The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-19
LIVE TOPICS ABOUT TOWN.

Horace Joseph, of Montreal. was maxi
ing enquiries over the desk at the
Arlington concerning the easiest ways to
get to Old Point Comfort and Virginia
Hot Springs. His interest in winter re-
sorts naturally led to his being asked
if cold weather still held on at Montreal
"Oh, yes" he responded. There Is
plenty of snow and ice yet; in fact, almost
too much. We OF Montreal have great
objection to our climate being called cold.
1t Is really not so much colder than it is
in New York or Boston. and it is a great
deal dryer and more comfortable sup
nose the impression that we have very
cold climate has become common because
Of the Ice Carnival and the Ice Palace we
used to have annually. But we nave CIV
en- up both now, because they brought
the city such a reputation FOR cOluness-
People thought If we could keep an ice
palace all winter We must have little
slice of Arctic weather just for our own
much about ice palaces or carnivals for
fear of keeping people away.
Don't fall into the common error and
think, with the bulk of uniformed peo-
pie that Pennsylvania and few other
Eastern States are the only ones in which
oil and natural gas are to be found,
said F. ]. Carpenter, of Ashton. Kan.
at the Norma ndie last night. There are
Texas and Colorado, and last but not
least Kansas. where oil and gas exist in
abundance. In my part of Kansas sup
pose natural gas has a more commercial
use than in any other portion OF the
West 1t used to be that all the zinc
ores from Joplin and the Arkansas dis
tricts were brought North and smelted
by coal. In our part of the country coal
is a back number. Great pipe lines bring
gas into the city and the immense fur
naces are fired with it. The new method
has been found not only cheaper but
more satisfactory than the old one. Kan
sas has always been looked upon as an
agricultural Commonwealth, but IT IS now
making rapid strides toward a place OF
prominence among the manufacturing
States"
THE trouble which the wreckers of San
Francisco are having to locate the re-
mains of the Inflated Rio de Janeiro re-
minds me of an incident which illustrates
the peculiar way which the waters have
of covering up their prey, remarked
Julius Krahe. travelling man from Har-
rsburg. at the Regent. last night. In
this case it was not the mighty ocean,
but a river which hid out Of sight for
many weeks the object it had enguifed-
/ was once in a little town, and was
standing by the side of the river, watch
ing a man dump a loaded cart from a
little platform built out over the water
where the stream was being filled in The
horse became balky. and finally backed
the wagon right over the platform. IL
dropped dozen feet into the water. drag
ging the horse and the driver with II. and
disappeared. Men were set TO work i'm
mediately graphing for the cart. but II
could not be found. For days the people
kept UP their attempt TO recover the
wagon and the man s body but could ma
not a single trace of either. Returning
81
ward ! happened to ask if the man s
body had ever been foun5. l was told
that il had, in a most singular way
Probably two months after the wagon
had dropped into the river. with the
horse and man. the remains of both. the
man wound up in the reins. were found
half mile up the stream. on a sand bar
on the opposite side of the river. The
mystery is. how did it get up stream. and
why did it leave the place where it sank
so quickly?
From the point of view of the rail-
road company" said Superintendent Lee,
of the Metropolitan Railroad Company
yesterday, the near side stop is all
right. We find that it does not material
ly increase the time of the trips There
may be a minute or two added because
of the additional fire stops but that
is not enough to really matter. particu-
larry if safety is the main object to be
gained"
Mr. Lee said he was glad to be able to
state that complaint because of the heavy
cars, and the noise they made had nearly
ceased. I'VE have kept to our intention
of running the heavy cars slowly he
said, and that seems to remove the main
objections to them. At all times between
Fourteenth and Streets and Seven
teenth and Streets they are run at
less than five miles an hour. special pre-
cautions being taken to Keep the speed
down at night. From 10 O'Clock in the
evening until the cars stop running, and
from O'Clock in the morning until I, the
big cars are run slowly from II Street
right out to the Georgetown terminus
The crooks have a new game and keep
us buster than ever" remarked the hotel
detective as he watched the passengers
from an incoming train file through the
gate at the Pennsylvania station last
night. Some genius realized the value
of baggage checks and proceeded to man
ufacture bogus ones and flood the country
with them. 1t was good game until it
got out. and it will work In any of the
smaller towns even now. If man hands
the hotel clerk say three baggage checks
it is surmised that he has plenty of bag
gage at the depot. Baggage is frequently
delayed in delivery and 1t often happens
that it follows a passenger on a later
train. This the crook takes advantage Of
and on the strength of his checks he has
soon after his arrival The hotel people
We're easy at first, as long as they be
lieved man had plenty of trunks and
valises somewhere en- route from his last
stopping place. Now all the crook can
hope to get is a bed and a meal
washington is almost as bad as Bos-
ton for freak publications.. said man
who is versed in magazine lore as he
looked over the stock at the Raleigh news
stand last night 1T is strange how they
all manage to make living in the Capt.
tai but they come out regularly. Here.
for instance, is a thing at 10 cents per
copy Here is a magazine devoted to local
cigar dealers. Then there are two labor
papers. three social-pOlitiCal journals and
trade and department wecklies without
number There are no less than five de-
voted to patents. Two of them uphold the
the interests of saloons and liquor dealers.
Another is entirely d beer paper. The
only local failure in this line has been
the Chorus Girl which met death last
summer