Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-04-17
Written for The EVENING STAR
MIR. CLIPSHAM'S CALENDAR.
By EDWARD EVERETT HALE
Copyrighted 1867

PART L
MT Clipsham led a curious life, but for man
At his age. not an unpleasant one. His profess
sional duties were not oppressive and he had
entered into a career which made 1t almost
sure that they would never be oppressive. He
had very comfortable suite of rooms In his
sisters house, and always breakfasted with her
family. As will be seen, they did not often ex-
pect him at dinner, but nieceS and nephews,
Sister Prus and her husband Wintergreen were
all glad il he did look in at that meal. For the
rest, Ciipsham was n general favorite In Tam
worth, where he lived, and If there were not
german every evening, or a progressive euchre
party on his list, why there was the Thursday
Club and the Whist Club and the Chess Club
and the Union and the Association and the
pretty new rooms of the Harvard Club. "As to
that" said Clipsham truly, if you asked him
how he spent his evenings, 81 am never so
happy as am with novel or with the news
paper at home" But 1t was to be observed that
he seldom enjoyed this acme of his happiness,
mt the top-notch of his LIES tide.
The one thing of which Clipsham's friends
were sure was this, that he would never go into
public life. True. he always voted, he even
voted sOr the school committee, which most of
the people in Tamworth generally n forgot to do
primary meetings. And IL was by series of
rather curious circumstances that the public
was led to place that confidence in him which
has now lifted him SO far out of the line of ma
chine-run politics. 1t is the business of this
story 10 tell, for the first time, as far as know,
the way those circumstances followed on each
other.
Clipsham was a man of iron memory. And
this iron was not all pig iron. One might say
steel memory, or n memory of watch-springs,
II we understood better than do the action
OF the mechanism of memory. BY this mean,
that he recollected what are called little things
mt the right moment, as well as he remembered
the big things all along his life. He remembered
that the national debt was 81. 1875, 765, 1872. 10
when it was at that precise amount, but he also
remembered that he had told the washwoman's
boy to come round at quarter-past Friday
evening, and he would give him ticket to the
circus. On such u combination of which call
the pig-iron memory, and what call the watch
spring memory, does much of the good cheer
and success of happy lite depend.
But on a fatal day-after Clipsham was thir-
thing. i do not myself believe he did. II be
did. it was before breakiast-when no one
ought 70 be asked to remember anything-not
whether Semiramis is the name of an empress
or OF toadstOol. But hs thought he forgot
something. And SO il was that he went down
10 Mr.. Baesup's shop and bought this calendar
OF which am TO tell you the story.
There it is. He gave 1t TO me on the day of his
inauguration. You see il has the days OF the
on another. Then You turn this cog at the be-
ginning OF the month and you are ready for
thirty-one more days, if there be so many. The
only defect IL the machine is that you might
suppose that there Were thirty-one days in Feb
ruIry. But as Judge Marshall said, 1.-The court
Is expected to know something
Now ChpSham is a charming public speaker.
He tells story weIl-in particular he tells with
great good htmor a story TO his own disadyan-
tage. He remembers weli-tnat has been said.
He passes by a sudden change-what do singers
cali it. modulation?-irom grave to gay or from
gay 10 grave. Bes. OF all, he never says one
word about himself Then he never pretends
that he does not like to speak. He does like to
speak. A man would be an ass who did not
like to speak If he spoke as well ClipshaIn
does. He makes no introduction to his speech.
When he has done he makes no conclusion"
just when you are hoping he will say more, he
n.
These are all sterling qualities, and they are not
often united in one handsome, graceful, intelli-
gent youEg man of So years OF age.
So il is ti.at Clipsham is much invited to pub
lie dinners. As Tor that, we all are. But gen.
orally the invitation IS accompanied with a re-
quest that, In accepting, you will pay for your
ticket-a dollar and a half, or three dollars-O-
nve-or ten, according as the honored guest of
the evening Is college professors doctor of
divinity-an agent from Japan or a travelling
English lecture. Now, as most of US can buy
our modest dinner of mock turtle fried oy sters
charlotte russo ard coffee at any eating house
even the most fuSsy, noisy and snowy, for less
than the lowest of these prices-our invitations
ton always came, with ticket. That is quite
different thing, and Clipshan, who was in q
good many college societies, was the great
grandson of a CIncinnatus, and grandson of a
hero OF Lundy's Lane, son OF the man who
stormed Chapultepec, and held the block house
at Gannon'S Three COrners-ClipSham, I say,
who was a member of the United Guild of Men
Of Letters, and OF the Consolidated Sodality of
Lovers of Ari-Clipsharl, whose good humor
and good fellowship had related him to pretty
much all the associations In TamwOrth. and,
indeed, in that whole state, found that he was
hidden to a public dinner almost every day. In
deed, sometimes, the bids as his childish
nephews called them, overlapped each other
This Was the reason why he dined SO seldom
with his sister.
ON the other hand i. was the reason why you
met him SO seldom at restaurant or public
table.
You would generally find him, If you went
up stairs 10 the great dining-roorn of which
ever Delmonico, or Wormley or Parker or
Young happeled hat daC fo
entertain The Soul OF the SOldiery," or the
brothers in Adversely" or the 'Nu Kappa
be holding its annual dinner. And if you
looked in at the right moment, Clipsharn
would be making a speech, and a very good
speech, too
Clipsham's little niece Gertrude is the first
heroine OF this story. And it is on her that the
plot turns more than ON Elinor May, who is
the other heroine. Gertrude has the run of the
house, but never ought TO go into he. uncle's
room unless he asks her.
And this Gertrude knows perfectly we'll
But on this day OF which / speak, some i'm
pulse OF Satan, as the old indictments would
let Gertrude into the study, the room was
called. The same Manichean divinity whose
name begins with ;. but shall not be mentioned
again, led her Ia take down the calendar men
TONED beforehand, and to try the screws. She
twirled them this way. Shetwirled them that
who made the beds.
Gertrude feared detection: she hung up the
calendar hastily and fled, But alas. she lett
NJ, which stands tor Monday, and 10, which
stands for the tenth day OF the month both one
notch too high. T., W., Th., f. and the rest ALI
followed NJ, and the engagements for the
mouth were ali set one day wrong
Kate Common did not. in tact, enter the room
But guilty Gertrude thought she would and
the result was the same. Gertrude was called
by her mother, before she had any chance to 90
back again, and was made ready for a tennis
party ut Mrs. Fishers. And now il is that
strictly speaking. this story begins.
George Cipsham came home TO dress for din
ner. He stopped a moment, and took down the
Cyelopedia To look at the account of the Rattle
of Bennington For he had been turning over s,
speech he was to make at the Grand Army
gathering. and he remembered that PlunketLis
mother was a Stark. He wanted to make a
good allusion TO Molly Stark, and her widow.
hood. But as he passed his desk he took this
fatal calendar, which guilty Gertrude had not
had time 10 hang on its peg. Ciipsham hung IL
Up without thought, but did look to see to his
amazement that the Grand Army dinner was
done and gone yesterday The calendar said
he was 10 dine with the graduates of the West
ern Reserve College to-day. Lucky did NOT
FIRE the Battle OF Bennington on them" said
Clipsham 10 himself. "BuL what will Plunkett
say"
The truth was that Clipsham had this dread
ful cold which you all mad. And Just as YOU
and declared that We would go to Florida
another winter if our lives were spared. Clips
ham had determined Handkerchiefs? He was
bankrupt IN buying them. Hearingc He had
been stone deaf all the week. He did not
cough very badly, but the '-cold" was lust on
mat Juncture OF the pharynx with the larynx
Where IL Is so uncomfortable TO have It He
had stay cd AT home the day before and nurse,i
u-giycerine and whisky, taken with n very
small spoon was his remedy-and he had per.