Evening star., 1924-08-03
Washington Workers Set New Records for Continuous Sev

picture-frame maker and restorer Of
paintingl
He framed the portrait of Presi-
| dent Coolidge and two of Mrs. Cool
idge which Howard Chandler Christy
painted during the past winter. most
| of the portraits in the District of
| Columbia Supreme Court house, and
| restored over a score of White House
| paintings during the Wilson admin
| istration.
Right now 1 am having the best
time of my whole ffty-ive years of
| work with paintings" Benson con-
| fessed, as he stopped working in his
little shop, in rear of 72s Seventeenth
street northwest.
MY father was in the same bust
ness, SO / picked it up early, and most
| Of the time / have been too busy to
| think of trying anything else. But
| l never tired Of this work, and now.
! in my own off -the-street workshop, !
can limit myself to eigth hours of
| work a day. That is a relief after
| experiencing many pre-Christmas
| rushes.'
| X X X
| TRAVELLING more than a million
miles in a street car, during
| orty-eight years as an employe o..
| the Washington Railway and ElectrS
Company, has not made Motorman
Jacob B. Zier S27 Thirteenth stree
northeast, tired of his work.
He was standing beside his large
six-cylinder automobile when inter
viewed, and in response to a query as
| to which he preferred to drive, street
car or automobile, Zier replied: Give
me the street car any time. Auto
| when l am at work"
He almost would rather drive a
street car than eat" added Mrs. Zier.
| And at night, if there is anything
wrong with a street car passing the
| house, he knows it,
| IT like the excitement Of motoring
| street cars-the excitement caused
| by seeing something new on every
one of fourteen daily trips across
| Washington" Zier said. From the
motorman's platform the city can be
observed at its busy and gay hours.
| and it is always changing
| In 1875 I started working as hill
boy htching an extra horse TO the
horse-drawn cars, SO they might BE-
pulled up Capitol Hill. My mother
| warned me that Il rolling stone
gathers no moss, SO I have stayed
with the Washington Railway and
| Electric Company-four years as hill
| boy, twelve years as a horse-car
driver and thirty-one years as
motorman.
Il can retire with a pension any
time now, but intend to keep on
working until ] complete half
century of service.
Remember the wife il you are
thinking of long service at a steady
! job" concluded Motorman Zier. She
been at her work for fifty years and
never thought Of quitting
! A LTHOUGH he has shucked oysters
a for Presidents Cleveland, Nc
| Kinley and Roosevelt, during forty
three years of this work, Fred Muir
| dock still has two great ambitions.
| One is to open oysters for President
| Coolidge. The other is to enter an
| other shucking contest, for already
he has won first prize in two COM
| petitions held in Eastern Maryland
Murdock declares he has shucked
| oysters almost all his life. He was
born in oyster ter. itory-St. Marys
County. Md.-and during his child
hood. when oysters were washed
ashore near his home, little Fred
would break them open with ham
mer.
| He opened oysters for the nations
| leaders while employed in the Senate
restaurant, in the Capitol. Now he
works at Twelfth and f streets
northwest and there entertains favor
ed patrons with tales of finding pearls
| in oysters of winning shucking cham
pionships and of preparing sea food
for famous persons
=
! CINCE choosing a fayorite task and
~ remaining at il brings happiness,
Miss Janet McWilliam, 2142 X street
northw est, is doubly happy. She has
two great loves, teaching school and
working mathematics. and she has
been doing the former for A years.
the latter for 81 years.
She has taught in the Franklin,
Weightman, Grant and Force Schools.
all in Northwest Washington, and
now is principal of the Force-Adams
group. Col. Theodore Roosevelt, As
sistant Secretary of the Navy, is one
Of her many former pupils.
Besides being a public school prin-
cipal, Miss McWilliam satisfies her
longing to solve mathematical prob
lens by assisting to produce the Nau
tfca1 Almanac, published by the Naval
Observatory for sea captains.
If she had to choose between her
two positions, Miss McWilliam thinks
she w,uld remain with her school
children, giving up her higher mathe
matics task, but at present she hopes
for many more years of work in both
fields.
Ten Washingtonians-t work
er, fireman, Salvation Army leader
watchman, citizens association presi-
dent, cobbler. picture frame maker.
motorman, oyster shucker and teach
er-mathe hematician-have played long
in the game of life, yet today they
scoff at a sideline seat and strive to
ma o Oreater their SCORES