Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-16

ship rule the days and nights during which

ship rule the days and nights during which
this grand fair is in progress.
1T was expected that our illustrious
brother Theodore Roosevelt, President Of
the United States would be with US and
assist in the opening ceremonies, but the
exigencies of the public service prevent his
attendance He has, however, expressed his
good wishes for the success of the under
taking and in a substantial way has in
dorsed our project, and but few moments
ago at his Office ir the White House he
touched the golden key which opened the
electric circuit, thereby flooding this great
auditorium with light.
"And now, believing that you will make
this the most brilliant and prosperous of all
Masonic fairs ever held in this jurlsd1ct1on'
/, the Grand Master of Masons, in the
name of the Grand Lodge of the District of
Columbia. declare the same to be duly
opened for the transaction of business, for
amusement and profitable pleasure.
ION with the dance, let joy be unconfned.'
Formal Announcement.
Then DR.. Woodman gave three loud raps
with his gavel and announced that the fair
was opened 1t didn't need this assurance
on his part to tell every one within a ra-
dius Of mile of Convention Hall that such
was the fact The last bang of the mallet
had hardly sounded when the vast crowd
broke loose for fair. The whistler started
whistling, the barker started barking, the
yelper started yelping and the pretty girls
all picked out an easy mark apiece and be-
gan to collect money for the Masonic Tenn
Pile
A first view of the hall from the entrance,
or, better from the north balcony, is most
impressive. Under the great ceiling of the
hall four vast American flags are draped,
and it is enough to make the average citi-
zen dizzy with patriotism to stand beneath
the belying banners and look upward at
the great broad stripes of red and white
and the sx-foot five-pointed stars. And
he nf balcony
in the hall last night, through the blur of
half-closed eyes, looked in all truth like
ones idea of some old-time kingly pageant,
when after some victory of potentate or
prince, flags and pennons and bannerettes
were set to futtering over the octangle
tents of silk and cloth of gold and the peo-
Pile were hidden to come and feast
But nearby everything was very, very
modern.
Say. Liz, if that amt Jack over there.
Watch me stick him for 30 cents worth Of
chances on this wash tub. Ny, but won't
he be cross"
According to all the real people who write
for living they didn't talk that way in
the old days. The little lady would have
surrounded her drive for the coin with
eleven kinds of frilly conversation, and en-
veloped 1t in a half dozen varieties Of dis
tinguished courtesy. But she would have
corraled the thirty cents from her squire.
just Mayme got hers from Jack last
night. 1t isn't the way it is done, but the
result that counts, and from the way the
male contingent shelled out the small
change last evening 1t would seem that
Director General Standiford's estimate of
seyenty-five thousand on the two weeks of
the fair is not by any means too high.
Pretty Booths Well Offered.
There is little choice among the different
booths, as they are nearly all OF the octag
onal shape, and every one a thing of
beauty. 1t was hard to imagine how any of
them could do anything in the way of bust
ness, the crowd was great. but they did
business just the same. The paddle stands
worked overtime, almost everybody took
voice" on the Wayne automobile, In charge
Of Hope Lodge. and Harmony, No. IT, in
charge of the dancing palace the annex
had land-off1ce rush its hands The
evening was not half over when the dane
ing palace was voted one of the most at
tractive features of the fair, and hundreds
and hundreds of people passed the door of
the palace after parting, each and every one
of them, with one dime-ten cents Har-
mony has on its staff a bunch of profess
sional cake-walkers from Atlantic City, who
kept things moving in the Intervals between
dancing. 1t costs another real dime to get
on the dancing floor but at that the palace
did capacity business
There are more different kinds of patent
money separators at the fair than have
been seen In these parts for long time.
There is a real ham and" booth, a per-
fectly lady-like fortune teller. q couple Of