The Washington times., 1901-10-30
LIVE TOPICS ABOUT TOWN.

President Roosevelt is one of the few
men in Washington who do not carry
key to the front door of his domiciie.
When Mrs Roosevelt moved into the
White House. the steward turned a large
bunch Of keys over to her but the lot
did not include any pass key for the main
entrance. II is. however, unne ecessary
for any occupant Of the Executive Man
sion to have a ker. as there is always
,vatchruan on guard at the door to admit
those who are entitled TO enter. The
onJ,. man ,yho carries a key to the White
House, is Colonel Brigham, Supsrinten-
dent of Public Buildings and Grounds.
HI. recently had new lock placed on the
front door, and this is of so complicated
a nature that only an expert could ma
nipulate a key SO as to work il property.
Two complete revolutions of the key are
required TO open the door. one IluLc
turn throws the dead latch on. II MI.
Roosevelt ever desires 10 go on a noe
trnal exploring expedition. such as ne
was noted for as Police Commissioner oi
New York he will have to make use OF
the back door, if he wishes TO escape the
notice Of the watchman
Some curious requests are made OF
druggists" said the night prescription
clerk in q downtown drug store, the
other night "A man came in here late
last night accompanied by his wife. a
robust woman. who steered him through
the door, holding him tightly by the arm.
/ saw that he was suffering from an over
dose of liquor The woman approached
me. and solemnly pointing to her recre-
ant spouse, said:
4 want you to give him a powerful
Epidemic
u cav that she meant an emetic and
/ filled up a vial with a powerful dose OF
wine of antiInony, the most powerful
emetic known to our trade. She TOOK
the vial from me and handed II to the
man The latter gaZed at it doubtfully
and was about to set it down, when the
woman roared out, Histe 1t, BIZ hlste
it..
Bill histed,' and left the place looking
rather soasick. l have not seen either
of the parties since, but | am willing 10
bet that the epidemic will keep BIZ
away from liquor for some time to come
1t is not a very inspiring sight to see
a man in the uniform of an American
soldier OF marine acting as coachman and
lackey to the family of his superior Off
Ger; but ii is one with which the people
of Washington are becoming familiar. on
almost any afternoon on the uptown ave-
nucs and on the downtown streets, men
wearing the martial blue may be seen
performing menial Offices. The custom is
much comment, and seems to
be on the increase. A familiar sight on
L Street every afternoon is coach
driven by a fine-loolling young fellow in
the uniform of q cavalryman, and occu-
pied by couple Of stout. aged ladies'.
The trooper is made to drive all around
the shopping district, and by his actions
is evidently not in love with his position
Many of the army officers stationed here
have orderlies to attend 10 the wants of
their families, and the enlisted men are
made to save what would otherwise be
paid out to coachmen and servants.
Gen. Joe" Wheeler has been spend
ing Il few days in Washington, and the
other afternoon gave an exhibition of
physical activity which halted traiIic for
a few moments and caused more than
one person to stare in amazemcnt. While
in Congress General Wheeler attained dis
tiEction as a fast walker, but on this Oc-
casion he went out after iaurcls as
runner. lie had just left the White
House after calling on the President. and
coming down the steps he noticed u herdic
moving slowly and painfully east on
Pennsylvania Avenue. Knowing the un-
certainty that surrounds the movements
of herdi"s, the general seemingly made
up his mind to catch this particular one.
He started of at full speed down the
Tor lDe Avenue gate. nDlglilg MS
alOft rs signal to the driver.
The general sped on, gaining momentum
at every stride, and the manner in which
he covered TIE ground caused pedestrians
to halt and watch his movements. Be
fore ne reac ned the gate the herdic was
halfway across Treasury Avenue. The
warrior. however. sped across
the sidewalk, into the middle of the street,
and. still fourishing the umbrella took
up the trail of the herdic and followed II.
A Georgetown car, headed west, appeared
On the scene. and as the pursuer was in
the middle of the tracks the motorman
put his brakes on and permitted the
general to cut across in front Several
wagons had a narrow escape from
collision with the doughty Southcrner but
managed TO pull up in zine. AT last he
caught the handle of the door Of the
herdic, but not until it had reached Fit
teeBth Street Painting and triumphant, he
entered the vehicle ard took a seat M
near the cash box. The feat of endurance
was Witnessed BY many, and. as a West
ern member Of Congress remarked, as he
viewed the incident from the White House
porch, That is the most exciting run
I've seen since I've beer in Washington"