The Washington herald., 1918-09-01

mains having been removed The
new grave was closed on all that re-
manned Of the most eccentric Bohe-
mian of that period One OF the
Washington newspapers stated that
Beau Hickman had no friends. but
he died without enemies"
The Washington Sunday Capital.
long since out of existence. published
a poem "In Memoriam-Beau Hick-
man" Here 10 an extract from the
poem:
His quarters for jesting hereafter.
Will be pitched in the land Of no
mirth.
The Jester who moved US To laughter
At a quarter apiece upon earth.
He will pun on the key Of st. Peter.
And the trumpet of Gabriel he'll toot.
And bore them in rhyme or in meter.
And charge them a quarter to boot.
He professed to subsist without labor.
A wag and a dead-beat II Is true,
But they say he ne'er slandered his
neighbor,
Which is more than his neighbor
can do.
aCol." Pinchover.
A few years after the curtains had
been drawn upon Beau" Hickman.
another picturesque and quaint
character appeared in the hotel lob
bies OF Washington in the person OF
Col" Morris Pinchover. He was a
man of small stature perhaps 80 years
of age. He was a Hebrew and Was
generally faultlessly attired. His
hallucination was that he had in
herited greatness and ability as q
great detective. He made his head
quarters at the st. Marc Hotel. In
what Is now the Central National
Bank Building at the northeast
corner of Seventh street and Pennsyl-
vania avenue Ee first came into the
limelight here about 1873 when he
organized a mythical detective bureau
with imaginary branches in all paris
OF the world, and declared he intend
ed to out-Pinkerton all the noted
sleuths. He had employed about 800
men in this city at fabulous salaries
as his assistants. before II became
known that he was mentally un-
balanced
Later he announced himself as q
candidate for election as Member
of Congress from Baltimore-at-large,
and established his political headquar-
tiers at the bar Of the St Marc
Hotel, on the first floor Of that hos
telry. Election night the "Coloner'
was on hand at headquarters, and a
number of newspaper men were kept
busy handing him fake telegrams an
nouncing the PROGRESS Of the election.
About midnight one of the reporters
handed Col. Pinchover q telegram
which read:
Seven Million Majority.
CONGRATULATIONS Baltimore sends
her favorite son and the greatest
American, Col. Morris Pinchover. to
Congress by 100000 majority"
Those assembled about the bar set
UP a wild yell for Pinchover. and he
was required to stand upon q SOAP
box and deliver q speech. Then fol-
lowed round after round Of drinks.
and the committee assisted the
Congressman-at-large from Baltimore,
in a decidedly wobbly condition, to his
apartments on Sixth street. The fol-
lowing day he proceeded to the House
OF Representatives and demanded to
be seated. He was Informed that his
case would be presented to Speaker
Samuel J. Randall. When he called
to see the Speaker he was refused
admittance to his office. and procur-
ing a knife threatened to kill Mr..
Randall unless his seat in the House
was forthcoming. The authorities
were called in and the Colonel" was
sent to the government hospital for
the insane, where he died later. II is
said.
Some Others
The other queer characters who In
tested this city in the past sixty
years were legion.
They include the Frenchman with
"a bushel Of hair" who frequented
the downtown section of the city
after dark generally and sometimes
rode in an old cart hauled by q ven-
erable mule. His hair reached to
his feet and was held on top Of his
head zen masse," as he explained,
by a large black cambric bag. II
is said he became demented while
serving as French outpust In the
war between Germany and France
in 1870. He was compelled to lie in
mo. Mans Land" between the lines
more than six hours under a ter
rife artillery and musketry fire. wher
rescued his reason had fed.
The Second Christ" clad in a can.
vas robe. with sandals Of the sans
material. long blond whiskers ant
hair, was a familiar figure on tn,
downtown streets until the police de-
- a. - 4. -.
as vagrant In the Police Cour'
at his trial, one Of the colored law
yers shocked Judge Kimball by de
claring in open court that "shoult
the real Jesus Christ come to Wash,
ington clad in his purple robe. som'
overzealous policeman would arres
him and the court would send hin
down as q vag."
Dick Minor. the banjo man.
fourished here some years ago. AM
was reputed to have the }arges
mouth on earth. He plnnked hi
banjo about town and sang the conni,
songs Of the period. winding up witt
a hurricane Of laughter and the open
ing of his cavernous mouth. and thei
passed around his hat
The Apple Man
Friday the apple man, VIII b
remembered by old-timers- He al
ways stationed himself IN the = ali
west walk leading to the Capito
from Pennsylvania avenue, with tsS'
baskets filled with rosy, red. rip
apples. Many former Senators AM
Representatives were his patrons
| On one occasion Hermann, the note,
ma efcfan then perforulfnR at the Ma
tional Theater, was en- route TO tn
Capitol with Southern member. Ap
lproachfng friday the magicial
picked up an APPLE and cutting II Il
two apparently took from IT. cent?
q gold five-dollar piece. He repe1te'
| the operation while "Frfday's eye
bulged with ast6nishment
.XhAk ~ n ~ - - k1znG1