Evening star., 1896-11-07


marked an extensive buyer of them. land
people striving, as they do In almos.
everything else. to get the best for the
money they pay, they should not be quick
to buy oysters on sight The plumpest
locking oyster Is by no means the best. un-
less the plumptness comes to the oyster
naturally. Some dealers have a trick OF
Pumping oysters by which they make
them look big and hard when the fact is
the oyster is poor. AS the magician says,
looks are deceiving. The pit mping is man
aged by what is called drinking oysters.
that IS, the oysters, after being shucked,
are thrown into a tank of water and al
lowed to remain there several hours. This
drinking swells the oyster up and catches
the eye every time 1t cooks and tastes
fiabby. Notwithstanding that 1t looked
large and Solid.'
I'm the early days of Washington said
an old citizen, SAY from 1925 to 1910, the
favorite places for circus companies to
pitch their tents was at the southeast cor
of 9th street and Pennsylvania avenue.
1 remember Dan Rice. now an old man.
and still living in New York, when he ap-
peared first as a clown, when he was but
very young man. In addition to his clown
act, he performed with trained horse,
the only horse in the show, by the way.
OF the two and a half hours show given by
the circus, nearly one hour was taken up
by the performances of the trained horss,
Excelsior. Several years afterward. Dan
Rice came again and put out his circus
bills in great profusion for those days.
There We're no gaily colored circus posters
those days, and We were willing to content
ourselves with black ink letters on white
paper.
"Rice's great claim for his reorganized cir
Gus, which he led, was that it was not
oEe-horse show. The performance revealed
the. fact that it not. for he actually had
two horses. Excelsior, and horse that was
used by all the star riders of the evening,
each performer VINO rode taking mis- turn.
This horse was also used for the Pete Jen-
kins act. which old-timers remember with 50
much pleasure. and which found a place
in every circus in olden times. Pete Jen-
kins was an apparently intoxicated man.
who stumbled into the ring, insisted on
riding the horse and after considerable
amusen ent to the audience threw off his
disguise and appeared in circus tights. For
many years the circuses We're allowed to
pitch their tents on Judiciary Square and
the Armory lot. the city councils always
giving permission"
X X X
The peculiarity of the Irish potato. 50
called, is in the fact that it Is not Irish."
observed one of the potato experts of the
Agricultural Department. The potato orig
inally grew wild in the fields Of Chile, Peru
and Mexico. Sir John Hawkins did not
take IT to Ireland until 1863 Sir Francis
Drake took it to England twenty years
afterward. It did better. however, in Ire
land than anywhere else-and got its name
doubt because of its early and extensive
cultivation in Ireland. Botanically it was
originally known as the Batata Virginiana,
but in after years it was properly identified
and classified as the Solanum Tuberorum.
AS the winter stock is now being laid in Il
may be well for the inexperienced to be
able to select good potatoes. Cut the raw
potato in two and rub the halves together.
IF the moisture on rubbing is soft and
liquid enough TO drop. the potato will be
sogsy and set when cooked. Rub the halves
briskly around on each other. A potato
that will be dry and mealy when cooked
will give out a good rich froth, while a
poor one will show only watery froth by
the same action. The pieces will stick to-
gether IL the potato Is a good one. OF
course the whole thing Is to test the
amount of starch in the potato. for the
more starch the better the potato. If, how
ever. person intends to lay in very large
supply. for they are cheap now. the best
plan, of course, Is to cook them, and there
will be no chance of mistake"
THE lovers of music are as whimsical
in their likes and dislikes as the non-musi-
cal people," remarked Mr. Edward L.
Becker. an amateur musician. 1.-The piano
leads in the matter of the numbers of its
devotees and probably always will. The
irg in the number of admirers. and par
ticularly among the ladies', who of late
years have taken hold of 1t in unheard-
of numbers and enthusiasm. Then come
the brass Instruments, the cornet leading
The reed instruments, clarionettes, fage-
olets and bassoons are greatly In the minor
tty. but those who do play them are very
proud of them, though most musicians re-
gard them as nusances, pure and simple.
The guitar banjo mandolin har in
StrumentS of that kind ,are not now and
probably never will be regarded by musi-
clans. with the love and admiration that
attaches TO the plano and violin. Some
evenings since at musical party 1 heard
story which illustrates the likes and
dislikes OF musicians well as anything
that / had ever heard.
"A rather prominent musician, though
one of the very old-fashioned kind
Scotchman, by the way, was one of those
who were bored by a solo on bassoon,
given by the host of the evening. At the
conclusion of the performance. our Scotch
friend was asked what he thought of the
solo, and particularly what he thought of
bassoons. long-keyed wood pipe like an
exaggerated claronette. He gave 1t
promptly 1t is only by the mercy of God
he replied. that the thing don't SMELL"
**
This is the off season as far as pleasure
and small boats are concerned" answered
ore of the captains who house boats for
the winter down on the river 'front.' An
inspection of his boat house showed a num-
Der of pleasure crafts of al, kinds dis
mantled. securely and snugly packed away
The sailing and pleasure boats had a fine
season. he continued, even better than
any that have known of for over twenty
years. There are more pleasure craft owned
here now than for a number of years They
are, however, of different class than in
former years. in that, while they are more
numerous. they are not so expensively con-
structed In former years pleasure craft
We're. as a rule, owned by clubs or organi-
cations. OF late nearly all the good boats
are owned and operated by individuals for
the pleasure of their owners and friends
X * x
The olG-fashioned carpet shaker. the old
colored man who took carpets out to a va
cant lot or a field on the suburbs and shook
them and shook them. Is thing of the past
anu much as we may regret his passing
away, he has gone." said an experienced
housekeeper- In his place came along the
machine carpet beater. which beats. even IL
1t does not shake. carpets. OF course. the
Hachine gets even more dirt out of the car