Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-27
CHEERED THE BATHER
Nerve of "First In" Catches At
Iantic City Crowd.
BETWEEN-SEASONS GOSSIP
Loungers While Away the Time by
Queer Betting.
BIG ODDS ON TAN SHOES
one-Time Governess Returns Rich
Widow-Remarkab Memories
of Boardwalk Newsboys.
BIG ODDS ON TAN SHOES
s,ec,,, corresoopaepce Of The Star.


bows on the Boardwalk rail at the point
between the two piers where most OF the
bathing is done during the bathing season.
His chnckered cap was pulled over his left
ear, and he swayed some as he leaned on
the rail. He was avery well QUILTED large
person. but he obviously hadn't had the
time for any groomlngthat morning, To
the eye of the experienced 1t did not seem
reasonable to suppose that he had spent
any portion of the previous night in
bed To the same eye he had manifestiy
been engaged in embellshng his hangover
with some arabeSque trimmings since the
rise OF the SUM-
For long long time he gazed at the
calm, whipping sea. the little murmuring
wavclets Of which flashed and flickered in
the sun. 1t must have looked pretty good
to him. In his condition of abnormal ar
tifcialy engendered heat. He Strengthened
up, bracing himself against the rail with
his gloved hands.
"All O. That water out zhere, and nobody
in it-ish a shame" he muttered. SYM
uatheticaiIy, and then he let go his grasp
On the rail and numbered precariously
down the steps from the walk tn the sand
Plainly his mind was all made up. A
whole ocean dancing there In the spring
sunlight. and nobody in it? Absurd! Tn
imaginable!
Crowd Looked On.
So he swayed pachydermically right
down to the verge with as much determi-
nation in his gait as his hangover would
permit OF his exhibiting. The watching
crowd on the walk figured that he would
quit there.
He'll crawflsh," they said. "as soon as
he gets one of those tan shoes in two
inches OF 1t. He'll postpone It till the
Fourth OF July. Watch him."
But the large pershp uItt, tho lee o,,o,
fooled them. There wasn't any quit in
him.. Despite the rawness of the morning
air. he was hot. Anyhow. he felt sorry for
the sea. tiding in and out with nobody to
battle in It.
He walked right into It, He didn't shud-
Ger or shake, or fack his arms and say
overcoat buttoned around him. he made
his way out to where the water reached
his shoulders, and then dove under a
comber. coming up with his cap still on,
jauntily perched over his left ear
Then he walked back tot the beach. with
nary a shake or shudder. He might be
dripping. but he sure did look refreshed
There was : grin. as of JOY over a good
deed accomplished. on his broad face.
One of the bath house men was waiting
for him when he emerged from the water
Hustle, pal. up to the bath house and
III strip you and give you a hooter and
rundown, and send to your hotel for
shift Of toys. TT a pinch If some cop
comes along the walk and pipes you"
fine! whash zhe anshwer?" good ma turedly
expostulated the large. dripping man. but
he walked up the sand with the bath house
man, getting cheer from the bunch as
he passed underneath to the bath house
He had made good and they liked IT. Late
| on the following afternoon. when the large
man came to- somebody told him about It,
There's always somebody to tell man
about what he made of himself
He wouldn't believe 1t. Of course.
| He was one of those "frst-in" bathers
that we read so much about In the win
ter and spring CORRESPONDENCE from At
lantic City. Some Of the first ms 1t Is
true. don bathing suits before they go In.
But one Of the most veracious perma nent
most If not ALL Of these first ms" make
their chilling adventures In the marrow
curdling wine-dark under the stimulus
of the lights and music and thfngs-main-
" the thngs-of the night before.
Willing Away Time.
AS it Is between seasons" the male
loungers in and around the Boardwalk no.
tells, professional chan6e-takers as we'll as
a considerable class of leisurely moneyed
chaps. speed the days along by doing all
sorts of freak betting among themselves.
What fs called the well dope" makes one
of their betting schemes. They bet with
each other as to whether the next woman
to pass a given point on the Boardwalk;
coming from either direction. will or Will
not wear veil. It's about an even thing.
and therefore a fair enough gamble. This
seems to be veil-wearing year for the
women, so that the chap who bets that the
next woman along will be wearing a veil
must give ODDS which makes the wager
even They bet. too, on the colors OF the
wells the women will wear, and the loyer
of this sort of a bet must offer fine odds,
for the wells are of all colors and tints, and
It Is pretty long-shot picking to call the
turn as to the hue of the next veil along.
They bet too, as to the color of the shoes
% ha sgt W
takes the tan shoe end gets from to / to
10 to 1 for his money.
The large number of pet dogs Of all kinds
on the walk attached to their mistresses by
leashes furnishes another line of betting
action for the loungers who must have
something going all the time. The amateur
ton have this game doped down to the
finest kind Of point. Here, approximately,
is about the way they arrange the prices:
Fox terriers. even money; Boston ter
rers 2 to 1; bull terriers, to 1; poodes
of all kinds, to 1; collies, to 1; bulldogs.
to L. spaniels OF all sorts. 10 to 1: Great
Danes and mastiffs. Is to 1. and so on.
It will be observed by those acquainted
with the bookmaking percentages that the
makers Of these Boardwalk handbooks give
themselves quite shade. even though the
fox terriers are far more common the
wooden way tnan dogs Of other breeds but
the fox terriers are certainly not common
enough to make them even-money shots,
and there has been quite kick over the
way the dog handbook makers round up
their sheets and give themselves all the
best Of 1t by making fox terriers even
money propositions.
Betting on Roller Chairs.
The roller chairs are not out in force yet
but those that are out make betting oppor-
tunities all the same. The loungers bet
with each other as to whether the next
roller chair to cross the imaginary line
will contain one person. or two. or three
The double chair Is the favorite pick and
sells at the shortest price, as most Of the
chairs contain two persons
But a man who stuck to the double
chairs for half an hour the other after
noon almost went out of business before
he discovered that he was In poorly. There
was convention of Illuminating engineers
here at the time, and, the double chairs
In commission at this season having all
been engaged the engineers had chartered
all of the single chairs they could find, and
these single chairs went by the given
point by scores. The man who was taking.
the double-chair end of the roller chair
dope was all but shredded before he woke
up There are a number of the big roller
chairs built for three, but 10 to Is the
prevailing price against one Of these cross
ing the Imaginary line next. and the triple
chair game is hard to beat. at that.
On one OF the piers there's a roller skat-