The evening times., 1898-12-24
Mr. EckcIS's MiShun.

During the Cleveland Administration
James II. Eckeis. comptroller of the cur
rency, became quite we'll known to Wash
ington. He was a sort of court inter-
prefer on various occasions; he was Sc
lected by the Administration to come out
and explain what it meant and as his
extremely boyish figure was at the same
time furnishing the newspapers with nu-
merous stories of his having been taken
TOR its Office boy, or its son. or its
nephew, the effect was the more pictur-
esque and memorable 1t is not every Ad-
ministration which has a youthful prod
ICY who can be brought out to speak for
1t with the grace and ease of the late
foia Thumb. Thus Mr. Eckels is well re-
membered here and the Washington pub
lie viii feel particular interest in hear
ing Of the accident which has lately be-
fallen him
1t seems that there was a children's
party given in Chicago: not a real chill
dren's party. but party for grown peo-
pie who We're all to come dressed as chill
dren. Now. this sort of thing is in some
cases fraught with peril TO the dignity, if
not the welfare Of those taking part in
it. Emerson once said that one child in
a house makes children of all the adults
within hearing. and that is true but
when grown folks gather by themselves
for purposes Of mutual entertainment it
is generally considered well for them to
refrain from such transformation, How
ever becoming it might have been for
Grover Cleveland. in the privacy of the
White House nursery, to get down on all
Tours and caper as a colt, for the benefit
OF his small daughters, it would not be
considered exactly dignified for him to
go through the same performance at A
public reception, and though the staid
Benjamin Harrison is said to have hopped
around more or less joyously for the
amusement of his little nephew. il would
not be becoming for him to do so at a )
o'clock tea. Nevertheless, it struck these
Chicago people that a very hilarious way
of spending an evening would be to in
vite lot of grown folk to play child for
a few hours. And one of the guests was
Mr.. Eckels.
This masquerading as a boy was, for
obvious reasons, easy for Mr.. Eckels. He
was the one person at the party who
did not need to worry over any uues-
tions of makeup. If he had been asked
to come as man of forty or forty-five,
or somewhere about his real age. he
he had to do was to put on knickerbock-
ers and slippers and the rest of a Lord
Fauntleroy costume and he looked as if
he had just stepped out of a picture
book. II must have been provoking to
the other middle-aged people at the party
10 see how easily Mr.. Eckels did his
work They must have felt like the ante
deIuvian chorus girls when a new and
youthful star appears on the scene. Mr.
Ecliels acted his part as we'll as he look
ed it. He jumped skipped. ran. indulged
in all sorts of boyish quips and pranks.
and had a beautiful time. 1t is pathetic
to think how the nliddle-aged ladies and
gentlemen, his contemporaries, must have
felt as they watched him and vainly and
surreptitiously attempted to do likewise.
But Fate had card up her sleeve for
him.
The dining-roOm had a hardwood floor
and on it Mr. Eclsels slipped and fell. The
charm was snapped. Cinderella was
caught on the stairway at midnight. The
magic was dissolved. If Mr. Eekels had
been a real boy he would have bounced
up again like rubber ball As it was he
did not. He had to be picked up, and
when they took him home and had the
doctor it was found that Mr.. Eckels
would have to stay in bed for two weeks
until after Christmas-and would have
to use crutches for a month.
1t is sad occurrence, but as there is
always something to be learned from