Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-06-27

''The crabman's business is now at its
height said one of the crabmen who
nightly wander about the city with their
stock OF crabs. hard. soft and deviled
THE most of our money comes from the
sale of deviled crabs, for somehow people
prefer to eat deviled crabs at night time
Our colcred customers always want the
hard-shelled crabs, and will take no other.
There are hundreds of crabmen who have
night routes in various parts Of the city,
and many have regular customers for every
deviled crab that they make. The
clam fakirs, who push ABOUT their little
carts OF clans, generally sell their goods
during the day time. leaving the field open
for the crabman at night. Yes, / must
confess that all that are sold deyied
crabs are not entirely crabs for some crab
men have way of using fish to help cut.
Still, there is scarcely any one who can
tell wnere fish Is used, especially II we'll
mixed and properly peppered. But those
who have regular customers cannot affC I'd
to use fish. for if they lid SO they would
lose their business.
II have five houses to look after now"
explained well-known care-taker Of
houses land as soon as 1 can get some
more dogs 1 will have some more hcrses.
We formerly devoted entire time to
people would pay enough money. but 1t
Won't do any more where care-takers have
to run into competition with the electric
wire service My plan of operating now is
to get houses as close together as 1 can,and
to put of my dogs in each house. 1 visit
each house two three times during every
day and night, inspect them thoroughly and
feed and water my dogs The dogs like fire.
quent visits for it takes the lonesome feel
IA
tiers any of my houses. day night, the
dogs will give them such a lively reception
that they will not take the time to leave
their cards so that can return the visits.
train my doGs-to be -uncivil There is one
thing sure. and that is the Average man
who would like to enter and clean out a
house has great fear of savage dog"
X
"All sorts of stories have been told and
printed about the old clock in the man
sion, explained one of the guides at Mount
Vernon, but the real fact is there Is moth
Ing peculiar or interesting about 1t except
its long connection with Mount Vernon.
The story which received the most extend
ed circulation was started some years ago.
1t was to the effect that on certain nights
of certain months the clock would strike
the hour though it had not been wound up
for years. As nonsensical as this story
was l found many believers and there is
ask about it.
Last winter Henry Irving came down here
with several members of his company As
soon as they reached the door, Mr.. Irving
remarked: Now. hope to have the chance
to see the old clock. for / fancy 1t must
be here yet OF course he saw the clock,
and he asked. as if he believed 1t, Does it
keep up it's old habits YETI We explained
that the only habit it had was to stand
there in the hall: that the key had been
lost. and that it had not run for many
years.
That's a disappointment for me- said
Irving. for I read in one of our English
papers that the clock was rather errat.-
at times. and somehow 1 believed -
came here more to see the clock nan onu1
Fish can and -
stream over fa's fftv feet In height ;. oh
.gr, investigator of the subject
are hundreds of well-authenticate
-'-'ances of this In the Columbia river In
oregon. where salmon, which is a salt water
hsh. is found above the falls in the fresh
water. There is no other way for them to
get up the river except to use the falls as a
Kind of ladder. and they have been seen
While making the ascent By this do not
mean abrupt falls, but the kind Of falls
generally seen on the western rivers The
Great Falls of the Potomac are an nlustra-
ton Though there is an artificial fishway
INTO the upper Potomac during their spawn
Ing season before the fshway was con-
6tructed."
One OF the sights Of WashInpton's Wall
street. 18th street, facing the Treasury De-
partment. every afternoon Is the gather
Ing of the watchmen Of the department.
There are many more watchmen employ-
ed at the Treasury Department than Is
generally supposed. 1t is their habit to
begin as: embling at the basement door
Immediately north of the main door on 18th
street about $3.50 o'clock every afternoon
BY five minutes of they disappear to their
various posts throughout the building to
relieve those whose tour of duty expires
at that hour. similar gathering takes
place al midnight, and again at O'Clock
in the morning. A portion of the watch
force sleep in the building as q reserve
should they be needed when their trick
of duty expires at midnight.
Il is the habit of many of the watchmen
who so duty at o'clock to carry a
luncn box, which contains their dinner
or supper. Some of the lunch boxes are
OF an unusually large size, SO that when
the watchnen are waiting around the out
er door they have the appearance to the
uninitiated of party of tourists. One of
the afternoons of this week, the building
being warm, the watchmen refraned from
entering until the last moment. The crowd
was therefore unusually large, so much 50
that persons standing in the corridors of
the Riggs House opposite asked who they
were.
n X X
Goal contracts are awarded by the gov
eminent said an official of the quarter
master generals Office of the War Depart
ment. ION the basis of the evaporating ca
pacity of the same. the standard being a
cord of oak wood. We have ascertained ex-
actly how much water q cord OF wood will
evaporate. From this we make tests In re-
gard to the evaporating quality of the vari-
Gus Goals that are offered. In the far west
and for the various posts on the Pacific
coast ii is found to be better to use the Goals
that are mined in that section than to ship
anthracites from Pennsylvania and other
states, for the expense of transportation
would more than consume the difference
in price. There Is considerable coal mined
in Oregon and Washington, the mines near
Coos bay. in Oregon, being the best The
Goals there, however, are by no means as
good as the anthracites of the east tor one
ton of Pennsylvania or other hard coal will
eyaporate nearly as much water as three
tons of the Oregon Goals. The western
Goals are more of the Ignite or bituminous
NO an 40