Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-31
THE CITY

will-but everybody knows what the
COLLINS will do!
Still, if you want to dare your for
tune tonight and are willing to take
the consequences. all you have to do IS
to start out in the dark of the moon
and, after YOU get to the far corner.
turn around three times and you are
there.
witch. paid your dime and taken your
turn before the black curtain. a
swathed arm will be extended through
hole in the drapery to guide a ouIJa
board that will know everything
about you-and q whole lot more.
will be for the benefit of some little
children who need warm clothing to
fight off that other old witch named
Winter, perhaps it will be as we'll for
Only, don't say you were not warned.
If you hike back to the slave days
of the south you will meet up with
witches who marry hants-and you
know what hants are, Why, there's
an old lady in this very town who
loween night her black nurse toted her
to the graveyard and put in her mouth
a crumb of sod taken from the grave
of sinner outside of consecrated
ground so that she would marry
witches, she ''woken the dead" by
yelling out-and what was the result?
She didn't get a husband. And she
never will-isn't it awful? If You
doubt this thing. go over to George
town and ring the bell and Carrie
who is first cousin to the ace of
spades and granddaughter of the slave
nurse. will open the door and show
you upstairs because Old Miss goes on
erutehes and can't get down to the
first hand. And you couldn't possibly
ask for anything more conclusive than
that, could you? You could not.
If you have inherited a Scotch
plaidie and an Ivanhoe dialect it will
keep you busy lodging this years
crop of Halloween witches, unless you
follow this recipe--handed down:
First of everything, You must think
kind thoughts and say kind words to
every one who comes along. for the
good dead will be walking the earth
tonight and they will pick up your
words and deeds-the kind ones, I'M
derstand-and stone the bad witches
until they draw one drop of blood
from each left shoulder blade-and
that will send them flying to the third
dead will do that for you as their last
penance before rising to heaven on
All Saints day. which is tomorrow
Prosaically considered, the spirit of
Halloween is one Of fun instead of
magic, since education has taken
away from us the faith that staked
futures on the snap Of a toasted nut
or the wriggle of an apple pairing
There will be prankish jests and the |
joyous laughter of youth here, there |
and everywhere all over town, but
somehow, neighbors dear
Myth is more enhancing than his
tory. just as a bride path is more
picturesque than the main road, |
though you know that the main road |
is more useful and helpful in every
And hana1ISa ~ l,,t 80
ference: History is written up and |
myth is handed down.
\ x
TT is easy enough to boss railway |
company-if you know how.
Wednesday morning a member of a !
newspaper family-meaning a re-
porter-stepped out of an Avenue car
on to the wooden platform.
AS she touched ground she trod on ]
splintered plank that twisted her
heel and would have keeled her over |
except that God is good to the Irish! |
Well. to be exact, she isn't Irish, but |
God was good to her, anyhow, and she |
got off with just enough escape from
danger to make her feel that it was
Up to her to protect some other pas
senser's foot. and also. to save the
line from 4 laWsuit--for. say, chill
dren, when we come right down to il
we couldn't get along without the
cars, now could We? The noes have lit.
Several standing-by people offered
suggestions to the reporter as to dam
ages in case "she had sprained her
foot" but she hadn't sprained her
foot. So she waited until the next car
came along. and while a couple of
were getting aboard she
called the motorman's attention to
the broken board.
You tell your folks they want to
hurry down here and mend this plat
form before they get into trouble"
And by Wednesday afternoon car
penters had laid down three new
plapks,
Easy enough to get action out of ear
rompa nies-ir you go about it in the
right we. MAMIE Lane: cs..' 60.