Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-12

''Will you he kind enough to tell me
where l can find a bootblack?" asked
stranger who had just arrived in the city
of a corner policeman
Did you say a bootblack?" Queried the
policeman.
Il said a bootblack all right" answered
the stranger. In my town bootblacks are
as plentiful about the railroad stations as
cobb1estones are in the streets. and the
man who is not 'held-up' a dozen times by
the boys may consider himself fortunate
THAT was the case i'll this city until a
few years ago" the bluecoat told the Wis
itor Hundreds of TIE boys who carried
boxes over their shoulders used to hang
about the street corners. the depots and
entrances to public places until they made
such a nuisance of themselves that som.-
thing had to be done to protect pedestrians.
Then" continued the officer. some of
the shOe-Shiners conceived the idea of open
ing establishments in the business portion
of thu city. An increase in the price fol-
lowed. and up to a short time ago 10 cents
was the regulation charge"
Il think I'll go home and start up two
or three places of the 10-cent variety,
broke in the stranger. "for l think in my
town | could do d land-office business With
a little style attached TO the establish
ment."
Perhaps YOU could" the officer said
bad as did some of the Washington people
who engaged in the business with similar
notions
How was that?" inquired the interested
listener.
The people in the new enterprise soon
had opposition. said the guardian. land
the new Corners put up signs which read;
All shines = cents The opposition was
successful. and the time soon came when
majority of the keepers reduced the price.
so that now 5-cent shines are to be had 1T
almost every section of the city, and some
of those who were first to enter the bust
ness are following other pursuits.
"None of the bootblack business for me.
concluded the stranger and he turned and
walked away.
Mr.. Quesada, the Cuban minister, has
been In frequent consultation of late with
Colonel Michael chief clerk of the State
Department, regarding the best method of
keeping and preserving the records of the
diplomatic and consular transactions of the
government. The Cuban government has
decided to adopt the system of this govern
ment in it's foreign department, and Mr..
Quesada Is collecting all the obtainable
data to carry the plan into execution at
Havana.
We will have more trouble in preserving
our official records in Havana" he said to
Star reporter the other day than you
do in Washington This is mainly because
the ordinary ink used on your public rec
ords will not serve in Havana at all. Ink
fades very rapidly In Cuba. and ordinarily
cannot be deciphered two years after the
impression is made This is particularly
the case with newspapers. where the ink is
of an inferior quality. No, it is not due ID
the humidity of the atmosphere. l think
il IS owing to the extreme brilliancy of the
atmosphere. The bright light of the sun in
Cuba seems to act in the case of documents
written or printed in ink just like a prema-
ture exposure 10 intense light does in the
case of unt5ned Photographic negatives. At
any rate. most inks fade on exposure in
Cuba. and it is probable We will have to
India ink, some other indelible kind,
for the official records of the Cuban repub-
lie / have come to your State Depart
meEt for information on this subject,
We'll as on the general subject of foreign
records. for. you know. we have never had
any foreign relations before
The many knotty questions that are be-
ing developed in relation TO the District
code apt 10 give rise To a discussion
during the next session of Congress con-
Corning methods of framing legislation in
this country" said a well-known mem
Der of the bar of this city today. 1t is
well understood that all legislation is a
compromise. The District code is a fine
example. 1t was originally compiled by
put together again several times. It's
author could hardly recognize it when
it received the signature of the President.
As in all legislation suggestion would be
made for a change and amendment
would be placed in il to satisfy some OBJ
lection. but the effect of this change on
remote interests would be overlooked. The
legislation by which it was hoped the
people of the District of Columbia would
get cheaper telephone rates was practi-
cally nUllitied when it got to the Supreme
Court of the United States because the
class Of service to be paid for by the price
stipulated by Congress was not indicated
accurately. Ii is common TO have all sorts
OF difficulties arise from loosely drawn leg
islation.
This difficulty is to a large extent
avoided by the English parliament" con-
tiEued the attorney. bent on nStituting
reform in the methods of business pur-
sued by Congress. Before any bill IS in
trOiuced in parliament u is sent to a mas
ter-in-chancery. who carefully revises it
IN order 70 make il conform to the rules
of grammar 10 make its various pro-
visions consistent "a a whole and to bring
II into proper form of legislation After
the bill has gone through parliament and
has been amended in numerous ways 1t
IS again sent to the master-in-chancery
who embodies the amendments in the bill
in proper way. not necessarily In the Ian
guagc in which they have been passed
but in a way to be effective and TO carry
out the purpose of parliament 1t then
goes 10 the two legislative babies again
and Is enacted into law. 1t is by this
method that parliament has turned out
models of legislation. and We could adopt
their practice IN this respect with great
advantage"
= x * x
demonstration Of Sherlock Holmesism
was given a few days ago in the office of the
clerk Of the Supreme Court of the District
of Columbia. much to the eCification of all
who CHANGED to be in the room at the time
A wel-known and popular lawyer entered
the office He had not been there longer