Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-02-02
NAVAL PEOPLE vs.. OyERcHARGE.
The Annapolis Alphabet Discussed.
Communicated. ]

Communicated.
Mr.. Editor: - noticed in your paper
of January 2S the little squib anent
the Annapolis Alphabet, and / am
wondering if either side in the con-
troversy is wholly fair to the other.
Nobody has enjoyed the Annapolis
Alphabet more than and nobody has
less reason 10 quarrel with the An
napolis merchants than /. The butch
ers OF our little city are probably not
all engaged i'm business for the im-
provement of their health alone, tal-
though il is said to be one of the
healthiest occupations) and the wo-
man who is not practical house
keeper, or who does not keep ac-
counts, is bound to pay for her ex-
perience, whether she lives in Annapo-
lis, Md, or Skow hogan, Me. The
cost of living has increased with fear
full rapidity within few years, but
Annapolis has not yet become SO lost
to sense of shame that she charges
ST. 81 for single chicken, $3.4 for n
small turkey or 80 and 40 cents
pound for beeCsteak like some other
towns where naval officers are sent to
dwell.
The many navy families who have
y
/ believe, join with me in saying
that they never had better neighbors
or found more kindly hands held out
when they were in trouble, sorrow,
need. sickness, or any other adver-
sity."
ON the other hand is il true that
naval officers charge and charge
and never pay? If so, why is navy
patronage so eagerly sought? Why
the malediction on the commercial
travellers who come to Annapolis seek
ing orders? Why the abuse of the
Short Line for providing cheap ex-
cursions for people who want to do
shopping in Baltimore?
One of the most successful and re-
spected merchants of Annapolis told
me that he had yet to lose q dollar
bv naval officer. But is there no
one in Annapolis who has bill any
where except those hardened sinners
who wear uniforms? Does no human
being in Annapolis owe the dentist
or the druggistg Did no Annapolis
doctor ever vet send out bills with
out having his Office crowded before
breakfast with people eager to pay!
Truly the millennium has come If
these things be SO.
And vet il seems to me that these
wicked naval officers have spent
money pretty freely for churches, the
hospifal work, fairs, concerts and the
like. Short-sighted people have
urged naval officers to buy or build
houses here, and it seems TO me that
those who have done so have turned
ont to be pretty good citizens, even in
this critical community.
We shall never know what Annapo-
lis. might have been if the Naval
Academy, which is such stumbling
block. had been removed, but the
chance still remains,to rise superior to
this great obstacle to our success.
Hampered as we are by so many naval
officers in our midst we can still try
TO work for the good of Annapolis. 1t
is useles or us TO get mad over the
new Alphabet which has advertised
ms from Dan 10 Beersheba. we want to
"get busy" and make Annapolis an
up-to-date prosperous city ani not
Revolri onary relic.
We Gu. All luNe her, and yet clean
mn Carroll's alley. and stop throwing
glass in the street. We can paint
the fences and pull up the wire grass
anu Ilakt tHt A0AOBhOAAN NOH'fe@N'-
put up straight poles, and paint
them a neat color as they do every
where else nowadays. We can pre-
vent country men from tying their
horses TO posts all day and feeding
them on the street. We can have a
curfew law, and not have children
screaming in the streets, building
fires, throwing stones, till all hours
of a summer night. We can pave the
holes in the streets, so great pools OF
soap suds will not stand all day, and
s.sinell to heaven. We can pat gall
vanized iron tubs at the street corners
and interest the school children to
help keep the streets clean. We can,
IL we will, Danish the wretched horses
from our streets. lashed into frenzy
by the Gold Dust twins, and we can
make cruelty to animals in general
an impossibility in our city.
Tne loyal son is he, VINO. perceiv-
ing that his sweet old mother is bit
old fashioned and queer proceeds to