Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-12
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vas busy night. Have I proven my
| # y X
| A ladder leaned against store front
m a business street several days ago.
| Its foot was so far out that it was easier
| COR one to go under It than to pass out
| side tt
| Every one knows 1t is considered bad
luck to walk under ladder. A Star re-
porter paused a minute or so to see II
| the many persons passing along the
| street would notice the ladder and walk
| around or under it.
| Out of the thirty who passed only seven
avoided the supposed hoodoo by going
around 1t These seven must have done
| it from superstition. because it would
! have been easier for them to go under
| the ladder, as did the other twenty-three.
| The Star reporter himself did not pass
under the ladder.
X
| There are tricks In all trades" said
avenue merchant to Star man. land 1
| think 1 know the trick In the weighing
machine which is supposed to return your
| money when you guess your weight cor
rectly. Three of us tried one of these ma
chimes the other day. each being conf
dent he knew his weight. One of US got
mated his weight by exactly five pounds.
The second man had precisely the same
experience. We thought it strange that
each had lost five pounds since a day
or two before. So as an experiment the
last man the scales decida to guess
his weight at five pounds less than he be-
| lieved 1t to be. He got on the scales and
put his coin in the slot and 10 and behold
the indicator stopped at the figure given
and his coin came back to him. l sup
pose the theory Is that most people know
their weight and would ordinarily beat
the machine If it was properly adjusted.
So to avoid that risk the mechanism Is so
arranged that it will register few
pounds out of the way either under or
over the correct weight. But even with
that knowledge 1t is impossible to beat
the machine unless you know its particu-
lar combination. In that respect it is like
n cipher code. safe against any one who
has not got the key
MY watch played me a curious trick
the other day" said an official OF the
War Department. When I arose in the
morning l looked at the watch to see
what time it was and discovered that 1t
had stopped during the night 1t was
wound up all right and / tried several
times to make 1t go. But to no effect.
It would run for two or three seconds and
then stop. 1 then concluded that 1t was
hopelessly out of order and required the
services of an expert. Thereupon start
ed on a brisk walk for the shop Of the
j@weler who does all that sort of work
for me. After I had walked about two
| squares force of habit caused me to take
| out the watch to see the time. To my
| great surprise it was running all right
| and lad only to be adjusted to the right
| time to be good as new. BY personal
aSnPTfpnpa know no in nf a m
| aching tooth would disappear by the time
| I got to the door of the dentist to have
| it operated on, but this VS. my first ex-
perience of a similar kid with a watch
or any other inanimate oAje-.."
people are always dissatisfied about
something" remarked a local merchant to
party of friends few days ago. land If
they did not have something to complain
about they would be more miserable than
they are now"
The merchants conversation drifted to
the subject Of the price Of living. and he
told his hearers he thought something
might be accomplished II those who COM
plain would spend their efforts in the di-
rection of seeking a remedy rather than
IN an effort to shift their troubles to
others.
| Take the price of meats, for instance"
he said. why spend so much time wor-
rying over the prices and telling of how
difficult 1t is to live, when you might be
about looking for remedy"
| There was a time, he said. when the
dealer and consumer both had advantage
OF the conditions of the market, but that
time has passed and 1t Is only the dealer
who gets the advantage
do you know what has made possible
the changed condition." he asked "If
you do not" he added, 81 can tell you
some thing about 1t. The change has been
brought about by the cold storage plants.
Years ago when the market was glutted
with meat the prices had to come down
but now the meat is thrown into the cold
storage compartments and kept until
| prices advance. giving the retailer q
chance to pick up a few dollars at the
| expense of his patrons.
| The game Is so one sided" he conclud-
ed, that something ought to be done to
put an end to it. and the only thing can
think of is to have the government place
a tax on chilled meats"
| ~ X
Spiritual adviser of the press room is the
position which has been delegated to ST.
mon Labrandt, the colored janitor at the
District building, by the representatives of
the local papers stationed there. At diff
ferent times Of the day Simon will walk
into the press room, which Is located next
to that of Commissioner mcfarland, and
| upon many of these occasions will repeat
| a verse of Scripture. He has an idea that
men connected with newspaper read
| the Bible upon few occasions But in
| this he received a jar the other day. A
new scribe was at the building recently
for day or so and disturbed the serenity
| of the janitor by asking: Simon can
you repeat the twentythird Psalm?' Not
to be daunted, Simon started. but before
he had finished one-half of the verses he
stopped The scribe prompted him, but
after a moment Simon declared that he
has just memorized one-half of the psalm
Then the man Of the press room repeated
the entire psalm, and Simon has changed
his mind about the men connected with
| the newspapers not reading the Holy
Writ.