 to the exclusion of those who were inte! to he benefited by the pi Now, what is the result? The mere fact that there are ne fences around the parks makes a watch- mit very good citizen, and in a short ie those who were feared found this out. ugh there is much mere freedem in th» matter of allowing children to play on the grass as much as they desire, there is no injury, and the frequent and annoying raids on the flowers and plants have be- come a thing of the past. The watchmen have. besides, a much easier time. and while it was necessary, or at least it was thought it was, to lock the gates at night, there are now no gates to be locked. I cannot imagine how any one or any inter- am sure that the change. I has been injured, and all hav> been benefited by must add, however, that I was one of the old fogies who thought that the abolition f the fences would be a great and lasting injury. Happily for me, 1 was mis hs “Now that the schools are scon to be ypened.”” said Prof. J. G. Murtagh of New Yerk, “I will agair urge upon the school authorities here the value and importance of an improvement by the of the multiplication table. Th oned idea of children learning their tables only up to twelve times twelv < never right, ough it prevailed universally until within the past ten as a rul learn the multi s they learn 1 song! Ord an go up to the twelves in a couple onths. It would be of great value to them if the table was run up to fifty times fifty. Of course, it would take them a little while longer to learn it,and some might not be abi® to learn the table in one term. but a very large number would. and all of them would be able to learn it in two seasons. ‘This has been demonstrated time and time again in schools where the extension has been su cessfully adot In New York sta of t chools requires the mult table printed in the arithmetic » to fifty times fifty. This has n the law for some years. The same law prevails in other states. It may be the extra figures are not as much needed in every-day transactions as are those up to twelve times twelve, but the chiléren ar+ benefited by t ‘actice. It certainly does them no harm. Who has been y learning songs? “The more that are learred the easier it is to iearn them. How difficult it is for amateurs to learn Parts ip plays when they first begin, and ¥et after they have been at it for several Months they can learn to repeat their parts letter perfect in a few days, while before that it took them weeks. Following up as actors have to de in their pro- ssion the learn parts in a few hours. This result of practice. The Same practice will teach them the extended multiplication tabi General Sheridan was not the only offi- cer who selected the site fge his gravc at Arlington,” explained one of the em- ployes of Arlington cemetery to a Star re- porter, “theugh that impression prevails very largely. Hundreds of cther oiticers and soldiers have done the same thing and there are today in the books at Arlington 3 of sites s “i by at least fifty and ex-soldiers who want to be ere, which is their rignt if they All that has to be done is to sele The government pays all the e penses of interment, digs the graves, a regulation mon on it and the grave in order. Of course when it erred the regulation monument is 1 insisted on and the privilege is allowed of pent aving any Kind of monument at the ex- se of those who are to occupy the ve, or their family or friends. Nearly of the army nurses, ladies. who have buried at Arlingion in the past five six years have selected their own al si > a number of sele have by others who ¢ to re to the nt inquiry ma) selected by Gene She—“What do you want?” Rest!" we AND —~. dan and upon which the handsome monu- ment, which is one of the many attrac- tions of the cemetery, has been placed from the fact that it Is on the front of the mansion instead of in the rear or side of-it as are the other graves. This is ex- plained by the fact that General Sheridan himself selected it. His reason for resting where he does. was, that that particular point is in full view from his residence on Rhode Island avenue. It is besides the only site which can be seen from the west windows of the house where his family re- side. It was this, her than that he was exclusive in hi. ires, that caused the selection. Major Gregory of the Engi- neer Corps, who was buried beside him a few weeks ago, then a captain, was at that time on hi uff. They were together ted. After General who had selected the site, by ig it from one of the upper rooms his residence, had fidicated it to the rintendent of that cemetery and a was made of the exact location, egory remarked in a pleasant way ‘General, how would you like com- ny ? “Gene when the site w Sheridan, view of 1 Sheridan turned to him and re- plied: ‘Nothing would suit me better, and if you want me I will stake out a claim for you so that we can rest together." ‘Thank you, general,’ replied Major regory, ‘though T am likely to come here first’ “Major Gregory was rather unwell that day, thongh as it transpired his ill- ness was but bri Immediately General Sheridan turned to the superintendent and said, pointing to the ground, ‘Reserve a place right here for Gregory. We got along very nicely together in life and 1 don't think we will quarrel after death. how we are both willing to risk it. T remember about ten or twelve years ago a gentleman who is very prominent in official life now, and was as prominent in congressional life then, and who gained great distinction in army life, driving over to Arlington early ene morning from a hotel in the city where he was stopping, end, after looking about where some sol- diers from his section of the country had been buried, selected the site for his grave rd | and had a record of the location entered upon the books. He said he had had a premonition that he would soon die, and preferred to make his selgction while he Wi in pos on of his fu powers. Well, the grave is here. when he has use for it, but from the looks of things it will be many a year before he will need it. He told me se al times since that he would be so nicely fixed among his silent com- rades and friends at Arlington that all fears of death had passed away; that the trip over to Arlington that morning had thoroughly cure m. at same gentle- man is a frequent visitor here, and he never fails to go over and inspect his home, as he calls it.” ree kK * natured slander on church astors to say that they stand in with their xtons in the way of a divide in the mat- ter of umbrellas, gloves, fans. wraps, books and the odds and ends found in churches,” explained the sexton of one of the most prominent churches of the city to a Star reporter. “This matter of leaving things in churches seems to have its seasons. Some months nothing at all is picked up, while right along comes a month when I make a half-dozen finds on Monday morn- ings, or the mornings after evening serv- ices are held. Generally the things left in “It fs a goo¢ churches are without any particular value, though now and then there is an excep- is tion. What the thing most found? Glow pm to be the victims of the church loser. See that drawer over there? Well, it is filled with gloves of all sorts and sizes, materials and styles, but generally the black kid predominates. The glove with big holes in its fingers is also very plentiful. People rarely leave over one glove in church, and almost as rarely call for them, for they have a pretty fair knowledge of their lack of value. We have some nice books now and then, and very frequently umbrellas and parasols—um- brellas oftener than sois. Umbrellas rly always claimed. Umbrellas are handy to have on hand, for there s reat demand to borrow them, when expected showers and rz set in. Wraps. cloaks, gossamer ft now and then, but are nearly ent for, even by strangers who ities. The most curic thing I ever found? It would be difficult to state ex- actly, but I remember once of finding a loaded revolver in a pew. The strange art of it was that the revoiver was left one of three ladies who occupied the It was never called for. After a hers’ mecting one night I found a pack of steamboat playing cards and a vial hol whisky. Neither y though the whisky peared soun afterward. x about a half a drink of ver called for, mysteriously disap- They were telling dog on the car in from Falls Church a few mornings since, and these were among those heard by Star reporter: “To my mind,” said a vensicn office clerk, an officer of the National Guard, “one of the most interesting dogs I have ever seen can be found sny morning, except Sunday, on the road from Laurel to Sandy Spring, id., at a point about equal distance from both places. He w the arrival of the stage there so as to take the mail of his master, always two papers and frequently two or three letters, to his home, three miles off the road. The stage driver tes up the mail in a bundle and simply throws {t off at a certain tree. The dog ts general- ly there or nearby and does the rest. In over two years, the stage driver told me, the dog never missed connection with the se but once, and that was during a blizzard, when the stage could not run. The “Well, you better call in at the graveyard, down on the next lot.”—Life. dog, however, was on hand at the proper time.” knew of a dog,” said a Navy Depart- ment clerk, ‘“‘who had been trained to weed a garden and who did the work as care- fully as the best man about the place. He was put in the ghrden once each week. The row where he was to work was picked out for him by his master, who was a cripple, and who moved about with the greatest difficulty, and he never stopped until every weed in the entire row was torn up roots and all. Then, after prancing about awhile, he was put into another row and effectually cleaned that out. He work- ed over potatoes and tomatces, and, while he dragged out every weed, he never tore a plant or did an injury in any way.” ‘That reminds me,” recalled a Treasury Department clerk, “that the little terrier that worked so many seemingly difficult arithmetical problems at the hotels with Prof. Murray, the lightning calculator, 18 dead. Murray told me he had been offered $1,000 for the dog, but had declined it. “The dog, as well as its mother, took naturally to the training, and learned to do all the work he did so well in less than six months. O? course, the calculations were performed by Murray, though to all intents and purposes they’ were done by the terricr. I have cccasion to use every day in interest caiculation and multiplica- tion of and by nines, a rule I learned by seeing the dog do his work. It is, besides, a ume saver and a very valuable rule.” have a dog,” remarked Mr. Milliken of the supervising architect's office, “that is by no mears slow. He is descended from Brian Boru, the famous St. Bernard, and Dolly, an almest equally famous collie. My dog’s education runs to the practical, rather than to the crnamental, and while he could learn to do éalculations, carry mail and work a garden, I have kept him at other work. In this specialty I do not know that he even has a competitor. The dog is not able to split kindling wood, but if there is any split cn hand on any part of my place, and there generally is, he will gather it and carefully pile it up in the kitchen, if required, or immediately out- side tne door in a box I have there for that purpose, The dog Goes not have to be driven to do his work, like the average farm boy or hired man, but delights in keeping the kindling box filled at <ll times. As he notices the pile get down, without any hint from any of my household, he goes out and gathers in a supply. A DARING ENGINE RIDE. How Charles Croker Saved the Cen tral Pacific Railroa: Written for The Evening Star. “One of the most exciting and dangerous rides I ever had was made on a locomotive in California in the 60's," said an old resi- dent of San Francisco to the writer, who had been speaking of the remarkable ccol- ness exhibited by two men while riding be- hind a runaway horse. “The ride to which I refer happened shortly after Charles Croker and a few other men inaugurated the Central Pacific railroad. The tracks of the road had been laid as far as Newcastle, and the company was in debt and despondency, and L. L. Robinson, who then owned the old original railroad from Freeport to Folsom, w laughing in his sleeve at what ne called “the Dutch Flat swindle.” The stages then went from Folsom to the great. mining camps of Nevada, especially to Virginia City, and it was the boast of the Freeport ard Folsom road people that the Central Pacitic would never be built beyond New- casue. os “Well, one morning Charles Croker left San Francisco on the steamer bound for Freeport with three gentlemen, inciuding myself. When the steamer had reache Freeport the mail and newspapers from San Francisco for Virginia City were im- mediately put aboard the Freeport and Fol- som train, which then hurried away on its journey. A spirited team was waiting fo Mr. Croker and his companions, and wi quickly left the steamboat, got into the coach and were driven rapidly off for Sac- ramento city. Arrivirg there, we found an engine and coal tender waiting for us at the Central depot, and Mr. Croker gave orders to the engineer to run the locomo- every pound of steam she could car- y, to Newcastle. “When we started all of us, with the ex- ception of Mr. Croker, who stood at the back of the engineer, were seated in the tender on various lumps of coal and wood, and it didn’t take us long to realize, from the awful jolting and swaying of the en- gine, that the road was unballasted, and in a very poor condition for speeding. Much to our relief, after we had passed beyond the American river and our arms fairly ached from our exertions to hold on and keep ourselves from being thrown out of the tender, the engineer suddenly lowered his rate of speed and at the same time in- formed Mr. Croker that it would be ex- tremely dangerous to run any further at th e had been going. : Croker looked ‘annoyed and said: nse! It you are afraid, you had bet- ter get off the engine. “He then took hold of the lever and pull- ed it to the furthest limit. Of course, we all thought that Mr. Croker was crazy, and that the engine would soon jump the track. But Mr. Croker would not listen to remon- strances, never moved a muscle, and stood at the lever until we were all scared out of our wits, and the engine, panting and throb- bing like a huge wild beast enveloped in a cleud of escaping steam, reached New- castle. Here we were hustled into a wait- ing coach and driven away. At each ten miles betweei. that town and Virginia City there was a relay of horses. At variou points along the mountain roads even th drivers were afraid to obey Mr. Croker's orders, and in two instances he took the reins himself and whipped the teams into a lively gallop. ‘The result of the whole exciting, wild and dashing race was that Charles Croker presented in the busiress office of the Vir- ginia City Enterprise a copy of the Sah Francisco Bulletin and some maii matter twelve hours before the mail agent ou the opposition railroad had reached the city. That was the death blow to the Freeport and Folsom road and the salvation o} 2 Central Pacific.” pe —___ WEARERS OF WOODEN SHOES Not Confined to Foreigners, but Are Used in American Communities, Written for The Evening Star. A wagon load of wooden shoes, such as are worn by European peasants, lay in a heap on the floor of a woodwear deal-r’s store down town in New York the other day. “Who wears ’em?” inquired the writer as he looked at the stock. “More people than you would think,” was the answer of the dealer, “and not only foreign-born, old-fashioned folks, but quite a number of Americans. Their chief sale is in winter. In fact, there {s little or no call for them at any other season. Our customers are mostly dairymen, gar- deners, farmers, brewers, dyers and meu employed in slaughter houses. Chicken cleaners in the dressed poultry business who stand in feathers and steam wear them to save their shoe leather. Garden- ers’ wives and daughters wear them about home, and sometimes in the severest weather In the market. “In cold weather car, truck and cab driv- ers in New York and other cities wear them for the reason that they are warmer than any other footwear. Some drivers cover them with black cloth, or black2n them, and then tack old rubber or leather beotlegs to the top. Worn thus the thick soles are a great protection against frost, and one’s feet are always dry. They are also worn by street cleaners and men who work at paving . roads, especially when hot asphalt is used, which is found to be very destructive to leativer.”” Wooden shoes are now sold by the sands in New York. mede in Maine, but mest of them come from Holland. They are made of bireh, ash and boxwood and sell retail at from &® cents to $1.25 a pair, according to finish and quality. thou- Some of them are —_——— - A Unique Pipe. A novel pipe for transmitting hydraulic pressure is in use at the Victoria bridge, near the mouth of the River Dee, England, As described in the Engineering News, it censists %f a solid drawn lead pipe, cov- ered with close coils of copper wire, and is used for conveying water at 750 pounds per square inch pressure from one side of the river to the other to operate the ma- ghinery of a span of the swing bridge. At first a copper pipe one and a half inches in diameter, jointed with screwed untons, was used, but the scouring action of the tide washed out the bed of the river, left the pipe unsupported in two places’ and caused it to leak. The new pipe made of lead, wrapped with copper wire, is more flexible than the old one, and it is ex- pected it will work more satisfactorily. ——— 00 If you want anything, try an ad. in The Star. If anybody has what you wish, you will get an answet a AN ECCENTRIC — DIPLOMAT Quaint Personality and Strange Life of ' Minister Fox. House Too Full of Old Furniture for Social Gathcrings—Loved Cards and Smoked Opium. The former representative “of the govern- ment of ‘Great Britain to this country, Henry Stephen Fox, of whom the good stcry 1s told that when he met acquain- tances In daylight he remarked how strange was their appearance, for they had never seen each othef except by candle light, is well remembered by a few of our older c‘lizens as a most eccentric character. He Was a figure as well known as most of the netables of his day. He had long been in the diplomatic service of Great Britain, and wheh seat here from South America to succeed Sir Charles Vaughan, one of the most affable, as well as brilliant, members of the diplomatic corps, Mr. Fox was ex- pected to fill his place in society circles. Indeed, so much had been said of his wit- nd eccentricities that Washington looking for a social Hon. If any knew of his dislike of some of the society func- tions cur upper ten was not informed, and there was much disappointment that he did not step in the shoes of Sir Charles, to the highest social position. A great-grand- son of the Duke of Richmond, son of a general who had fought against our fathers in the revolution, end nephew of the great whig leader in the British parliament, Washington society expected in him a Icader. Mr. Fox Proved an acquisition to the so- ciety of the capital, at least so far as to furnish a subject for society gossip, and it Was not long befcre his eccentric habits, his peculiar attire and his brilliant witti: cisms were known not only in society circles, but by the general public. Even the street gamins recognized him in his late afternoon strolls. Once seen, he could not be easily mistaken for another. In per- son he was tall and slim—exceedingly so— with the cadaverous complexion of an opium eater. He was scrupulously neat in his attire, and usually in his wall a blue cloth swallow-tailed coat with brass buttons, nankeen pants—mim. raps, then worn by all classes—broad-brimmed hat, and to his shirt a high, standing col- lar, reaching the top of his ears. His iden- lity was further emphasized by a green silk umbrella in his hand, and this to him vas useless unless it rained, for he was seldom out of doors when the sun shcne. Mr. Fox lived here In a large brick hou on K street, west of what is now Washing- ton Circle. He was almost a hermit, goi in official society only so far as duty re- quired, and receiving but few visitors. His few entertainments took the form of din- ners to gentlemen, after which the night was often spent at the card table, on which there were no small stakes. His day began about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when he rose from bed and dressed, and took a walk to the Capitol grounds and back to his breakfast. In the evening he would at- tend the society functions of the diplomats, seldom of any others, and after watering his flow of which he was excessively fond, would return to bed ere the risen. He had an aversion to hands with ladies, and gave that an ex- cuse for not opening his house to recep- tions; but, in reality, his residence was so fumbered up with old furniture, for which he had a mania, that there was not much room for entertaining any considerable number. Apother hobby of his was ento- mology, and he had a large collection of specimens. stowed away in boxes, many of which were never opened. It was thought that he was a victim of the opium habit, and the supposition proved correct. His servants were charged never to disturb him or enter his presence except when summoned. One night in the early part of October, 1846, he remained in his chamber undisturbed, but when late the next day one of the domestics, despite the usage, wettt to'his room, he found him in a lethargi¢: condition. Physicians, hastily called, worked on him, but their ¢fforis proved futile. Death came in a few Rours. The supposition was that death was caused by an overdose of the drug he Had feng been addicted to using. His funeral was a large and imposing one, attended hy the President (Mr. Polk) and his cabinet, the diplomatic corps and num- bers of the Yeading men of the nation and District: But for his eccentricities and the rules of his household, a most. brilliant personage might have lived to a green old age and added luster to the family name. = ¢ German Navy. From the New York Evening Post. It is generally supposed that the German Emperor hs become convinced that his desire for a huge navy cannot be gratified immediately, but it is clear that an organ- ized effort is in progress to awaken public enthusiasm on the subject. This is mani- fested by the number of articles and pam- phiets which have appeared in Berlin sct- ting forth the danger which threatens Ger- man trade from the insufficiency of the number of cruisers at the disposal of the admiralty for protecting merchant vessel in time of war. B: porate system of comparative tables it is pointed out how far behind the other European great pow- ers Germany is in the relative strength of her merchant and cruiser fleet. The figures adduced in support of this contention are as follows: England is represented ing a merchant fle of 9,000,000 to: a crusier fle .000 tons, a proportion of sixty-four cruiser tons to every thousand tors of the merchant service. In Germany the figures are 1,900,000 tons merchant fleet, and x) tons cruiser fleet, a pro- portion of nineteen; France has 1,005,000 tons merchant fleet, and 145,000 tons cruiser feet, a proportion of 132; Ttaly has 779,000 tons merchant fleet, and 54,000 tons cruiser fleet, 2 proportion’ of sixty-nine; Russia owns 458,000 tons of merchant fleet, and 64,000 tons cruiser fleet, a proportion of 131. Taking, therefore, even the English proportion of cruisers ‘to merchant vessels as the standard of requisite security, Ger- many, it 1s argued, ought to increase her cruiser fleet threefold. To rival the strong protection accorded to French and Russian trading interests, she ought to increase her cruisers almost sevenfold. On the other hand, official statistics prove that the German naval budgets of the last twenty- five years have increased much more rapidly than those of any other European power. ——+e-__ The Flour That Makes the Best Bread Mrs, Rorer tu the Ladies’ Home Journal. The soft, fine white fiour will not give as large an amount of muscle, bone or nerve- making feod-as the whole wheat flour, which constitutes in itself a complete life sustainer. In selecting fiour choose that which is dark in color and free from bran. The best bread flours in the market are of a yellowish-white tinge, rather granulated, and do not wasily pack. They make a strong apd elastic dough. Though not whole wheat flours, they are decidedly the best of the’ white brands. After selecting the flour the next important thing is to have a goed, strong, sweet and pure yeast. The compfessed cakes are good and con- venient, and will do the work much more quickly than ten times the amount of home-made or baker's yeast. When setting bread to rise, stand your bread pan in an- other of wurm water; cover the two so that the moistute will pass over the top of the dough at anseven temperature of 75 de- grees Fahrenheit. ae -e-___ Gave, Him Another Chance. From the New Xork Times. A young’ mar who had: been two days at the Ponce. Ge Leon on what may well be called ,a combination of business and plezsure, since }he was courting a million- a're’s daughter-temporarily residing there, went to the clerk and asked for his bill The clerk looked at the young man care- fully for a long moment, then made out and handed over a bill for $238. The young man did not stagger or grow pallid. He tossed the slip of paper back to the clerk and said: “Guess again, you chump; I’ve got more money than that.” —+ 2+ _____ Real Proof. From Life. Mrs. Henpeck—“The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Mr. Henpeck—“The proof of those you make is in the post-mortem.” ++ —____ “Want” eds. in The Star pay because they bring answers. A WINTER'S TALE. An Individual Who is Not a Klondiker Tells a Story. “T've been hearing a great deal about the cold weather that will dtop down on Klon- dike mighty soon now,” remarked a west- ern editor in Washington on business of his own, “and I am sure they are going to have a dreadful time of It, some of them, before the spring freshets, but’ I am sure not a man among them will have a sadder ex- perierfee with the cold than I did in the winter of 1870, I was a printer in St. Louis in the spring of that year, with a little ex- perience in editing a paper, and there was a chance for me to go to a new mining town that started up about fifty miles from Denver and start a paper, or rather, keep the one going that had been started there by the chap who. wanted me to come out and join him. “There was adventure in it, and I was younger then than I am now, so it was that in May I was the editor-in-chief of the Blue Gulch Gazette, a weekly journal of civili- zation, as we proudly announced in our motto line. We did nicely all that summer, and I enjoyed it, though I was told it wasn’t so pleasant climatically in winter. One of the attractions of the office was a ‘devil’ that we had got from the newsboy gang in St. Louis, and he was the sharpest and brightest little cuss in the state of Colorado. He was about fourteen years old, and he wouldn’t weigh over fifty pounds, but he was all nerve and muscle. “Well, the first snowfall was in October early, and the weather whacked around to all points of the compass for the next six weeks. Then it settled steady, and the week before Christmas it looked as if we were going to have a nice holiday week. But we were doomed to disappointment, for three nights before the day, the snow began falling and a terrific blizzard swept up through the high-walled valley in which our town was located. Thirty-six hoars later, when we got up in the morning, the town was snowed under and there was no getting around at all. I sent Snips out to see if he could bore through, and he came back in half an hour with something hot for us to eat, Snips and I otcupying a back room in the office and boarding around. He told me he had seen“two or three peo- ple at the restaurant who had burrow through a block or two, as the snow was light, but how deep it was none of them knew, as it was above the roofs of the two- story houses, the highest we had. “Then a brilliant idea came to Snips. ‘There's our smoke stack, major,’ he said, ‘it’s forty-seven feet by the measure, and just about the size for me to pull my- self up through by them wires inside of it, just like I me swarm up to the top of it and s the snow comes to. I can do it easy “Well, gents,” concluded the wester itor, “I let him go, and he never came back. I guess he must have fallen off of the top some way and got smothered in the snow, or frozen to death or something. Anyway, when the snow thawed down in a rain that followed in a couple of weeks we found the poor little fellow in the pure white snow and as black as the ace of spades from the soot that he had got on himself climbing up in that smokestack. _— SPEED OF So Slow That the Axle Grease Froze Hard and Tight. ‘The visitor in Washingion from the sweet potato dunes of New Jer was trying the cable and electric cars around the city, accompanied by a War Department clerk, who had known him years age in the mos- THE A TRAIN. he remarked as he came whiz- zing along Connecticut avenue, “I've saw a good many trains of cars, some slow and some not so slow, and some kinder betwixt nd between, but the very golderndest beatin’est train of cars I ever did see was one that used to run acrost the northwest corner of the county I was born and raised in. I don’t remember the name of it, but it used to run two trains a day, carrying passengers and freight and anything it could git, and many’s the time when I've tock milk to our station and got left that I've took a short cut through the woods to the other station and had to wait so long there that the milk ‘ud sour, The Jerseyman’s companion him as if in doubt. “It's shorer'n gospel,” continued the peaker solemnly. “You don’t s’pose I'd be lyin’ while I was flyin’ through the air like this, do you, and not knowin’ any minute where I was goin’ to light, ner how hard. No, indeedy. And I’ve seen that train when it supprised everybody. I mind mighty well one time when she struck a down grade jist over the county line, and we had a candidate on board that anxious to git to the next town, where he was going to make a campaign speech, and the conductor said he'd git him through er bust a biler, and the candidate took the conductor to one side and he com in’ his mouth on his coat sleev uctor did. I remember it was about 4 o'clock of a sizzlin’ hot day when that old ingine got herself straightened out with her nosc p’inted down the grade and the conductor looked at » the stuck his head out of the car winder and hollered to the engineer to jet her go to beat the band, and I guess that’s what he done. for the train got to shakin’ and jolt- in’ in the next ten minutes worse’n a tWrashin’ mach with a dropped cog. At first I had an idee we was goin’ like the conductor holle her go, but wh: shakin’ up to he engineer to let n I got enough used co the go the handles of the seat and take a look around, which was in half an hour or better, I was supprised to see by the scenery adjoinin’ the iracks that she had stopped plum still, and the conductor went out a-flyin'. “in afew mine utes he come back, sneakin’ in and lookin’ as if he had a pain, and steerin’ away from the side of the car, where the candida: vas takin’ a nap, and him ten miles from his speaking place, and trustin’ himself to the conductor like'a woman. ‘What's the matter?’ says I to him. ‘Sh’, sh,” says he, holdin’ up a finger and noddin’ over toward the sleepin’ can- didate. ‘What's wrong” says I in a ‘Hot box?” whisp. “‘Not hardly,’ says he, blurtin’ it right out. ‘Froze box.’ Grease hard as a rock and freezin’ tighter every minute. Had to stop and thaw out, and only got sixty minutes to git that cand:date to town in, and he's a friend of mine, too.’ ———— A Patent Office Incident. The patent office official bowed Politely from his place at his desk as the visitor in clothes of cleric cut and a smooth face greeted him with a subdued “good morn- ing, sir.” “Good morning,” responded the official with a cheerful, hundred-and-fifty-dollar-a- month manner. “Is there anything we can do for you this morning?” “I don’t know, really, sir,” crooned the caller softly. ‘‘To know if you can is the object of my visit this morning, sir. “Very well, state your case, and if we ean do anything for you, you may rest assured it will be done.” The visitor cleared his throat pretty much as if he were going to deliver a sermon. “I think,” he said slowly and with hesi- tation, “if I mistake not, that I saw a statement in some one of the public prints to the effect that this office would not is- = patent on Sunday. Is that irue, sir? “Quite true. It does not. ‘Why is that, sir, if I may ask?” “It is against the rules of the office is all I know.” “Will it issue one on any other day of the seven, sir That is “Certainly, it will. here for.” “Oh, thank you, how nice,” twittered the visitor, taking a large madras handker- chief from his coat tail pocket, shaking it out and wiping his brow with it. “That be- ing the case, if you will be kind enough to let me have one on Tuesday, sir, you will do me a great personal favor. You see, sir, Tuesday is my birthday, and I want patent on It so no one-can use it for birth- day purposes, sir, except myseli ——— Autobiographical. what it is From Life. ‘The self-made man was speaking. He said ‘My father was a raiser of hogs. There was a large family of us”—and then his voice was drowned by the applause. ———~e-______ Earned His Reputation. From Puck. First Spectator (at the ball game)—“He is considered one of the most impartial umpires in the-business.”” Second Spectator—“‘Is he?” First Spectator—“Yes; I've noticed that in nearly every game he is denounced with equal vigor by both sides.” r JOHNSON Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. “Sweet Williams. Summer slippin’ by us; Apples gittin’ red; Birds have stopped a-singin’ an’ a-swingin’ on de tree, Woods an’ fields deny us Sweetness dey once shed; Ain’ no mo’ “Sweet Williamses” fresh an’ fre I's been’ true an’ steady; Wucked f'm day ter day So's ter lay by sumpin’ foh my comfort in de fall. Fruit an’ grain is ready Ter keep de wolf away— No-account “Sweet Williamse: dearer dan dem all. seems I looks back on pleasures An’ de friends I knew Scenes dat I has cherished and dat per- ished long ago; And I finds I treasures Jes’ some triflin’ few Like dem sweet “Sweet Williamses” smiled an’ nuffin’ mo’. * <. The Successful Suitor. “I don’t say as how ye've went back on yer word,” he said, as he sat down on the stump in front of the log house, “but the fack stan’s thet ve gone an’ married another man. The woman took off her sun bonnet and handed it to one of the barefoot children who were hanging about. ‘Take that into the house,” she said: ‘an’ the rest of you all run an’ play.” Then, turning to her visitor, she exclaimed defiantly, “Thar ain't nobody, man or wo- man, as kin say that oncet I gin my word I ever went back onto it. I told you long dat ago, when fust they was any prospeck of my gittin’ ter be a widder, thet thar wan't no use of yer hintin’ around about what i might do in case anythin’ happened.” “Ye said, though, thet I stood as good a show as anybody else.” ‘An’ so ye did—the: “Whut you was skeered about was thet you'd git somebody as wouldn't be good to the children.” “That was jist the p'int.” “Ain't I allus been ez p'lite able to ‘em ¢z anybody could?” “Sure.” “Ain't I bought ‘em candy an’ ginger- bread hosses an’ tin wagon Most liberal.” ‘An’ on the Fourth of July didn’t I buy m shootin'-crackers an’ sky-rockers a roaming candles an’ a lot of other things: “You done all that. But you didn’t stay ter em touched off.” ““Cause I hatter go ter town, right back ter town, that same afternoon. “It was that day I made up my mind tr marry Jake Spicer.” “And him a man weth the other murmured indigi “Yes, an’ you'll be surprised ter know how much them fireworks an’ that wooden limb had ter do weth it. I knew how much an’ agree- a wooden leg! ntly. store Jake sot by it. He took jist as much pride in that wooden leg cz I do in imy marble-top bureau. I gi ou credit fur bein’ good-natured most of the time, but childern fs pesterin’ an’ there ain't no te! lin’ how long a man’s temper is goin’ te hold out wetn them ez ain't his own. When I seen the patient an’ accommodatin’ way Jake Spicer rolled up his pant-leg an’ helt cut that wooden limb for the boys ter tack pinwheels onto, I said to myseif, “There's a man ez kin take sass an’ disobejince an’ not git riled; ef any body'll make a second father ter them young ‘uns, it’s him. Adding Insult to Injury. The city is very much the same as it was when I left it,” said the man who has been away. “Don’t you miss some of the old land- marks?” ‘Yes. And to tell the truth, I'm exceed- ingly glad of it. I miss those old-fashion- ed herdic coaches that used to trundle up and down Pennsylvania avenue. Their aly sence keeps me from being constantly re- minded of a unique catastrophe. I had learned French, German and how to play the trombone without a teacher, and I thought I would go ahead and do the same thing with a bicycle.” “A great many people manage to do that.” “That is what encouraged me. But if I had it to go through again I'l hire a boy. I don’t mind the recollection of bruises and torn clothes. But the personal humilia- tion is more than I can recall without an- guish. After a struggle of an hour or two I managed to mount the machine. Then 1 was seized with the traditional desire to run into anything that happened to come within my field of vision. But I persever- ed. The shock of a collision with a coal cart was not sufficient to warp my deter- mination to ride that bicycle to my own front gate or perish. A herdic passed me and I had an inspiration. It was going near my house. Ali 1 would have to do was to get behind it and passively indulge the machine’s ambition to telescope it from the rear. Whenever I found I was getting too close for safety, I could slow up and get off. The worked admirably until T had almost hed my destination. In a short time [ had become sufficiently skill- ful to maintain a discreet interval of as- phalt between myself and vehicle. An increase of confidence caused me to lessen the pace, and T was beginning to get some genuine enjoyment from ride when a passenger rang the bell. The driver epen- ed the doors at ihe rear and stopped the coach.” Waat did you do?" hing. The wheel went right ahead and buckled its front rim gn the step. The momentum carried me clear inside the coach.” I don’t blame y or heing a little ss sitive about an ot th nd “That w of it. by any means. As soon saw me, the driver rang up a fare, pulled the Wouldn't let me out until 1 cents in the box doors shut and had put three Practica “I guess,” said sman, as he entered the photograph studio, “that Td better let take these back and try it over again,” Didn't your phcetographs please you?” asked the young woman behind the show *. They “The lik commented, length. “Et is. If so strong I family and told the nei and have made would be no use with that pictur “What is it vou ob ‘The surroundin pleased me first ness ix remarkably held one te” g00¢ out at she rms” as she the resemblance weren't quite might have kept them for my myself to look at chhors it was som them believe it. in trying to de pody else, But ther eive them ject to?” ut this is one of the most popular backgrounds in our gallery. Everybody understands that such things are only painted on canvas.” 0.” was the reply, “everybody doesn’t understand it. 1 wouldn't ve one of those pictures get into the haw of the op- position just before election for ten thou- sand dollars. You'll have to give me some pictures with another background, even if I pay for having it painted to orde Look where you have me! Seated on lush um chair, in halls of Byzantine archt », with a garden of palms in the bi ground! Tt we do. What TU hi have is a perspective showtr barn and a hay wagon, with a hired man in the mid- dle distance, while I stand in the for ground h an earnest expression on my face, as if T were telling him exactly what we must do if we expect to save the coun try.” * * % er Exubernnce. Septem ‘sa faint but sweet suggestion in the rly morning air Of the cooler days @raw nigh us. And then we note with there's nothing to com That the months without Nitted by us. And the cares which darkly mingle pm, collectively and sing! To go dancing, lke this jing! To oblivion’s furthest pas What ecstatic thrills How hope hastens from When the reed bird end th Take the center of the stags Ther of autumn which bliss with which re, the R have joy stir! r cloiste oyst i and the clown The circ has washed awa The pallor of his comical complexion. And the operatic warbler will vet come for many a day » divert our hard-carned wealth in hep lirection. But ovr bliss it does not trammel Tha the elephant and camel And ‘he face of white enamel And the singer halt afar. - But with applause that’s boister- Ous we turn ourselves to royster With the reed bird and the oyster And the month that wears the R. A “There is no use of denying that the present era fails to prody such great men as were known to the ancients. enator Sorg hum gave the young man of sincere enthusi- asms a searching glance, and, leaning ack in his chair, commented with de- liberation. “Oh, I don't know “It seems to me that there are no comparisons to be drawn in our favor. Look at Julius Cac- Well, Caesar do? “He added many countries to the Ro- man empire.” “Yes. That was a time when annexation was a great deal simpler than it is now.” vhat dia “And not content with his political tri- umphs, he went into literature.” “And wrote signed articles for so much a column?” inquired Mr. Sorghum with in- “No. He wrote great volumes recording his own achievements.” “I remember hearing something about at. There's no doubt about his having been a college graduate.” “How do you know? “He wrote all his books in Latin. But I don’t attach much importance to them, ex- cept, ibly as works of art. Of course they may all be very interesting and finely writien. But if I wanted to the inside facts about how Julius got along in the world so fast, I wouldn't be satisfied with reading his autobiography. I'd insist on seeing the stubs of his check book.” > Carrie—“He said he would go to the end of the earth for me.” Maude—“What did you say?” Carrie—"I proposed that he compromise, and simply go home.”—Inila~ delphia North American. “Were the sanitary “They were.” “What was the matter?” “I was smoking that cigar you gave me.”—Life. : police in your house this afternoon?