Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-03-04
Capital Anecdotes.

Br p,eased to take seats, gentlemen,
an gong to tell some true stories.
Ipronlise net to bore you.
Lemoau>ki came to .his country many
Gears ago and auccccdc,; in obtaining II
ccleikehip in he postoilice department.
Acc ,rdinE to hia account If himself he
had lccA :. soldier nn,;er ne great M
poleoi Nothing please: him better
than to acct with an opportunity to
recite ais rlili;iry exploits. It's hardly
necess,ry t" lay 'ha, ,olaa If then: were
n,arycion. and always excited 4 smile Of
iucrcduli',. At length fellow CLERK
said to hil, Lemnnoski, have often
heard ia hight oyer yOr!r old battles;
now II nu NV, you my sud military
experi.has. WAS 10 soldier IL the
Black lI,ak war. Ia the very first en-
eagenlent | SAW three stalwart indians
coming at full speed after my scalp.
was armed with au old-fashioned
double bavreled shot gun. l let hnr
loose upon the two that were in the
lead, and killed them as dead as Julius
Crsar. The third came rushing ueoL
me with his bloody tomahawk raised
above his head and what do you suppose
happened them" You killed bin, of
COURSE" mot exactly quietly replied
the Back Hawk warrior; he killed
me-" \ roar of laughter WAS raised
among tho bystanders, aud poor Lam
onoski's warns were knocked clear out
of him.
General Jackson about the year 1892
gave Jimmy Maher the appointment of
public gardener in Washington. Salary
q 49,, kr,,,
perhaps, amounted to much larger
sum. To keep the public grounds in
proper order were the duties to be
performed. Jimmie, when l made his
acquaintance, knew everybody from
Henry Clay down to Ephraim Fross, the
colored hack,driver. He was WARM
hearted, liberal Irishman. He never
took drink, save when he WAS thirsty,
and then he invited all the bystanders
to Join him. He prided himself on his
adherence to what he called demo-
cratic" principles Some hungry wings
in 1871 wanted his place, and Jimmie,
for while, was very uneasy. One
morning he met Gen. Harrison in the
public grounds, and taking off his hat,
he thus addressed him: :" presume this
is Gineral Harrison, prudent OF the
United States Receiving an aflirma-
tive answer, he continued: "My name
is Maher, lam public gardener. well.
Mr.. Mahcr, l like the appearance of
these grounds; they look i'll much
better condition than they did when l
was a senator Och, it's me trade; |
was fetched up to it; but may it plaze
your honor, it's rumored about here
that I'm to be dismissed" Dismissed
for wnat?" Because | was friend
to Mr.. Van Buren," "No, Mr.. Maher,
nobody is authorized to say that you
will be dismissed on that account" "a
thousand thanks to your excellency.
You SEQ WAS acquainted with Mr.. Van
Buren,. lie always treated me like a
gentleman, and | vas for him; but
have no doubt after we got a little
better acquainted shall be for you"
Harrison smiled, and assured him tn at
he had no idea of turning him out
Whereupon Jimmie broke down to the
place where he had some hands at work
and gave them q report of his interview.
He closed it with this grand exclama-
tion: BY Jove, boys, Prudent Harri-
son is rale Ginerel Jackson of a
fellow"
About three weeks after the inaugu-
ration of General Harrison we'll
dressed young man of some thirty
summers walked into one Of the hetels
of this city with q fiddle on his arm AMI
said: Gentlemen (,il eyes were a.
once turned upon him), l have COM
here like thousands OF others to sne
what could See and get what l could
get; but have been disappointed in
everything. have got no C1lice, got
out of money, and got many miles to
retrace; 1 am too honest 10 steal, too
proud to beg, and l concluded to come
in hero to-day and make little in an
honest way Suiting the action to the
word, he began to play the fiddle.
This comical scene afforded consider
able amusement to tho rrrsous there
assembled. They asked how much
money it would take to carry him
home. He said $40. In less than ten
minutes that amount was raised for
him. Sitting down and counting over
his money, he found that they had
given him S43. by George" said he,
"here's surplus of So. Come in,
gentlemen, all of you, and take some
thing to drink" never saw nor heard
of him afterward. l have regretted
that did not learn his name and keep
the hang of him. The chances are that
he has since filled some high position.
Il Washington Letter.