Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-01

THE marriage license book is always an
Interesting study" said an assistant clerk
of the courts yesterday at the city hall.
Especially is this true just now, he con-
tnued For some reason or other there is
an impression which comes to those con-
templating matrimony during the fall sea-
son that unusual good fortune will follow
the tying of the nupt!al knot on Thanks
giving day. Superstition in a mild form
seems to cling to the American people. and
the best place to find that this is so is be-
hind the counter where applications are
made for marriage permits. Last Wednes-
day. the day before Thanksgiving for In
stance, there were issued fifty-one licenses.
There was a constant line at the desk
throughout Wednesday. and | don't believe
theS We're five applicants who came for
the license unaccompanied The bride
groom-elect seems to think that in secur-
ing license he must undergo trying or
deal, and the chances are that his friend
will have to speak first and state what Is
wanted. 1t is hardly necessary for either
one to announce the fact, however. for We
are able to pick the license seeker almost
every time.
= October seems to be the most popular
month for marrying nowadays. 1t has even
outstTpped June, the long-famed month OF
weddings. But no matter how busy the
season the marriage book always enjoys
rest Fridays. 1t is seldom, indeed, that
more than one or two licenses are issued on
that day of supposed ill-Iuck.
But. returning to Thanksgiving. 1t Is
pretty study to figure how many of those
hIty-one couples will be as thankful one
year from now as they were Thursday last
At the city hall there is hardly any dis
lance from the marriage license desk to
the counter where divorce suits han
died We witness the beginning and the
end of many Matches
x y X
although steel wool has only been used
as a substitute for sandpaper during the
last six years. it is now very extensively
utilized for polishing purposes by metal
workers. carpenters, cabinetmakers house
painters, sign pa nters and grainers through
out the United States, said a wholesale
dealer in the material to writer for The
Star recently. Steel wool is article of
regular manufacture, and IL is put up in
one-pound packages very much resembling
rolls of cotton batting. 1t is composed OF
sharp-edged threads of steel, which curl
up like wool the familiar wood fiber
known as excelsior but it is much finer in
texture than the latter material, the finest
guilty beng not much coarser than the
coarsest of natural woods.
The superiority of steel wool over the
ordinary sandpaper consists in Its great Pill
ability, which enables a worker to polish
or smooth down irregular parts of mold
ings ornamental woodwork. Such work
can be done with steel wool far better and
much more expeditiously than with sand
paper. The latter clogs in use. but steel
wool always retains a more perfect polish
ing edge or surface. The wool is made in
various degrees of coarseness, the coarser
grade being best adapted for TAX ng off old
paint or varnish and for smoothing and
cleaning floors Ike those of bowling alleys.
The wool is generally used with gloves. to
keep the sharp ends from sticking into the
workmans fingers.
One of the most delighted visitors to the
Paris exposition the past season was a
young woman who the most of her life had
been and still is an operator on button
hole machine in a Washington shirt fac
tory. When in her teens the ambition of
her life was to be able to see with her own
eyes the many attractions of Europe, but
the family was barely in moderate circum-
stances, and the European trip was to her
but dream, apparently never to be real
tied. Nevertheless. when her school days
were over and she went into the shirt fac
tory her fancy of walking in the old CALLER
les of art, climbing the Alps and steaming
down the Rhine operated to relieve the mo-
notdny of her work. At last an opportll-
nifty came; relative died, and among the
requests in the will of about three
thousand dollars to the poor buttonhole
worker. And ere the money was paid her
SIc Ildu CpIlSlttTtu what disposition she
should make of it. Three thousand dollars
invested at per cent would yield but S15
per month. barely enough for board. She
was hearty and strong her work was agree
able and yielded much more than four dol
lars week. She had no responsibilities
and as long she had health and there
were buttonhole machines she could make
her living Then, why not crafty her long
cherished ambition by making a tour of
Europe as a lady when she had the chance
which might never come again. 1t was
not long after receiving the money before
she was en- route to Europe on a flyer, and
it Is needless to say that the tour she made
was greatly enjoyed. Ii was not termi-
mated till barely enough of the legacy was
left to enable her to reach home After a
few days rest, attired in the latest Partisan
style and with head so stored with the
memories of her wonderful trip she re-