davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22
OLD-T|ME GARDEN|AS
Our Grandmothers' Favorite
and Highly Scented,
BUT THE PRICE Is HIGH
ROSES AND ORCHIDS NEVER
LOSE THEIR CHARM.
New York Uses Two Hundred Million
Violets Every
Year.

Copyright. 1902, by Martha MCCULLOUGH Williams.)
Written for The Evening Star.
The flowers of the hour make up a fine
paradox in that they are at once very few
and very many,
This paradox results because a mighty Sc
lect few have been stamped with the hall
mark Of ultra-fashionable approval, and
consequently lead the market, coming to 1t
in ever-tncreasing quantities. The business
Of blossom-growing, say the wholesalers,
has Increased so rapidly these last five years
that wholesale prices have fallen sensibly.
The retailers are managing better. In some
occult fashion they have shaded prices up
rather than let them fall.
Only one of the flowers of the hour Is
new. 1t is the gardenia, and even it is not a
novelty, but rather a discruwned queen
coming back to her own.
Years agO-sO many that the cut-foWer
trade was scarcely well begun-the gardenia
disputed supremacy with the cammellia, es-
pecialIy for buttonholes, and for nesting
behind beauty's ear, or crownng her tangle
of curls. Cost and scent were against its
use in mass. The odOr IS equisitely delight
full in the open, anywhere when lightly
inhaled, but heavy and cloying if too strong
and especially so within a confined space
The flower comes originally from the Cape
of Good Hope. hence its common name
Cape Jessamine. In state of nature 1t
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22
GOOD ROADS NEEDED.
Opinion of a Virginia Physician Of
Stafford County.

I'VE are possessed of almost everything
that makes life desirable in Stafford coun-
ty,' said DR.. George NJ. Cooper of Stafford
Court House, Except good roads. Ours is
one of the most ancient counties in Vir-
ginia, but I doubt whether any other
ton of the commonwealth possesses such
detestable country roads. In many por-
tions of the county the highways run in the
bed of streams. In other parts of the
county the roadbeds are corduroyed, and
one cannot travel faster than a walk over
them in a light vehicle without danger Of
breaking 1t down. Some of the more pro-
gressive people of the county have been en-
deavoring for a year past to get the tax
payers to agree to bond the county for a
certain length of time and the money
to improve the roads. Up to date the move
ment has been a failure, but we propose to
educate the people up to the necessity Of
having good roads, and the campaign Of
education is already far advanced. When
the opportune moment arrives we will again
propose the bond scheme, with a strong
hope that 1t will go through
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22
NG5Me

give credit to reports of them si,o 49,.
'iiiie the custom has been continued.
Reports Are Bound,
IN the library at Buckingham Palace are
on 'he reports bound in volumes, which
~eh victoria received from the leaders
~ ~ ms mouse OF commons during her reign.
winters OF these reports were great
pariiamentarians and statesmen-I,ord John
nuSsei, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Palmerston.
D1sraeli. Sir Stafford Northcote. Gladstone
Lord Randolph Churchill w H smith
OF W lIlam Harcourt and A ] Ralfour-
ana they contain, no doubt, graphic descrip-
tlohs or many memorable scenes in the
mouse from the pens of the leading actors
in those scenes.
In 1879 the sending of these renorts to
the sovereign was brought under the notice
or the house by Mr.. Leonard Courtney who
contended that being violation of the old
IA" OF parliament, they were unconstitu-
tional. But Mr.. Gladstone. who was then
leader of the opposition, ridiculed the con-
tention. He truly said that the house
might fairly object to the details of Its pro-
ceedlngs being conveyed to the sovereign
at period when the people were debarred
from receiving any information about the
dolngs of parliament, but 1t was nOnsen-
steal and ridiculous to say It was an Of
tense TO communicate the proceedings of
the house to the sovereign at a time when
they We're published broadcast by every
newspaper in the kingdom.
Gladstone and Balfour.
Mr.. Gladstone used to write his reports
on the treasury bench toward the close of
the sitting. He would provide himself
with quarto sheet of note paper and blot
ting pad, seize the nearest quill pen to hand
on the table, and, writing on his knee, dash
on the report with characteristic easerness
and celebrity. Scratch, scratch, scratch!
went his pen unceasingly-unless inter-
rupted to receive a report from his chief
whip or to exchange a few words with a
colleague IN the ministry-unti the four
sides Of the sheet of notepaper were COW
cred
Mr.. Balfour exercised more elaboration
In the discharge Of his duty as the kings
parliamentary reporter. Beginning in the
usual form-"Mr. Balfour presents his hum
Bile duty to his majesty, and begs to inform
his majesty that at the sitting of the house
of commons to-day"-his gold fountain pen
travels slowly and daintily across the mage
pausing at the end of each sentence. when
the passage is carefully read the rs dotted
and the It's crossed.
On the rising of the house the report is
dispatched by special messenger to Bucla
ingham Palace or Windsor or Sandrinaham
or wherever the court may be at the time
The king therefore receives 1t with the
morning papers and so his majesty has the
unique privilege of having a special parlfa-
mentary sketch written solely for his own
perusal by the practiced pen of the leader
OF the house of commons.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22
THE RED BONES,
a Peculiar Glass Of People in South
Carolina.

Have you ever heard of class of peo-
pie called red bones?" said Mr. Lewis
Marshall Of Charleston, s. c., at the Met
ropolitan. They are the most peculiar peo-
pie in the United States. No one living alb
solutely knows the race from which they
sprang or from whence the original settlers
came. They live very nearly on the bound
airy line between South Carolina and Geor-
gia, In the northwestern part of the first
named state. They are very clannish, mix
very little with people not of their race and
in manner are quite thrifty. In slavery
times they owned slaves, visited the sew
eral summer resorts of the southern noun
tafns and in a way put on quite little
style. While 1 have nothing but SUPPOSE
ton to guide me, am of the opinion that
they are descendants of the Basques of
southern France. They do not lack cour-
age, for company Of them served
in Hampton's legion during the late civil
war and bore themselves bravely at the
first Manassas. Their skin is of a swarthy
red, resembling that of the Indian, but at
that point all resemblance ceases except ii
be that they are very hot of temper. |
have often wondered why the ethnologtsts
of this country have not studied these peo-
pie. Surely monograph on them would be
highly interesting"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22
PLENTY OF GAME.
It is Abundant in Spottsylvania
County Va

"A man behind a gun he knows how to
use with SKILL" said DIR. James Chancellor
of Spottsylvania county last evening at the
Metropolitan, "can have a great deal of
sport in my section these autumn days
Squirrels, wild turkeys and deer abound in
good numbers, especially in the region
known as the wilderness. As for rabbits.
they are too common for us to pay much
attention to them. Now that the leaves
are dropping from the trees a man who
is a good rifle shot can pick off the SOUR
rels with comparative ease. Partridges are
also quite numerous, but not more numer-
Gus than the wild hogs that roam the vast
forests at this season of the year. 1t is
the custom of the farmers to let their hogs
run wild and live on the grubs they can
dig up in the summer, while in the fall
they fat>en on the acorns, beechnuts and
chinquaphls that fall to the ground. The
female hogs rear their young in the soli-
tudes Of the vast forest, and they and their
progeny become wild those which
roam the forests of northern Europe. The
boars of the herd are large and dangerous
animals to meet unless you are well arm
ed, and the man who corners one will find
on his hands all the excitement he is
yearnng for. When the average farmer
wants fresh pork he sallies forth with his
gun and drops a hog, skins him where he
falls and replenishes his larder.''
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22

orchid is an air plant. A good moiety Of
the many hundred species are earth-rooted
speaking technically epyphytes. The
lady's slipper. white, purple and yellow, is
a good type of these 1t is only the earth
growing sorts that endure the cold Of high
ATTITUDES of any but the southernmost
parts of the temperate zones. All the rich
est. most magnificently Powered species are
air plants and require the warm darkness
OF the tropics to reach their best estate.
How Orchid Hunting Started.
The story of orchid hunting and collect
ing is full Of hairbreadth escapes and NOV
ing incidents by food and field. 1t is
story as yet only well begun. The begin
ming of 1t lies less than a hundred years
back. Orchid collecting started in the
lame efforts Of tropic travellers to show to
their civilized friends some of the marvels
of tropic growth. The good gentlemen
fetched back queer twisted roots and stalks,
which after little curled up and died, re-
fusing utterly to live and grow within an
ordinary glass house. By and by it dawned
upon a would-be orchid grower that what
allied the strange flowers was lack of at
mosphere. He gave the few in hand condi-
lions as nearly as possible like those In
which they had grown. He was rewarded
by seeing new shoots push out and, after
while, a few flowers. Poor flowers, to be
sure, compared with the bloom of the trop-
les, but encouraging. Thereafter whoever
brought orchids out OF far lands was en-
couraged to bring also an accurate account
of their native seat.
One especially beautiful orchid, growing
IN the very tops Of tall trees, for long re-
sisted all efforts to make 1t thrive. Then
somebody recalled that collecting 1t was
always troublesome and sometimes danger
Gus, by reason Of certain ants which
swarmed over and about it and stung vail
antly whoever sought to take 1t away. An
enthusiastic collector thereupon offered q
great price to the man who would bring
him segment Of tree trunk, ants orchids
and all. Within a twelvemonth he got
what he wanted, a six-foot section of O
South American tree, cut hundred feet
from the root, and beset all over with
orchids standing as thick as the fingers
Ants lurked among the roots and stalks
ants which, In the green house where the
trunk was finally suspended, grew and
throve and multiplied, though keeping re-
ligiously to their own territory of orchids,
which likewise throve and grew and
bloomed.
Many Orchid Expeditions Afeld.
Orchid hunters are still afield and likely
to be for years to come. Slopes of the
Mexican cordillera, dark deeps in the val
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22
Value of a Struggle.
From Success.


1t is a curious fact In the history of ma
lions that only those which have had to
struggle the hardest for an existence have
been highly successful. AS a rule the same
thing Is true of men. One would think
that 1t would be great relief to have
the bread-and-butter problem solved by
ones ancestors so that he might devote
all his energies and time to the develon-
ment of the mental and spiritual facuiI-
ties. But this is contrary to the verdict
of history and the daily experience of
the world. The strugglers, those born to a
heritage Of poverty and toll. and not those
reared In the lap OF fortune, have, with a
few exceptions, been the leaders Of civil
ization, the giants Of the race.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22

not bear shipment for any great distance.
The flowers keep shape and odor, but turn
from creamy white to a dull, yellowish
brown no matter how carefully they may
be packed So the wholesalers are quite
within reason in setting winter prices for
the flowers at $12 a dozen. The summer
price was not much less.
Newport is in a way responsible for the
revival. The summer colony took up the
flower as soon as it was offered. In pass
ing 1t may be said that the Newport set is
the court of first and last resort for any
floral innovation.
The gardenia will again be button hole
flower, and used sparingly in beauty's
breast-knot. 1t is unlikely that it will fig
ure to any degree In decoration, less on
account of price than because Il is so little
decorative. Nesting snugly amid glossy
green leaves, 1t makes almost no show in
the natural state, and fashion is all against
wiring and massing stemless things after
the manner of forty years back Thus the
gardenia is unlikely in any way to conflict
with its compeers in fashion, the orchids,
American beauty roses. yiolets and lilies Of
the valley.
Florists Shy at Novelties.
These four make up the tale of flowers Of
the hour. There may be novelties In hiding
somewhere to be brought out at the holt
days or for the Easter trade, but the odds
are against them. Florists are conservative
IOlh, SLOW 10 rlSk time, Work anu money IN
the production Of hazardous new things
when well-tried old ones are none so full
of profit. More or less experimenting goes
on at every considerable establishment, but
a novelty must prove itself before the
average flower grower feels justified in
producing 1t upon a commercial scale. He
must take account not only Of natural OBJ
stacles and enemies, but of fashions ca
price. If his novelty does not hit the pub
lie square between the eyes, it will prove
losing venture.
If fashion confined itself solely to the
orchid kingdom, 1t might still achieve every
possible color effect The price of course,
would be something considerable, for per-
feet orchids fetch from 81 the blossom to
$50 the spray. The extreme price is for
the rare sorts of special beauty.
Orchids at $500 Each.
In big orchid house not so far outside
Of New York city there issa wispy, weaZ-
ened-looking plant swinging IN a crib of
messed sticks high up under glass, which
produces each season two,a. and sometimes
three sprays, that are always sold in ad-
vance at $500 each. Natafally, the plant
itself is valued well up il the thousands.
Aside from the flowers It is.of special inter-
est to orchid collectors as d unique natural
hybrid, discovered far down in the tropics.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22

1t bears no seed it can be reproduced only
by the slow process Of partition. Since a
responding division Of value, the plants
owner Is In no haste to set aboutdt. 1t is a
shining demonstrations of the commercial
value of scarcity. The flowers, although
beautiful, are far less fshowy than those
OF the plenteous Cattleya, which run the
whole color-gamnt. between the richest pur-
pie and shining white, bIotched at the throat
with gold
1t is a popular misconceptien that every
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22

loves warm sands, with a tang of salt
moisture, and warm, wet winds blowing.
In the southernmost of the United States 1t
not merely lives outdoors, but breaks gar
den bounds and riots over the wilds. The
city of Galveston, whose seat is a low sand
spit before the era of the great flood had
come to reckon these runaway jessamines
among street nuisances.
Gardenias at $12 Dozen.
But these runagates cannot interfere with
the hothouseman's profits Gardenias viii
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22
An Explanation.

From the Chicago News.
First voter-"Why are you so dead set
against the city owning the street rail-
ways?"
Second voter-"Because I don't like the
political boss who owns the city"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22

Every advertisement in
The Star is pertinent testi-
mony, not of faith, but of
conviction.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22

s,ve creolt to reports of them. Since that
time the custom has been continued.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22

coaxed to do better than their best by
other and different tending. They tmpera-
lively demand housing all to themselves;
that is, If one hopes to make any money
out of them. !!
Considering all this, It is little short OF
miracle that New York city gets the two
hundred million violets she requires every
season. The season generally lasts from
mid-September to the end of April 1t Is
growing longer; good violets came to mar
ket at the end of August. 1902. The long
and strong stemmed California violets are
somewhat harder than the favorite Parma
and double Marie Louise. but all manner
of violets are almost equally In demand,
notwithstanding there Is q great difference
In price If one buys at a fashionable shop
or an out Of the way nook. Five dollars Is
no uncommon figure for a breast-knot at
the swagger shops. Some exaggerated ones
even sell for ten, and baskets OF violets,
specially selected, may run up to fifty. In
the small establishments one can get ex-
cellent fresh flowers as low as % cents
the bunch. Two to three punches make a
knot which should satisfy any reasonable
woman.
And the Lily of the Valley.
Lilies of the valley are curiously adapt
able, They rank high among strictly bridal
flowers, often figuring in bridal bouquets.
They are almost as Indispensable at chris
Jennings as at funerals, and, further, are
much used IN table and house decoration,
besides figuring in buttonholes and running
vlolets hard as breast-knot flowers. There
fore. 1t is not strange that the supply is
rarely ever equal to the demand.
Nearly all lilies Of the valley are forced.
The roots come In great quantities from
Holland and Belgium, where they are
grown especially for shipment, though they
do well wild. In the more temperature lati-
tudes here they live and flourish nightly.
often taking full possession of neglected
beds in old gardens.
In the open the bloom season runs from
late April to the end of May. That is much
too late for fashion-so the florists pot their
lilies early in the fall and pack the pots in
cellars, whence they are taken, rank at a
time, and set upon the hot-water pipes I'M
derneath the green house benches. They
get liberal watering and liquid manure
occasionally. Thus they start into growth,
both blooms and leaves pushing up tall
and slender When the bloom buds are fully
developed the pots are set upon the benches
SO that the light may bring out the green
of the leaves.
Each pot flowers but once. The roots
pips is the technical name-are thrown
away after Towering. They have exhausted
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22

themselves, and the gardeners find it less
costly to buy new ptps than to bring back
the strength Of spent ones by TWO years Of
border cultivation
MARTHA MCCULLOUGH WILLIAMS.
Evening star., 1902-04-25
James Creek Canal.
or of The Evening Star:

To the Editor of The Evening Star:
Within a month the stagnant cesspool
and death trap known as the James Creek
canal" has claimed three victims. At least
two of them leave hopeless and helpless
families As the readers of The Star well
know. these are not the only victims. My
earliest recollection of this polluted stream.
that shines to stink and stinks to shine all
the year" is the case of a fireman with a
wife and several small children. We have
begged and pleaded with the authorities for
many. many years to take some action to
prevent this terrible sacrifice of human life,
and only a few days since our committee
had hearing before Commissioner Biddle
in reference to the same matter, and the
principal speaker. Mr.. Fitzgerald. urged
that il either be fenced in or filled up. We
do rot know what it Will cost to put a
picket fence all along both sides but We
do know that the cost will not compare
with the anguish, privation and starvation
that are presented to the numerous widows
and orphans who now are or may hereafter
! be compelled to listen for sweet voices
from the spirit land. The South Washing
ton Citizens Association believes you can
help US in our efforts TO abate this terrible
death trap and courts your help.
JAMES F. SCAGGS,
President South Washington Citizens Asso-
CidtIDH.
Evening star., 1902-04-25
Rockville and Vicinity.
Special Correspondence Of The EvcDing Star.
ROCKVILLE, Md, April "a, 100:

Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star
ROCKVILLE, Nd, April "a, 1902.
john G. WOolley, the noted temperance
orator. addressed an audience in the opera
house here Wednesday evening that COM
pIetely filed the large building, standing
room being at a premium. Every section of
the country was represented and there were
delegates present from Washington and
Baltimore. He came at the instance of the
temperance workers of this vicinity.
Mr.. WoOlley spoke upon Modern Poll
ties and in the course of his remarks Sc
verely scored the methods of the two lead
ing parties and lauded the prohibition
party
y marriage license was issued here yes
1erday morning to Mr.. VIM. c. Thomas
OF Missouri and Miss Mary Ellen Mudd of
Alexandria, Va.
1t is announced that the marriage Of
Mr. William H. Bobinger, proprietor of the
Cabin John Hotel. and Miss Nellie Orgle
daughter of Mr.. john r. Orgle of Glen
Echo. will take place within the next few
weeks.
The funeral of Mrs. Thomas A. Weaver,
who died Monday night of pneumonia took
place at o'clock yesterday afternoon from
st. Mary's Catholic Church. this town. The
services were conducted by Rev Thomas D.
Williams and the interment was at Rock
Vile cemetery
Evening star., 1902-04-25
SUSPENSION OF OFFICIALS.
The Order Of Gen. Wood That Caused
Dissatisfaction at Havana.

Gen. Wood. as military governor of Cuba,
has issued an order, "by virtue of the au-
thority vested in me (him)." declaring that
"the officers who are a. present serving In
the judicial and public prosecution services
and those who in the future may be ap-
pointed thereto in accordance with law,
shall not be suspended from their positions,
dismissed therefrom nor removed from said
services except for reason of duly proven
crime or other serious cause. and never
without hearing to the interested party
This is the order which. according to
press dispatches. has caused so much dis
satisfaction among certain factions in Ha-
yana, who contend that 1t Is an improper
interference with the prerogatives of the
new government about to be installed.
Evening star., 1902-04-25
TAX ON ALCOHOL.
Ways and Means Committee Consider
ing Proposed Reduction.

The ways and means subcommittee hav-
ing charge of internal revenue affairs gave
hearings yesterday on the proposition to re-
duce the tax on alcohol and spirits from
81. 10 to 20 cents per gallon, as embodied in
a bill introduced by Representative Joy of
Missouri. Commissioner of Internal Reve-
nue. Yerkes appeared, and in reply to ques-
tions by Representative Mcclellan of New
York expressed the belief that the rate
should be somewhere between 81 and 81 10.
The commissioner statement was informal
and later he will submit a brief
Vice President Bradley of the American
Distillers Association was favorable to the
decrease He pointed out that many ar
ticles having alcohol as an ingredient had
to be imported from foreign countries be-
cause of the high price of alcohol. The de-
creased tax, he maintained would lead to
a much larger use of alcohol in manufar e.
turing and the arts.
John Thompson, representing Kentucky
distillery interests, was heard in support
of the decrease, his statement being con-
tinued at the afternoon session of the COM
mittee.