The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-01-09
FREE-AAND COMMENT
ON MEN AND MANNERS
prominence Thrust Upon William
Zenor by the COnspicuousncss of
His Name in Society List.

AHelr meet TO scour the ocean.
/ Let France and England take hand
And China swell the evil.
iouf Uncle Sam will not mix in
ne hghting the boil weevili
nat trivial and adventurous cfrcum-
stances often make one stand out from
me common herd and sometimes give
: ann lame, Cyrano de Bergerac was res
directed from the oblivion now cover
ing with a black wave many "A greater
genius simply because mis- talents were
SET OF and rendered conspicuous by
the possession OF an historic nose. The
Nepec, which nobody would otherwise
nave heard of. is familiar to every man.
"ho. as a child studied. the old-fasnion-
! ca primer. for the sole reason that its
name begins with *" and il could
therefore be used in pictorial aipna-
pet In some such way the Hon VIII
nam 4. Henor stood out in lone ana sol
,'dry conspicuousness. in unelbowed iso-
I ia'ioh' III the lists of those invited 70
eile RESIDENT reception. Those search
us 'ne roster OF guests TO see if peo-
( PIE OF less Importance were hidden
themselves being left out wore forceJ
:" poo YEARLY. straining their eyes.
through hundreds OF names baeinnine,
with VI. II, or S. The man or woman
however great. whose name unfortu-
| nateiy commenced with r or c. was hid
! zen on this occasion as efrectuaIIv AS
.ehe Tabled needle in she havstack
mere was no distinction here for him
Not so with the Hon. Zenor. Today
mere IS hardly a reading person in the
Cl'y oil Washington who does not know
mat he at least was at the President
reception. with his wife. There Is M
one else on the Presidents ngt U,bose
ma me begins with T. He is the banp,,
AeDee among mortals.
among all the statesmen who are w
ING awake nights studying schemes for
Dettering the condition of the residents
OF the city Of Washington and the mis-
'rict, none has hit upon more poDtIar
reform than that proposed BY senator
oster, who has introduced a bin pro-
wong Tor 15-cent gas. His reason for
'he biii may be inferred from the
preamble. calling attention to the fact
that the Gas Company has fss,led and
dshrered to the stockholders a storl-
bonds Of S2,600,000 for the purpose Of an
smbing surplus earnings. The Senator's
icea IS. evidently. that a gas company is
rather convenience for supplying TO
the public necessary article Of general
use, than q concern for greatly enrich
ing few men. If the company is bur
dened With surplus earnings of such
magnit ide, it certainly is in a position
70 give cheaper gas.
The documents in the Wood case will
DC printed. but not made public az pres
emit II the Wood case could be kept
running rull blast for some time longer.
and the Dreyfus case resurrected in
France in the meantime, we should have
the newspapers full of mighty interest
ing reading for months to come.
General Funston reports that there is
no starvation in Alaska. that the climate
is mild, and the shedding is good. Evil
IDENTIFY about the same conditions prevail
there as here. 1t is doubtful if eggs are
any higher or more treacherous at Fort
Glbbon than in Georgetown.
The Wise Mans observation. ''Of the
making of many books there is no end"
is verified by the history of the Con-
gressioEsl Library building. According
TO the report of Mr.. Green. superinten-
dent Of the building. every part of the
biz structure is now crowded. with the
course the valuable nature of this giant
collection of books can hardly be over
estimated. and its serviceabnity schol-
ars is continually made greater through
the recommendations and suggestions
of students and experts. One cannot
suppress the reflection. however: What
mass Of tiresOme and worthless books
are stored away within those walIs,"
Think Of the copyright copies OF vol
umes that We're written with no other
inspiration than the cacoethes scribendi
and that nobody ever has read. or ever
Will read. Think, too. of the books and
books Of inane and scrannel verse. Of
Which EDITIONS of 100 were printed at
the AUTHORS own eNpensel These. uncut
and forgotten, are filed away in dusty
garrets, or have long since been used
for Dipe-lights lost more completely
than the plays Of Mcnander In the Con-
Sressional Library alone do they have
an honorable rank and existence. There
lueE are DOING away TO eternity. each
nled in its proper place and as produce
i5le as the immortal sizzlings of Ella
heeler wilcox or the dove-like
rival. In another hundred years the
collection OF bad verse IN the Congress
sional Library viii be sufficient to out
weigh the genius OF all the ages.
The testimony of the survivors Of the
lroquois Theatcr is bringing out some
Important facts. The statement Of one
OF the witnesses that the women sat
calmly in their seats for some time and
watched the flames. without screaming
or getting panic-stricken, is corrobor-
ated by the fact that several women
were found sitting in thea seats. burned
C. death. Theater audi4ces had been
pretty well taught that there was no
danger If they sat still. and. me more
we learn about that sad affair, the more
convinced we must become that the
women, who fOrmea the larger portion
OF the audience, behaved as well -
could be expected. The incredible tale
or carelessness elected by the examina-
ton of the managers leaves no doubt
that the loss OF life was not the fault
of the audience
Mr.. Ma rtin De Lang. the handsome
chap whose wife is suing the Countess
Esterhazy for alienation of affection.
declares. according to an interviewer.
that he has no interests" In The suit
Mr.. De Lang evidently has very nice
and discriminating knowledge of Eng
llSh- lie does not say that has no in
tercSt i'm the suit There Is no reason
why he should not, i'm common w.Ch
the world m large. take 4 purely i'm
personal interest In this very entertain
Ing affair.
However meagerly Washington may