The Washington critic., 1889-03-21
MATTER WORTH READING.


A Coincidence.
People who are fond OF condolences will
find II interesting to note that William
Henry Harrison Miller, born in the year
the first Harrison was elected President,
and named for him, becomes forty-eight
years later, the Attorney-General of the
second President Harrison.
A Princess Fads.
II is said that love for pets and love OF
travelling arc the two ruling passions OF the
Princess Maria Theresa of Bavaria. She is
unmarried, and In her many journeyings is
attended by maid and chamberlain,
She always takes her pets with her, and the
chamberlain has to look after them. His
place is no sinecure, for she has fourteen
animals OF one sort and other, including
several dogs, two magpies, an enormous
rat, and diminutive bear.
He Was Mistaken.
A man astonlshed the Circuit Court at
Marshall, Mich, the other day by heatedly
exclaiming that he'd be hanged If he'd
have any case of his tried before such
tough-looling jury as that. But when he
was Informed that the men he kicked on
were lot of prisoners awaiting sentence
the kicker cooled off. and the Court
smiled.
They Were Patient.
AT Friendship, Me-, few afternoons ago
a young couple entered q store, the proprie-
tor of which is a justice of the peace, and
sat down to wait awhile. About o'clock
the last customer and loiterer departed,
leaving no one but the clerk in charge. The
man thereupon approached this idivldual
and asked for the proprietor. He was d.
rected to the house, where the family were
just about retiring. The squire was sum
moned, and the couple were at last made
one. A walk Of two miles to their boat
| and row of four miles further took them
to their home somewhat weary but re-
joicing.
A Remarkable Hoax.
M. Reiner Chalon, who just died, was
the originator Of one of the greatest hoaxes
Of the nineteenth century. About fifty
years ago bibliomaniacs were set crazy by
the issuing Of catalogues announcing the
sale of the library of the Count de Fortsas.
| Nearly every book named I'm the catalogue
was rare and valuable one, and some of
them would have been almost priceless. II
was not until the day named for the sale
had nearly arrived that 1t was discovered
that the whole thing was sell devised by
Chalon. There was no Count de Fortsas,
nor any library to be sold.
DIR. McCosh Caught.
One day, says the Philadelphia North
american, DR.. McCosh, when president of
| Princeton College, came into the mental
| philosophy class and said: "Ah, young gen.
| tlemen, have an impressionl Now, young
| gentlemen" continued the Doctor, as he
touched bis head with his forehnger, "can
! you tell me what an impression is?' No
answer. "whatl No one knowsg No one
can tell me what an impression is9" ex-
claimed the Doctor, looking up and down
the class. ~ know" said young Alan Ar
thur. sAn impression is dent in soft
place" "Young gentlemen" said the
Doctor, removing his hand from his fore
head and growing red in the face, ''you are
excused for the day."
California's New Grievance.
| California has new grievance--the dan
delion. How 1t came about Is told by the
San Francisco Bulletin: "Some years ago,
1t is said that o citizen imported from the
east the seed Of the old-fashioned dsnde-
lion. He wanted something to remind him
| of his early home, Like the man who i'm
ported the sparrow, he did worse than he
knew. The sparrow is everywhere, so is
the dandelion, The seed drifts In the wind
Ike that Of the thistle, the down is built in
the nests Of birds, and every seed which
gets lodgmept on lawn or grass plot will
In due time produce million more. Now
the solitary dandelion is very attractive in
bloom, and hardly less so when, after the
blossom, the gauze lobe appears, and few
days afterward goes sailing OF before the
wind like small balloon. But the citizen
who is forced to dig up his lawn, because q
million dandelion roots have strangled the
grass viii utter no benediction over this
rich, golden blossom
Wendell Phillips and II. @. Appleton
The stories which float about town con
cerning distinguished people, writes Arle
Bates In the March Book Buyer, are some
times true, Of course, and sometimes false
but they often throw some. light upon the
opinions which the contemporaries had Of
them, or are amusing at the expense Of being
obviously false. A gentleman who knew
them both recently repeated to me the fol
lowing bit Of dialogue as having been said
to take place between Wendell Phillips and
i Thomas G. Appleton when they wert
young, briefess barrfsters. He did mo-
vouch for 1t, but he believed 1t to be gen
uine. ''a
i The fact that both Appleton and. Phillips
were looked upon as aristocrats prevented
their having business, and one day Apple
ton asked his friend whether he had any
clients.
l ''Not CLIENT" was the reply.
slow long" Appleton asked, ''are you
going to hold on2 I'm getting pretty tiret
Of II myself" 81
~ think pll try 1t six months longer y
Phillips is said to have answered, "and II
don't get start by that timeI shall take vi
a cause"
As matter of fact, Mr.. Phillips did TAX,
up cause, as all the world knows, Will
Mr.. Appleton became the most charming
OF dilletanti, but whether the choice of tn
former was the result Of determination s.
deliberate as this anecdote would impl
may well be doubted.
A MaIapropos Inquiry.
A sharp ring at the doorbell. 1t is
o'clock In the morning. One Of the pbysi
cian's proudest privileges is that his work
ing day never ends. SO Dr. B. slips IRON
the warm bed to the cold floor, gather
enough clothing to make himself barrel
presentable, and goes down stairs. Tn
door is opened, letting in fine sample Of
March wind In his night-clothes, and
rather confused young man on the doorste
| all xuha nr