Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-31
N HOTEL CORRIDOR

perlenceS as postmaster whenever 1 see
some one else appointed to a similar posi-
ton, and read what the papers and the peo-
pie say when the news is announced" said
an old western gentleman, who is now re-
tired from both politics and business and
spends his time as it1best pleases him, at
the Riggs House todaI Il sympathize with
such nominees, and When 1 saw the name
of Mr.. WilIett stated for the post office of
this city, and scanned all the nice things
that were said about him, 1 sympathized
with him. When Twa{s made postmaster of
l won't say where's Remember that there
was a general public expression of satisfac-
ton and universal confidence that L would
fill the office in the most creditable manner
possible. l felt mighty good 1t was pleasant
to see in print the warm encomiums of men
scarcely knew, well the exaggerated
com pliments my intimates loyalty paid me.
My family was pleased, and the papers
kindly gave me editorial praise and express
ed pleasure in assuring the public that l
would make model postmaster. Civil ser
vice reform had not yet extended it's just
protection over post offices, but l was an
ardent believer in business methods, which
are primarily the real principles Of the idea
so far as the employees of an establishment
are concerned. l had always recognized the
merit of my clerks and other help in my
own establishment, and l concluded to do
what was best for the government and
what would aid me most in the proper ad-
ministration of the. Office in my new position
when it came to the employees l knew my
own city well and WAS, aware that my pre-
decessor in the office had an excellent force,
the members CT which had been appointed
for political reasons, 1t is true. but who had
learned so we'll the work of the office that
they were well nigh invaluable. They were
nearly every one against me politically, too.
Well / was sworn in and my Office was be-
set by my friends, both personal and party.
They all had friends to whom they had
led ,~l,, H. =
81 ort found the old employees were abso-
lutely necessary to 1.-The proper conduct of
the office, and another set of men would
have to be trained up if discharged them.
[ kept the old force Before six months had
passed l was revile4 by party associates
and sighted by my personal friends, just
because | was a business man and preferred
to run a public office In a business way l
was candidate for reappointment at the
end of my first term, but was showed under
as deep as if an avalanche had struck me-"
'The prevailing smallpox scare and the
clamor for the isolation of persons sup
posed to have come in contact with the lis
ease reminds me of a quarantine experience
/ once had in Hawaii" said A. r. Simp-
son. Tacoma newspaper man. at the Eb-
bitt House last night. "Our steamer had
dirty, foggy voyage for the first four days
out from San Francisco, and the weather
day the sun came out, and we were all on
deck enjoying it, when a steerage passen-'
ger climbed up to the part of the vessel
allotted to such travellers and sat down
weakly on pile of rope. There was an
eruption all over the exposed portions of
his body, and the ships doctor was sum-
moned. After an examination he made the
pleasing announcement that the man was
in possession of a 7virulent case of con-
fluent smallpox. OF course, there was no
vaccine matter on board and you may
imagine the panic that ensued. Well, we
reached Honolulu, and the authorities there
decided that every soul aboard the boat
must be quarantinsd for twenty-one days.
The vessel was I&Jwed to proceed, as it
would not reach port again for more than
determined to land. We were placed upon
"a tongue of sand nat skirts one side of
Honolulu harbor. There was not tree or
a blade of grass. The sun was something
awful, but the government sent out some
tents that sheltered us at night Our meals
were also sent out each day, and 1 must
say We lived royalHI so far internal
eSeeens and TSere were
several ladies In the party, and they bore
their experience ~br3vely. The funniest
thing about 1t Sas' that every evening a
band would come out in boat and anchor
off shore and give, us "a concert, while We
would dance as nj4rri& as if we had been
in ball room Wan this life kept up for
fourteen days, aiid MAS getting terribly
rKsome. We don't Know how were
going to hold out another week. and there
was talk of mutny and charging in a body
on Honolulu when. I'd our great joy, word
was brought that the steerage passenger
didn't have the smallpox at all, but was
suffering from a severe attack of eczema.
If we'd a caught that ships, doctor just
then we'd have drowned him sure
Fetish worship is not confined to the
| ignorant as exclusively as most people i'm
agine" said Walter Carlton of Atlanta
at the Arlington yesterday. For several
years have made more less steady in
| quiry into the superstitions cherished by
| intelligent. cultured people, and you can
| scarcely believe how widespread Is the be-
| lief in charms and talismans. At the Ponce
| de Leon in St. Augustine last winter l met
young woman from away up in the frozen
north. She was one of these superior girls
| who went to the roots of things and her
| learning was really something wonderful.
| She invariably wore queer-looking locket
| at her neck and one day | asked her why
| she Kept on such an homogeneous thing
| when dressed in evening costume. She
coolly told me that 1t contained charm
| that had preserved her from impending
| danger a number of times and recited sew
| eral hairbreadth escapes she has made.
| Upon my inquiring what the charm was
| she told me ii was an African mooka stone
| tnat RTdnQIatneT, WHO WdS d sea
| faring man, had brought home from one
| of his voyages, and that it had eNerted a
protecting influence on her mothers life,
| as it had on her own. That woman was
| one of the few really thoroughly educated
| women / have ever known, and yet she
| firmly believed In the supernatural prop
| critics of that pebble she wore in locket
| around her neck. There are hundreds of
| men all over the country. college men, too,
| who would soon leave their collars and
| cravats at home to go out without a
| rabbit foot in their pockets, and who will
| not talk over a business proposition with
| out touchisg their precious talismans. And
| speaking of rabbits feet L have been cred
| IDLY informed that the great Henry Irving
! once changed the bill from Hamlet to The
| Bells because the rabbit foot he has al,
ways used in making up for the part OF
| the melancholy Dane was mislaid, and he
| felt a presentiment that something dread,
| full would happen to him If he used any
| thing else to give the proper lines to his
| stage complexion. I'll bet there are dozen
| otherwise sensible men in this hotel this
minute who would wear their stockings in
side out all day If they accidentally hap
| pened to get them on that way In the
| morning. The more L look into the inter
| esting matter the more l discover to prove
| that superstition Is as strong among the
| educated as Ii is among the ignorant
| "a gentleman was telling party of u:
| about the way visitors are entertained