Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-17
Arotsnd the City.

a tail. spare man In black stood alone
In he dusk near the white HouDe GAtA
He WAS Q pale man with shaven face
ana bushy Alack eyebrows and he wore
q beaver and carried over one arm .
gray shawl fringed It the ends. Ths
beaver was an old-timy 0tovepdpeS the
shawl . BAREBACK to war timeo-aAd to
the man himself there was an cir q
sad remoteness- IN Old. Old tune
that has been forxotten-and yet-
There was something familiar about
him to the woman who was coming
toward him IN the gray silence It
seemed. at first Hash, that she knew
him.
Then she realized that It was only the
mans resemblance to q familiar picture.
He was wearing historic clothes to play
up q resemblance to Abraham Lincoln.
Now, who do you suppose that man
was? And why should he pose. Ike
that. before the White House gate3
sidering red paper flowers. Her obvious
husband looked on without comment.
The clerk waited ON other customers
pending Q decision. and jam OF other
customers was banked aFo.nds; ..,..
spray OF poinsettta with robusttous scar
let roses on impossible stems, and final
" referred to the man:
- say you liked them-you can 80 down
70 the market and buy . lot Of holly and
Osowfoot to dry up and fall all over
everything. but when 1t comes to mo
CHOOSING the decorations you haven't got
Perhaps the man reflected that she had
enough for two. for he merely mentioned
non committaiiy that the reason he pre-
g. AH~ &ao
wos for tho sentiment Of the thing.
'Henum0&i Huh! It's the color I
Wont-Iu take two 6unches OF pctn-
ssEtaa and dozen yards Of that red and
good for next year. and NO dirt to clean
And tho tragedy OF It is that those two
WIN have to i've out Christmas together.
And every other day.
The post ONCE building has its full
share Of windows. And the windows have
to be cleaned.
The other morning two colored men in
vested their glass washing with danger
thrills that would have been good for
say an ovation in vaudeville.
Each stood on the ledge Of q big win
dow, separated by q narrow partition OF
stone, and II either man had fallen 1t
would have been an area two stories be-
low for his, with rail-impaling As side
chance. Which naturally whetted the In
a
They were Industrious workers, but be-
tween rubs each took time to nap his
towel at the other. And to do II he had
to lean outward across the stone line.
with nothing to catch on to. When they
had exchanged swipes they would start
In at the windows, rub q shine Or two and
exchange another swipe-
The people across the way stared ct
the performance with bulginG eyes.
And when the men were through with
the windows and nothing had happened
in connection with the area and rails they
stopped staring.
And one man who had been watching
looked sort Of disappointed, a. n come
way he had been cheated out OF an ex-
element.
And everybody knows that excitement
10 the salt Of life. And one must have
salt.
He had the carewofn look that comes
from too close application to other peo-
pies affairs. And he stood on the steps
Of the post ONCE and discourSed to an
station car:
'The older get the more disgustsd I
am with the graft Of nefangled things.
Look at those street cleaners. See any
sense In those bags on wheels3 Simply
another District scheme to Grind money
out Of people. Now, IN the old daye-"
The Union station man concluded II was
time to interrupt:
you couldn't 70 downtown On q mud
dy day without being held up at every
crossing by sweep who nicked his slop-
py broom 1t you II you didn't give him q
ttp. Here's my car. Maybe you wish e
was Q nice, poky, 0ld-time horse affair"
He said II as II he enjoyed rubbing the
old days In.