Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04

time he brought company. evidently nav
ing promised to pass him free said Die &
ems, in one of his letters to Mr.. Forster.
bit, the imposition being revealed, the
other dog apologized by howl and
quickly left the hall
Another incident which appealed to .he
humor of the reader was the presence of
a member of Congress who had been a
military man of distinction. This soldier
statesman came I'm so directly from his
sumptuous dinner that his libations We're
causing drowsness. To insure order d
policeman sat beside him, but time hung
go heavily on the representatives hands
that he left before the reading had pro-
ceeded very far.
On Dickens fifty-siXth birthday. Feb
ruary of that memorable week, the
Washington admirers of the author made
the snowy day a happy one for the
writer, despite the fact that he was suf-
fering from 80 severe a cold that it was
feared he would be unable to give his
reading that night. The papers had an
nouhced THAT the anniversary fell upon
the 7th, and to Dicken5' surprise baskets
of exquisite flowers were sent him IN
such abundance that his rooms We're like
flower gardens. kilograms and letters
poured in all day. and such presents as
cling bottle, sets of gold shirt studs and
a set of gold sleeve buttons arrived be-
fore evening.
That night another surprise awaited
the novelist. the hall being decorated with
flowers After the reading the whole au
dience stood and gave him birthday
cheers, and it is said that ladies threw
their bouquets at his feet and that gen.
tlemen contributed their buttonhole flow
long life. During Dickens short stay in
tho time do
voted to his work, but during the after
noon he usually covered about eight or
ten miles before dinner. being en-
thusiastic pedestrian who could walk
about four miles an hour.
Feeling the impossibility of INDUCING in
social life while attending to his work,
Dickens made it a point to accept no in
vitations, although he varied once from
this rule. On Sunday evening he dined
at the home of Senator Sumner where
Secretary Staunton was also a guest.
During the Secretarys war life he had
never gone to bed at night without read
ing something from the works of Dickens.
His memory was so remarkable that he
could recite nearly any chapter in al
most any book of Dickens in which he
was started. The delightful dinner hour
passed most pleasantly. Dickens was sur
prsed to see that the American Secretary
knew them himself. When Dickens failed
to quote correctly Secretary Staunton
could repeat the actual words.
Realizing that visit to Washington
would not be complete without a call at
the White House, Mr. Simon Hanscom.
the journalist, secured an interview with
President johnson for Mr. Dickens. At
that time the President was not enjoying
a serene public life, but was displaying
such firmness that the writer spoke of
him as man of remarkable appearance
and tremendous f1rmness of purpose, not
to be trifled with
The next day Charles Dickens sight
seeing was to be ended, for that after
noon Senator Sumner took him through
the various government offices. where
there was much to interest the visitor.
The presence of SO many women en-
ployed as clerks in the Treasury Depart
ment caused the most comment from
the writer. 1t was not until the senator
explained that these employees were the
widows and daughters of the soldiers
killed in the war that the author could
understand why many women were
a.e earners IN the government service.
ba of No inc