Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-14

Museum. Every day." he said, "our mail
contains at least two or three supposed
soiu specimens sent to us from persons
from all parts of the country Accompany
ing these specimens are letters asking us
10 kindly examine the bit of rock and as
certain whether or not 1t is the much-sought
Tor King of metals. Some of these inquiries
are very amusing. Last week / received a
letter from a man who asked us to lose no
time In answering as he desired to buy up
large tract of land containing the metal
bearing ore before any gold craze would
boom the price. Others promise to. give
us half interest in the claim II we don't
tell any one about it. To save time in
answering these inquiries We have a printed
reply stating that the specimen when ex-
amlned proved not to be gold. but iron
pyrites, or some other fools gold This
last part is left blank for US to fill in as
the case may be. When conventions or in
augurations make it possible for people to
come here at very low figure we are often
bothered by personal visits from these for
tune-hunters. Our printed replies are of
no avail then and We have to tell the re-
suits of our examinations ourselves. In
teresting scenes occur when the unfortunate
ones learn that their supposed gold ore Is
practically without value.
"Only last week we were visited by col
ored man who said he lived in a neighbor-
ing town in Virginia. He strutted into
the office carrying on his back a sack con-
tanning about fifty pounds Of his hnd. "A
glance of the experienced eye toid that ne
mates who have been deceived py 1901
gold.
X X
The particular Johnny Jones to whom ref
erence Is here made, is genius. He Is also
about seven years Of age. He has invented
a plan for sled riding long before the ar
rival of snow and all the other little boys
in the neighborhood who stand In with
Johnny are enjoying the delights of coast
ing.
TT beats shootin' the shutes all hollow
Johnny SAYS, "only it isn't so long and we
haven't any puddle at the bottom"
Johnny has nice home on Columbia
Heights. deep back yard and an indulgent
set of parents With the aid of several
BOYS of the neighborhood, he has gathered
some old planks, sloped them from the top
rail of the fence and made incline down
the length of the back yard. On top of
each plank are nailed narrow strips, about
four inches apart. This completes the
slide A short piece of board with strip
nailed along it to fit between these slides
is all that is needed A can of grease TO
lubricate the slide is the last thing.
In the operation of the slide there is dan
ger of getting overalls. Wnch johnny
wears, smudged up with black grease p ,lo
Johnny's mother evidently figures that she
would rather have spots on his oVerails
from playing in the back yard than spots
ON his character by playing In the streets:
He has a great time and Is very PROUD VI
his autumn sled track.
X X
One of Washington's prominent ciuotiieh'
who shrinks from publicity, was one OF 1he
nrincipals in a battle royal a day or Two
ago while on a yachting party up the folo-
100 river He was relating his expert
nncas To an interested crowd of bystanders
in one of the big downtown business Of
fees
"Did you ever stack up against huge
carp boys? Well, listen to PIE and you Will
have heard one of the most hair-ralslns anu
nerve-racking events ever enacted IN nsh
history. 1 dare say that no man ever I'M
dertook a trick in horseplay with so much
manufactured vim and terminated with as
little courage left in his strong anatomy
az in the case where / tried to establish
the supremacy of man over fish.
This would sound like something myth
cal if hadn't dozen friends to verify the
fact We were a merry party, gliding
along the placid waters of the Potomac
palisades and were enjoying life beautiful
w. 1t was late in the afternoon. at a
time of day when carp indulge In one or
their favorite pastimes, water polo win
great glee they jump out of the water INTO
the air Sometimes they spring into the air
as high as six or seven feet. Right near
the feeder dam we observed that huge
carp had landed a rock not far from
our craft The fish weighed about sixty
pounds, and was probably fifteen feet in
length.
MY real life-and-death experience hap
pened at this juncture- Just to be dead
game, 1 suggested that some member of the
party tackle the monster fish. No one vol
unteered, and l aIighted from the boat onto
the rock where the carp lay, apparently
dead. Upon my approach its optics began
to roll and it's fins beat and slapped with
evident fear. I boldly grabbed 1t by the
head with both hands, holding 1t fast, but
with great strength it made lunge for me
and struck me an awful blow with its fins,
This stunned me, and l began to realize
| was not up against a dead one. l wrestled
with 1t while 1t squirmed as If in agony,
and for second time 1t lunged for me.
sezing me by the left hand and clenching
my four fingers in the tight grasp of its
sharp teeth For half an hour | tried to
put the fish out of business and finally 1t
got out of my grasp into the water again,
and |, with clothes spattered and with
lacerated flesh, called the match off and
left the carp in his glory. No more fights
with carp for mine" said he, showing his
! bruised and disfgured hands evidence
of some kind of a scrap.