Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-05-11
A NEW Workers. NOTES.
Springtime Gossip as Jotted Down for
Star Readers.

Springtime Gossip as Jotted Down for
| Star Readers.
oRIEs-sHowMAN BARSUM PAYS FOR HIS OWN
MoNUMENr-aov. HILL LEARNING TO RIDE A
HoRsE-AMATEUR CIRcUs-PoLIT1cAL GOSSIP
Correspondence of TIE EVENING srAa.
New YORK. May TO-
There is hardly one reminder left of our great
centennial celebration. The pretty arch at
Washington Square still stands. and is to be
permanently reproduced in marble if the COM
mittee appointed can raise enough money to
finish the work. 1t is getting more difficult
every year to collect funds by subscription for
tie erection of any public ediice or statue
which is not an absolute necessity to the peo-
pies life or the peoples business 1t will be
remembered how tiresome a job it was to
get together enough money to build the
pedestal for the Bartholdi statue on Lib
erty Island. The Grant monument fund,
which started with boom, has settled down
into state of inertia, and it will take a GAL
yanlc shock to start it going again. Other
funds are partly collected, but hang at a GER
tain point beyond which it seems impossible
to go. The trouble with us is nowadays
that we are altogether too free with our
learn the lesson that experience should have
taught us, but go on, determined to stick up
monuments to dead people, run ourselves into
debt worry over the money collections, bore
our friends for subscriptions until they hate u.s.
and finally wind up in disgust by wishing that
| the dead man had never been born. When a
man OF ever so little prominence dies it is easy
In the first flush OF regret to feel that his deeds
and good qualities should be commemorated in
enduring marble, and when there are so many
friends who think the same way it is easy to
| believe that the erection of a monument to his
memory will cost little labor in the collection
OF the necessary fund. But it is astonishing
and shocking to observe how very soon this
hrst flush OF regret passes away, how remark
ably brief is the memory of the good deeds and
qualities OF tine late lamented. journalist
died a few weeks ago. He was one of the
funny men, of the profession, and thousands
OF readers had laughed at his quaint jokes and
had wondered what sort of man their author
was. The deceased's personality was of the
sweetest and noblest, and when he was laid
away there were lots of his friends who fairly
ached to show the esteem in which they held
him by collecting memorial fund to present
to his family. The idea took among all the
| working newspaper men, and a meeting that
was held was fully attended. and many gene
| rous promises were made. The next meeting
somehow or other was quite sparsey attended,
and at the third meeting there was scarcely
dozen. The fourth meeting numbered only
six persons. One man threw himself into the
breach and constituted himself committee,
with full power. He thought there was still a
chance to interest the thousands of readers
who had laughed at the dead mans wit in the
scheme to aid the dead mans family So the
| committee of one went to work, drafted letter
OF appeal Gt was a rambling, awkward, incohe-
| rent sort OF letter, but the committee did the
| best it knew how and had it copied and sent
to the wealthy subscribers to the funny papers,
As yet the responses have not been indicative
| OF success, and it is doubtful if the memorial
fund to the dead journalist will ever be COL
lected. And hear they are having the same
sort or time In collecting money to build a
monument to New York's late postmaster,
Henry G. Pearson.
The only way to make sure that a monument
will be erected to your memory after death is
to buy and pay for the monument during your
life. That is the notion of Phineas T. Barnum,
the great Snowman, and it is good notion
| Barnums statue is made of bronze in the high
est style Of the art. 1t was modelled in Flor
| ence, Italy, and cast in Munich and before it
was landed at the steamship dock in this city
it had cost $4,000. P. T. Barnum can rest con-
| tent in his grave when he departs this life with
the happy knowledge that his monument will
be erected; that it is monument nobody need
| be ashamed OF, and that it depicts him Just as
he wanted to be depicted, sitting in cushioned
chair with memorandum book in his left hand
|
ument lies carefully packed away in a storage
warehouse, only awaiting the time when some
American community shall claim the honor of
furnishing site for the efigy Of this famous
| American citizen.
| Governor Hill, of New York is preparinp for
| the next centennial. The governor, although
| he comes from the fertile farming districts of
the state, never learned to ride on horseback,
and his craftsmanship on the day of the centen-
| NAL military parade here was a matter of much
| wonder to the Dublic and M Gttla 10
| two orderlies who walked alongside his horse
| and watched for fear he would fall off, The
governor has since made up his mind that it
| Is part OF a statesmans duties to learn the
| science and art of craftsmanship, so he has Sc
| lected the quietest equestrian school he could
| ind In Hoboken. n. j., where he is taking fire.
quent lessons He has kept the matter very
quiet, and with pretty good success. When
| ever he appears for his lesson the other pupils
| are compelled to leave the building so that no
eve but the instructors will be on the governor
when he ambles about the ring. 1t was through
one of these pupils, who was once clerk in the
capitol at Albany, that I learned Governor
Hills close-guarded secret.
Speaking of Gov Hill, the county democracy
are awaiting his action concerning a certain
bill now before the state legislature with much
interest The bill provides that the boards of
police and park commissioners in New York
city shall be made up of members of both the
leading political parties, instead of being ap-
pointed according to the will of the mayor
This bill has already passed both houses of the
legislature. and if Gov Hill does not veto it of
course Mayor Grant will give Tammany all the
| democratic fat there is to be given, and the
County Democracy will be left without even
any OF the lean. 1t is openly threatened by the
leaders of, the County Democracy that if the
governor fails to veto the bill the County De-
mocracy will remain away from the next DEM
ocratic state convention, and in case David B.
Hill is nominated for any office. from President
down, the Counties will work against him tooth
and nail. This may be all talk as the express
sion goes, but it is the kind of talk that is fire.
quently heard about the haunts of the county
wing of the New York city democrats.
Meantime the Tammany crowd isn't exactly
satisfied with the mayor it elected last fall. It
is somewhat surprising to them that Mayor
Grant is running city affairs for the interest of
the people instead of Tammany hall. They
patronizingly handed him nice slate all fixed
up with appointments they wanted them
made, and the young mayor after hearing them
very decorously and with apparent respect for
their superior wisdom, straightway smashed
the slate into a thousand pieces and appointed