The times., 1898-06-05
BRASS BUTTON TALES.

For week or ten days now there has
been unusual activity in the clothing biz
ness at the national capital. Those gen
tlemen of bargains who are famous for
claiming kindred to all needy mankind
in the capacity of "uncles' without hav
ing gone through the little formality Of
becoming acquainted with your father
or mother are working overtime buy
.ng up entire stocks at ridiculously low
figures. And here the occasion Of il all.
In the haste to mobilize, troops, com
panies and even entire regiments were
mustered in and hurried from all parts
of the country to Camp Alger without
uniforms. They came in civilian attire,
wearing every kind of dress from silk
hats and Prince Alberts 10 caps and
bicycle suits. Now they are getting their
uniforms Simultaneous with dOnn1ng
Uncle Sans regulation military dress
arises the problem of how best TO dis
pose of discarded civilian apparel, which
however valuable 10 the owner, cannot
be carried along to war.
Men can rise to such an emergency as
this It was not necessary for anyone 10
suggest the possibilities of a trip TO mock
row" The thought occurred TO every
individual in the company as the new
uniforms were handed out. inspected and
finally assigned according to size.
But the same night between mess and
taps they discussed it. Mac. over there
ought to get at least s. for his clothes.
He came into camp wearing a tile, a
Prince Albert, tailor made trousers and
patent leather shoes. Everybody envied
Mac. Then there was Douglas
How much d'ju pay fer that old suit
o yours Dug?
Eighteen dollars. an I've only worn
it six weeks. I'll let it go for four or
five
With varying comments the newly un-
iformed recruits inspected the neatly
folded punches of each others clothes,
and decided that there were 'duds'
enough in the company TO bring $50. There
suddenly developed a great demand for
old newspapers and wrapping paper. and
the next morning something like twenty
passes to town were issued to as many
recruits who started off with big, fat
bundles under heir arms and visions of
much loose change in their minds.
We will follow Dug. and Mae. the en-
We'd ones Whether they were familiar
with this sort of thing or not Is nobody's
business but their own. yet it must be
admitted that they looked suspiciously
wise as they appeared al the north end of
at Tenth and ending at Eighth.
They found an easy looking patriarch
hanging up rows of impossible pants in
front of a greasy looking establishment,
pausing now and then to inspect newly
discovered flaw on the giided balls above
him.
Got little bundle o. clothes here I'd
wouldn't mind selling" said Mae.
Got few here myself that amt
working" said Dug,
Coon in. shentlemens.' said the patri-
arch.
The arrival of the customers was a sig
nal for the sudden and unexpected ap-
pearance of a dozen or more juvenile
patriarehs. all very similar in the mat
ter of greasy faces, frowzeled heads and
anxious eyes. They came from beneath
the counters, from behind the doors, up
from the cracks in the floor, from ap-
parently nowhere, and the noise of their
coming subsidized. when. with more dig
nifty than grace. the lady of the estab-
lishment issued forth from the rear to
supervise the imminent business trans
actions of her husband.
Mac undid his bundle. Dug did like
WISE First came the silk hat, the erst-
while pride and envy of the company.
Now. there's hat said Mac-"pur-
est of silk, almost new that cost me-
"Doandt wandt id. interrupted the
gentleRan of bargains. 1--WE doandt sell
dose kMdt of stuff"
The hat was tossed aside.
well, then, here's a suit resumed