Evening star., 1901-12-28

ter disappointment and blasted hopes In
III OF desperation born Of hunger and ex-
posure TO the elements he appealed to a
poIlceman. The officers trained vision told
MIN the man who had appealed to him was
not OF the ordinary mold of hard-luck itin-
Grants with whom he came in daily conta ct
he did not therefore advise him to go to
the Police Court and seek commitment nm
uer the Vagrancy law he would have
zone IN an ordinary case. Instead he adj
fised MIN to seek admission to the Wash
lhgton Asylum temporarily and await
events, and gave him directions how to Oh
tain such admittance The disanpointed
"esterner followed the policeman's advice
ana was admitted to the institution under
an assumed name.
once inside the portals of a poorhouse
his hopes took wings. The realization of
mis- position was too much for him. From
prospective position of honor as his coun
Iy representative at court Of royalty in
Europe to pauper's berth in the Washino-
ton almshouse was the awful picture that
haunted him day and night He Wondered
long and deeply over his situation. and
hy hnally collapsed and. 1t is said. died of a
broken heart, without revealing his Identity
Ihere are similar life stories buried he
heatn the mounds in potters field with onlv
ton. N 'ne'i ioca-
Betsy Smith held the record NJ having
Deen an Inmate of the asylum longer than
any other person until her death several
years ago. Betsy had many sides, but she
,ras Mas Jo,iy "thal and claimed to have a life
interest In the institution declaring thai
she nrst became charge on the city awav
Dack In the '20s. She was over nInety
Years Years OF age when she passed away. The
,a H.0ss. Inmate IN point Of years at present
- - aunt Lucy jackson, colored, who claims
that her last birthday was her 1O9th. like
most an aged colored women who have
n,Essea ai1ises the 100 mark, Aunt Lucy talks ia
liillariy OF the relocated British soldiers
OF General George Washington and cer+.t,
stirrlng events during the revolutionar,,
war. oAu'iohaiy
aunt Lucy is quartered in the women.s
auntles, wearing tidy calico frocEs 90
pay colored kerchiefs tied about the,r
neaos: Ihese aged women are of a tIna
mat. enat IS iast becoming extinct. They are
cotton fields and corn of "sunnv Dix,e 'e
tne last OF the old black mammies 80 "a
nous , In song and story Of the southland
nv, res, n,s. indeed honey, would like ter hab
said Aunt Harriet Allen, another old esy, nav
my, when asked If she would submit to
MAJ 1nraav'ng her photograph taken for use IN
when he eitihs dis n1a ,s1 star; & "Dere wuz er time
,ookih out age an hard times is dun eot
handso s ,ds lace now, AM 1 reckon 1 am not SO
nanosome na,,o as l wuz." Then the old woman
whieh Iie vent TO series Of hearty haw-haws.
like nodded jelly " shake
,o;tH oio colored women, as a rule. can
nate uht.a read nor write like the more fortu-
Sore ~ni.e snns inmates They cannot. there
zihes and newspapers which are ssn1 a.
.ne institution by charitable persons In
oteao; tney SIT croning or gossipjng occa
slonaIy humming some oId-time caTn-
iisetns me hymn or plantation melody One
o!d aunty, with her head neatly woUnS
aDout with bright red and veIJo,, ,.a..
cnie1, was no doubt thinking Of Soma me- :.
Sh stmas IN the sunny south years a~o
&s sne sang In monotone the nlant.tion
ioietide song which begins:
Possum in de fireplace,
Iurn him roun' an roun':
Wnen de sweet 'taters Is ready
ne IL De nice an brown"
| soi Inc aged women inmates have as their
sore possessions in many cases hut n feu,
Srticies, such as handkerchiefs with pav
porders' little Bible, bits OF colored rih,
pons ana other trinkets, but these nossas-
sions are priced as highly by the smnle
souls as the millionaire prizes his hoardeS
gold. Inc happy-go-lucky disposition of
the negro Is written on the countenances
! of the colored inmates Not so WITH the
whites. Many of their faces are indexes Of
lheir nVes. sadness, sorrow, disappoint-
ment, hopelessness are all indelibly writ
ten and intertwined in the deep furrows on
theIi countenanees. Poor derelicts of hu-
manly, at last in their final earthly haven
no more to be storm tossed h,ther and
tnlther on lffe's turbulent sea; resigned To
tneir fate-death and the potter's field. It
| is no wonder they looked forward with
some JOY to the gladstone Christmas day
with Its happy memories and abundance of
good cheer. 1t will be to them a raw of
lives. Ae,.
| In the ancient powder magazine, now con-
vcrted into the old mems home Is a happy
congregation Of venerable eolored men. who