Evening star., 1921-03-27
HEARD AND SEEN

One may attract the attention OF a
pretty girl and not think SO much OF
it.
The highest government officials
sometimes wave friendly greeting, yet
one does not become overproud be-
cause OF il.
But to attract the attention OF
horse is a feat.
At least so thinks one local man.
who succeeded in making a horse take
personal. intentional interest in him.
The old horse was standing hitched
to a wagon on Pennsylvania avenue.
when the man stepped off the curb
close to the horses head.
That horse deliberately turned its
head and looked the man calmly In
the eye, much as il it was about to
speak. At least. that was the way IL
appeared to the man.
I've been passing horses all my
life" the man said. afterward, but
that was the first time horse ever
paid any attention to me-
He actually seemed stuck up" over
it.
A sample rapid transit mail box
disappeared the other day out of the
Office of City Postmaster Chance to
as suddenly reappear in the office of
Assistant City Postmaster Haycock.
There was a reason.
1t had to do with a woman and her
income tax. and what nearly happened
to her, or, rather didn't happen to her.
The mail box was sitting against
the wall in the poStmaster's room as
a souvenir of the recent installation
of the boxes on four street cars rum
ming between Georgetown and Rock
vile.
The woman came into the Office to
get the postmaster's secretary to
swear her to her income tax. When
| this had been done the woman sealed
her letter. addressed to the collector
of internal revenue at Baltimore. and
calmly walked over to the box to
mail it,"
She was about to drop the letter
into the box when an official deferred
her.
And you couldn't blame her. for the
box fitted in we'll with its surround
ings. and had a big United States
! mail sign on it. and looked for all
the world like a bona fide place to
| mail letters.
When the woman left the postmaster
and his assistants made a hurried
search of the box to see If any other
recent visitors had mailed" letters
there. None had. but to prevent the
possibility the box was moved into
the Office of the assistant postmaster.
Officials shudder as they contemplate
what might have happened to the in
nocent woman. whose income tax re-
port would have lain untouched at
the bottom of the box.
Unsung heroes of the government
service are DR.. Mitchell and Maj.
Bowie, local forecasters at the United
States weather bureau.
Very few people who daily read the
weather forecasts printed in the up
per corners of local newspapers real
ize that one or the other of the above
mentioned gentlemen are on duty
fourteen hours a day to supply them.
The two men alternate on the local
forecasts, each taking the trick for
month at a time. The man on duty
gets to the weather bureau at $50
am. each day, and stays there until
1890 pm.
Owing to the stress Of the work. and
the long hours, each man takes only a
month of it at time.
X
An official of bureau in the pension
office was in a reminiscent state of
mind.
His visitor waited while the chief
put his signature to an absence card
brought in by pretty young girl,
who wore the short sleeves, shorter
skirt and low neck of the prevailing
mode.
AS the young lady gracefully walked
away, the official turned to his caller.
when l came here thirty years
ago." ne said, I'VE never had anything
like that around here"
CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.