Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-22

A queer Washington character of bygone
DAYS venerable George Savage. street-cor-
ner temperance talker and exhorter was
recalled by Rev. Father Eugene Hannah of
ST. Martins Church the other evening.
Il well remember his preaching at the
corner of eth street and Pennsylvania ave-
nue." said Father Hannah. land as boy
| was deeply impressed with the sincerity
of the good old gentleman. 1t was from
his talks that | first became interested in
the question of total abstinence.
George Savage defied the rldcue of some
of the rasscrsby and the jeers and jests of
the rude men and boys who assembled
about his open-air pulpit. which was often
an empty dry goods box or an old chair.
ON several occasions he was rotten-egged
by haff-drunken fellows and struck with
over-ripe fruit. but he continued his tenn
perarce talks and remarked:
II forgive you. It's the whisky in your
brain that is making you strike me- But,
boys, you had better stop drinking the ac-
cursed stuff or some day 1t will make you
do something worse than striking poor
old man like me with eggs. and then you
may go to prison for a long term or per-
haps to the gallows.'
The old Temperance War Horse. as he
was called. has been dead many years. but
many of the older citizens of the District
recall him with his silvery locks, his bowed
shoulders. the high silk hat that he always
wore and his CHEEKY voice as he pleaded
with some poor drunken fellow on the side
walk
The dsinfecting force of the health office
has new name. at any rate In some sec
lions of town, and most of the men recog-
nze it and have laughingly adopted 1t.
Diphtheria has been rampant in many
places in town. and recently the germ squad
of the health Office were called on to fumigate
the rooms of house that had been re-
Gently occupied by small diphtheria pa
tent. He was well enough to watch the
proceedings with some interest. and natu-
rally inquired who all the strange men
were. He was told that they came from
the health office to kill the germs that
caused his sickness. They gathered UP
good many of his treasured possessions to
make way with and set everything in order
to fumigate the room, but when it came to
getting rid of some of his pet picture books
the youngster had a kick coming.
He gathered up a lot of scrap books and
stumps of pencils and the like and said
positively that there would be nothing do
ing in the destruction line with those
things. he had looked them all over
carefully and couldn't find a single
g-worm.' Some of the colored men who
were helping with the fumigating caught
the word and adopted it. and now they
habitually refer to themselves for purposes
OF Identification as ''the g-worm men,"
The day of the American cowboy will
soon be but thrilling memory" said Mr.
George Bells. former Washingtonian
who is here on visit from his present
home in Lewistown. Mont. The principal
cause of the undong of this picturesque
character is the barb-wire fence strange
II may appear. Yet it is nevertheless
the fact. In the good old Gays the great
herds of cattle and sheep in the west were
allowed to roam over vast eypanseS of
ripI nv the faithful rp W.
wild animals and protected the herds from
depredating redskins and white cattle
thieves. Now the critters are kept within
bounds by the prickly wire fence which
surrounds their grazing fields and but few
herdsmen are necessary
Mr.. BELLS also said that "the wild and
woolly west" of the past has been sup
planted by up-to-date conditions including
electric lighting, electric railways and other
modern features, and the staggering bad
men that boys read about in the dime
novels have been largely reegated to OBJ
security, and the progressive modern bust
ness men have taken their places THE
west he says. lis the ideal place for
young Americans with ambition and push
but mighty poor place for drones."
x x x x X
DO you ever calculate how much time
you lose waiting for elevators" asked
man a the Capitol. 1T is the most vexa-
tious thing | know this standing around
q poky elevator shaft waiting for a crowd
TO get in and out.
Wonder why they don't put in a moving
staircase between the two main floors?
That would be fine and would save lots OF
time for busy people. Just hop on the step