Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-06
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Ex-Secre;ary sherman appears none the
worse for having had his obituary publish
ed recently throughout the country. He
moves about with mis- usual activity and
appears 30 take as much interest in af-
fairs Of this world aS II he had not re-
Gently had sIlmpsss Of another. Perhaps
he is d little thinner and a H,tIc palcr than
hefor- but his possibilities Of change IN
these. respects v--r, foe sliEht 70 admit of
a difference being accurately noted. He
drives in his carriage more than formerly,
but is apt 80 walk from place to place.
short distances, Will" JHr carriage follows
along For some time. mp 10 his illness.
he was engaged in writing further upon
the history Of his time. With the return OF
his health he has lost none of his interest
in books and old records. The other Gdy
ne cam down street. with his carriage
following behind His step was quick, anu
his impressive cuUut"ndHCe showed no signs
of imuendiuy physical reakdOwn. He
looked much the same as ne has during
the past several years. lie stopped to glance
rapidly ever d pile Of old books exhibited
in front Of secondhand book store ana
then went into the store To gather in some
old volumes lie is CT -dited with still TAX
ing an interest in politics. as well as IN
recording events 81 history and win d
disposition To take d hand i'll the Ohio mix
up
&
The comment about Speaker Reed 5
necktie when he sailed for Europe" said a
weIl-knowH shoe dealer of this city to a
Star reporter, brings to mind the size of
shoe the Speaker wears. He has the mar
rowest foot for man of his proportions l
ever saw. and l do not believe there is an
other man in this country possessing the
same kind OF a foot. We have sold him a
number IF pairs and know something of
his foot. His size is No. IL A This is a
remarkably narrow foot for an ordinary
size man. our numbers are smaller than
the usual shoe. and, measured in the gen
eral acceptance of Sho4dom, the Speaker
wears about a No lO, not too long for a
man of his size. Mr.. Reed prefers a soft
shoe. and We generally furnish him a kid"
There Is one soldier in the Philippines
who evidently enjoys lighting. Last July
William g. Bryan of Company D. LIST Ten
nessee Regiment. then in San Francisco,
was granted a discharge on his own appli-
cation and nothing more was heard from
him until a short time ago. when letter
was received from him at the War Depart
ment, sent from the Philippines. in which
Bryan sent back his discharge papers. and
asked permission to remain in the service
and with his regiment until the fighting was
over II appears that ne was sent to Ma
Mia before his discharge reached him, and
then he determined to remain in the service.
This illustrates rather a slow method in
which mails get through military channels.
unless expedited. Bryan no doubt thought
that his application for discharge had been
refused. and went along with his regiment.
and the papers did not catch up with him
for some time
There are two men in the adiutant gen.
erals department who have been comrades
in one way or another for forty-three years.
They are F. 3. Hoffman and Charles Smith.
Smith enlisted in the 18th Artillery back in
1854. and Hoffman joined the same regi-
ment il 1856. These men served together
in the Seminole war in Florida under Cen
erJl Harvey. In 1851 Smith went to Kan
and was in the troubles in which old
John Brown figured 50 prominently. He
saw old Ossaw attamie at Lawrence. Kan.
Then he was with the Utah expedition in
the spring Of 1858. In the winter of 1855
and the spring Of 1888 he was in the Black
Hills country of South Dakota. His regi-
meDt was ordered hack to the east again in
lNt'. and he was stationed at Fort Monroe
Hoffman had not been with that portion OF
th~ regiment during most Of this time
When the civil war broke out Hoffman
went into The infantry and Smith remained
with his regiment In 1865 Smith was sent
TO Washington on some duty. and coming
into the War Department he found Heit-
man installed a clerk He found out
that he could get a Clerkship and concluded
% take ii, and the Two men have worked
side hy side ever since. They both agree
that fOrty-three years is a long while fol-
men TO Nc together.
Charles Smith. when one talks with him
Is found To- be thoroughly German and he
lauEhinSiy tells the story Of how the army
people changed his name. He was Car
Schmidt when he enlisted in the army and
the hrst time he came to :. gn the rolls he
found that his name was not there. as n
understood it. The man in charge told him
10 sign II anyway, but he protested. and
the case was taken TO the Comnanfin4
officer Like all commanding officers he
INSISTED that the little difference between
Charles Smith" ana carl Schmidt SHOULD
not cause any extra work for army Off.
GERS. and declared then and there that the
name having been changed It should -
stand And 50 Mr. Smith was America n.
lied in the regular army style. Mr.. Heit-
man Is one Of the best Informed men in
the War Department. He is a ready refer.
tnce volume for everything pertaining L
war matters Not only has he Il splendid
memory. but hy has compiled several vol
ulHes Of immense value To the army itself
His books are standard works Of reference
in the ar Department
y returned traveller from Alaska has a
good story showing how easy it is fol
prospec5ors and other explorers 10 los,
their way in that great territory. A party
of miners f0ated down the Yukon riveI
A'O44- '""7'i4 10 lh- NOUN OF Kay river
After Two months hard work they got
their supplies up 20 the headwaters of the
Ray river They Were bound north for the
koyukuk river, Supplies for two years
canoes, etc, were dragged beyond the
sources of the Ray. over a divide they
found stream going north. which they
supposed would lead them to the Koyukuk
Rats We're buIIt and loaded. and they
Started down the supposed tributary of III,
kOyukuk They gave little heed To III
wIudiEgs Of The stream and direction ii
took. following il until it Joined a very
laTga stream \ few hours later the cap.