Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-14
Around the City


lights out Ivy City way wants to know
how the lamp at Trinidad and Mount
Olivet road got smashed. here's how:
1t happened last Sunday afternoon.
Mount Olivet road was a sadly silent
place at that hour. with the row OF white
palings guarding. but not hiding the
cemetery inside. and with everywhere
else made up OF frost-bitten fields and
| leafless trees. But il was not a lonely
road. for over the palings drifted some
thing of the peace that passeth all un-
Outstanding. and there was the cheer of
| home and love in the face of the occa-
sional workman out for Sunday walk
with his wife and babies.
Two women had had the dusky quiet
to themselves for a long stretch when,
with the suddenness Of an explosion. four
boys hurled themselves into the road
three OF them tussling with the fourth
the oldest for a share in the leaf that
he was tearing at. like a fox tears at a
chicken.
One OF the women constituted herself
immediate arbiter OF the conflict. and
having. by some magic known only to
one who works among hoy creatures. Sc
cured a general amnesty and division or
spells, she proceeded to open converse
\ ton. BY way of a pleasant beginning
she asked how bread was to be found
| Is SO far off a place from stores? The
custodian of the loaf explained that he
| had bought IL of a boy down the road.
/ The grins and winks that followed TINS
| statement implied that the purchase had
possessed all the excitement Of hold
up The woman did not push her investi-
ga ton She knew when to stop.
| You look like nice boys. / wonder
| il one of you will run over to that oak
and get me some leaves?
With one clamorous rush they were
across the road, over a fence and on top,
all of them swinging together on sap
ling pin oak that looked ready to snap
from the strain. The woman called
the boys of.
stop that, You will kill that splendid
young tree. Just bring me few leaves.
The youngsters swooped back, each
waving a banner of rudy foliage. and the
party fraternized along like good COM
as they reached Trinidad road. there
was a sharp crash of glass. One of the
horde had hit the street lamp with a
stone.
The woman. furiously indignant. turn
ed on them.
whoever threw that stone is not a
good citizen-which one of you did it.?
Each blamed the other. Each denied.
looked at the leader and laughed.
That's nothing. There's another
broken down the road
The leader accepted the challenge with
the arrogance of one who has job
in Center market and owns no school
teacher for a boss. Cert. he broke
lamps-if he wanted ter"
The other woman who had taken no
star part in the amenities of the road.
must have thought this the right mo-
ment to make herself interesting. She
began by raising her coat collar and
displaying shiny brass shield. Then
she looked at the boy with dimple.
And the boy with dimple looked at the
shield. and read the inscription.
'Police'-see. kids. she's truant
officer"
In jiffy they had bolted across the
road, climbed over into a fenced-in place,
where goats were corralled, and the wom-
en- had the road to themselves.
The other one wasn't truant oficer.
OF course. Her badge was just a-but
never mind about badges.
That was all there was to the incident.
but IL the lamp man wants to learn who
broke his glass globe all he has to do II
to go to a school in n street and pick
out boy with a dimple in his cheek.
He did II.
Some mother had left her baby In its
carriage outside a crowded store. 1t
was q crumb OF a baby. with its face
protected by q veil and its body tucked
under eiderdown except for one speck
the coverlet and lay on IL, wax white
with cold.
Hundreds of women surged in and out
Of the shop, but no one noticed the baby
Two bundle-stacked women noticed the
man.
Look at that fellow. Liz-look at him
leaning over that baby! Sh-I believe he $
going to kidnap It! Look, will YOU
He wasn't much of a man to look at.
For one thing, the blue OF cold and the
red OF dissipation had united on a COM
plexion that was purple. with the royal
left out and his clothes-what there was
OF them-were of the sinister brown that
is poverty's nationa, color Besides, the
furtive way he blinked around to see IL
he were being noticed would have made
him an object of suspicion to his dearest
friend-only, he didn't look as il he owned
one.
But he wasn't trying to kidnap the
baby. He just slipped the tiny hand back
under the coveriet. Then he slouched on.
They were talking about Christmas
"why. how are you going to make your
husband a present II you have no money!
Like ] always do; save II out OF my
weekly allowance
The woman who answered seemed to
| think she had given most satisfactory
explanation. but the other was a really
| superior person who scorned such scrimp-
inss. .,. Ill.,
| gift out of the house money. I've earned
every cent I'm going to spend on him this
| Christmas making shirt waists for the
Blank girls
And a man who was walking behind the
| two women said to his companion:
IF I had a wife like that I'd frame
her
The other man had different view.
That's the kind of frame I'd turn 10
| the wall. Ny old girl cheats me out of
| around Christmas times. It's one OF the
rules of the game. That woman in front
there Is too good To he true. / bet she
bosses that Jim of hers.
| We'll. sir. IL a wife OF mine were to 60
| in my pockets while I was asleep. I'd
Which proved, OF course, that the poor
man was single.
IAN African jungle chicken. Killed by
T. r."
Even an African jungle must have taxed
its Imagination to produce a specimen
| that had a body of fur. the head of a
small fowl and the claws Of big one.
| but, never mind-the trophy was there, all
right, I'm the middle of cafe window on
| nth street for all rival hunters to see
| The card Of explanation failed to state
| Just how T. r. could bring himself to the
point Of turning over his trophy to tho
| cafe man-but. after all. one must not
expect too much from a card.
African jungle chicken was on exhibition
| and that IL furnished good. honest chuc-
kles to business-tired men and women who
had hustled to the little cafe for their bite
| OF luncheon. And a chuckle Is a mighty
| helpful thing along about the middle OF