Evening star., 1895-04-16
THINGS HEARD AND SEEN

Gen. Smith, who has Just retired from the
head of the pay corps in the army. is one
OF the men who was not seeking promotion
when he was made brigadier general He
was stationed in st. Paul when tue last
vacancy occurred and came to Washing.
ton in the interest of his brother, Col
Rodney Smith, who was his senior In the
corps and candidate for general The
former saw President Harrison several
times and briefly told him why his brother
should be appointed. Finally he went to
the President when the latter had some
leisure and there was {, general discussion
OF matters concerning the pay corps Mr..
Harrison asked Lieut. Col Smith, for that
was then his rank, what GOOD paymas,ef
should do and also inquired as to the gem
eral management Of the corps in every de,
partment Of the army. He found the
younger Smith wa0 so well informed and
knew the duties SO well that he decided to
appoint him. The President .poke SO Hind,
ly and appeared SO appreciative of what
ne had heard that Col. Smith assured one
OF his friends in .he city that he felt sure
Brother Rodney would be selected" EiS
was very much surprised the next day to
find that he was the Smith that had been
mace paymaster general
A good story comes over from the White
House. 1t seems that once in awhile Pres
invades the room occupied Dy the subordi-
nate clerks in the department.. On one cf
these occasions recently lie went in AMI
stood looking down at the work which one
OF the clerks was dong. The man at work
never looked up; he thought il was one OF
tne other clerks who occasionally ,othercd
him. What the devil dc you want?" he
asked. There was 10 response. The othef
clerks gasped for breath. A death-Ike
stiffness prevailed, and the working clerk
looked up to meet a smile on the .ounte.
nance Of the President. In time an expla.
natlon followed, but it will De a long time
before that White House cie,k will ASK
a like question until he Is dead sure of tho
man he is talking %.
A naval officer was RECENTLY the o,,ssrvsr
OF living picture which would probably
satisfy New York Arising rather late one
morning at the swell boarding house
where he was staying he proceeded 10 the
bath room to get a pitcher of water. The
fact that the door was nearly closed did
not prevent him from entering us II Weld,
ed to his push. With eyes upon the floor
ana mind upon the previous night. ho aid
not notce that there was another person
IA tne room. This person was a venua
rising from the bath, or rather who had
arisen and had a towel iE nand With <
snght scream the towel went over ner
h heaa ana the startled officer looking up
packed out He don't know VINO she waa
ana probably she will never :cn. Sha
SHOWS VINO ne was and is sure that her
own IDENTITY Will remain q mystery ShA
Is sun congratulating herself upon that
involuntary movement which conceaIed hef
race and prevented the son of NeptunA
from discovering her name
What is to become of all the pictures ~
departed great men that are accumuIa t,nS
IN the various departments? Every cabinet
oincer, head Of bureau, assistant cabinei
omcer, as well as the head of each admin.
istration leaves his imprint, either In
large photo. crayon or oil. on the waili
OF the offlce he vacates. The walls oh
most rooms are crowded now and some Of
them are overflowine. A large majority 81
lnese I men are forgotten; very few are
distinguished, and they certainly are ens
Titled to places Of honor. But what SHAH
De done With the numerous men of but
day, and especially the pictures of th&
Let us have a hall of records and store
these with the musty vellums that Will
never be called for and yet which a gem
erous republic thinks should be retained al
a part of its valuables.
A New Yorker well known in Washing,
ton seems to be getting along very well
fighting Tom Platt. His fight against
Platt in the campaign of 1892 netted him
place under the Harrison administration.
and some surprise was manifested when
E. c. O'Brien was made commissioner of
navigation. although it was explained that
he had a solid delegation from his part
of the state to the national convention.
Recently he was appointed dock commits.
of 5000 and perks" which will bring ia
about 5000 more He is one of the young
republicans who always went to league
meetings, and talked for the party on all
ha hf.x-o IL
ed him. because of his very black pointed
beard and his general foreign appearance
Going vest one time he was picked out
as diplomat OF great prominence by
everybody in the car, especially as he was
called count by his companions. When
his friends saw that several young ladies
and told another passenger about the "dis.
hnguished foreigner they Were taking
west to see the country, and added taleA
about his fabulous possessions in the old
country. 1t was also asserted that the
count" being a single man might decide
to take wife home with him II he re.
manned long enough. Until the end Of the
trip Mr.. O'Brien was the cynosure OF all
eyes. Passengers came the whole length
of the train and gazed at the rich count
who was going west to purchase about
half of the country beyond the Missouri
ton on that trip than he ever hopes to
again.
Inc interior OF the residence OF John
W. Foster has an oriental suggestiveness,
AS result Of Mr.. Fosters travels and hie
relations with foreigners, more especially
the Chinese. he has secured a treasure
house of beautiful things, which are the
admiration of all who have beheld them,
Rich tapestry, bric-a-brac of all kinds and
of great value adorn the wallis and man.
tells. Vases which delights the eye of the
ceramic collector are plentiful, while there
are historical and fancy articles of great
worth and maenificence. Rare carvings
upon pearl and in ivory, showing the skill
and high order of workmanship OF the
Chinese, attract the attention.
A Bevy of Birds at q Hotel.