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

turned to the factory and arranged to re-
sumo her work. 1t may well be imagined
that in the work room she regaleS proudly
her companions with accounts of her Won
derful experience in the old world. When
the suggestion Is made that she should
have kept her legacy, she asserts with
warmth that it was hers to use as she
chose and 1t paid her to experience the life
of a lady traveller even for but a few
months.
*as X x x
In Senator Stewards new home, corner
of F and 18th streets, there is contained
more treasures than can be viewed by the
casual visitor 1t has been matter of Won
derment to many how the contents of the
famous and enormous Stewart Castle"
were disposed of when the family changed
its place of residence. Though the present
home is crowded with furnishings of every
period, there was not room to contain 1t all
and Mrs. Stewart undermined the house
with modern closets of camphor and cedar
wood. the like of which is not equaled in
this city. 1t Is literally impossible for moth
and corruption to attack Mrs. Stewards
possessions. and within the closets are the
beautiful articles she has accumulated
| throughout her married life.
Not long ago Mrs. Stewart went into the
shopping district. and observing in well
known shop the display of the latest con-
ceit in window decoration. smiled smile
OF wisdom and returned home There FOL
lowed a mysterious visit to the ineXhausti-
BILE closets an interval of a week, and then
a triumph for the mistress of the house.
Mrs. Stewart had unearthed dozens of the
most exquisite lace shades of the beauty
| and richness of fifty years ago. and today
her windows are the admiration and envy
of all householders in Washington.
x * x
l. A number of years ago, when l. was
chemist in the Post Office Department.
| said a prominent scientist the other day.
IAN effort was made to find some Ink, tor
cancellation purposes, which would prove
absolutely indelible. Tests were made OF
all the so-called ndeiible inks, but without
success, until through some unknown means
the report was circulated that 1t would be
| worth about S6OO0,000 to any man who
would supply the department with an ink
that would stand all tests as to it's indeli-
BILE qualities. You can imagine the result
of the circulation of such report. 1t
was only a matter of a day or so before
the department was flooded with inks,
black, blue, purple and every color imagin-
able. Some few were products which
showed that the party submitting them
really had some knowledge of chemistry
and the properties Of the various ingre-
dents of a good, stable ink. But for the
most part the connections were merely col
ored solutions made up in any and all ways.
without the slightest knowledge of the
character of the resulting solution. In the
hope that by some chance an indellble
| fluid might be obtained. Cranks naturally
came to the front with their products. and
gave more trouble than all the chemists
and legitimate ink manufacturers combined.
But all samples had to be tested. Under
the rules of the department each competitor
could submit two samples only. giving MIN
a chance to correct any possible errors
made in his first sample. In several in
stances, however, this rule was set aside.
Naturally, among so many competitors
some purely fraudulent schemes were re-
sorted to, although all were detected sooner
or later. Unquestonably, the most inter-
esting of these was submitted by man
who in years previous had occupied a seat
in the United States Senate. His ink re-
sembled hundreds of other samples, except
! for a sediment that collected in the bottle
| after standing a while. On analysing this
| ink 1 found the sediment to be nothing
more nor less than pulverized glass. As
| you may recall all inks were tested In the
| Washington city post office. and this man
| had gone to the canceling clerk who used
! the sample inks and endeavored to bride
| him TO give the stamp turn or twist each
| time a cancellation was made, hoping
| thereby to have the fine particles OF glass
ground into the paper, insuring an tndeli-
BILE mark, or nearly sc. But the clerk was
not to be bribed, and in turn reported the
case to the department. Not at all daunt-
| ed at this disclosure, this same ex-senator
| took a sample Of his own ink, and made a
number of cancellations In the manner he
described. To further insure the staying
! qualities of these marks. be baked the sew
! eral letters for two hours. In the hopes Of
| setting the ink. He then submitted those
samples to the department, claiming they
| fulfilled all requirements. The remarkable
| part of it all. however, was that after all
| the grinding and all the baking, his cancel
| lations washed out, leaving no trace of ink
whatever. We did not know for years that
| his own samples had been baked. the story
| having been given out by old friend in
| whom he had confided at the time. This
| just shows, however. to what straits some
| people will go in the hope of defrauding
| Uncle Sam. In spite of fraudulent means
J and others, no absolutely indelibe ink has
| yet been found, and probably never will
| be