Omaha daily bee., 1908-12-18

RippIes on the Current of Life in the
Metropolis.

York promises to contribute one OF the
six best sellers" to the literature Of 1909
"a book of "reminiscences OF a long and
varied political life, which some friends
say will bear the appropriate title. Leaves
from the Diary of an Easy Boss" The
New York Sun declares tho senator in
formed a close friend hat he will buckle
down to the work as soon as he can throw
off the senatorial toga- He has not been
an observer Of the passing political show
for the last half of a century for nothing.
Notes on men and events that passed In
review have been made by him and pre-
served. The senator has a vast storehouse
Of Information in the New York offices
of his express company.
1t is asserted that he will deal very
frankly with the Conkling-Platt incident
of the Garfield administration and bring
to bear correspondence and unassailable
testimony to show that the author was
far from being a "me too In that affair.
The senator is now disposed to take the
public into his confidence on some of the
spicy personal phases of his career, be-
lteving that the facts will show that he
has been more of a victim than an Of
fender.
Senator Plat talks about his prospective
literary venture with keenest relish. He
realizes that the output Is likely to take
rank among the seasons best sellers and
will not conceal anything that is likely to
make the book readable. In his candor
Senator Plat is not serving an advertising
purpose or pandering to a morbid literary
taste, but believes he will polish up his
own memory in many spots where it now
appears bedimmed by telling the whole
truth.
Everett J. Edwards, a druggist at East
Hampton, Long Island, is by no means the
only person in this village who has cause
to worry over his coming trial for the al
legged sale of liquors over his counter In
a dry town. If some of the deacons
and society members who are said to have
'winked' at Edwards are not called as
witnesses to explain those alleged winks.
there will be rejoicing.
Edwards is to be tried next week be-
fore County Judge Grifling, in Riverhead.
When an indictment was found against
him many of his fellow townsmen said,
Too bad" When, however, it became
known he expected to call many of his
customers to explain to the court just
what had taken place in his store, there
was an epithet added to the TOO bad"
The list of possible witnesses includes not
Cllly plOlilllltll ClluICbl-tl dlNu iltl a
ing in temperance work. but women as
we'll. District Attorney Furman has a list
Of witnesses he may call.
81 stumbled across something new the
other day. said a trained nurse, quoted
by the Sun. my patient is one of New
York's rich women with a long Christmas
list, on which are the names of many chill
dren. She kept worrying about an APP
rointment she had the next day and which
she couldn't possibly break. Finally I
made her tell me what 1t was and she said
1t was with a special clerk in a large toy
store who always went with her from one
department to another advising. suggesting
and selecting suitable children's gifts. 1
finally insisted on ~telephoning to the toy
shop and was amazed to have the answer
that every hour of this clerks time was
engaged until Christmas day and that Il
would be impossible for them to assign
my patient a clerk of this kind IL the
present appointment were broken. In talk
ing with my patient afterward about this
she said that valuable clerks of this kind
were sometimes engaged long in advance
and it was impossible to get an hour of
their time in any other way. The result
was that my patient kept her appointment
at the toy shop, though she was hardly
able to leave her bed"
Rudyard Kiphng, in his story, 9TH
Bridge Builders" wrote that whenever
birds in large numbers alight on a bridge
either in course of construction or COM
pleted, it is q sure sign that 1t is safe.
Whether that be true or merely a saying
of the far east, it is a fact that the new
greensboro ridge over the East river and
Blackwells island has become a favorite
rendezvous of all sorts of b~irds-pigeons,
sparrows and even wild ducks. They
come with the dusk by thousands and are
there until the workmen turn to In the
morning.
Edward e. Sinclair, engineer of the
bridges construction corps, has never
known a bridge that birds have trusted
to fall in his twenty years experience. He
wrote a letter to the bridge celebration
committee in which he directed the at
tention of the member to the way birds
were patronizing the structure.
ut is an indication" said Mr.. Sinclair,
that the structure is perfectly strong and
will stand all tests. 1 was employed in
bridge building in Iowa several years ago
and before the bridge was completed the
birds strangely made their home on 1t.
This bridge was also criticised, but 1t is
standing today and has done twice the
work ever contemplated.
Another bridge whose stability was ques-
toned and to which the birds flocked was
built across the Missouri river by the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad, and
this bridge is doing great work today.
Many of my associates In bridge building
have noticed this same true instinct OF
birds and oTnithologists say that birds in
large flocks win not settle on a weak
structure"
The bridge workers are glad the birds
have come to the bridge, for they are
prone to believe in omens, as most OF
them have been sailors in their time.
An artists model out of work answered
an advertisement that took her into 9
Worth street office building. There she
found that 1t was a manufacturer Of waS
show figures that had advertised for q
model.
II didn't know" gasped the young
woman, that models were required fol
l those wax women you see in store win.
5 dows."