Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-16
Around the City

Two nice women were confabbing at a
store counter, subject, dry goods. The
| raise in the price of cotton poplin re-
minded one of them in some occult way
| of peddlers and the bargains one may
| find in their packs.
Sometimes they cheat. of course but
usually they sell much cheaper than the
| stores do"
The other woman interrupted with the
assurance of one who knows a thing or
two:
That's because they smuggle their
stuff
Maybe SO. but you certainly get some
lucky bargains sometimes. A peddler
| came to my sisters home in the country
one evening, not long ago. He had a big
pack full of everything and by the time
we had looked over lot of 1t and
bought few things it was SO late that
he asked IL she could accommodate him
for the night. He was real neat, with
nice white shirt and all. and as the men
folks were willing, my sister invited him
to supper, put him in the spare room
and kept his breakfast hot for him long
after the men had had theirs and gone to
| the fields. When the peddler came down,
fresh from good rest, he thanked my
sister for taking him in and asked what
| he owed her. or course, she wouldn't &C
| cept money for a little kindness in her
| own home and that seemed to surprise
! and please him so that she was real
| touched when he said:
| Id like you to have the best bargain
| in my pack, madam, in return for your
favor. l noticed that the handsome
spread on my bed is fellow to one am
carrying. You know its worth. but I'll
| sell 1t to you for exactly what it cost
| me-three dollars
| He displayed his spread and my sister
knew that he was letting her have 1t for
| less than half she had paid for hers, SO
| She took 1t, and, to show her apprecia-
| ton, bought few more things. When
| the peddler left she flew upstairs to COM
pare her bargain with her own spread
but there was no spread. The peddler
| had made her pay So for it,
My soul and body! Where was the
| luck about that deal?"
why the peddler was lucky to escape
| before the men folks could lay hold of
him. And my sister was lucky because
she let him have her money without be-
| ing most likely killed for tt
And by that time the customer who
was listening got her package and left
the counter for the notion department.
batch of tagged to-death excursion
lists were filing out of the east terrace
of the White House when a woman at
the tail end of the party turned to look
back while the others plodded on.
In the south grounds gardener was
moving the grass; squirrels scudded up
and down trees: fountain spray flashed
diamond prfsms in the sunshine, and
| everywhere were flowers and flowers and
flowers.
And when she had taken in the view
with eyes that promised to see 1t in
| memory for the balance of her life, the
| woman said to a native who was near
at hand, loking at the fish pond:
II don't wonder at a mans wanting
to be President. To get this yard
wouldn't mind running myself"
So now you know what's going to hap
| pen when woman gets her vote.
| A man In smoked glass spectacles
| stumbled along with a cane. His trousers
were civil war blue and his rough rider
| hat stood for the scrap with Spain. On
| one arm dangled hank of shoe strings.
AS two men passed the old vender one
| said to the other:
| IF our pension roll is the greatest in
| the world, how comes ii that veteran
| of two wars has to scratch a living out
of the curbstone?"
That's easy. So many undeserv1ng
people get pensions that there isn't
enough left for those who do If 1 used
shoe laces I'd buy pair, poor old chap.
It didn't seem to occur to him that he
might have bought them anyhow.
A dog with a bleeding paw limped along
Market space Many people gave the lit
tie creature a look of sympathy. but the
world is busy place. and no one gave
helping hand, though two women stopped
to commiserate the SunerlnS tney couiu
not allay.
IF only there was a boy around. I'd
nav him to take the poor little thing
some place to
a pound and that's the last place on
earth he'd want to go to
A passing man, who must have been
Solomon for wisdom, stopped long
nf fhn fYnCy g
future
Don't fret yourselves, ladies. The dog
is a fancy breed and wears tag. Some
fellow will snatch him up presently and
relieve him for the sake of the reward
that is sure to be offered. Dogs like that
come high"
Which seems to show that money
means heap. even to dog.
EVERY time a band passes me 1t stops
playing
The woman who walled thus was
watching the parade from a curbstone
The woman behind who heard without
being able to see on account OF the wau-
er's parasol moved down the street
bit and took her stand behind a bunch of
lovely girls who had plainly darted bare
headed from some desk store along
the line OF march They were joyous.
gum chewing youngsters. who giggled at
everything and nothing. until the one
with peck of puffs on her poor little
noodle SAID.
Course the music had to let up when
it come by me; I never knowed it to fail"
ME neither, Name"
Same here. Amt it the limit? Say,
Myrt, lemme your apron to keep the sun
out of my eyes, Will your!
No human eye, fourth row back, can
see through an apron double twice. so the
woman behind took another saunter until
she found really fine place with only a
dear old couple in front And the dear
old woman was saying to the dear old
man:
1--WE always noticed that band Of mu-
sic ceases to play whenever 1t passes me.
Queer isn't it?''
Eyes. it is. I've often noticed the same
thing myself"
All this is very commonplace, of course,
but 1t interested the woman behind be-
cause she had always considered it a
curious fact that every time a band
PASSED her the music gave way to drums.
Ever notice it, yourself?
Test Of Wines Purity.
From the Los Angeles Times.