Evening star., 1909-04-25


rated with flowers and palms.
Around the City
A man was out for a walk last Sum
day morning. Behind him followed dog
Behind the dog followed crowd.
Cause? The dogs silky brown coat had
been shaved so that his almost bare back
served as a ground for enough silky
brown letters to spell out the name
Teddy"
Anybody know Teddy?
One of the big magnolia trees in the
White House grounds stands SO near the
avenue railings that its creamy leaves
drift through to the tagging. A woman
who was passing picked up one of the pet
ais and called attention to its beauty.
Pretty enough admitted the man
with her. But you notice the ground
looks like convention OF banana skin
stains. Every smear shows where some
passerby has slipped up on the pulpy
things. Old tree ought to be cut down.
That's what!'
'Why. Bob. Glorious blossoms like
these should give you nobler thoughts"
I'll be thankful il they don't give me
a game leg"
And the woman behind. who had slip
ped on a leaf last spring and ltmped for
week afterward, fully agreed with Bob
mrs Mooley- Cooley was chewing her
eud Of bovine meditation wnen q social
greeting from across the grass caused her
to turn her head and wait further amen
tiles with placidly lazy eyes.
The greeting came from man who had
:,,.t yAAf ha re nd
was making for Mrs. Mooley with an
agility not usual to a man Of his girth
and years.
He was a tremendously big, smiling
man in gray and every step seemed to
suggest that the White House was his
1t was not the President
A rooster is an ordinary creature. and
a park is an ordinary place. The two
combined made free and extraordinary
show yesterday afternoon.
Old Franklin Park was like bouquet
with it's blossomy bushes and big trees
full of new little leaves and building
birds. And the children and squirrels and
robins had 1t all to themselves until
colored woman came along and sat down
on a bench.
Picking its way leisurely over the grass
near the bench was snowy rooster, with
a custard yellow hackle and a comb or
the red that goes with perfect condition.
The woman held out her hand and the
rooster investigated.
BY the time she had coaxed him to peck
at the something she offered, three girls
and an elderly man with a young woman
paused to look on. When the rooster
ucked trustngly and straddled Its yell
low legs a few steps nearer to the COL
ored woman, four more women, two men
and a boy on a bicycle stopped to
watch the performance.
And by the time the colored woman
had lured the thing to her lap and was
cuddling 1t in her arms every child IN
the park and every passerby In sight was
swarmed in a mass that overhOwed the
grass and flied the tagging beyond.
Which shows what environment will do,
even for a rooster.
Two people were blowing along in an
icy April wind. The young woman looked
like a spring poem in light green silk
princess with a big white hat weighted
down with vegetables, flowers and fruits.
To be strictly exact, that Is what she
would have looked like except that her
shoulders were bumped to Withstand the
blasts, and her nose was OF the snuny
red that comes from forcing the season
Any woman could tell that she had
forced the season-poor. foolish little soul
for the sake of looking fine In the eyes
of her companion.
He was a big, bony young man in an
overcoat. And the hand that went up to
his hat every time an extra gust came
along was covered with midwinter dog
skins
AS the wind swept them past Epiphany
Church they met another young woman.
who laughed out greeting rs she blew
on her way uptown. She wa gay and
coquettish in mulberry red 9th and sill
yer fox toque, with big yellow jonquil
tucked snugly at her jacketed throat.
and there was a si.ver fox muff.
Talk about your Gibson girls"' ex-
me Miss Blank every time. Say. if |
cou'd paint that girl in that rig, bright
as sunbeam and warm as toast with
just that one blossom. I'd call her the
spirit of the April wind and make for
tune-Oh, confound it,
For just then a particularly extra gust
came along and blew the young mans
derby across TO the car track. Which
served him right.
And the spring poem snuffled or Sob
bed. You couldn't tell which.
A bay horse hitched to a carriage stood
in front Of a store. Every time car
passed the horse jerked his head and
at the same time he started to run away.
At the first rush the vehicle turned
completely over. Even frightened horse
cannot 2allop with fringe-canopied trap
dragging at his heels. But he was max
ing ahead with a velocity that promised
destruction to whoever got in his way.
when a quiet-looking man darted from
the pavement and grabbed the dragging
renS.
The horse paved and reared and foam
ed at the bit. The Quiet man was in
vincible. BY the time the driver had ma
terialiZed-corner saloon; s-h-h! don't
mention 1.-THE animal had quieted down.
A runaway and rescue are always .
drawing card. The driver put the light
carriage back on its wheels under the
supervision of many critics. who knew
just how the thing should be done.
crowd naturally expects exciting
things to happen, and 1t does not like to
be disappointed. But in this instance it
was cheated, for the quiet man had got
a shaft was broken nor tire strained.
WAS that gentleman the owner?"
shrilled out a voice whose owner was
eaten alive by curiosity. and the driver
knew better than TO keep quiet.
Nome. he amt the owner
well, he certainly is one grand man.,
clipped in another Woman-a big-boned
enthusiast with an artistic temperament
that ran to adjectives.
Hes a regular hero. and I'd like to
tell him so. Why. wheDs that noble
fellow got to?"
Tie noble fellow had shown his good
sense by vanishing. The crowd waited
hungrily for something more to happen.
But the horse had sobered down into dull
docility and the drivers face showed
blessed relief as the last straggler drifted
away.
Then he seated himself imposingly on
the front seat. The boss came out and
seated himself behind, placidly uncon-
scious of how near he had come 10 en-
tering on the wrong side of his ledger
wrecked carriage and a runaway bay.