davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03

age, he said, was sixty. When the cierk
asked him If either he or she had been
married before, he told him that they
were widow and widower. He obtained
his license and started with hating step
toward the door.
A Star man happened to be nearby and
seeming story, approached the Old man.
How long have you known the iaoy
who is to become your wife, he inquired
Forty years. was the reply.
When the reporter finally succeeded IN
getting the old man to talk he heard 9
story Of a postponed bridal trip and a
romance Of the old regime which almost
brought the smell Of lavender and old lace
to his nostrils.
The groom had known the bride in a
little Georgia town before the civil war
The girls parents were northerners ana
although the two were engaged. the out
break of the great struggle put an end
to their future nuptials. for he donned
the gray while she went back with her
people to the north.
He came forth from the struggle boy
in years, but lacking an arm, and though
the old wound inflicted by Cupid was
scared over enough for him to find solace
for While in the eyes Of another, he sui
remembered the first love. Forty years
afterward he found her. She was not the
fair young girl he had known and al
though she too had married, time had not
eradicated from her heart the memory OF
a tall young fellow in gray.
If Rockville, Md. is Washington
Gretna Green. so Washington is the lover
haven for couples fleeing the wrath of
parental objection from Baltimore and
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03

- EVERYBODY uses pins-men. women
r. and children. Everybody buys
them. Everybody bends them.
breaks them. knocks off their heads and
loses them. They enter into every opera
ton. from the drawing room to the soul
lery. Go where you will, If you look
sharp. you may calculate with certainty
on picking up a pin-in the streets. In
the cabs. street cars, doorsteps. mats, In
halls and private rooms. sticking in cur
tains and sofas and paper hangings. in
counting houses and offices. in books.
bags, baskets. luggage-they are to be
found everywhere, let them get there as
they may. by accident or design. Their
ubiquity is astounding-and their manu-
facture being in proportion to 1t, must be
something prodigious. There is no aru-
Gle of perpetual use with which the world
is so familiar: and out of this familiarity
springs indifference. for there is no other
article about whose final destination man
is SO profoundly ignorant.
Twenty Millions a Day.
People generally know the end of things
mot half so usefuD that wear out in
the course of time. or that are liable to
be smashed, cracked Clipped. put out of
order or otherwise rendered unavailable
for further service: but of the fate Of
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03

n the early days of the District of Co.
iumbia there seems to have been
much attention given to horticulture
and landscape gardening. All old
descriptions mention the finely kept
grounds about the homes. In David War
denis book on the District one may read
that the estates WED with anything in
foreign lands: he also mentions the fact
that many of the gardeners were Swiss
importations. In place of the asphalted
streets and concerted walks which are
now regarded as necessary to comfort
were then shaded lanes leading from one
beautiful estate to another. True at times
they were dreadfully muddy unless natu-
rally drained. but they were always pleas
ing to the eye and merciful to the beast
of burden; neither did these lanes always
follow the lines of the chessbOard. Ere
Quently there would be a deviation from
the direct course i'm order to reach home
or two off the line; thus agreeable diver
Sity was obtained.
II Is often quoted I'm early days Wash
ngton had streets and no homes. while
Georgetown had homes and no streets"
This was particularly applicable to the
heights of Georgetown, that beautiful 10
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03

prise. Many feet it raises its crest, many
feet above the creek. and is inaccessible
from that side. From its rugged incline
spring noble forest trees: one spreading
oak Is a ver!table monarch of its species.
Recrossing the brook one may roll I'M
der the wire fence into Montrose. which
seems TO be the largest sixteen acres in
the District, and for which the govern
ment Is asked to pay s150.0O0 On these
graceful wooded slopes flourish many va
rieties of native forest trees in their
prime, oaks predominating. though an I'm.
mense tulip poplar attracts most atten-
ton. On the beeches have been craven
initials and often full names OF members
Of we'll known Georgetown families. The
leisurely walker may pause to gather a
late arbutus. some violets, anemones and
other spring flowers and to admire the
waxen blossom of the mandrake sheltered
by its twin umbrellas, the swaying ash.
the crimson red-bud and the gay dog
wood. The lawn and gardens are dotted
with punches of jonquils and daffodils
and beds of the fragrant English violets.
Rare imported trees-pecans. pink dog
wood. English larch and many others are
surrounded by great oaks. Lilacs and
roses are budding in the hedges. tulips
and hyacinths blooming about the en-
trance, while the clean graveled walks
bear witness to the unremitting care be-
slowed upon the place.
Seldom. think the Georgetown inhabi-
tants. has a city the good fortune to ac-
quire a pleasure ground SO ready for inn
mediate enjoyment without the expendi-
ture of large sums to make it available
for the unrestricted use of the public; this
good fortune accompanies Montrose.
Georgetown, with its narrow streets and
the open spaces about the old mansions
now being rapidly filled up with solid
blocks. has. it is thought. greater need OF
breathing spaces than other portions Of
Washington, but has not even a public
square. With open Montrose In its midst
the want will be supplied beautifully and
beautifully.
CORA BACON-FOSTER.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03

abandoned Thompson bridge and Wood
ley lane. Once one might have thus
found a way to romantic Normanstone.
the home of the Barnard family. now dis
mantled and deserted. and to Northview.
the Barber homestead. which has made
way for the national observatory. 1t is
said that lady we'll known in society
circles has recently purchased hereabout
one acre, paying for it not less than
$50 GOO.
Or better. one may turn to the right
and follow the lane down the ravine by
the brawling brook to Rock creeks short
walk, but one replete with beauty and
natural interest The brook goes mer-
rily on it's way around and over masses of
rock, not alas. forever" for it is con-
demned to future imprisonment in a
sewer, and men may come and men may
CO. in touring cars over its flood on a
finely macadamized 'T'' street in a not
remote future. Is it not unfortunate that
The march of Improvement should de-
prive the jewellers in large towns of all
the attractiveness of natural beauty In
it's path? But now one may loiter and
listen to the music Of the miniature
water falls. watch the eddies below the
great rocks. see the blackbird's enjoy
ment of his bath in a shallow pool, while
the cardinals clear notes float down from
the overhanging tree. The sound OF foot
falls upon the rustic bridge may startle a
Young man and woman deeply intent upon
some psychological problem. The place Is
consecrated to lovers. He filings pebbles
into the stream, she plucks nearby
fioweret. The brook takes greater leaps
finally to flow quietly from the foot OF a
great rock-strewn precipice into the great
er Rock creek, which released from the
hideous culvert under Massachusetts ave-
nue. here throws itself with abandon over
it's rocky bed as if rejoicing in having its
own glad, free way again. blissfuliy 1g-
norant of the fate awaiting it only little
distance below On the little plot Of tree
dotted sward near the current group OF
merry children are picnicking.
| The precipice in Montrose Park is sur
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03

insists upon a marriage on the black day
of the week. and brave must they be who
thus dare the powers of superstition TO
frown upon them.
With an average of twenty marriage liz
censes day. the clerk almost loafs Fri
day. for there will only be one or two
licenses applied for. And this is no mere
accident. for If an examination of the
records is made the systematic falling Off
of the number on that day will instantly
be apparent. And Friday, March Is. not
one was brave enough to take his blush
ing bride.
One of the most peculiar things i'm con-
nection with those who come before the
marriage license clerk is that many who
have to touch the pen and allow the
clerk to write their mark between their
signatures are the ones who seem to
possess the most money.
A very few days ago typical coun-
try swain from somewhere near Mossneck.
Va. waited into the Office of the clerk.
Closely behind him followed a fiuffy-rIf-
fes product of the Old Dominion hills.
who nervously stood by watching the
operation. The man was roughly dressed,
and his line Of talk made dialect story
sound like Henry James. but when IL
came to producing ne was there.
Willing to Pay.
When the marriage license clerk got to
the 'one dollar please" line of his recita-
ton, benedict from Mossneck looked az
grieved that so small an amount should be
seriously mentioned. and, exploring the
recesses of his pockets. he withdrew a
bag that looked as though II were suffer-
ing from suffocation. He had an awfuly
hard time to find anything as small as a
$20-bill In the aggregation of hundreds in
that Pandora recepta BILE of his. and IL ir
hadn't been for the fact that about twen-
ty-f1ve others had dropped their little dol
lar before that day the clerk would have
had to send across the street TO the pea
nut stand for change.
Then on the other hand the wels dress
ed applicant for license may have only
.he single dollar which he gives to the
clerk.
Sometimes a regular Cooks tour OF Gu
pidites will deluge the clerk at once. and
it's a safe bet that when five of the dis
gustingly happy couples appear on the
courthouse horizon right then and there
abou. a nickel or seven cents is with
drawn from the revenues of the squires
qualified to perform the ultimate ceremony
in Lonely Corners. In fact. IL looks some
times as though the little Virginia and
Maryland towns have saved up all of their
available eligibles to ship. TO Washington
in one grand crowd.
But all those who come to the marriage
license clerk for Succor are not of the on
timistic breed. and when a close watch
is not kept the iconoclast par votrolic slips
in. A member of the anvil chorus showed
his face at the desk about a week ago,
and. when that little sum of money was
mentioned which precedes the delivery Of
the connubial certificate he felt called
upon to compare the license fee with the
amount which is entered up against the
owners of CANNES In the city.
costs $3.50 to keep dog year in TINS
burg? And you can get married for q
lifetime on ST.
Just at that time thr license clerk felt
hat his job of dispensing happiness wasn't
all tulle and orange blossoms.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03

boy summons courage to make his wants
known.
Say. we want to get married., he will
finally venture.
The clerk will then ask their ages. and
when he finds that both are under the
legal age he will shake his head and say
TOO young"
Or again the youthful applicant will
become confused beneath the unsympa-
thetic eye of the clerk and blurt out,
Can we get married here?'
NO, you cannot get married here" he
Will be told. much 10 his confusion, but
this Is where the licenses are issued
The blushing bride and bashful groom
are an old and undressing story to
the clerks. years ago; but STILL every
thing considered. they are courteous set
especially when il comes to dealing with
youngsters whose heads have been turned
by Cupid's tales as he has lured them to
the dim old Office in the city hall.
Work Same Old Gag.
Often those who enter to apply seem
not to realize the solemnity of the step
which is before them. and blush and gig
gle over the questions that the clerk pro-
pounds.
Have, either of you ever been married
before?'' never fails to bring forth some
thing from the callow youth whose ambi-
tons have been turned into the husband
line
But on others 1t acts differently A GER
tain class who have acquired 1.-The mar
riage habit take this routine question
as direct compliment to their mature"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03

neiehborine towns in Virginia and Mary
land. These clipping couples are mostly
young, but not few OF them are past
the heyday of youth.
Marital Birds Of Prey.
! Not so very many days back couple OF
this sort slipped away from Baltimore
and came to this city to get marriage
license When they faced the preacher
the man. who gave his age as fifty years.
discovered, when the ceremony was near
ly over, that he had left the ring. which
| he had provided, in Baltimore. The cere-
mony was threatened with disaster until
! the man bethought himself Of handsome
diamond ring which he wore on his watch
chain He pressed this into service-and
| incidentally on the finger Of his clipping
forty -five-year-old bride-and all went
we'll.
1t is lucky that the marriage license
clerk is satisfied with the payment Of a
single dollar, for often the license fee is
the only visible asset of legal tender that
the groom can fish from his clothes at
the time he applies. And even then the
clerk is sometimes forced to take his fee
in Chicken feed. ranging from nickels
to quarters. In almost every case Of this
nd the contracting parties are barely
old enough to be legally married.
1t is the young and the clippers who fall
beneath the talons of marital birds of
prey. for even. the heights of love have
their vultures circling about. 1t is said. in
the form of nearly defrocked ministers
Some there are in this city who have
'cappers'' or marriage touts'' at the ra J.
road stations waiting for the unsuspect-
ing clippers. Oh, yes. The practiced eye
can always tell the elOpers And when
two young lambs heave in sight with
their solitary suit case, marked Easy
ville," they are easy meat.
The ceremonies which vultures of this
description perform are of the most per-
functory character, and many of them
have prepared gorgeous certificates, en-
blazoned on the God Bless Our Home"
order. which they solemnly fill out and
present to the bride-after they have
shaken down the already shaken groom
for a ten-spot. One of these parsons
boasts that he Joined $40 couples in the
holy bonds. etc. In single year. That
meant to him an income of from 5000 to
$3.50. which he made by reading the
marriage ceremony once or twice day.
Services on Tap.
Before another of these men begins on
a ceremony he usually manages to find
out to what denomination the Victims
belong. and. no matter what the answer
is, his comeback is the same: il
We'll, that's lucky. I'm a minister of
that faith myself"
Then he fishes down in his pocket and
pulls out a copy of the service as read in
the church to which the couple profess to
belong. and uses it-fOr he has all serv-
ices on tap.
Superstition often puts Cupid to rout
however. for Friday is the day when all
the newspaper men. who daily fume and
sweat over long lists OF would-be house
keepers. smile blandly and take things
easy.
Importunate. indeed. must be the espe-
pecial emissary Of the little god. love, who
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03

Three notable entertainments given in
this immediate neighborhood were men
tioned-the cete in honor of the venerable
Lafayette given by Calhoun at Monterey
in 1924. farewell dinner to the Portu-
guese minister. Tolade, by the Smiths In
1894 and the fete champetre in honor Of
the queens birthday during Thackeray's
visit in 1852 by the British minister, Twis-
Teton Champion. who then occupied a
superb old mansion to the south in Peters
Grove Both mansion and grove have
gone.
The Smiths were succeeded at Montrose
by the Boyce family in 1S4O who still
own the property, though Cor many years
The grounds, however, have
always been kept in exquisite order by a
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03

could such a return be obtained. it would
present an alarming result. Think of
millions of billions of pins being in course
of perpetual disappearance: And that
this has been going on for years and
years and will continue to go on. proba-
bly,, to the worlds end.
The inquiry battles all scholarship. and
one is forced to put up with the obscure
satisfaction which Hamlet applies to the
world of apparitions and conclude that
there are more pins in unknown places
and unsupported shapes upon the earth
than are dreamt of in philosophy.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03

there is where many Of the would-be hus-
bands meet the first stumbling block in
the narrow road to matrimony. They
simply forget which hand to use in re-
moving the hat in order to leave the
right hand free 10 assume the pose of
the statue Of liberty in Now York harbor.
Women Take Initiative.
Then comes the jurat which, by reason
Of the fact that the clerk is obliged to
repeat II twenty or twenty-five times
every ray, is. SO to say the least
dollar you are handed the "Know-all-
men-by these presents looking sort of a
document, over which the clerk has been
SO busiy writing, and which means You
are it, Moreover, the clerk, to add to
the discontinue of his victim. throws
in gratis plying glance-even If he
was once young himself. He then turns
Cupid's army or just an onlooker. and
demands Want oneas' much the same
way as though he were offering smoke.
a drink or any one of all Hfe's trivial
things. This Is what the young Benedict
Is up against, and 1t takes five minutes
at the most
This is all that the marriage license
clerk knows or cares about the men who
daily apply to him for entry into the
happy hunting grounds Of matrimony.
But it is not always the men who apply
for marriage licenses. Women there are
who come boldly announcing their In
tentions to take unto themselves hus-
band. Sometimes the prospectivee groom
is tagging along behind. but he usually
stands in the background while the BRIDE
to-be takes care of the license end. And
in those cases it's a pretty safe bet who
is going to run certain fiat when the
For Rent" sign Is taken down.
Hand in hand, a man and woman faced
the marriage license clerk one afternoon
recently. The man was doing all the
talking and engineering the thing we'll
the woman must have scented trouble.
for she turned her back to the gaping
crowd. skillfully drew deposit from her
lisle-thread bank and slipped the man an
Indian bill with which to appease the
nav of the law.
Fifteen Applicants Day.
Ninety years have passed since
Fielder Smith and Eliza Riley went to
| the old courthouse TO obtain the first mar
riage license of which there is any record
in the District. Few II any know the
romance which led up to this first mar
riage. None probably knows. or cares.
whether the light O. love beamed on them.
or whether they failed to weather the
sd day Of December. 1911. the marriage
mill has been grinding slowly. constantly
and today. with the records numbered
only from 1850 until the present time,
This means that 81. $50 natives of the
District have forsaken the single life since
1850. Hardly a day passes that at least
fifteen applicants do not apply.
Sometimes the waiting couple is a boy
and n girl the boy not more than seven
teen-the girl not more than fifteen. They
look very young and very happy. They
will walk around the big desks until the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03

o you solemnly swear that
- the statements you have
given concerning this mar
riage license are true-so
help you God-one dollar?"
This is the ritual of the marriage license
clerk chanted twenty times day, and
relatively it expresses the manner In
which the represent alive of the law gives
permission for Darby to take Joan to his
home.
And this is the formula which every
swain in the gentle spring time must
answer before the blushing girl becomes
in fact a June bride. And this is also
the manner in which Dan Cupid comes
face to face with the problem Of the
almighty dollar. for. while after marriage
the couple may live on the rroverbial love
and kisses. the swain must at least show
one doliar--which is speedily taken from
him-when he applies for his license. One
dollar-no moreno less-be the applicant
rich poor high or low. before the law
will smile its sanction upon the union.
Though the first chapter of love. as seen
through the eyes of the marriage license
clerk, Is prOSaic with no Orange blossoms
TO lend an air to the enactment of ii,
still the romance wrath creeps out from
between the pages of the thick musty
foljos of the clerks Office. when young
and old they come, bringing grist to
the marriage mill. whose wheels grind ex-
ceedingly fine.
Applying for Aid.
Many there are who approach the desk
Of the clerk with a demeanor such as they
might assume IL they We're approaching
some dreaded ordeal which would take
hours Of nerve-wracking suspense before
finished. and they walk away looking
they think the absolute
simplicity and prosiness of the whole
transaction.
and this Is the way of it. seeker after
dual bliss. First be sure that the girl
you intend to marry is OF legal age
eighteen. Then betake yourself to the
old courthouse. Once inside the door
you will find plenty of signs to guide you
to the clerks Office. for well the legal
know that love is blind. A great sign
will stare you in the eye, Room II for
marriage licenses.
1t 10 a large square room. newly fur
nished now. but showing a scant year ago
the same mahogany desks upon which
for nearly a century the disciples of Supid
have learned to reject the life of a
bachelor while the clerk filled out a
portentous looking blank
The young man behind the desk will
frst inquire who is going to perform the
ceremony. and when satisfied that the
minister you have selected Is duly quail
ded to perform the rites of marriage you
will be required to tell him your history
the girl who Is to become your wife. and
whether either of you have been
married before. II you know your little
volume we'll and answer the questions
correctly you may sign the marriage IL
cense hook. Strange. too. how very
shAky many of the signatures appear.
Take of your hat and raise your right
AAnd:' the clerk commands. And right
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03
Robins Killed for Food in South.

From Lessie's Weekly.
million robins were killed in Louisiana
during the winter of 19O7-S. the offenders
being men and boys who shot them for
food. While they are protected as song
birds in northern states, it is a common
southern practice to shoot them for the
table, and in some states the hunters kill
them in great numbers at their roosting
places. A government expert suggests
that the eastward movement of the boil
weevil has been facilitated by the killing
of the robins. II that Is shown to be so.
the cotton growers will not receive much
sympathy from the members Of the
Audubon societies
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03

faithful and interested custodian, who
has been on the place for over forty
years. coming when a lad from Ireland
to Jake position there.
Following the road the brook is reached
at the foot of the hill, turn to the left
leads to the beautiful approach to Clifton,
James Elverson's beautiful estate. its
modern stone edifice browning one of
Georgetown's noble hills. The extensive
grounds exhibit a fine example of land
scape gardening in favoring crcum-
stances. Some years ago the French am
bassador, Patre- Notre, married the daugh-
ter of the family. who have since spent
little time in Washington. This place is
finely kept: just now the yard about the
porte-cochere is gorgeous with the bloom
Of tulips and hyacinths.
Crossing the brook one may wind
around Clifton Hill to the made by rule
and measure Massachusetts avenue. For
merly the road led by easy grades to the