Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-04-13
KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING

'T saw that New York chap who ap-
peared Oh Broad way with a Panama straw
hat about the same fine that Senator Bate
showed up on Pennsylvania avenue here
with his straw headgear,' said the railway
postal clerk with the New York run, land
the New York newspapers apparently
didn't get next to- the New York straw
hat wearer's graft at all They simply
announced that the chap had appeared on
Broadway with his straw hat, and they
wrote him up as If he were a harmless
sort of a crank. But he wasn't that, by a
long shot, He was what the Boweryites
call a wise gezabo' in his generation. I
fell in behind him on 14th street near
Broadway about three weeks ago. It was
raw. sunshfny day, with a chilly March
wind blowing. The chap had pretty fair
looking oyercoat on, and was otherwise
rather neatly dressed. His big straw Pan
had been worn a-pfenty fot a season or
two. A crowd of youngsters, was, follow
ing the man with the straw hat when I
caught sight of him, nut he only grinned in
MS Van Dyke beard and went his way
without paying any attention to it. The
urchins yelled such things after him as
these:
Git mex t. de Fort O. July bonnet
lid?'
Come on, fellers, let's go swimmin'!'
Let de man alone; he's got fire in his
conkr
"'Hey, mister, de foist ting youse knows
yousell git sunstruck.'
Dey wouldn't do ting t him down in
de stock exchanged
:. 'Hully chez, but I'm roaStin'p -.---s-,
oh, look at de June briden
Youse fellers don't know nottin'; OATS
Agginaldo!'
'.'G'wan Can't youse see de mans out
on straw BALL!
by the time the man with the straw
hat reached Tiffany's, on Union Square,
there was crowd of at least a hundred
men and boys surrounding him and guying
him. Its easier, you know, to attract a
crowd of those alleged bIase, world-weary
New Workers than it is to gather street
assemblage in Pottowotamie, Kan. or Hoo
gleses Ferry, Iowa. They hemmed this
StraW-hatted man in front of Tiffany's, but
he took 1t all good-naturedly and pushed
back his straw hat and mopped his fore
head as If he'd been walking twelve miles
on the turnpike in mid-August.
when the crowd was SO large around
the man that it seemed as if couple Of
cops would be along presently to dispense
the guyers of the straw hat the wearer
thereof suddenly pulled the hat off and dug
his hand into it. He pulled out three or
four fiat square, red tins, with the name
of somebody or others cough drops printed
on the lid. He replaced the straw hat on
his head and reached his other hand into
the pocket of his overcoat and pulled out
whole handful of the fiat, square, red
boxes of cough drops. Then he made
gesture as for silence.
Gentlemen" said he, I have here the
finest article in the world for coughs. colds
and sore throat. I use these cough drops
myself, with the result that I'm able to
endure any sort Of exposure without the
slightest danger of taking cold. They pre-
vent colds, as well as cure 'em. If I'd
wear this straw hat without having pre-
Vlously 1noculated myself with the valuable
meolclnal ingredient contained in these
cough drops I'd be on the fiat of my back
with pneumonia in less than three hours.
but-and so on-the regular eloquence of
tne street medicine fakir. But the scheme
was SO ingenious that the chan with the
straw nat won out on it, and perhaps a
fourth OF the men in the crowd stepped for
ward with their 10-cent pieces and bought
boxes or the cough drops. 1 was behind
the straw-hatted chap up to 42d street, and
ne stopped half dozen times before reach
ing that point and put his little cough-drop-
success" e@