The Washington herald., 1913-02-05

Henry Barnhart. a genial citizen
who represents the South Bend. Ind,
district. has a gold pen that he won as
prize back in his grammar school days
for making the greatest improvement in
his penmanship in {, given period As
he writes only a fairly legible hand to-
day, one is forced to brush politeness
aside and get after the facts as TO the
kind of a hand he wrote before the prize
contest was proposed.
The teachers kind offer was 20 help
each pupil make all the improvement pos
sible in three weeks. At the beginning
of the contest she took a sample of each
pupils writing, and this was TO be COM
pared with the best specimen he turned
out up TO 80 p. m. of the closing day.
Now. do your very best" the teacher
enjoined. when she set them writing
out the first set of specimens.
But Barnhart was crafty. He did not
do his best Logically enough, he figured
out that II he made his work too attrac-
tive at the start he would have all the
farther TO go if he was to finish within
the money. So he wrote i very punkc-
rino sample to start with. Three weeks
later he stuck his tongue into his left
check and did his blamcdcst. The teach
or said his Improvement was wonderful.
simply wonderful: She prophcsied that
il he kept up the same rate Of improve
ment during the rest of the time he was
in school he would be good enough some
day TO occupy the chair Of penmanship
at some good business college. But nc
failed to keep up the Improvement He
can't write any prcttier now than he
could the day he won the gold pen.
Representative Henry d. Clayton Of
Eufaula. Ala, Is chairman oC the House
Committee on Judiciary, and has been
mentioned several times for a place In
President-elect Wilson's Cabinet. But
when he first entered the Congressional
latitude some sixteen years ago, Clayton
was much less acquainted with the ways
Of the big. wide world and the tricks
men are up TO than he Is now. Shortly
after he got here. Clayton noticed
friend among his colleagues wearing a
lovely new suit OF clothes
How much was it," asked Clayton
not trying to conceal a certain degree
Of envy that he felt.
"Seventeen-fifty,'' replied the proprietor
of the new suit, though as matter OF
fact the outfit had stood him nearer SO.
Cheap enough" opined Clayton I'D
like to get one like that myself"
The friend kindly offered to introduce
CLAYTON to his tailor. Before doing so,
however. he took several other col
leagues into a little scheme. The tailor
was to charge Clayton less than so for
a suit. and they would pay the differ
ence, but the garments were to be made
Just a certain way.
CLAYTON picked out an attractive pat
tern and the tailor went ahead. At the
try-on the suit looked innocent. but when
Clayton started to dress up" in 1t the
first time he found himself in garments
that outdid even the ''snappy suits for
varsity men of a later period. There
were braided cuffs trimmed with rows
of buttons. faring hips. cunnin' little
new-fangled flaps to the pockets, and
every possible touch that would have
made the suit attract attention at
meeting OF freshman glee and mando-
lin club.
Clayton. of course. refused to wear or
pay for the suit. and the story is that
there was an almost complete estrange-
ment between him and the offending tall
or for a long time.