Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-15
IN HOTEL, CORRIDORS

zone Of the saddest places In the world
for man to VISIT fs an insane asylum"
said Ernest Lycett Of Poughkeepsie at
Wormley's last night MY business made
II necessary, for me to 60 through one Of
these institutions few weeks ago for the
purpose Of examining the corridors and
recreation halls and don't think / will
ever want to make another estimate on a
contract In such a place. was haunted by
the faces Of the patients 1 saw there for a
week afterward. and / shall never forget
one man l saw. who imagined himself to be
a train OF cars He was a powerful-looking
fellow, and while / was in the portion Of
the building where he was kept he contin-
ued steadily running up and down the cor
rldor, making noise like the escape Of
steam from a locomotive, and stopping
every now and then to call out the name Of
station. l was Informed that he had been
a braSesman on railroad train which
collided with another, sand that his head
had been forced through a door of a car,
resulting in conclusion of the BRAIN When
ne recovered consciousness his mind was
ruined, and he began then the never-ceas-
ing actions which saw him engaged in the
other day. For twelve years he had been
rushing back and FORTH calling out the sta
no lions as ne used to in the days of his SAN
ity, and only stopping when completely ex-
nausted III man thinks he Is having
hard luck in this world because things 20
a littie wrong with him 1 can think of moth
probation of the blessings he enjoys in pos
sessing his mental faculties, If nothing else
than visit to the wards of an insane
asylum"
The approaching conclave of the knights
or Pythias in this city week after next re-
minds me of something that may be interest
ing to many Masons in this city," said
Robert r. Decker of Jersey City at Will
iard's this morning THE triernial conyo-
cation of the General Grand CHAPTER of the
Royal Arch Masons is to be held In Topeka
next week, and 1t will be of great import
ance TO the fraternity. A man from your
helshtoring state Of Maryland, by the way.
VIII be the most exalted member there and
WIZ preside over the deliberations as grand
miSh priest. l mean George L. McCahan
mere are many grand chapters of the
royal Arch Masons. in fact, this branch of
masonry has increased wonderfully in the
past Iew years. and difference of opinion
seems 10 nave arisen between the eastern
ana western chapters on the subject of the
ritual ana the proper use of the insignia
Inc main business therefore, to be trans
.cIed IN Topeka will be to reconcile these
dinerences of opinion and TO do away win
me deViations from the ritual now admit
ted IN many chapters. The eastern men
appear 10 think that the differences exist
ing arc caused by the western men not be-
ing thoroughly familiar with the exact
meaning OF the Masonic code / am sure
however, that the convocntton will lea We ne
Win WIN put one shade of opinion on the entire
"heh was in England several years
ago. said j. r. McHenry of Charleston
was passing a tewelry store i'm I,ondon
and was struck with the beauty of a n,,r
OF diamond earrings In the window There
was 4 card attached to the Jewels which
stated that their price was sixty pounds and
that they could not be duplicated I'm Eng
iaho Tor seventy-five. / went into the sbon
u make closer examination of the stones
ana saw they were genuine diamonds and
iueh'iy Wen worth the price asked for
'hem. told the teweler that l was going
-, 40 the bank to draw some money and that
II ne would put the earrings aside I wouIJ
return and pay for them. He replied mai
ne would accept my check for the SIKH
pounds i was amazed. l was a ner,ect
stranger in London except AT ona or -
private houses and with the Morpans
Whefe L NADIA deposit. l told the dealer
r Una. would go to the bank, as 1 needed
more money and would prefer TO draw a
ciieck there for the entire amount He
thereupon Informed me that 1 could draw
checH Tor what desired over and above
.iie Sixty pounds necessary for the pur-
chase OF the earrings and he would give
me the change. L drew a check for one hun
ureu pounds, and he gave me forty bounds
IN change and said he would send the ear
rings at once to the Victoria Hotel where
1 wac stopping. When / returned I'm the
evening TO the hotel the earrings were
s mere. l asked one Of my English friends
Tor an explanation of this remarkably care
less transaction. He laughed at me The
jeweler. he said, ran only the slightest
FISK IN taking check from an entire
stranger lie desired to sell the earrings
and therefore perhaps. stretched the i'm
Its OF prudence n little bit, but still he was
perfectly aware that II the check wasn't
good the man who drew IL could not get
out of England without being arrested
The jeweler was simply aware Of the mag
nincent system of the English police and
was assured that in sales where the
amount was over forty or fifty pounds that
almost any tradesman in England would
have taken the risk and treated me in pre-
cisely the same way that the jeweler did
Notwithstanding the fact that i was an alb
solute stranger to him. l still believe"
said Mr.. McHenry in conclusion that some
OF our American sharpers could do a land
office business over there If what my En-
fish friend told me Is true, and l have no
reason to doubt its absolute accuracy"
II have been somewhat amused recently
in reading the accounts in eastern papers
of the sliding mountain We have out In
Oregon" said A. p. Clayton Of Portland at
the Riggs House last night The articles
have pictured a towering and frowning
mass of granite, steadily but surely moving
down to devastate a smiling valley at its
of Oregon is situated the Columbia,
river, near Cascade Lock 1t is probably
800 feet high. and fronts on the water
about half a MILE while 1t runs back from
the shore about three-quarters of a mile
The o. X. and n. roadbed skirts this hill
and the tracks are continually being dis
turbed by the movements of the earth The
mountain has been known to slide as much
as foot in day, but this has always been
when the Columbia river has sud denly fall
len after being very high. the high wate-
having had the effect of keeping the noun
tain in check. Engineering experts how
ever, have computed that the mountain
which contains something under eighty
million cubic yards of earth, moves reg
ularly at the rate of a thirty-second of an
inch day, and that IL will take four or
five thousand years for ii to slide away
The peculiar quality of the mass of earth
and stone is caused by the fac: that II has
a soapstone Foundation to rest on which is
not level, but inclines at considerable
angle toward the river. The Columbia river
washes away the part of the mountain that
projects into it, and carries 1t down to de-
poslt 1t on the sandy soil further down
thus making the latter productive"
Il was recently engaged in recovering
some money for a client and the case pre-
sented very interesting story" said
George Wagnall.the Philadelphia lawyer. at