Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-06-28

corresrondence Of raE EvKStSa sraH.
NEW York. June &C.
good many women will heave a SIGH OF re-
lief when they hear that Jack the Ink Singer
Is finally safely locked up. with a prospect of .
good, long opportunity for reflection on his
evll ways. What silly aud stupid spite ever in
spired him TO spend his time and take infinite
trouble to spoil women's gowns by throwing
purple ink on them it is difficult to fancy.
certainly he could derive no benefit from the
performance and he could no. even have the
srahhcaiion OF witnessing his victims race. az
the STAINS were generally discovered after they
reached home. But whatever his reason WAS
ne mas Tor months made 9Th and sth avenues
IN the vicinity OF SD street dangerous resort
Ior women with pretty gowns His capture
anu AM. I'm IMPRISONMENT suggests 10 many the rehec-
.lOh thAt Il All the INK singers who did harm
were locked up the jails would he rather aensely
populated. IL Is not only the reporter who
says anything 70 make good story for he IA
oIten a convenient fiction. but the great army
OF writers OF fiction that is sensational and
worse who might DO benefited by a term Of
solitary confinement ID seems incredible that
70 many women should be willing TO put their
names on the covers OF many OF the books that
are ehhiblted Tor sale on the elevated railroad
and other news stands. books that OPENLY de-
pend for their sale on suggestive titles and mic
lures ana that appeal to ali that Is lowest IN the
buyers But 1t Is true that great many of tha
apostles OF tins doctrine fdot avity are women
who seem 10 glory In veniLrlng further into
inc abyss OF Nuigarity than i.e coarsest men
SQUEAK, SQUEAK, seuEAK
Every one who lives anywhere near the linz
of the elevated railroads must. especially with
the open windows OF summer time. suffer
fortunes from the prolonged. piercing. ago.
nlzlnG squeak with which the trains invariably
stop az the stations. Ii Is sound Of a pecu-
llarly penetrating and aggravating nature and
can no more be ignored than the persistent
singing OF a mosquito round your ears on a hot
night. The Eccentric Club have borne the
annoyance as long as they could but finding
their meetings. which were held in %, vicinity
OF the sth-street station, were more and more
seriously disturbed by Il, they have brought
the matter TO the attention of the board OF
aldermen, who have set TO work TO find out
what power they have TO compel the company
10 stop It Col. Hams, the superintendent.
says 1t is caused by the hard steel of the brakes
and that softer metal is gradually being substi-
tnted but, like most of our reforms Il 10
indeed gradual as the ear-piercing squeaks are
apparently quite undated
THE MARCH OF IMPROVEMENT.
Even the squeak Of the elevated trains is
drowned out in many of the upper regions OF
the city by the incessant yociferous noise Of
the steam drills, which, like 40 many gisan-
nc mosquitoes, are industriOusy punctur
4
| the march Of improvement" goes briskly ON
ms summer and many of the iuckiess women
who are obliged TO stay IN town look with dis
| gust and disapprovsl at the immense -xcaya-
tons IN their neighborhood, which FL their
| houses with noise and dirt As rule the
womens husbands look at the matter siom an
| entirely different standpoint, pause with deem
| interest and approval as they go up a down
town TO gaze at the progress of the b., D. and to
exchange mutual congratulations upon the
| Improvement TO the neighborhood the adj
vance IN the price OF property, &c. E5cayat-
ing Tor foundation IN upper New York ID an
enterprise not to be lightly entered upon. for
the city is founded upon a rock and the scene
| on big corner lot during the busy hours of tho
| day reminds one of nothing so much as the
| pictures OF mining fields or OF Johnstown after
the food Amid clouds Of steam, with ter
rifle noise and untiring energy q half
| dozen steam drills are champing away at
the deep hole in the rock. which will
| presently be exploded in a spouting geyser OF
| dirt and stone. The army OF Italians with
swarthy faces. red flannel shirts and every va
riety OF odd caps. are, hle the br surveying
them, plying pick and shovel with iirery energy
/ and tropical sealth Of movement which grad
| ually subsidies his duties take him out of
tneir range of vision. II is amusing to see the
] instantaneous promptness with which the tools
| are dropped when the whistle blows for noon
| and to hear the uninterrupted flow Of animgfed
| conversation with its accompanying profuse
| 6esticuatiOn as the sons Of sunny Italy squat
| in rows on the shady side OF the street and cir
culate what appears 10 be a common bucket of
| beer with much relish as il they we're lust
| landed from Deutschland. When the beer has
vanished the pipes appear snd they all smoke
and chat with as much yivacity and cheerful
ness as II they were assisting at an afternoon
| tea instead of momentarly expecting to resume
their picks and shoyels.
PREcARIoUs MONOPOLY
1t was very recently landed importation
who asked her mistress on one of these hot
afternoons what she should do with the ice
cream that left from dinner. adding in
| structlyely. ut won't kape." One is reminded
| of this incident by the perplexing quandary of
| Capt, Phineas Harris, who arrived at this port
| on the 18th of June with $50 tons of ice from
Dresden, Ne, consigned TO I. n. Smith Co.
| The consignee declined to receive such a daz-
zling luxury ar $50 tons of ice. probably taking
| the ground hat they were not Monte Cristos
| and since June u Capt Harris expensive and
perlshabe cargo has been diminishing with
| more or less rapidity as the mercury was more
| or less agile in its acrobatic feats among the
| nineties. The luckless captain has appealed to
the courts for redress and to his appeal he adds
| a pathetic request that the laws DELAYS be alb
| breviated. so that he may sell the cargo while
| any remains to be sold. in order to recover his
dues for freight and rent of his vessel during
| detention. No doubt he and the captains OF
| the transatlantic steamers will agree that ice,
whether iii the form Of the disappearing cargo
or the superintendent berg. is an unhandy
thing for those who go down TO the sea In
| ships.
GAMBLING ON THE oREYHoUNDs.
Gambling on the big Atlantic steamers has
| assumed q more scandalous character than
ever. On the Aurania, which came into
| port Monday, several passengers were victim
| lied by professional card sharper. who used
| a marked pack One man lost $50 another
| ESQ. and another &c before the cheat was
! discovered. The cards were identified and the
ship rang with the scandal, but although the
matter was taken 10 the captain. the pas-
| sengers got no satisfaction. Similar examples,
perhaps not quite so fragrant. are continually
coming to notice. and IL is not unfair therefore,
| 10 say that gambling practices and frauds of the
gaming table flourish more aboard the pas
senger feet on the Atlantic than anywhere else
in The civilized world. The companies have
full power in the premises, the authority OF
the captains is despotic. That the practices
are not summarily stopped is. therefore, di-
rectly the fault OF the companies. and they
must be responsible for the scandal. IL Is
strange that some line does not make n bid for
the patronage of the respectable public by
forbidding this outrageous custom. and seeing
to it that their ships are no longer floating
gambling hellS. HENRY L. ELLIOT.
A Case of Somnolence.
From the Medical Record
On March last was asked 10 ace an ola