Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-04-24

Written Exclusively for The Evening Star.
zone of the first settlements in this sec
tion," says an old book worm, was at
the confluence of the Eastern branch and
the Potomac, still known by its original
name of Giesborough. The tract was en-
tered in 1852 by Thos. Dent, who. 1t is
said. came from North Yorkshire. Eng
land. and he named it after the town of
Gisborough on the River Tees, where some
of his family had lived The tract then
included the site of st. Elizabeth's Insane
Asylum. and a portion of it retains to this
day the original name. now spelled with an
'.e." This Thomas Dent was the progenl-
tor of the numerous Dent family of south
ern MARYLAND and the District, who ar
rived in Lord Baltimore's colony nearly
two and a half centuries ago. Among
his descendants were General Dennis Dent,
Frederick F. Dent whose daughter married
General Grant. and General F. I. Dent.
who served in the Mexican, lndian ana
civil wars. and many others who MADE
the name noted in law and the commercial
world
IAN obliging disposition is a good thing
to be afflicted with said a department
clerk the other day, but occasionally an
oblging disposition is made to feel itself
imposed upon. l would do most anything
In reason to assist a friend. but 1 want to
know that my efforts are appreciated.
1.-THE first of a series of entertainments
was to be given at one OF our places OF
amusement not a great while ago, and
season tickets were to be placed on sale
at the box office on Monday morning at
o o'clock. One of our lady clerks was anx-
ious to secure two reserved seats for the
season. and came to me with an inquiry
as to the best way TO get them
There will be crowd there very early
in the morning 1 can't get down town
much before D. and mother Is unable 10
come down and stand In the line What
shall / do?'
AFTER considerable talk on the subject
and offers to help on my side. 1t was final
ly decided that l was to come down as
early i could in the morning. take my
place in the line and hold II until she
came to relieve me; then she would stay
until she got her tickets.
AT O'Clock on that Monday morning
/ was in front of the door. with perhaps
two dozen ahead of me. men and mes
senger boys. At about a quarter of
saw the lady come tripping along the
walk with a bright. spring morning smile
on her face and as she reached the spot
where | stood she greeted me with:
e Good morning How good of you; how
long have you been here?
Il told her 1 had been holding the fort
for about two hours and was ready to re-
sign in her favor
You are awfuliy kind, but mother and
1 talked the matter over last night and
came to the conclusion that we wouldn't
get the tickets"
THE easy-going habit of some of the old
families of Washington. remarked a gen.
tleman who possesses some rare ola
books, was made plain to me by the ex-
perience 1 had in lending a book. Do you
know old -? When he and l lived near
the city hall. forty years ago, 1 loaned him
a book. l moved away, and during the
war / did not see him. Some time after,
We accidentally met. and he apologized for
having kept the book so long, and prom
ised that next time he came up in my
neighborhocd he would bring IL. Several
years passed-about fifteen-before / again
met him, and then he chided himself for
forgetting 10 bring the volume. / did cot
ask for il. for 1 thought he might desire to
give ii another reading, but when twenty
eight years had passed, L was surprised by
the borrower handing it to me with the re-
mark that If he had kept 1t much longer
he feared that he would forget the story
invited him in to look over my stock of
books and he examined some, but did not
ask further loan"
+ r X
THE birds enjoyed their Easter ceIebra-
ton even more than usual" remarked one
of the White House gardeners to a Star
reporter. land they are still enjoying It,
They had good treat. 1t is way inside
more than 1o.UO0 cooked eggs scattered
about the White House grounds on Mon
day last Besides this there were pieces
or cookies, cakes, peanuts, candies and
other things in the grass in great pro-
fusion. OF course. there were such crowds
OF children in the grounds from early
morning until nearly shutdown that the
birds were frightened off on Monday but
on Tuesday morning they had everything
their own way. and had it until the grounds
were cleaned up. The birds which nest
about the grounds did not seem to be the
least bit jealous about their treat, and in
less than half day birds from all Sec
tons of the city were advised of 1t by other
birGs. and they came in swarms. On We'd
neSday the number of birds was very large
day and for the remaining days of the
week. Many like myself thought, by the
way eggs were being thrown around on
Monday there that there was great
amount of waste, but ii is not waste in any
sense. L think from the number of birds
which have visited the grounds this week
that thousands and thousands of birds
from all sections of the city were furnished
with a royal banquet. The little ones-the
children i meanwhile enjoyed themselves
so much in their Easter egg rolling can
have the satisfaction of knowing that. be-
sides having their fun. they gave the birds
the first great time they have had this
spring / want to add another thing also.
and that is that the crowd we had on Mon
day was the best behaved and most order
ly that have ever witnessed in the White
House grounds on any Easter Monday egg
rolling celebration
- 4
Cigars sell today" observed a well-known
dealer TO a Star reporter, las cheap in the
matter of price as they ever did in the his
tory of this country. Besides this they are
better made than ever before. There are,
OF course. some high-priced cigars sold, but
they are very few. 1 assure you. In the re-
tail way nine-tenths of the cigars now sold
in the city stores sell for cents, where ten
or fifteen years ago a 10-cent cigar was the
rule. Handmade cigars are very, very rare.
This is because smokers will not buy them
when they can get a machine-made cigar
Machines have cheapened the price of all
grades of cigars. The tendency now Is to-
ward still greater reduction in price. and
already number of dealers are introducing
stogies and cigars that retail as low as
three for. cents. 1t Is surprising how
many of these cheaper grades of cigars are
sold Plenty of men who. zen years ago.
smoked nothing less than cigars that re-
tailed three for quarter, now satisfy
themselves with cigars that retail ten for a