The times., 1901-05-06
LIVE TOPICS ABOUT TOWN.

IF I should pocket all the valuable
things that are left in this shop" said
| one of the BARRIERS in hotel yesterday.
Il should become independently rich. The
! thing that strikes me most in my days
work is the careIessness of men with
! their jewelry. They don't seem to care
anything about it, and leave it lying
around as if it were not the easiest thing
in the world to steal, and the thing most
difficult to get back They put it on my
table here. and seem to forget they ever
had it, get up. put on their collar and
necktie, and leave it behind them OF
course, scarf pins are the things most
frequently left, for whatever may be the
prevailing fashion, men will wear scarf
pins if they possess expensive ones. A
man slips it out of his tie, and places
1t among the bottles and things on the
stand. When he gets up to go he does
not see it and does not remember to take
it away with him. So it stays here. 1
once had pin worth a great many dol
lars in my possession for year. waiting
for the unknown owner to claim it. He
was drummer. and when ne came back
the next year ! asked him If he had lost
a PIN, and he said he had When | hand
ed 1t to him he was the most pleased man
you ever saw.
valuable papers out of theft coat pockets
ana put them on the shelf here in order
TO nave Them where they could see them
while being shaved. Then they have
slipped on their coats and started off
without Nthinking of the wallets. Studs
are left almost as frequently as scarf
pms and 1t is quite often that a valuable
ring, used as a scarf holder is left here.
sometimes We take things to the Office
put generally we keep them here. The
owner eventually comes to claim them
When the work at the Census Office
was at it's height the building at the foot
Of the Capitol Grounds seemed to be
overfowing like bee hive AS one
walked through the corridors the i'm
preston was received that there was not
room for all the employees. When the
announcement was made that the force
was to be somewhat reduced. it was ex-
pected that there would be room for the
rest to move around freely and perhaps
have the comfort OF stretch once in a
while But the reduction was made. and
to anyone who passes through the corri-
dors of the office TODAY there appears
the same spectacle of crowded rooms.
desks jammed close together. people
hurrying. scurrying. and rushing from
one room to another as though hunting
for some place to put themselves. There
is the same buzz that there was when the
work was at it's height. and in the after
noon WElen the crowd starts home. il is |
just as long coming out of the door. 1t
seems almost as If Director Merriam had
not reduced his force at all.
Among the multifarious duties of the |
man who stands with the flag at transfer |
stations is that of acting as a sort of !
caterer to the motormen and conductors
who pass by him at dinner hours. Motor !
men and conductors have to eat some |
- tE,, Ii, &c,
moving continually, it must happen that |
some crews are on duty during din |
ner hours. They must be furnished with |
food, and about the only man who can |
give it to them is the fagman at cross |
ings He is kept busy at dinner hours /
taking care of them. By far the larger !
number of the baskets he handles are |
brought to him by the children OF the
men on the cars. srhey bring them from |
home. and put them in his hands to be |
to the proper man when he |
chances to come along. second duty. |
but one that he is only occasionally asked |
to perform. is that of providing meals, |
and as he is not allowed TO leave his |
post, this is not an easy task. one flag
man who finds himself called upon to do
this kind of work quite free uentty I'M
presses into service the newsboys. He
sends them to nearby restaurants and /
they bring him the lunches. which ne
gives to the motOrmen and conductors as
they come along. At one of the busy
points a fagman handles dozen
baskets each meal time Three car lines
pass his station, and he does service for
the men on each of them
one of the most interesting features
around the grounds of the Department Of |
Agriculture is an orange tree which now
stands in glass house close to the main
The history Of the tree is inter
sting In 1870 the late Mr.. Saunders, the |
Government expert on pomology, learned |
hat delicious seedless oranges were being |
grown in Brazil He obtained some Of the
fruit from q United States
Dnsul and from it small seedlings were
'aised for distribution The tree in the
ylass house today is the only one of the
original lot to survive, and many expert
nents have been made with its branches
finally a perfect tree was obtained, and
were sent TO Florida and TO
'aiiforuia The Florida trees died. while
hose in California fourished. Thus the
laveI or seedIess orstnga owes its ex-
steuce 10 the tree no&' f0stered by the |
Department of Agriculture.
IJTS FIRST MASS