Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-07

On the occasion of his last visit to Wash
ington he proposed to both illuminate and
heat the Capitol and department buildings
with stored sunshine.
In order to carry his plan into effect he
desired modest little appropriation of sew
eral millions from Congress. This sum
was to be expended In erecting huge storage
watts, into which the sunlight and heat were
to be coaxed scientifically and stored until
ready for use.
The inventor, lanky individual Of the
rapid-fire talking class. said that sunshine
could be successfully stored and kept in
tact, provided the rays could ''be kept
busy" The interior of his storage tanks
were. therefore, to be whitewashed and pro-
yided with mirrors placed at different an
giles. SO as to keep the sunbeams busy dart
Ing hither and thither while in captivity.
In consideration of the several millions OF
dollars to be provided by Uncle Sam, the
inventor promised to illuminate the dark
places in the Capitol with flood of cheer
full sunshine from his tanks at any hour of
the day or night, besides heating the build
ings with the stored heat of the sun.
'Oh. the proposition Is as plausible as the
telegraph. the telephone, steam locomotive
and similar world-surprising inventions
were in their inception" said the bother OF
sunshine on the occasion of his last visit
to Washington. People called Morse and
other great inventors .cranks' and vision
aries In their day. If Uncle Sam will allow
me, and will foot the BILL I will flood the
halls of Congress with genial sunshine on
the darkest night and cause a sunny cheer
fuiness to peryade the chambers instead of
the gloom of night. In word. Congress
can have a summer day on any old cold,
snowy, Icy night by simply turning on the
stopcocks, as it were, and, in the words OF
the popular hymn, letting the blessed sun
shine in"
u X II X X
A resident of Columbia Heights was en-
tertaining several of his friends the other
afternoon on the lawn in front of his resi-
dence. During the afternoon the converse
ton turned to the subject Of automobiles,
and the host told the party what a fine
time he was having with his new machine.
why. it is simplicity itself to operate
1t and
why. papa. you know you got pinched
the other night The interruption came
from the other end of the veranda, where
his small son was sitting.
Johnny. Johnny, come right up here this
minute" called the child's mother from the
hallway above.
The host then went on to tell the party
how he had tried to fix a broken part of the
machinery some time ago and got his finger
pinched. The next day going downtown he
met one Of his guests Of the preceding
afternoon on the car and his first words
were:
DO you suppose Miss Blank caught on
last EVENING""
The young man was not wise and asked
what was the mystery.
why, when Johnny made that break
last evening and said that was pinched.
My wife would not have Miss Blank know
1t for anything. 1 was out for a drive on
the speedway, and one Of the lights on the
rear OF the automobile went out and before
I knew it l was in the tolls of the police.
1t cost me ten-spot, but would rather
lose a 500 bill than to have Miss Blank
know it,
A weli-known Mt. Pleasant man came
near losing valued servant the other day.
This gentleman is fond of outdoor life, AMI
on one of those lively Indian summer MORN
ings he shifted the autumn air and he
thought him of the woods and a bass pool.
Calling to his wife, who was out In the
yard, he said: I've got the call of the
wild and it's incurable. Have you caught
it yet?"
The answer was a crash in the kitchen
and dark form scurrying out the back
door. There stood old Aunt Harriet, the
colored cook. all of trenble.
Deed, Miss Mary. what wild smallpox
an typhoid fever and yaller fever and
desc here sicknesses goin' round 1 can't
take no chances wild no incurable diseases
Use goin' to leave
x * X x
The treasury building as 1t appears
1reSn from It's Dath, seems to have lost
something of its attractiveness," said q
Washington man who has just returned
from his vacation out of the city and be-
held the treasury building free from the
dirt and the stains of time.
TT is undoubtedly clean, but 1t Is also
rather commonplace and has lost the dis
tinction, the grace and beauty that comes
from variety in tone and color. There is
no variety now in the vast surface, but
one unchanging uniformity
TT is not maintained that dirt in any
form is artistic or that the beauty of any
building depends upon its presence AT
the same time there Is something that
adds not only beauty, but genuine merit
to building in the variety of color that
is found in its walls and that comes Their
from the hand of time. The play of the
elements is important in architecture and
If all the buildings in a city could be re-
duced to one color tone and kept so there
would be much complaint about the mo-
notony of our city streets.
1T is quite clear that while the walls
OF the treasury building are clean, they
are no longer beautiful, and 1t is not
probable the former appearance will be
regained until the storms and the winds
have again covered the stone with the
stains that have been so carefully re-
moved