The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-05-11

BY FRED c. KELLY.

President Wilson vas obliged TO turn
from the Affairs Of State the ether day
and write his personal check In payment
for three month"; board Of . foolish
looking cat that was not worth 70 cents
all because Of Edward B. Clark.
Clark, who 10 the Washington rspressn'
tative OF . big Chicago Newspaper
black cat into the main doorway Of tht
White House one day. thinking that fhs
cat looked hungry and might md hos.
pitality within-and also that IL migh'
bring good luck.
In q few moments the President cams
along, and the black cat rubbed against
his leg. One OF the negro employees o.
the White House noted the act OF the
cat in rubbing against the President, and
when some one made n move TO chase
the cat away that negro was horrifed-
"what- says he. Chase away q stray
black cat after II done rubbed against
the Presidents leg and brought him good
luck? -
Other colored servants about the Execu-
tive Mansion took the same view. and
were in great alarm lest the cat should
be sent away. The situation was brought
to the attention of the President. and
to humor the superstitions Of the servants
he agreed that the cat should be perma'
nently annexed to the household. How
ever, the cat was far from q well cat.
and grave fears were entertained that II
might die in the White House. Everybody
conceded that no good could come Of a
black cat giving up its lives there.
So the cat was sent to a hospital for
treatment You see, II was not regarded
as bad luck to send IL away. once 1t had
been officially recognized as belonging to
the White House.
For three months IL stayed in the hos
pital, and at the end Of that time the
President sent his personal check for Its
treatment. Now II Is back at the White
House. and will remain there.
But those versed in auguries might
point out that something about the hand
ling of the cat was wrong. else the
Presidents troubles over canal tolls and
black cat shedding its coat against
ones trouser leg is not such ALFRED
good luck after all
Rear Admiral Charles j. Badger was
one of the stars in his class In his An
napolis days. He finished eighth IN a
class Of twenty-nine and stood second
In seamanship. There was just one
branch Of the Annapolis course that
bduGtF Coulu not HldSlcT. tiiat =" 40
fencing. At the time Of his graduation
there were only two members Of the
class who could not fence better than
Badger. He used to slip on by himself
and practice in front Of a mirror by the
hour. but twas no use; at fencing he
was a hopeless cripple. II the Mexican
affair were to be settled by personal con-
fiict, with the sword or cutlass. as in
the old pirate tales, and Badger were
put I'D to represent our side. We would
find ourselves in pretty mess indeed.
Badgers low standing in fencing and
high standing in all other branches re-
calls the fact that at the Naval Acad-
envy, as at most other institutions of
learning. the boys that swipe all the
honor prizes are not necessarily those
that have the highest batting average in
after life Badger Is one OF the excep-
tons. AS a rule. the boys at the acad-
envy who have the best chance to be-
come rear admirals and such. are those
that stand neither too high nor too low.
For example. Rear Admiral Fletcher,
one of the most efficient officers in the
navy. stood fourteenth in class of
thirty-two: Rear Admiral Mayo, who
handled the Tampico incident. was four
teenth in a class of forty-two. and Rear
Admiral Beatty was twenty-second with
thirty-two, in the class-the same class
with Fletcher. The boys who showed
too great promise in their student days
often burned themselves out" too young.
and ended up as instructors or got out
of the navy entirely.
Charles ]. Badger Is one of the most
loved officers in the navy. He has a
jovial magnetic temperament that makes
strangers warm right up to him. His
attitude toward his friend. Rear Admiral
Fletcher. at Vera Cruz is said to have
been typical of Badger. Though he out
ranks Fletcher. and was entitled to take
full command at Vera Cruz. Badger felt
that inasmuch as Fletcher was first on
the scene he should be allowed to go
ahead in his own way. For that reason
Fletcher. rather than Badger. will re-
ceive whatever credit is due for the
handling of the Vera Cruz situation.
Senator Oliver. Of Pennsylvania got
into the newspaper business late in life
by right of purchase. One day recently
another publisher asked him how many
ems" there were in his columns-the
number of ems being the measure of
the width of a newspaper column.
I'm sure I don't know" said Oliver:
II presume they use enough ms to spell
all the words correctly"
Vice president Marshall has this defini-
ton for a well-known word:
Experience" says Marshall, lis that
which we learn when it is too late to be
of use"
(Cop,risht. 1914, by Fred c. Kelly. All rights re-
sered)