Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-11
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bilities of self-help for those in straitened
condition.
Some days later" the speaker added.
Gin looking over my mail 1 came across
letter from a woman whose name was I'M
known to me. asking me to buy a center
piece which she sent. She stated she was
the sole support of an invalid husband. I
was reminded of what my friend had
told me. and before answering the request
I went to his Office and asked him II he
would let me have the letter which he had
spoken Of to me. He promptly complied,
and when compared the two I found the
handwriting was precisely the same, and
the wording of the letters were the same.
except husband had been substituted for
parents. but the name signed was differ
ent. I was convinced that my friend was
the victim Of a swindler. and in order to
put stop to further operations 1 sent the
entire batch Of letters to the postmaster
of the place. requesting an investigation.
II received very promptly reply from
the postmaster, in which he said he knew
the writer of the two letters very well. and
that they were highly respected residents
of the village. and had been for many
years. The statements made by them were
entirely true, as he knew. The ladies were
sisters: one of them. unmarried lived with
her aged parents and was the sole support
and had the care of an invalid husband.
They earned money by selling fancy work
throughout the country. One of the sis
tiers. he added. wrote the letters for both,
writing and in expression.
ITO say that I was surprised when my
case. built up entirely of circumstantial
evidence. fell through. but feebly expresses
1t. 1t Is enough to say that I promptly
made out a check
x X X
"Spiritualistic seances are more amusing
than the ordinary person imagines," re-
marked a gentleman who occasionally at
tends one. And I think" he continued,
that spiritual beings are as happy as those
In the flesh.
Several evenings ago attended seance
conducted by one Of the downtown medi-
ums. After the usual manifestations on a
tambourine and mandolin the spirit of
an old-time minstrel king made known his
presence and entertained the audience for
some time. He answered all sorts of ques-
lions In clear, human-like voice, injecting
humOr occasionally.
'One young man who had evidently kept
account of the deaths of the minstrel folk
inquired in a facetiOus manner as to the
health and whereabouts of several such
personages. Each reply assured the in
quisitive person that all are we'll. The
young man was quite skeptical, and in
quired if Billy Rice. who died some years
ago. was playing the part Of bones in the
higher realms The spirit created much
laughter by quickly replying: No B1lly
left all his bones in the graveyard
* X X
A linking shoe has been adopted by the
War Department for the use Of the troops
in the Philippines. Experience has shown
that the ordinary service shoe is not adapt
ed to the hard service to which it is SUBJ
jected in the rough sections of the country
especially during the wet season. The new
shoe is what Is commonly known as the
hunting Shoe The sole is very heavy
h. I44I avxI ,Dl~
nails. an idea adopted from the English
army shoe. The "uppers come well up
on the leg and the tongue is arranged so
as to exclude water. The shoe is made of
variety. and while lighter in weight than
the English army shoe, is believed to be
equally durable. 20
X X X
Assistant Secretary Allies of the treasury,
who is to leave his desk for the vice presi-
dency of the Riggs bank. was busily en-
gagged signing his name on two thousand
treasury warrants the other day. and for
diversion he soliquized on the task in hand
DO you know that this Is a daily task"
he remarked. at the same time scratching
m. E. Allies without hesitation or inter-
ruption There was a time just before I
was promoted to an assistant secretary
ship when all of this signing was done by
it was passed around to the three assist
ants. 1 am sure there is not the slightest
question but that when l retire from the
task, the duty of signing these several
thousand warrants each day will be
signed to an expert penman who will have
no other work. There are several things
that lead me to be convinced of this The
first is that when l was boy we burned
wood at our house. 1t was my duty to
split all of the wood and bring it into the
kitchen. When left home at an early age,
had feeling of rejoicing that my young
er brother was to assume this wood-split-
ting mantle. But I had just left when
natural gas was discovered on the place
and ever after there was no wood to split,
the gas was piped into the house for fuel.
1 have been the forerunner of several
IDENTIFY expect to blaze the way in this in
stance"
X y X
An incident occurred one day last week
which shows that diplomats do not always
chose their servants with especial reference
to their knowledge Of the arts of diplo-
macy. A newspaper man had occasion to
see distinguished member of the corps on
an important international question and
went to the embassy for that purpose
When the servant answered the doorbell,
he asked If the ambassador was at home.
The servitor said he would see. Returning
IN a lew minutes ne said In grave and
solemn manner: THE ambassador says he
Is asleep and cannot see you now" The
newspaper man was disappointed, but real
lied that there was nothing to be done but
to call again in the hope of catching the
diplomat awake This he did not only
once but three times more during the day
His experience was the same on each oc-
casion. The doorkeeper did not content
himself by simply saying that the ambas-
sador was asleep. but in order to carry
conviction with his statement said that the
ambassador had actually told him So
What added to the comedy of the incident
was that the servant apparently saw moth
ing fncongruous in his statement.
X x
washington Is lucky to have such fine
shopping facilities" said visitor to the
town yesterday. IAN the people in our
party have been delighted with the big
stores, the display Of goods and especially
the moderate prices. The latter feature is
worth noticing.
Il have heard that rent and living ex-
penses in Washington are high. That may
be so. but I want to say. from knowledge
of conditions prevailing in other cities,
that dry goods, clothing Shoes ETC., can
be bought cheaper in this city than in any
other big town of which l know That
does not mean, either that 1t is a cheap
grade of wares, but just as good as YOU
can get anywhere