Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-04

household effects. and I hope that they
will not tax il too high.
The inspector retreated in good form.
But his good humor was not manifest un-
til he had had time to think IL over.
Said another inspector TO woman
whose hair by no stretch of the magma
ton could be called auburn:
Have you made any additions to
your furniture during the past year,
No" she snapped out. but we have
an addition TO the family. Do you tax
babies?''
Perhaps the most difficult people in the
city 10 gain information from are the
Italians These foreigners. some Of
whom really have a good knowledge of
English, often feign ignorance. and the
inspector is usually forced to invent some
clever ruse to obtain the desired infor-
nation. large part of the tax is paid
by these foreigners. as SO many of them
keep small stores and fruit stands
One very old darby, whose chief pos
session was a horse and wagon. was Wis
tied by an inspector not long ago, who
asked his name.
George Washington, sah.'' he an
swered.
well. shake hands" said the inspector
genially: Il have always wanted to meet
George Washington"
The old darby grinned his appreciation
and paid his tax as dutifully as the orig
inal George would have done.
Another inspector, noted for his Ches-
terfieldian manners. once rang the bell at
a modest residence in the northeast sec
ton and asked 1.-The lady of the house" If
she would kindly give him the informa-
ton he sought
Certainly" she replied Walk right
in. We have nine cases of scarlet fever
here. but j suppose you have guarded
against that"
frightened inspector forgot Lord Chester
field completely and could only gasp:
I'm call again
This work of the inspectors. which is
known as 'field notes" is presented at the
ONCE and there made into field books"
The record of the returns made by each
individual last year and this is then writ
ten with the name and address. and the
books are ready for the appraisers use.
Every year a printed blank schedule of
all tangible personal property and all
general merchandise or stock in trade
owned or held in trust or otherwise sub
ject to taxation is furnished by the as
SCISSOR Notice that the blank schedule is
ready for distribution is required by law
to be advertised for three successive sec
ular days. The period prescribed for the
fling OF returns Is during the month OF
July and on or before the 1st day OF Au-
period stated Is penalized by the addition
of 20 per cent to an assessment OF the
property by the board OF personal tax
appraisers
-
During the latter part OF the month OF
July the ONCE of the personal tax han
died from seven hundred to a thousand
people a day. and even now the process
sion Is a steady one. All manner of
people are busy making out their papers
and swearing to the statements they have
made. There are some taxpayers who
cannot write their names and are obliged
to sign the afldavit by making a mark
There are many interesting Incidents in
this work. One old colored man was re-
markable for his great honesty. The pre-
ceding year he had been taxed for two
cows. but in the meantime one had died
and the other had been sold. He then
purchased COW which he declared to
be worth as much as the other two His
efforts TO be perfectly truthful were i'm
pressive indeed. He explained that the
diseased cow had been SO very old and
the one he owned at present was SO far
superior to the one he had sold that he