The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-17
LIVE TOPICS ABOUT TOWN.

| at the bathing beach, and preparations
| are being made to repair the damage to
the buildings done by the winter winds
and SHOWS. and to make certain addi-
tons which will materially increase the
| pleasure of bathing. For one thing, the
| beach will be improved by the addition
| of several car loads of fine sand. The
winter tides have worked a good deal II
damage at the beach, and have piled in
heaps the sand which had been so care
| fully distributed, or at least good part
| of it above high water mark. Instead OF
| shoveling this down new sand will be
| added to make the whole beach take the
proper slope.
There will be a good deal of repairing
necessary to get the buildings into shape.
! and the man with the paint pot Will
| probably find plenty of employment be-
| fore the gates of the beach are finally
! opened to the anxious youthful public
| This happy event will take place May 80.
and work will be pushed so that all addi-
| tions and repairs axe finished by that
| time
II should like to know said we'll
| known New York botanist and florist AT
the Raleigh yesterday, why a little
more attention is not paid to the appear
ance of the Mall. l have just returned
| from a walk around the Department OF
Agriculture and l am really quite sur
| prised There, of all places in the city,
| we ought to see landscape gardening in
its highest form. The trees and shrubs
ought to be of the very best kind and IN
the very best condition. The grass ought
to be smooth and the lawns should be
closely cropped and vevety. Alas! such
is not the case. and making even the
| most charitable allowance for the time
of the year l have not been able to dis
abuse my mind of the impression that
the place is unkempt
Il noticed 1t specially in regard to the
little pond which lies near the entrance
gate and just by the driveway. 1t seems
to have been left to take care OF ITSELF
Leaves and branches of trees and other
kinds of refuse float on its surface: while
around ii there is hardly spear OF grass
growing. The banks have been washed
down until they seem like the edge OF
stream where cattle have come to drink
Especially on the side near the road does
it look dilapidated. The water from the
pond has evidently been allowed to over
flow at every rain and it has left It's
higfi-water mark of mud every where Tor
81 circle OF dozen yards from the bank.
The little path which | suppose at one
time ran around the lake has long since
been washed into ruin and is almost OBJ
VI
that such a condition of things should
exist around place so VIGOROUSLY wen
managed as is the Department of Agri-
culture.
1T would surprise you If a list could
be prepared showing the number of
clerks employed in the Government de-
partments in this city who make a good
living on side lines said the head of a
bureau of the Treasury yesterday. Many
of these people devote hours of the time
for which they are paid by the Govern
ment to schemes Of all kinds from which
they manage to derive good income. As
matters stand today the tenure in office
of a clerk is much longer and safer than
it has ever been before. and while all of
them are getting good salaries, they
seem TO have an idea that the world
owes them two lvings, and they are
getting them in strange ways. Personally
| am acquainted with clerks who have
established real estate and rooming
agencies shoe stores bucket shops and
chicken farms. At least one of them has
a fourishing loan business. Then the clerks
who are engaged in the study of law and
medicine are numerous. There are
scores of embryo lawyers in all of the
executive departments and full-hedged
doctors by the dozen. Many of these do
a little business on the side when II comes
their way, but few of them dare adver-
tise for it. Some years ago the sun
down doctors We're very prominent in
Washington but of late they have been
kept down. These shutdown doctors
were Government clerks who practiced
medicine after Office hours and many OF
them even left their desks during the day
to make professional calls and TO pre-
scribe for patients. This scheme has been
broken up. but there many others
which have not Many attempts have
been made TO compel the clerks to do
eminent and nothing else, but these have
never resulted in anything
Two large crows dashed against the
southern wall of the White House yester-
less. One of the laborers in the garden
picked the birds up ;.ad after observing
that they We're blind. carried them to the
head gardener. who ordered them taken
to the Agricultural Department In
speaking of the matter the gardener stat
ed that he had seen dozens of blind crows
recently.
Some Of the experts in the Agricultur-
al Department are making d study of all
the blind birds they find" said he,
with view to determining whether or
not an epidemic Is prevalent. The dis
ease originally appeared in Virginia, near
this city where the woods are filled with
blind, helpless crows. Many of them
starve to death. Investigation showed that
crows entering or found in the District of
Columbia were afflicted with blindness
and some experts at the Agricultural De-
partment have been making a study of
the affiiction. The disease causes a red
n he hall Ian rfr,.r