The Washington critic., 1889-04-20
TIE TOWNS PHOTOGRAPH.

power to make life n burden TO them. lie
occupies house on Eleventh street near
Pennsylvania avenue, and he lies awake
nights waiting for some one to talk loud
on the corner or say swear word so that
he can report him to the police. During
the early part Of the evening he is always
on the steps ON the lookout for some
breaker Of municipal ordinance. When
1t rains he puts up an umbrella. Little
matters which ordinarily would pass un-
noticed rouse him to active indignation,
and the authorities are expected to turn out
the entire detective force TO discover
some man who has used an impious ex-
pletive, or some unknown reveler who has
disturbed the calm serenity Of the Avenue
Some day hewill die and the policemen will
combine TO send him beautiful immortelle
motto, "Requiescat In Pace.n
70
1t is remarkable how many people want
TO be detectives. There are very few men
who are not strongly impressed with the
idea that they could, II circumstances ia
vored them, follow up a case in manner
which would put the professional clew-
chaser to shame. Letters are constantly
coming to the Police Headquarters in which
the writer offers his services TO turn up
some criminal who is wanted Sometimes
the writer of the letter wants money aud
sometimes he offers bis services for moth
ing. They appear to have the idea that
the Washington Police Department con
trolls the whole system of the United
States. Inspector swindells refers most of
the letters TO the Secret Service Depart.
ment in the Treasury.
.1s
Letters have reached Police Head
quarters, in which some enterprising New
Yorker offers to send very large amount
Of counterfeit money for small amount or
real money. He had taken names hit or
miss from the directory, and had happened
to strike the names Of some attaches of the
Police Department. The idea of the
"green goods OPERATOR as the enterprising
| New Yorker is called, is to get the money
and send nothing. This scheme has been
| superseded by the game in which the
| operators have the victim conc to New
York and see them personally. He pays
his money, and they put a satchel full Of
money on n shelf, telling him he can take it
as soon as he goes. He is detained ON some
| pretext, his attention diverted, and the
satchel is changed through the panel behind
the shelf The victim never discovers the
deception till he has reached home with the
satchel, and then he finds nothing but a
brick or lot Of sawdust.
ia
| From the corridor In the City Hall, which
leads to the Criminal Court room, q dark,
narrow stairway leads to an unused, musty-
smelling room, which is used as lumber
room. In this room Nardello, the Italian
murderer, who was hanged some years ago,
used to sit and wait during the recesses in
his trial. He would impatiently pace the
floor, or crouch in one corner, peering
through small, dusty window, which
looked into the hall below. He was con-
victed of having murdered an Italian la
borer, whose body was found in deserted
house. on q table in the room, now loosely
wrapped up in an old newspaper, is q grin
ming, hollowed-eyed skull. 1t is slowly
crumblng away and wastes into powder
whenever It is touched. There is something
malignant In the everlasting merriment
which the ghastly face seems to depict, and
the intruder is glad to replace itin its news
paper sbroud and shove 1t out of sight. 1t
is the skull of Nardello's victim.
sF.l
In this era of iron-fence reform, when the
ungainly barricades that protected the
parks from the public as from an invading
army have been removed, 1t is but natural
that the iron-fence reformers should turn
their attention to the fence and wall that
shut in the Botanical Gardens, on the Ave
nue., from First to Third streets Mr.. Smith,
the superintendent Of the gardens, had the
fence put up years ago, and any one that
talks to him about its removal is apt to hear
o strong opinion to the contrary expressed.
Mr.. Smith is white-whiskered, active old
gentleman, who is a thorough enthusiast In
the matter Of flowers and ornamental gar
dening. He has been so long in charge OF
the Botanical Gardens that he knows every
blossom and every leaf In II on the peren-
NAL kinds, and is fast getting acquainted
with this springs ANIMALS. He loves his
big garden and every flower In It.
"Take down the fence ?" he says. "Never,
while have anything to say .aboutit. The
cranks are not all dead yet. The fool
killer hasn't made round for quite while
and it's time he did. 1t would ruin my
flowers to take that fence and wall down.
There are 500 varieties of flowers that will
grow under the protection Of a stone or a
brick wall that will not grow anywhere
else. And these are the choicest and rarest
plants In the whole garden. They are ma
tiyes Of the South and their destruction
would DE direct insult to the South. /
couldn't keep flowers IN the garden II the
wall was down. They steal all my flowers
that they can reach through the fence now,
and, II the fence was down, they would
steal the rest. think taking down the
fences around the parks was all wrong.
We have had commons In Washington long
enough, Taking down these fences make
commons of the parks. Why it's Social
ISM Socialism of the rankest and most ex-
treme sort. II would never have been
done, but for the diletante ideas OF those
West Pointers, It's all their doing.
"Why, you can't expect to make any
thing grow in these parks with dogs aud
people and every ything else running across
them all the time. And as for taking down
the fence around this garden you might as
well abandon II at once. We don't have
any policeman or watchman. | am the po-
liceman myself, with the assistance of my
dog here (pattlng yellow collie named
Peter Henderson Smith on the head) and yet
with the fence up we can't keep people from
stealing the flowers. II the fence was down
the garden would be desert or wilder
ness in month. Yes, sir, it's time for the
fool-killer TO make another round"
sss