Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-29

w y ciples of the ma
lions, and the ones that impress by
their sheer magnitude-are remember
ed by the world in general for many
day and retold for generations that fol-
low after.
But, every year, there is a succession
of events OF minor moment that are
duly chronicled in the newspapers be-
cause of their unusual character and
interest at the time-and then prompt
~ forgotten. Every now and then one
comes across them in the daily papers
and wonders. perhaps. that such things
could exist in this twentieth century.
partial summary of such happenings
In the year just drawing to close.
however, cannot but impress upon the
mind the verify of that old adage.
Truth is stranger than fiction.
Running almost the complete gamut
Of human emotion. the queer events OF
1912 are no more amazing, perhaps.
than those of other years. But that
they are unusual can scarcely be gain
said. They vary in character from
comedy to tragedy. from the noble TO
the ignoble from the ridiculous to the
grave and from the plausible to the
apparently impossible.
x
AS a rule. a dinner is either good
or bad one. according to ones ap-
petite and the viands provided. But
at one given at Atlantic City. n. j..
last January the guests were pre-
scented with one-hundred dollar bills as
souvenirs of the occasion-and there
were over dozen guests. The host
was a wealthy. retired business man of
that place. and the dinner was gwen
IL dow q a
wives and husbands 1t was. OF course,
strictly a family affair.
The guests were scarcely seated when
one of the daughters. who had Just
lifted her napkin. cried. What is this:
A hundred dollar bill had fallen out In
to her lap. .,.
Yours, replied the most with d
smile.
ment and a hurried unfolding of napkins
and more gaspS. "a,
another daughter. .oross Tho
hoard" laughed the pleased father;
Make them souvenirs-unless you need
them as favor And then ne chuchieo
softly to himself.
Quite different in character was an
other family dinner, during the same
month, in Chicago. Ill. just a month De,
fore a woman had identified and buried
n much mutilated body, killed by street
car as that of her sister. Imagine, then.
her CONSERVATION as she and her famhy
sat at dinner to see this sister walk CAM
TX into the room and draw chair up to
the table.
rs it really you. or are we going
crazy the shocked woman cried We
buried you month ago 49,,
Well I'm not exactly dead Ihe
eouaIly amazed sister answered. and
hope to live for some time Later an
effort was made to identify the corpse
buried as that of the sister
The very last cry in dinners. however,
was one given in San Francisco when
1912 was but few weeks old. 1t was
heralded widely as the animal dinner,
and cost a pretty penny. Through the
art and devices of the decorator. the
scene of the dinner was facsimile OF a
Jungle with the figures of lions and
tigers, CRATES and elephants peering out
from miniature thickets. 1t was the in
PRODUCTION of living creatures. however,
that gave the affair its real aplomb
Frogs. lizards. canary birds. ducks.
parrots, and even crabs Kept the lay
figures of the beasts of the jungle from
feeling lonesome. The lizards squlrmed
about in the grass and flower decorations
on the table and frogs hoped into the
laps OF the guests. causing many femi-
nine cheek to blanche even through us
coat of makeup. Ducks waddled
around on the floor, and the birds flew
wildly about among the electric bulbs in
the jungle. Crabs wriggled across the
snowy linen of the table and stuck up
their gaping claws in futile protest.
But that was not all AS the guests
were being seated two parrots began to
cheer vociferousls, and one of them that
happened to he of the sea-faring variety
cut loose with a choice assortment or
nautical terms. profane and otherwise.
He was promptly fed bread soaked in
champa gne and true 10 his decp-sea
training. gohbled up all that was offered
him ard then toppled TO the floor, half
seas over.