The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-06-11
LIVE Topics ABOUT TOWN.

partmenI building the s3arTrWS are
hOuSebuIdiug. Most sparr0ws have com
pieted their homes many weeks before
this and have Matched out their young.
bat the birds under the caves Of the old
Post0fffce Department building have been
unIucky- When the season began and
their mating was complete they had es-
tahiished themselves in tiny tenements
which they thought We're secure They
had reason to believe so because the
nests had been undisturbed for a quarter
of century or more. and had been used
by family after family Of feathered CTca-
lures and had never been approached by
the destructive hand of man. Year after
year the colony grew larger until prac-
ticaily thousands Of sparrows had taken
Up their residence under the protection of
the overhaasins roof. They few in and
out. in perfect cloud all day, twitterins
and chipping. not always in a peaceable
tone Of voice. for during the mating sea
son and while the birdlings are being
Matched sparTows are rather quarreIsOme
and inclined to be pusnacious. The noise
and the dirt that they made was annoy
ing, the first to the clerks trying to do
their work by open windows and the sec
0nd to the superintendent of the build
ing upon whose force fell the duty Of
keeping the building clean The sparrows
became a nuisance and finally, about d
week ago. it was decided that at what
ever cost TO the humanitarian feelings Of
the clerks and of the superintendent
himself. the nests would have TO be clean
ed out.
il did not prove an easy task, for the
nests which had been built for so many
years had been piled one upon another
and the clay and sticks and cloth Of
which they were made had solidihed into
hard mass that had become almost part
Of the building wall itself. The brooms
and brushes with which the cleaning
force had armed themselves had to be
discarded and hatchets taken in their
stead Even with these the removal of
the burrows OF clay and sticks which the
sparrows had buiided was difficult and it
was ali the more so because the sparTows
themselves objected decidedly to their
summary and complete eviction. The
birds. at the first intimation of the de
strlction of their houses rose up IN their
wrath, and such a chipping and sparrow
screaming began as has never been heard
before The birds began a united as
saulted upon the despoiIcrs of their fire
sides, with wing and claw and beak, fly
ing around the heads of the men and
GdshinE INTO their faces. bTaVcIy TisklnE
their lives in the protection of their
homes There were eggs and unfeathercd
Young birds IL the nests. and it was prob
ably because Of these that such violent
resistance was made
After the work OF destruction was com
nIeted the laboTers retired content to have
finished diS5 EreeaDIe task They left
the birds IN control Of the field. and 1t is
now evident how difficult viii he the task
Of keeping the sDarrOws away. The
r3uSebulidIng IS going on with such fe-
yerish energy as housebUldins went on
! in Galveston after the food and the
| amount OF material that is being taken
up through the air to the caves is aston
IN destroying the nests the vvorEnen
| found many strange things many much
larger than it would seem possible q
sparrow could carry EraseTs of rubber
and steel eyeglasses pens, and pencils.
ana. IN fact, specimens Of almost every
thing to be found upon the desk of a
clerk were in the rubbish Of the nests
which the WOrkmen brought down
To half a dozen clever girls Of Column
bia Heights belongs the credit of arrang-
ing and giving novel progressive dinner
party feE evenings ago Six of their
gentlemen friends each received sirnuIta-
neousIy a small rather bulky envelope
containing the six cards of these girls.
On one Of which was written: Dinner
Al 6 p m today" The young men re-
paired 70 the young woman's house at the
{
was ushered into the dining-roorn. 4 de
liciUus soup was served. The guests en-
joyed il the plates were removed and at
ter some general conversation. one Of the
girls suggested taking a walk The men
were surprised. but gracefully accceded.
and the entire party started out After
stroll Of several blocks. they arrived at
the nome OF one of the other girls who
invited them In Here an elaborate fish
course was served at the conclusion 80
which another walk was proposed. ana
| the party sailed forth once more ar
irving at a third girls home. a tooth
| Spiig eAtite was partaken Of; another
! stroll and the fourth hostess home was
reached She offered them the roast al
the NTH house all varieties Of salad were
served. and at the sixth and last desc
ana coffee, II was just eleven fifteen when
the party finished the dinner. but tbaz
voted II a great success
Most Of the residents of Columbia
1FlEHtS saw the different professions for
the hostesses' homes were scattered over
a wide area and wondered what # an
meant It had the air Of a flag dsy- NJ
cessLon and the men confess to hgT-fnr-
felt tTihe foolish and seIf-canscforIs
ABOUT par2ding in evening clothes. F-It +Ff-
EiflS were naturally delighted at the sue
cess Of their scheme and propose doir7e- II
2lten' regardless Of such small c0usfdarg-
tons as mans vanity
An emDloye In the Office Of the Clerk If
the House Of Representatives has a zor-
heart and it goes out especially toward
all young boys in distress He is easily
worked upon BY a sad tale. and any news
boy with bundle Of papers under his
arm and story Of an irate parent at
home who VIII beat him for being s'SrucEr'
can extract q nickel from this CapitoI
employe every time. His confidence in
human nature and his desire to help along
the suffering received 70 check until one
night about a week ago. Now the feet Of
his icol are clay, and the world is al
wrong. This new attitude Of his mind IS
the result Of an experience he had with
two newsbOys-
He was returning to his home. in q
large clearinghouse on Capitol Hin. near
midnight and was accosted by two dtrtv
ragamUfhns on Pennsylvania Avenue who
had evidently intended to pass the night
under the shadow Of the Peace Monument
and had changed their minds when they
saw him coming along. They approached
him and informed him of their homeless.
hungry plight. impiOriEg aid in DIaintIve
voices They were not much over eight
or nine years old, and as they were so
tiny The Government eTupiUye decided
that he could take care Of both Of them
IN the warmth Of his affection for sur-
feriHg human kind he offered the news
boys lodging in his room which they iOv-
fully accepted Arriving at his boarding
house. he put the two Of them 10 bed i'm
his OWE bedroom and cOntented himself
with the divan in his sitting-room. He