Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-09
STORIES ABOUT PEOPLE
Justice Brewer is Deservedly Famous as q
Raconteur.
The Chinese Minister is No Mean VIE
"A Remarkable Series Of
Coincidence
Written for Tic Evening Star.

1
frequently intersperse funny anecdotes
with their solemn deliberations. once they
| are inside the sacred domain OF their pri-
| vale session chambers. Justice Brewer IS
one of the most inInitable story tellcrs
| among them, and he told one the other
| day that amused his colleagues immensely.
| Out in Indiana. he said. there was jus
| tice OF the peace who owned a farm. One
| line of his fierce formed the boundary of
the states of Indiana and Ohio. Like others
| in rural districts who hold that Office he
| had an abnormal appreciation OF the re-
spcnsihiiity of the Office and never lost an
| opportunity to exercise his prerogauve ~
| demanding that the peace be preserved.
| One day his son and his hired man got to
| fighting a stretch of the farm near tho
| boundary lire fence and the Justice Of the
| peace rushed cut and mounted the fence.
| Then, with head cooked high and the air
| of enc who has but to command. he shout
| ed, I'm the name of the state of Indiana
| demand the preservation of the peace
| Just then the fence gave way under his
| weight. and he went down with the
| fence topping over to the Ohio side he
! shouted 10 his son, Give him the mis-
l chief. Jim: I've lost my jurisdiction
! Judge Brewer is firm believer in tho
| value OF plain, convincing argument, uBdec-
| GRATED by language Of the nuwery type =
opposed to high-soaring dissertations. When
| he was studying law In New York city no
| eVinced some interest in the municipal cam
l paign tfSA On ana was invited 10 make n
| speech on a certain occasion. He accept
| ed and carefully terrifying himself with
| information on the subject and otherwise
preparing for his part of the program he
| appeared on the platform in ample time.
W hen he got up he made an eloquent de-
piCtion of the virtues of his party; he made
| deep draughts simile and metaphor his
| sentences were eXquisitely rounded, and II
was a mastery example Of n class-day ora
| ten. The audience sat unmoved, an occa-
| SIGNAL nod alone greeting what he said.
| The next speaker was an unkempt ndivid-
| ual, careless Of grammar, who committed
| a wholesale slaughter of the English Lam
gUage. But he made several good points in
| a crude way that appealed TO the crowd.
and when he ended the applause was deaf
ening. AS the then would-be lawyer with
| the fine periods passed out a man behind,
not recognizing him. whispered I'm his ear,
| 81 like that second teller better; he talks
sense
Minister WI as a wit.
The Chinese minister, Mr.. WI Ting Fang.
has achieved a great reputation for bright
| speeches and quick wit, and some OF his
| friends were telling a brand-new story
| about him the other day that showed his
power Of ready response. 1t was On big
junket to the west not so very long ago.
and he one of a large party made up
of officialdonl, the Congress, the diplomatic
corps, the press ct al. At a little station
that seemed to have been dropped upon Il
| barren wilderness by a passing cloud the
| train stopped and a crowd of townsnlen
gathered about the car platform where he
was standing.
What's the population of this place''
he asked of one of his party who was ac-
quainted with the state.
One thousand
How many menu"
One hundred"
And women?'
Mine hundred
He gratefully acknowledged the inforna-
ton, reflected a moment, walked inside the
car, gathered up some of his belongings
| and began giving each member of his party
| a handshake.
why, what are YOU shaking hands fOi ~
some one asked.
This town." he answered, quick as n
| flash, has 800 women and only 100 men.
This is where l get off. Goodbye"
a little while ago there was quiet little
dinner, In the course of which il was up to
Mr.. Wa to speak. He began with a COM
plimentary alusion TO American ways. but
said there are a few things about oriental
civilization superior TO our own. There had
been some beastly weather that week. and
he turned to Willis Moore, the weather
bureau chief, who sat close by. For In
stance" he said, tiercely, we in China b
would long ago have cut off this young
mans head" 1t dazed the company for q
minute, but they soon grasped the playful
alusion to the weather maker and rounGiy
| greeted the remark.
Remarkable Cai8cideaces.
There IS a man at the head of one Of the
government bureaus OF Washington who Is
| almost entitled to certificate of twinshp
with President Mckinley by reason Of r.
remarkable chain of condolences that
mark their early careers. Capt. Newton
NJ Brooks. superintendent of the foreign
mails, and for over a score of years idenii-
fed with the administration of that sys-
| tenn, is the man. Both Of them were born
on the 10Th of January, 1913. Each was
the seventh child of his parents. Both
were engaged in their studies at educat,an-
al Institutions when the war broke out and
hot tod rarfNTg Yla,
eighteen. Both carried their mushefs for
fourteen months and then received COM
missions. Both came out OF the service as
captains in actual rank. The President.
however, came out in 1865 undisabed, while
the other mourned a leg at his discharge,
six months earlier. Then, too, both served
under Gen. S. s. Carroll of this city, though
at different times. And there Is a striking
similitude at other steps in their early lives.
Knows Him Now.
In speaking Of John R. Mclean, one Of
| the youngest set of newspaper men told a
good story on himself for the first time the
other day. During the last Illness of n
great statesman some years ago the new
reporter had to keep an eye on the house
and bulletin the expected death. He had
just teephoned his Office about the case
and stopped to chat a moment with a clerk
in a drug store when gentleman with a
well-fed look who had overheard the talk
on the phone, inquired about the distin-
guished patient and asked what paper the
young man represented. The newspaper
man talked with him for several minutes
and rnally asked If he had ever been
connected with newspaper. Serenely ard
calmly the stranger answer, Yes, once"
and quietly took his departure. There was
smile on more than one face in that store
and one clerk sought a convenient curtain
The man who said he had once been con-
nected with a newspaper was the million
aire proprietor of the Cincinnati ENQUIRER
The reporter had never happened to run
across him before. but for weeks afterwar1
there was one newspaper man who made q
point to avoid that particular store,
Lesson i'm Music.
From Penrson's Weekly.
Jones is a terribly ignorant man."