Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-09


Series Of Mishaps.
II wore it once for five days" concluded
the beautiful singer, land 1t cost me an en-
gagement. a costume that went wrong, a
cab accident and the catching fire O. a
chimney Then l put 1t back in it's old
leather boxs'
1 hope that you have not pronounced the
word 'Guigne" in reading the above lines
/ myself risk hoodoo-ing my story by the
simple act of writing 1t out plain-but what
else could 1 do at the beginning?
In the Paris theatrical world, where Its
cult originated, nothing is considered
worse hoodoo.
1t is the one word of the French lam
guage that must never be pronounced. Is
1t not matter of history how Bizet laughed
at the superstition during the rehearsals
of Carmen" In his enthusiasm, at the
end of the last rehearsal, he stood in the
center of the stage and laughingiy cried:
| "Zut for the Guigner'
In vain did every artist, every chorus
girl, machinlst and scene painter cry out
spontaneously: "Cherriesi'' in hope of
drowning the fatal word, 1t too late.
AS for the result, everybody knows the
otherwise unaccountable frost suffered by
the greatest of French operas in it's early
representations-and how Bzet committed
suicide, surprising it to be a failure.
The French have several names for
cherries. They call the ox-hearts "bigar-
ros." Pie cherries are "cerises,' which is
also the general name. While a big black
variety is called ''gugne," spelled and pro-
nounced exactly as the tabooed word for
the hoodoo. Therefore, instead of saying
'guigne" it is the habit to say cherries"
Anxious to Be Sports.
The other afternoon 1 paid cents for
the rent of an iron chair the sidewalk
Of the Locust Blossom Alley, with three
young men of the description known as
"sons-of- family class, with money.
anxious to be known as sports Their
aim in life is TO frequent the outer fringe
of these snowy acts-and grab about it.
WHO did you salute?' l asked, after one
lifted his hat
The gifted de Salisnacn' he answered
impressiyely.
who is that perfect blonde that nodded
to your
THE delicious Wiehe."
l never failed to ask even when Billy
Norton rolled by in an electric automobile
landau Directly behind her came a splen-
did young woman driving dog cart.
There's Verena," chorused the sons-of-
family. Watch her. Watch her, She's
turning out. She's going back,'
Skillfully she turned out of the long line
of vehicles headed for the Cascade into the
oppositely moving line.
Shes avoiding the cherresn' they ex-
planned Shes seen something threaten
Ing! That girl spends her life avoiding
hoodoosp'
Its that red-headed little boy-there.
with his mother in the hired victoria!
Verenas not afraid of red-headed grown
ups or red-headed girls; but red-headed
boys up to about sixteen years make her
turn. retrace her steps the distance of two
blocks and start fresh by a roundabout
way If possible"
1T is like Conchita with her funeralsr,
interrupted another II started with her
once to shopping at the Bon Marche We
never got therei We met a funeral in the
Rue de Rivoli. Stop Conchita bowed her
head and said prayer. Cocher, turn back
He knew what to do, the cocher. He drove
back In his tracks two blocks. ITO the
righti exclaimed Conchita. And we
bridge. We met funeral again. Stop!
Another little prayer. Cocher turn back!
Another roundabout! And we were headed
for the Bon Marche again when we struck
a third funeral in the Rue Bonaparte.
We met six funerals that morning-when
we saw seventh ahead of us 1t was lunch
timer'
Nothing New or Important.
"Chavita's worsep' interrupted the third
son-of-family Every Friday Of her life she
lies all day in bed. reading novels eating
bon-bons and seeing nobody. She will not
90 anything new or important the day
she sees spider, partf-colored mule or
hears cat meoul in the daytime. Night
does not count. And she turns, back-tracks
meets cross-eyed child, red-headed boy,
a funeral hump-backed woman or a
crowd around cab-or other street acci-
dent.
"On the other hand It Is good to meet
drunken several beggars. or
sheep. cows or goats being driven through
the streets, or a hump-backed man." put
In the first. But all these are mere de-
tails compared with certain great princi-
pies that often turn out mighty fncon-