Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-16
SOME BRANDON NOTES
Gathered BY a Reporter in His
Walks About Town.
TEE STORY :gF A LoQUAClOUS BOY
A DoiIafsa Gay and Good Bank
y
d .suAccount.
sd IN
AFTER-D1NNER COFFEE

| Talk about your takers! There Is
| small boy in this town who can give the
| average popul:st orator cards and spades
| and beat him out. He takes up every fad
| as it comes along, and would talk his pa
| rents into premature old age were it not
| that they sometimes resort to parental
| authority to suppress him. Last summer
| 1t was yachts and yachting. and he had
| studied books and newspapers until there
| was not a cup defender from the America
| down that he did not know all about. He
| could tell all the details of their rigging
| off-hand. the names of their various skip
| pers, the breadth and draft of each, and
| so on
He could have talked the ears off a
bronze statue. He would talk yachts until
| patience ceased to be virtue. and some
| one would say: For gracious sake. give us
| a rest"
Now it is foot ball. and that boy knows
| the record of every player on all the lead
| ing college teams. how long he has been In
| college, his weight, and his chances OF
making good run in the next big game.
! But still, his devoted parents cannot listen
| to him all the time. and he gets sat Upon
| occasionally, of yore.
| But the ingenuity OF youth is matchlesS.
| and he has recently hit upon scheme
| whereby he may crate to his hearts con-
| tent He has sister. a couple or years
| younger, and he has entered into con-
| tract with her to listen. on a salary Of five
| cents an hour. But 1t Is in the agreement
| that she must look interested and must
ask an intelligent question at least once IN
| every ten minutes. thus stimulating con-
| versation. And there that helpless child
| sits while he tells her of famous victories,
| of lilly" Lamar's run ten years ago. of
| Bulls skill at punting and of Suffers dash
| for Harvard's goal fortnight ago. 1t is
| hard on the girl, but she gets her reward
| when 1t comes to spending her brothers
pocket money every week.
| There are many ways of proving social
popularity, but one of the most original de-
! veloped in the course of a letter recently
| received from Washington society girl
who is spending the winter abroad by
friend in this city. She was describing
big ball she attended in Berlin. where there
| tendance upon the bellies
| And do you know" she continued, that
| when we came away l had more scratches
under my chin than any other girl that
| was there
| Which. of course went to show that she
| had danced with a larger number of the
| military than her less fortunate rivals.
| How she came into contact with SO many
epaulets still remains mystery
! A few days ago a small boy went into
| the first precinct station house, on 18th
| street below the avenue. and addressed HIM
| self to Station Clerk Lamb who was at the
desk:
| IT was sent down here by a gentleman
| to ask about a magdalen that got lost
| "a what?",
| why, a masdalen."
| (which one? There are quite a number
Of them in this neighborhood."
| (which one? repeated the boy. an ex
preston of doubt and surprise on his face
| well what do you mean, anyway"
| "Why. one of those dinky things you play
with your fingers and picker"
"Oh, you mean mandolin.
! And that was what it was But 1t was
| a curious coincidence in the mistaken use
| of word, .,
| There is a nil boy in the employ of the
Metropolitan Railroad Company who gives
| promise of being one of the capitalists of
| Washington some of these days IL he keeps
| on in the way he has begun. He has charge
| of the hill horse that helps the overloaded
cars up the incline on nth street between l
| and K streets, and his bright and CHEEKY
face is well known to many Of the regulars
| on the line. His salary is 81 a week, and
| some of the drivers who know him say that
| he pays $3.50 week for board and allows
himself a half dollar for spending money.
| Every pay day he goes down to his bank
| and deposits 81. Last summer during the
hot weather he always kept bucket of ice
water at the foot of the hill. and charged the
|
| week to supply them with the cooling cup.
| The ice men soon got to know him, and fire.
| cuently tossed him piece of Ice. for which
they forgot to charge him. SO that his
| ceiptS were almost clear profits
| Since then he has taken charge Of one of
| the switches on the road. and charges each
| driver five cents week for turning the
| switch and saving him the trouble He SUBJ
| let the contract to a small colored boy so
! that 80 per cent of what he gets now goes to
swell his bank account. 1t is said that he
has between s700 and $500 slowed safely
| away, and this is growing all the time.
| Pretty good for young boy isn't It? Some
| fine day he may be owning property along
| Connecticut avenue and driving his own car
| rage While the rest of us are still patroniz-
ing the street cars
1t Is getting to be quite the proper thing
| nowadays to make your own after-dinner
coffee in the dining room or parlor instead
| of having it brought in. lukewarm and per-
| haps not half strong enough, from the
| kitchen. There are all sorts of dainty coffee
| pots made for this purpose, rather orna-
| mental than otherwise, and lots of men
| pride themselves on their ability to make a
| cup of coffee that is fit for a king
| With powdered coffee and steady-burn-
| ing alcohol flame the trick Is not hard one
| to learn. and the result is a beverage as
clear as amber, but as black as the inside of
an Ethiopian's pocket on dark night 1t
is pretty sight, too. to see a young matron
| presiding over pretty copper outfit, and it
| goes way ahead of 5 O'Clock tea Then
| which is no small consideration your coffee
is steaming hot when poured into the little
egg-shell cups and the aroma that fills the
| air is not the least part of the charm.
Which reminds me of an old proyerb re-
! latng to after-dinner coffee. The Spanish
use it, though 1t may not be original with
| them They say that coffee, to be good,
| must be '.as strong as love, as sweet as life.
| as black as death. and as hot as hell" The
| quotations may not be literal, but it will do
|
There 70 a quiet little place E street
| where liquor Is sold. and also tobacco and
cigars A few days ago real nice young
| fellow entered the shop and ordered a glass
of beer. He drank it like a man, and then
asked for package of cigarettes
| 81 don't sell Them
"You don't? Why not?"
well, heaven knows. it's bad enough to
sell whisky. but I've got to draw the line
| hara