Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-14
THINGS HEARD AND SEEN

I called upon an old lady the other day
Everything about the house was scrup-
Clously clean. but betokened poverty Of
the bitter grinding kind My hostess was
beginning to be little childish through
excess of years and trouble, and excusing
herself retired. for a few minutes, return
hg clad in an old black silk dress, made
In the style of fifty years ago. 1t had
been wonderful dress when first made, and
must have cost what in those days was q
large sum of money, and there was some
thing about my hostess as she sat In the
hnery OF her g.rlhOod, In the bare, unfur-
Itshed room, with no carpet on the floor
and nothing around but a few straight
back wooden chairs, that was more pitiful
than anything she could have said. There
is something touching to me at best about
the shadows which rest over the end Of
Efe's pathway. but when the faltering steps
lead through desolate ways, while youthful
vanity occupies the mind. 1t Is almost a
tragedy to live.
X 4
I was talking TO hotel clerk. and he
said Talk about kleptomaniacs at dry
goods stores, they are scarcely a circum
stance to those at a ilrst-class hotel. Peo-
pie who cheerfully pay IS a day for board
will steal a 1O-cent cake Of soap and put
themselves to a great deal Of trouble to do
It, But the principal things guests take are
towels, and the collection of those articles
has become regular fad. They are taken
as souvenirs Of the hotel. and lady who
has travelled great deal will have a whole
trunk full with the names Of the hotels on
them. This Is conclusive proof that they
have stopped at those houses. and person
whose towels bear the marks of hotels
throughout the civilized world Is to be en-
WED as possessing a most interesting col
lection of memertOs. few napkins are
taken, ard occasionally spoons. Door keys
and checks used to disappear In great num-
bers, but none Of these equal towels in the
eyes of collectors of hotel souvenirs"
x -
"There is a singular idea that prevails
among many people that II little Is q
good thing. more is better" said physi-
can to a Star representative. land an in
calculable amount of harm Is done. There
are cases where little quinine does good
and the patient instead Of going to a ply
stefan ard finding Out how much they want
buys guam tity at a drug store and takes
80 much that 1t Is a positive detrimeDt
When persons have been sick ard obtained
prescription they imagine they know just
what to do the next time they are ailing
and Increase the dose. often with NEST dis
astrous results The careless use of medi-
cine by those not familiar with Its conse-
quences causes more trouble than almost
any other source of ailment to which the
human body Is subject"
x y x
I heard Of case in Southwest Washing
ton that interested me greatly. An old lady
Is saving every hickel in order to lay by
500 for Ambulance to an old lady's home.
For three years she has denied herself all
Of the luxuries. and many of what are
usually termed the necessaries of life, and
now she has very nearly enough to insure
her being cared for the rest Of her life
Twenty years ago her husband was prom
inent merchant in Chicago, and when he
died left what was, in those days, a large
fortune, to his widow. She had son, her
he n r.
rel, killed a man. Many thousands of dol
lars wore spent to save his life, and after
several trials he was sentenced to spend
his remaining days in the penitentiary
Then the balance of the fortune was ex-
pended in years OF unsuccessful work to
obtain pardon, and with an income barely
sufficient to support her, the heart-broken
mother cam. to Washington, hoping that
the influence of prominent men might be
obtained to help her in the fight for her
sons liberty. And now the former society
belle and honored member of the most ex
elusive set in Chicago has given up hope
that her son will ever be released, and the
sole ambition of the wrecked life is that
its days may be ended In an institution
provided by charity for the unfortunate
ores whose sunset hours are obscured by
clouds.
The demure young women who affect
the turned-back. lace-trimmed cuffs and
collars thinking meanwhile of the good
lous sisters who affect the fads of popular
actresses by wearing Della Fox curls. LII
liam Russell hats. Bernhard girdles and
similar fancies. are probably not aware
that their particular craze had dancer
for its originator. Such Is the case, how
ever, for Fannie Ellsler. the original of
the beautiful painting La Sylphide" in
the Corcoran Art Gallery, first introduced
tire. The "Ellsler cuffs" as they were
called in those days. some forty years
ago, were the proper caper." and every
school girls wardrobe and bridal trouS-
seau contained several choice sets Of
"Ells!ers."
I heard some people talking the other
day of the fact that so few comparatively
Of the young men and women in the de-
partments found their partners for life
among their co-workers. One of the
speakers explained 1t in this way: I'm
the first place. they see too much of each
other. and while a certain degree of pro-
pinauity Is conducive to affection. there
Is a saying that applies to this condition
of things in a modified way, which says
that familiarity breeds contempt. While
contempt Is not the proper word to express
my meaning. l wish to indicate that con-
slant official intercourse reduces men and
women's regard for each other to a mere
iy mechanical basis. and the two sexes
in time come to look UPON each other as
parts of Uncle Sans machinery rather
than as possible husbands and wives.
Another reason" he continued "is that
the women know to a penny just what the
mems incomes are. and in many cases
matrimony would mean for two people to
live upon exactly the same amount that
barely supplies the wants of one the wo-
men are a little squeamish about accept
Ing the yoke. to say nothing about the
men. In addition the clerks as a class
have outside social connections, and hay-
Ing often the entree into exclusive sets nat
urally hope to marry into different cir
ole. the men on the lookout for rich girls
and the WOMEN hoping for more advan-
tageous positions than 'gas-stove Brides"
y X
A combination of romance and reality
was witnessed at a wedding which took
place not long since which shows that the
commercial instinct Ia still fourishing
among us. When the wedding party had
taken its position in the vestibule of the
church in waiting for the appearance of
the bride, one of the ushers who had re-
Gently gone into business and was rather a
wag in his .et. produced circulars of his
wares, and with the remark that "he was
glad to have this most propitious oppor-
tunity for introducing to their notice the
finest brand on the market" distributed
to the laughing group circulars advertis-
ing his wares. When the bride alighted