Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-17

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Women living on 14th street were recently
excited to find on their doorsteps one after
noon small handful which announced
that the advertiser had for sale 1.-The best
creamery butter at the surprisingly low
rate Of fifteen cents a pound or about half
the market price. The bill went on to say
that the butter offered was perfectly fresh
and that the extremely low price was made
in order to introduce it.
Not more than one pound will be sold to
a customer it said, and the address given
was a private house on Columbia road
good many of the women went over t ie
next morning and sent other people in their
interest that they might get more than
single pound of the great bargain.
They found. when they reached the house,
that the woman of tae house knew nothing
of the bill or the butter and was indignant
at the practical joke which had been played
On her She asked her husband about it
when he came home that evening ana
showed him one of the bills. Then the mys-
terry explained.
A year or two ago he had been forced to
take possession of several hundred pounds
of butter irf settlement of old debt and
lie had decided to sell it among his neigh
bors. With the idea in view he had a lot
of bills printed. But his wife so strongly
objected that he had sold the butter down
town and hidden the bills away in the wood
shed without saying anything about them
II his wife.
The day before the recent excitement
Jimmy, the small boy of the household, had
found the bills and with the assistance of
half a dozen friends had distributed them
over the neighborhood.
That night Jimmy went out to the wood
shed again. This time his father accom-
panied him. and ii is safe to say that the
next time he is inspired to do something
especially bright ne will remember that IN
terview and resist the impulse.
x * = y
81 had a friend who recently died leav-
ing among other portions of his estate, an
chronological collection that in some re-
spects was regarded as very fine said one
Of the scientific employees of the National
Museum a few days ago in recounting how
trifling a money value may be placed on
scientific collections.
NV friend" he continued. has devoted
many weary hours to the study of this col
lection. which he got together after years
of constant labor. The collection filled about
sixty boxes that were made to order so that
they might be classified in the most orderly
manner His family friends watched ni:n
at his laborious work, and specutated on the
great value of such a collection that re-
Guired scientific knowledge in its making
and an immense amount Of time.
ssFinally my friend died That collection
of bugs was left as part OF ms estats =
" hat do YOU suppose it brought when sold
lust $3.50 Not another penny 10 De SUR
a great part of the bugs had their heads
eaten off by other live bugs, and many OF
them were injured as collection by the
Iacki of care. They didn't bring enough to
nav for the boxes they were stored IN me
price was probably all right. too. when you
come to consider that the people Setll'hs
The estate INQUIRED extensively to discover
what such a collection would be worth De,
fore they finally let it go to a second-nahd
dealer for the price ! have named L hea:
too. that the dealer who thougm' ne VIZ Sol
ting dirt-cheap bargain, stu mas the cor
lection of bugs. which he has for long
tine been willing TO sell for profit CT 4
few dollars
Naval traditions will be disregarded when
tba United States cruiser ST. Louis is
launched at the Neafie & Levy shipyard'
Philadelphia, this fall. Insead OF the cruoe
bulk that usually passes for cruiser OF
battle ship at launch, the St LOUIS VIII
glide into the waves, fully armed ana ready
for action. Her boilers and engines will be
in position and the cruiser will be ready
for almost immediate service.
This will be a distinct novelty in marine
affairs and will be very much in the ma
ture of an experiment. Heretofore it has
been deemed inexpedient to complete YES
sci on the stocks for fear of damage tha'
might result during the launcninS.
The St Louis will be a steel twln-screW
protected cruiser. She will be rs feet long
and have depth of 66 feet. Her contract
calls for the high speed of % knots an
hour The tonnage of the st. Louis VII
lie almost 10000 tons. Her chief battery
Will consist of IA 6-inch breech loading
rifles of - caliber The secondary battery
will consist of Is 3-inch 14-pounders of u
caliber. L. 3-pounders semi-automatlc guns
I-pounder. sem-autOmatic guns;
1-pounder guns, 3-inch field guns, ma
chine guns of 30 caliber, and automatic
guns of 30 caliber. The construction of the
cruiser will cost more than S3,oOo.oo0.
i * =
The headquarters for the forty or more
newspaper correspondents that attended
the maneuvers near Manassas were known
officially as the press camp. and were fitted
out sumptuously for the comfort of tht
newspaper men duly accredited to the com
mander of the maneuver corps by their re
spective papers. The press camp was abou
half mile from Gen. Corbins array o.
tents and the railroad tracks were be
tween the two camps. These tracks served
a line of demarkation for rank. TIT
newspaper men fell into all kinds of error:
in greeting the various and sundry mill ii;
officers of the corps commanders entour
age. 1t was not from ignorance of the in
sigma of rank, but from the method
adopted by the amateur soldiers. VIII
formed a great portion of Gen. Corbin'
guests. in wearing these symbols. A youth
full person, without the sign of d beard o
gray hair whose bright eyes and genera
activity would have set his age at twenty
five. would be found wearing a brigade
generals star. The first time he was me
there was natural doubt in the minds o
the correspondents as to his right TO wea
the indication OF such high rank and con
sequently he would be addressed with tn