The times., 1901-05-27
LIVE TOPICS ABOUT TOWN.

of writing that any member has ever
| been called upon to do. Wu Ting-fang,
the Minister, has put his signature to his
| memorial to the throne regarding certain
| reforms, and it has been despatched to
| China. The preparation of the memorial
| has caused much anxiety because of the
extreme care with which it has had to be
done. The most expert writer at the le-
cation labored upon it for weeks Not
only did the mere mechanical writing
have to be executed with precision, but
the style of the document has had to be
| east il such a way as to conform to the
| exact model established by precedents
perhaps thousands of years old In order to
keep the appearance symmetrical and the
! mode Of expression uniform, only one
! chirographer has had a hand in the max
ing of the document, though the thoughts
have been supplied exclusively by Mr..
WI.
The document begins with the name Of
the Empress D1wager, and several lines
below it comes the name of the Emperor
himself This order is the result of the
Chinese Difference for age. The greatest
care was necessary to preserve the proper
ceremony essential in addressing the high
sovereign of the Celestials. and the list
of titles attached to his name is a long
one. The document. If it is ever read by
kwang-Su, will probably open his eyes to
a number of new principles of govern
ment, for Mr. Wus long residence in
Western countries has given him a few
ideas not quite comprehensive to the
average Eastern ruler. There are about
twenty captions under which the SuggeS-
uons are arranged. They deal with all
social, economic and political questions,
and Minister Wu has not let slip the OPP
portunIty to point out where the adoption
of the methods used by Western rulers
will extract China from its present
troubled and turbulent state, and while
giving less power 20 the Emperor ensure
him more stable throne.
The Postoffice is now being fitted with
a series of revolving doors. such as the
first-class hotels and business houses
have used for two years. They are said
to be the most effective appliance known
for handling large crowds entering and
leaving a building. After some urging
Congress was persuaded at the last ses-
sion to appropriate enough money to
enable this experiment to be carried out,
and now the doors are being installed.
The front steps of the building are
crowded with boxes and crates, and ma
hogany sashes and screens, and curved
paneled pieces, all of which will be put
together as quickly as possible. The
doors will probable be very imposing,
ming already visible upon the unpacked
articles.
The revolving doors will be of somewhat
larger size than those ordinarily seen, De-
cause of the large entrances which they
are intended TO fill. They viii be so
arranged that they can be slipped out of
their sockets during the hot weather and
pushed to one side, thus leaving an open
ing through which the air can circulate
freely. There will be six put in place,
two on the front toward Pennsylvania
Avenue. two on the Eleventh Street and
two on the Twelfth Street side.
An agent of an express company who
has an office in the Treasury building be-
lieyes that Uncle Sam is the hardest
creditor in the world. This agent last
week neglected to pay the war revenue
tax on a package, and was consequently |
handed a notice on two different oc- !
casons. He paid no immediate attention |
to the notice and states that he thought |
the Government could wait day or two |
for small bill like $40. He discovered |
his mistake the other morning, when /
deputy collector of internal revenue called |
on him and notified him that distrain-
ing order had been issued against his
company
Il am instructed to serve this order
right away" said the collector, unless
YOU are prepared to pay the $40
Il guess IN ere Won De any opJsCt4o'4
to your serving ii if you are in such
big hurry" replied the agent IN an airy
way. If yoU can find snYthing 70 at
-ach in this Office you can go ahead
Il don't intend to attach anything IN |
The office" said the collector. There
ISN'T anything worth taking. But / see
A team of good horses and an express
wagon standing on Fourteenth Street. The
wagon bears the name Of your company,
and if you cannot produce the cash at
once | will attach the OUTFIT.
Then the agent paid over the $lU
i suppose the Government would get
itself into fight over this forty he re-
marked with sneer.
Il suppose So replied the collector as
be walked away.
In an uptown hotel-which is really q
sort Of apartment house-a few nights
ago, a couple of young women were
thrown into something approaching
panic No damage resulted to them from
the incident which caused so mach fright,
and the only result is a good deal of furni-
ture spotted with small yellow specks.
Of the two young women involved one
was having a preliminary doze before go
ng to bed-the hour being about $50 p.
N and the other had just stepped out of
he room. Both were startled by an ex-
)losion at the open window that sounded
somewhat louder than pistol shot. There
was flash, and no smell of powder. |
but both were so thoroughly frightened |
hat they ran down the hall crying hys-
terically. Nothing followed the noise of
the explosion. and gaining courage they
went back again to the room. There was
no dead man or anything to support their
fear of murder or something equally aw-
rul and, having become reassured. they
began to examine the window near witch
they had heard the sound. They discov- !
cred that all the hangings, assi 5hc silver |
toilet articles on the dresser and eVtn !
he carpet, were covered with tiny specks
Looking upon the sill of the window they |
found a wet spot and. reposing upon it, |
he neck Of beer bottle, with some frag- |
nents Of the remainder.
The next day they discovered that some |
young men on the top floor, who were |
friends, found themselves |
with only eleven bottles of beer on their
window sill, and wondered al the disap-
Jearance Of the twelfth. Moved by Jolt !
against the window the bottle had pre-
eipitated itself toward the ground and |
lad. by some queer freak in it's falling |
anded bottom downward on the sill of |
he young womens window. exploding |
With a great noise, scattering it's contents
.ar and wide.
RACES AT THE COITSFTTM