Evening star., 1923-09-23
Heard and Seen


of the city post office building consti-
tute one of the most unusual pro-
fessions In the National Capital.
These men may be. seen almost any
day, sometimes at the east end Of the
post office, sometimes at the west
end, their tripods set up. all ready
to snap the unwary sfghtseer.
1t is treat to watch their blandish-
ments as they endeavor to get a
passer-by to pose in front. Of the
camera. s-'.
Newly married couples. of course.
are their favorite prey 1t Is easier
to get such a couple to- stand for a
picture than almost any others, es-
pecially il the newlyweds are from
out OF town.
~
The camera men keep keen watch
as persons come along the pavement,
either from Union station or from the
other direction.
Take your picture?" they cry. "Take
your picture?" ..
Sometimes 1t is command. often
| it is an entreaty.
If you allow yourself to stop. to
gaze at the apparatus, you are lost.
Before the victim is aware of 1t the
| camera man is bustling around with
| his outfit, the picture Is taken and
the developing and finishing process
well under way.
It would seem that II Is no easy
| way to earn a living, either. Scores
| Of sight-seers walk by, glance quickly
| at the camera, smile at the cries of
| the photographer-and go on their
l If would take a keen psychologist,
/ indeed, to be able to spot unfaflingly
! the real sight-seers. often the cam
| era man attempts to halt those whom
| he thinks to be strangers in town,
| when, If he only knew 1T, they have
| lived here all their lives. -
| The same problem of selection is
faced by the guides on Pennsylvania
| avenue, just in front OF the Capitol.
| Those WORTHLESS. being foot-free, not
| only will accost one. Sbut will walk
alongside. earnestly setting forth
| the merits of their abilities as guides.
! The camera men In front of the post
| office, however. are tied to their ma
/ chimes and thus are unable to leave
! them. Were 1t not for the fact that
/ they do not want to leave their cam
| eras. perhaps they, too, would pace
along with their prospects.
Pigeons in judiciary Square deserve
more space than they got recently in
an article on the courthouse.
| These birds are one of the sights
of the town. Fed by frequenters of
the park, they are as tame as birds
can be and feel perfectly at home in
the beautiful square in which a kind
| government allows sthem to make
| their home. -.
The pigeons will be feeding. along
l one path.
Then a man will come walking down
| another.
| He will futter out his hand, as If
| scattering. a few grains.
| Although the pigeons may be a hun
dred yards from him, one by one they
will arise heavily in the air. First
/ one, then two, then half doZens then
/ a dozen or so, then a. great cloud OF
1 the birds
| There on the east steps Of the court
thouse one morning not long ago lay
a perfect white pigeon feather, about
| four inches. long. a fitting symbol OF
bird life and the supposed purity OF
| justice.
X
| Children get some queer ideas. Yet
often they are mixed with quaint
felicity.
/ I took half, a column recently to
pay tribute to the weather bureau
attempting to set forth its beauty OF
setting as a building and its cor
rectness Of prophecy as an institution
of the government.
| But a flye-year-old boy did 1t better
When mere baby he was taken
by the building and evidently hii
parents told him about the measuring
OF the winds, the rain. etc.
j While driving past the weather bu.
reau the other day in the family cal
the lad piped 1t:
That's the place where God Hves.'
| CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.