The Washington bee., 1910-12-03
Public Men AndThinps.
CBv the Sage of the Potomac. }

Well, | am back and on the Job.
Had few days coming on my annual
leave. and an extra dollar or two in
my pocket, so | thought | would take
the leave coming By the way, saw
the Lincoln-Howard game ThanksgiV.
ing. You know | am crazy on foot
ball, and would go a thousand miles
to see a game, if | had the price.
saw the Army and Navy game also
last Saturday. Quite bunch went
over from Washington to the Lincoln
Howard game. sort of felt for DR.
Curtis. There he was a graduate from
Lincoln, and on Howard's medical
staff, trying to do the Kelly Miller
aCt-be for two at the same time. Lin
coin was his old love, but Howard
is his new wife. Every now and Their
Doc. would root for Lincoln, and ii
he caught anyone observing him, he
would come right back with vocifer-
Gus applause for Howard. Couldn't
lose him.
Talking about DR.. Curtis, reminds
me of my first meeting him. 1t was
soon after he came here as Surgeon
in-ChleI at Freedmen's. When | OBJ
served his pompadoured hair, and his
very pointed vandyke, that gave him
striking resemblance to his satanic
majesty, | said TO myself: "He looks
too hellish-like to be good" However
some time later | had to submit to
slight operation, and being short OF
funds, [ got lot of race loyalty in
me, and went to Freedman's and let
colored physician carve the turkey
You know lots of us Hamites love to
patrOnIZe our own color when we are
broke. Well, the way DR.. Curtis han
died my case, and the speed with
which he brought ME around, just as
good as new, caused me to advertise
| him, and | have been touting him as
| the real cheese ever since, when II
comes TO human butChery. And | then
concluded that if he did look sort oi
ihellish-like he was certainly the candy
| kid when it came to removing gall
stones, gravel banks, appendices and
other abnormal grOwths that have
Latin names Doc. is a capital fellow
too; full of the milk of human kind
ness, and a regular sunbeam in a sick
chamber. Really it is no affliction tC
be sick if you have DR.. Curtis to at
| tend you-he's so human and gentle
| And he is coming, too. If you don't
believe it, just focus your star-gazers
on that brown dragon O guess that's
IWhat he calls it,, in which he rushes
at mile a minute through the streets
| Tell you, he looks pretty hefty in thai
ItOurIng car. wearing his vandyke, Ia
| the Duke de AllspOrt. However, al
though he touched me for a few dol
lars since he has been here for surgery
IwOrk and medicine strong enough tC
lgrow heliotropes in lava beds hot from
an erupting volcano, he has never ye
taken me a JOY ride in that auto o
his Maybe he thinks | will never
lneed cutting again. Hope not.
|
| don't like to get on to the schoo
Iquest;on, and | assure you | won't b.
on it long, for it's a most unsatis
factory subject-kind of narrowing
iyou know And besides, | used Il
teach school, in my halycon days, way
down behind the sun, and | know how
| used to get it-damned if | did, anC
damned if | didn't. However, | hav,
lheard some busybOdies, expert gos
Sipers, say that there IS lust a littl
too much intimacy between certain
male teachers and high school girls
OF course, it IS all innocent. Thes
Thigh school girls of ours look awful,
sweet and bewitching, and you can
Iblame the kid teachers much whei
they play Romeo to their Juliet. Yet
Iyou know, in these peerless times It
best to keep within the reserve limit
because people will talk, and do 10
| of it, in this town. This is a gentle
warning to the knatty dressed, cheer,
Iyoung pedagogues who have but re
Gently got hooked on to the teacher
staff, TO slow up and put on the ali
brakes. I'm easy on you, because
used to be a midsummer nights dream
of lover myself, and know how hare
it is to shut your eyes against beauty
But if Chase ever gets after you, my
Icriticism would be as a summer Zephy
to an African simeon, as compared
with his dynamic fumigations. Bet
ter reef in sails-at least until the girl
become sweet girl graduates.
| heard Fred Moore was here Sat
Iurday, and at the White House. WheI
IL heard this my mind ran back Il
years when Fred was messenger in tht
Treasury Department, and | thought
from a messenger to an editor of ;
great newspaper-what a long jump
IOf course, Fred was never intended
for an editor. God never had sucf
a design when he created him, anC
maybe God don't know it yet, but i
does seem as if some men can beat
the plans of gods and devils. There
is many an old Treasury employe who
owes his job to this self same draft
ed editor, or conscripted literi, what
ever you call him, Fred, as a mes
senEer, was a good one. AS l recall
he served under Dan Manning wher
he was Secretary of the Treasury under
| Cleveland. Those were regular day:
of the commune for many of the col
ored men about the Treasury. For Z
while the signing of dismissals was Z
daily pleasure for the Democrats. FREQ
| as Manning'S messenger would blot