Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-14

THE STAR PASSENGER. centrated gaze of all
the other occupants of the vehicle was beau
tiful thing to witness, maintained, as 1t was,
despite certain half audible comments upon
her bonnet and the elaborate passementerie
trimming of her gown, exchanged by two pudgy
women on the other side. Having condemned
the entire costume by pronounclng II nome
made" the latter lapsed into conversation re-
speeding a scandal which appeared to involve
very seriously the moral character Of a clergy
man. in whose possession Of a single attribute
of worth neither Of them ever did believe.
though they had sat under his ministrations for
nigh three years come Easter. From this topic
their attention was only finally distracted by
the peculiar actions of old gentleman next
to the star passenger, who, desiring to wipe
his spectacles, coolly took them of. together
with his nose, to which they were attached. sub
sequently restoring the glasses and artificial
proboscis and resuming the perusal Of his
newspaper as if the performance were nothing
out Of the ordinary.
STOUT AND NoTHERLY.
At this moment the car came once again to =
stop for the purpose of disgorging the stout
and motherly old thing with her bundles, TAX
ing aboard at the same time three well-grown
and red-cheeked school girls, upon whom the
conductor managed to bestow as many brief
squeezes, devoid of offence. though he was
scarcely able to do justice to each OF them He
vas evidently man who knew how to appre-
ciate that valuable prerogative Of his Office,
which allows one Of his profession an enyiable
degree Of freedom with the sex. All three of
them managed to crowd themselves into the
space recently occupied by the stout and
motherly person. whereupon they all began to
talk at the same time. accompanying their dis
course with rapid though half-disguised mas
tication Of peanuts the bouquet OF which lowly
and odoriferous vegetable quickly pervaded
the atmosphere.
DKPARr,.yST DUDES.
From time to time the trio was overcome by
little fits Of giggling. seemingly inspired by
their observation Of the fact that they were re-
garded with certain degree of interest by two
remarkably swell youths opposite, with silver
headed canes and white silk neckties, who
twisted their mustaches and conversed in q
most fashionable manner about society. From
what they had to say about their horses and ex-
pensve dissipations generally 1t was difficult to
realize, though q fact, that they were 81 200
clerks in one Of the departments. But the
They spoke with an air Of potential proprietor
ship concerning various young ladies Of their
acquaintance who were heiresses to millions,
though they appeared to entirely agree that it
was not worth ones while to throw himself
away for any amount Of mere cash.
THE TRUE MUSICIAN.
Next them sat q acknowledging man
with q wild eye, who held in his lap small
| black coffin. 1t might have been imagined
that he was on his way with o six-for-a-quartsr
| ticket to the Potomac, with an infant corpse
and suicidal purpose in view; but, ON sec
| ondary inspection, it was evident that the
coffin was a violin case, while the individual 9
occupation in life was manifest from his long
| and unkempt locks. No true musician ever
| combs his hair 1t is considered unprofessional.
He scowled in fiercefy near-sighted sort of
way a. he perused copy of a pink handful
| which one OF two beggars who had lust got
aboard was circulating in q business-like man
ner among the passengers, thus setting forth
| in lugubrious terms the pitiful nature Of the
case Of the other beggsr. This, it may be re-
marked parenthetically, is method peculiar
| to Washington; it takes two beggars. to do
| business for one. With an organ grinder ON
| the street there is always an assistant, usually
an able-bodied person, who does nothing but
look up at the windows for pennies to drop.
| Though apparently superfuous he has really
an important function in taking care Of the
financial end of the enterprise.
| TROUBLE ABOARD.
All this time the man with the pale side
whiskers had been making cheerful efforts to
get notion of what the latest news really was
from his paper, which
| he had turned right side
/ up upon perceiving his E&1
mistake in this regard, Al M
=: !: !; IS; ]; G
| without pausing to con- \\\AA &
slider the consequences. N\NS
he deliberately began to ~ NJ
| make advances of most IN
/ unmistakable character ~
| 10 the dried-up female TEE oyrrsrrruxArrp
| next him, whose fare he OWE
had previously offered to pay. About two
minutes later. Just ~ the conductor vas COM
| ing through The car, she suddenly Ieaped sbout
. foot In the air % II he had received A 49,