The Washington herald., 1919-03-09

man and the head waiter was order
ed to eject him. Several walters laid
hold of him and he was hustled un-
tremendously to the sidewalk. his
only comment being:
Them fellers don't appreciate home
cookin'."
After this old fellow went out
of business a sad-faced woman known
as "Lottie, the doughnut woman" be-
came his successor. She was inva-
riably dressed in deepest black and
sold her homemade doughnuts princi-
pally to the throngs of shoppers along
street. One of her stunts was an
attempt to enter the Capitol and sell
her wares to Senators and Represent
atives. Her wild theory was that her
home-cooked doughnuts would cause
the solons to have pleasant thohghts
of home and family. Lottie passed on
the local map about twenty years ago
PeddIed HIS Voice.
On frequent occasions In the old
days the police were instructed to
strictly enforce the vagrancy law and
round up all idle and suspicious char
acters and beggars. Such enforcement
was especially ordered I'm advance OF
great gatherings at Washington, such
as the Inauguration of the President.
and many queer specimens OF human
ity were caught in the dragnet of the
law. On one occasion, when the late
Judge Tom Miller presided over the
Police Court, the dock was crowded
to its capacity. most of the prisoners
have been arrested under the vag-
rancy act, which. like charity, covers
multitude Of sins.
James Casey" Clerk Harper sang
out.
Here. SIR" came the response in a
CHEEKY tenor. rs Sam Kendig, the vet
eran baliff. assisted a badly twisted
dwarf to the rail OF the dock.
In measured and solemn tones Har-
per read to the deformed man the in
formation which charged him with be-
ing IAN idle and suspicious person,
found drunk and begging on the public
streets and liable to become charge
able to the District as a pauper''
The policeman who made the arrest
informed the court that he found
Casey on the Bowery begging money
from pedestrians. The prisoner went
upon the stand in his own defense.
Il never begged a penny from any
man in my life," he testified. My
name is Jim Casey. They call me
Jimmy the Singer After singing a
song or two 1 collect from the audi
ence on the sidewalk. just as they dc
in churches and theaters. I do not
beg. sir. 1 sell my voice, which is m.
only stock IN trade. If it is legitl-
mate for a foreigner to peddIe fruit
or whatnot. why is it not lawful for
me to peddle my voice?"
The novel plea of the crippled song
ster appealed to Judge Miller, who
was once referred to as the Solo
mon of the Police Court" and he
promptly dismissed the case. As Jim
mie was hobblins out OF the court
room on his two shortened crutches
he turned to the Judge and said:
Yer honor. I'll never become a pau
per so long as me voice holds out.
Hermit of + Street.
The recent death OF DR.. Mary Wal
ker recalls a mldcity character known
as the hermit of F street" In the
late '7Os and early sos there were
many residences OF the old style or
architecture on sites now occupied by
modern business houses along F street
between Ninth and Fifteenth streets
northwest. One OF these residences
was on the south side of that thor
oughfare between Ninth and Tenth
streets, about where Crandalrs Met
ropolitan Theater is located. 1t was
owned and occupied by a long-haired
man and his sister, both beyond mid
die life. The man earned a living for
both by repairing violins and other
StrinPad rnnairal In 70 aaoi
ers. His workshop was in a back
room and but few, people had ever
caught a glimpse of the strange man.
Neighbors declared he had not been
seen out of his home for more than
twenty years. His sister, a weakened
woman of about 50 years, attended to
all outside matters, including the COL
lection and delivering of the musical
instruments.
About 1883. while a store front was
being added to the ancient home OF
the hermit by an + street business
man, the structure collapsed, nearly
burying the strange man and his sis
ter in the ruins. Thereafter they lived
under the gabled roof, which remained
intact over the fallen building. They
had burrowed under the roof and ar
ranged a cave-like apartment, in
which they lived and the brother con-
tinued his work The colIaDsed
building was screened from public
view by high billboard, which busi-
ness men regarded as an unsiehtIy
feature. Finally steps were taken by
several prominent business and pro-
fessional men to evict the hermit and
his sister and reclaim the valuable
business location.
Befrfended by DIR. Walker.
Following court proceedings against
the queer couple, active steps were
being taken for their eviction, DIR.
Mary Walker then resided in a small
two-story brick dwelling on Tenth
street between F and G streets. on the
site now occupied by the Wood ward &
LOthrop building. She visited the her
init and volunteered to look after the
interests of himself and his sister.
When the day came for the eviction
OF the violin mender a great crowd
assembled on F street. A newspa Der
had stated that the hermit and his
sister would resist eviction and there
was considerable excitement in the
'neighborhood
The marshal. with about twenty
stalwart colored men, had arrived to
execute the writ of ejectment when
Dr. Mary Walker appeared on the
scene. In a vitriolic speech to the
morbid crowd she characterized the
eviction of the hermit and his sister
as an outrage. She explained that the
building and ground had been the
property of their family since Wash
ington was a struggling VILLAGE Hind
ing that the officers of the law were
oodurate and intended to enforce the
writ TO the letter. she went into the