Evening star., 1902-08-09
E''s9{t%53%~s77&5jz~1%G E{t~7

divest himself of a goodly portion of his
estimated fortune of million or so dol
lars. One of the requests wants 81, 800 with
which to pay off a mortgage. One wants
$3.50 to relieve a mortgage of that amount
on the household piano. The writer, very
pretty young girl in a western town, in
closes her photograph. She says that 1t Is
with humiliation that she writes the letter.
but that she has been struggling to COM
plete her musical education, and that with
out the piano she will be prevented from
doing so, thereby crushing her iife's hopes
and ambitions. The other letters received,
and there have been several hundred alto
gether, are of like tenor throughout
* x x "
"One Of the most surprising scenes I'M
aginable, to my mind, witnessed day or
two ago right here at the capital Of the
nation" remarked local lawyer who has
travelled considerably. while taking lunch
con at a cafe opposite the city hall rain
began falling. Being without an umbrella
1 remained in the cafe until the shower
passed. While gazing through a window
my attention was attracted to a colored
man, with a hose, assiduously engaged in
watering the grass of Judiciary Square.
Although the downpour was an unusual
ly heavy one and continued for fully thirty
minutes. that laborer did not make a move
to desist from his occupation or to get un-
der cover. He stood there in the open,
drenched to the skin, squirting that hose
His persistency was aggravating to the ex-
treme. The man had evidently received or
ders to water the grass and in all probabili-
ty nothing but second order from his boss
would have stopped him.
X x *
A Washington boy, son of a wellknown
official of the District government, is home
for a brief visit from his station at Column
bus barracks, Ohio, he being a second lieu
number of recruits are being clicked into
shape at Columbus barracks and the
young officer has a store of amusing an
ecdotes relating to the rockies
One of the recruits was walking post as a
sentinel when he was approached by the
officer of the day and asked to repeat his
Instructions. The reply was:
Walk this post. keeping always on the
alert. mad don't let any dis-re-pute-able peo-
pie in. except officers wives and families" +"
Another sentinel, in reciting his instruc-
tions. said:
II must not let any children go outside
the post alone, unless accompanied by their
mothers or nurses"
Sad day for 'Dewey's' family when they
moved from their former domicile IN the
rear of police headquarters to an alley fur
ther northwest in the more fashionable
quarter of the city.
Dewey it will be remembered, is little
two-year-old colored boy, and the mascot
of the Washington detective force, and the
local disciples of Sherlock Holmes have
passed many pleasant hours playing with
the little black fellow, who was a next door
neighbor to headquarters
Living under the very shadow Of the right
arm of the law, as it were, 'Dewey's'
family never made any trouble for the con-
nd all
Then, too, "Dewey's" prestige as mascot of
the detectives was a thing not easily for
fefted. But since the family moved away
from the center of the police machinery of
the city. the fear of breaking the civil man
dates gradually waned and one night this
week 'Deweys' mother overestmated her
capacity for the liquid that exhilarates and
fnebriates and, as a consequence, she made
a disturbance A blue-coated minion of the
law took her in charge and the complaint
dlsorderly, was lodged against her One
OF the detectives heard of the affair and ont
of respect for the little mascot interceded
In the woman's behalf. Since 1t was her
nrSt ofrense she was dismissed from CHS
tody on her personal bonds and Dewey
IS still unaware of the impending disaster
that hung over his household. The mascot
Is Sill IN good standing among the sleuths
X 4
People generally think turkeys have the
least sense of all the domestic fowls" said
Frank Wilkinson, a Virginia farmer, the
other day, but I've got some that seem to
have more gray matter than a great many
human beings know
one night short time ago my wife and
1 and some visitors were out driving in the
evening AS l was putting up the horses
after returning home noticed my turkeys
were not roosting as usual in the big but
tonwood tree by the barn. Instead thew
were perched on the fence posts and in the
limbs of other trees.
1T struck me as mighty funny, as tur-
keys on the place had roasted in that tree
ever since could remember I mentioned
1t to my wife when 1 went In the house.
and she said she had noticed it when we
drove in and thought 1t peculiar
That night about midnight a hard wind
and rain storm came up and the old button
wood blew down. Now, how did those tur-
keys know that tree was doomed? At sun
down there was no sign of storm and the
buttonwood was fully fifty years old and
apparently as stanch as ever l tell you.
I've had great respect for the judgment of
turkeys since then"