Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-08-17

The guileless people of this region practice a
good deal of unwilling deception on the pill
grim who only makes brief sojourn. At 6
o'clock in the morning the saloons Except
those attached to the two hotes) are all closed,
but the general stores are all open. The saloons
unbar their front doors at 8 am. That would
convey the impression to the unsophisticated
stranger that Leonardtown was in the habit of
indulging In hardware and other non-intoxi-
cants for at least two hours previous to partak-
ing OF eye-openers. The impression is not a
fair one, for was informed that the stores 60
to sleep at about pm, after doing and nod
ding all day. while the saloons remain open
until after midnight so you see the balance of
time and of trade is with the saloons by ma
jority OF four hours in every twenty-four. They
may be little late starting in the morning
but the proprietors know that pretty nearly
everybody got enough the night before to last
until 8 o'clock, and then the bar tenders
hard-working men down there-must have a
little rest. Do you want to see an old-fash-
Toned Maryland hotel? They've got at least
one Of them at Leonardtown. Our little party
entered 1t apparently unnoticed by the three
or four men who were hanging around, but
there was boy there who eyed us suspiciously
and whose most piercing glances seemed to be
directed at me. Then he recognized me- and
l knew in moment that my usefulness was
temporarily gone. That youngster, who was as
fresh as saltless oatmeal porridge, evidently
nc.
FOR he proclaimed my occupation in a tone of
voice that was several sizes larger than himself.
So far as the hotel clerk was concerned his eff
forts resulted in failure, for that functionary
came forward in hurry and in a mysterious
whisper asked me if l wouldn't TRY some
thin" / thanked him, but declined. He van
ished almost instantaneously from our sight
and we saw him no more. Subsequent inquiry
developed the fact that he was not seriously
injured by my refusal, but the shock staggered
him considerably. He recovered in a few
hours. Less than a month ago he had some
what similar experience, which started a crop
OF gray hair and loosened several front teeth
The president of one of the most comprehen-
sive OF Washington's street railroad systems
walked into the hotel and called for glass of
Apollinaris water.
'Wha-a-a-t?" queried the combination clerk
"A glass of Apollinaris water" calmly re-
peated the visitor.
For fully half minute the animated cork
screw gaZed at the well-dressed and cookbook.
ing magnate and then he gasped out: ''We
don't sell no water here"
TYPICAL HOTEL.
The hotel Office was also the billiard room. II
was study for an archeologist. The office
chairs lacked backs and would undoubtedly
have lacked seats had not those portions of the
furniture been originally hewn out of two-inch
or had been, on good terms with the Congress.
man was evident from the array Of literature
which graced couple of shelves behind the
counter. Blackboard volumes on commerce
and navigation and numerous consular reports
were squeezed up in company with the learned
publications of the bureau of education. They
were in splendid condition due probably to the
Tact that they could not compete in interest with
the luridly-illustrated police and family story
papers. few birds, from beneath whose wings
the hay with which they were stuffed pro.
truded, occupied dingy glass case in a ding,
corner. Pictures were numerous and badly
hung; they were generally highly-colored rep
RESERVATIONS OF fast horses. although a few OF
them were pastoral scenes, in which some.
oodys pillow, or mower. or threshing machine
occupied the foreground to the exclusion o.
| everything else. The billiard table was a de.
hghtfui specimen of its kind; the species il
almost extinct. Long use had broken up the
original level Of its dark green surface, and 6
game played upon it was one Of those uncertain
affairs the outcome of which no mortal cal
foreseei 1t was purely game Of chance In one
corner is long rip in the moth-eaten cloth
| made by the second Lord Baltimore when b.
was endeavorlng TO astonish the natives with q
masse shot-the first ever seen in Maryland.