Evening star., 1901-12-21

SL@1'
The eurbstone merchants outside the
Center market were all on hand, with
their wares displayed, to catch the early
marketers. 1t was a cold morning and
the charcoal braziers burned cheerily. diff
fusing a faint heat for a space of at least
ten inches around. Along the B street side
of the market house We're ranged the aged
cOlored folks from the nearby Virginia
farms, with their little store of YARDS, .
eggs, an occasional rabbit. bundles of dried
sassafras root and the meager commodities
in which they deal.
These ancient ones were wrapped in volu-
minous folds of shaWls and blankets. as
they crouched by their charcoal fires and
rubbed their hands over the glowing Goals
between trades. Every one of them was
a relic OF slavery days, and thoroughly i'm
bued with the superstitions and traditions
of their early environments.
Along the sidewalk came a man in an
oyercoat with big fur collar and wide
pockets. He wore a sealskin cap. and his
beard was trimmed to a point, while his
mustache turned upward. He excited
suspicion from the first. for there was
something uncanny in his look, and the
first old nanny he passed stirred un-
easily as he half hesitated before her stall.
Old Aunt Charity was the first to attract
d
white eggs before her. rs there anything
else in that basket but eggs?' he asked
why, no; 'co'se not,' was the surprised
reply.
Without a word, the stranger reached
down, and. after turning over a few eggs,
produced a squeaiing white rabbit from the
basket, which he held up to view.
There was an ominous silence for few
seconds, followed by a chorus of eXclama-
tions of surprise and dismay.
"Conjurer! Conjurer!" were the words
that passed rapidly down the line. The
occupants of the neighboring stalls leaned
eagerly and yet half-fearfully forward to
see and listen.
Whats that you have under your
sflawl?" demanded the visitor sternly. of
an old woman who was hugging her shawl
tightly around her.
Not a ting, boss; deed dey ain't," was
the trembling reply.
With a sudden movement the stranger
reached under the folds of the shawl and
produced a live chicken. This act was
witnessed by at least a dozen. Turning
quickly, he seized a small colored urchin
standing by. hands in pockets and with
staring eyes. Before the child could speak
he opened its mouth with one hand and
extracted a big roll of bills. The child
fled. screaming with terror
That was the last straw. With one ac-
cord the sitters in the neighborhood gath
cred hastily their wares together, and,
shouldering basket and bundle, made off
across B street, where they stood huddled
together against the Smithsonian fence,
watching the dreaded conjGrer disappear
rapidly up 9th street He was sleight-of-
hand performer from a visiting vaudeville
show. and had no idea that his "conjuringh
would produce such CONSERVATION.
The big ornamental brass doors at the
eastern entrance of the Senate wing Of
the Capitol have, as long as the oldest en-
ploye of the big building can remember
cd sins rif
Of the scenes represented on the door is
that of Washington passing through Tren-
ton the ladies of the city strewing flowers
IN his way Washington is mounted and
his right foot extends beyond the usual
lines of the ornamental work The foot Is
strikingly prominent because of the high
polish on it, which makes 1t glisten in the
morning sunlight with all the brightness
of gold. The guides at the Capitol always
show those handsome brass doors to visit
ors and explain TO them the meaning of the
scenes depicted on them. Almost invaria-
DIy some one of the group of visitors stems
Forward and putting his or her thumb on
the shiny foot of the father of his coun-
try remarks, while rubbing it:
w hat makes this foot so shiny?"
The guide invariably replies:
That IS just what does it,"
Then the visitors laugh and are taken
10 other points of interest, and their places
are soon taken by another group to repeat
the scene. including the foot rubbing and
the query about the cause of the phenome-
non The real mystery about the shiny
foot lies IN the origin of the habit of keep
ing it shined SO brightly but that goes so
Tar into the past that neither guide nor
veteran emhoye can throw light upon it.
=
People In this city are entirely too DELHI
crate in their movements in getting on and
or street cars to suit the IDEAS of a western
street railroad man. AT least he seemed to
be dissatisfied. and said that the long waits
at the street crossings while passengers ad-
Justed their minds as to whether they
would get on off made him nervous.
There is no place in this country that he is
familiar with where so much time is wasted
IN that way right here at the nation S
capital Exactly why the street car Gus
toms in that particular should differ so
widely he was at a loss to explain
He concluded that IL was not climatic be-
cause in New Orleans, where the hot
weather is longer continued than is the
case here, people use the street cars with
some degree of celebrity. as if time was OF
consequence. and IL was important to the
other passengers to reach their destinations
IhiS man Is an advocate of the hustle syss
TEN, and believes when car stops those on
board who want to get off should make