THE SEA SERPENT APPEARS
TO THE SCIENTIST
Tales Handed Dawn of Wonderful Creature Monster Recently Seen by
Well-Knows NateraKsts—Legs of the Sea-Saafce.
Verily the perversity of mankind
passeth ail understanding! And if
there be any who would challenge the
justice of this aphorism, let him reflect
for a moment on the fact that we talk
of the Phoenix as if it were real, and
of the sea>serpfent as though it were
a purely mythical beast! But the sea
serpent Is probably himself to blame
for this, inasmuch as he is indiscreet
enough to show himself from time to
time to those who go down to the
sea in ships. Hence, as with other
distinguished mortals, everybody who
has occasion to cross the ocean burns
for an opportunity to boast an ac
quaintance with this distinguished
dweller in the deeps.
Naturally, “land-lubbers,” out of
pique and jealousy, belittle the experi
ences of those who profess to have
seen this monster, and yet live! But,
as a rule, in their efforts to crush,
they have to use weapons obtained at
second-hand; weapons borrowed from
other ocean travelers who assure us,
on their own experience, that the sea
serpent, is a creature vainly imagined,
a figment of the- brain, a thing born
of after-dinner orgies; it may even,
have a semblance of reality, but when
analyzed it proves to be nothing more
than a school of porpoises playing at
“follow-my-leader,” a gigantic cuttle
fish vainly waving its long arms in an
endeavor to escape the grip of some
hungry whale! Ou occasions, indeed,
the sea-serpent has turned out to be
nothing more interesting than a float
ing spar decorated with a tangle of
sea-weed!
A vast amount has been written
about the sea-serpent, but of all the
■■■ ■ H ■ iii-i ■ —
logical society Mr. E. B. Meade Waldo
and Mr. M. J. Nicoll described a crea
ture seen by them from the deck of
the earl of Crawford’s yacht, the Val
halla, which bears a remarkable re
semblance to that seen from the
Daedalus. These two gentlemen, ac
companied Lord Crawford as natural
ists during his usual winter cruise.
Both are well-known naturalists, and
one is a member of the council of the
Zoological society. The story they
unfolded to a breathlessly excited as
sembly of the Fellows is briefly this:
When off Para on December 7, 1905
at ten a. m„ they were standing on the
deck of the yacht, when their atten
tion was caught by a curious sail-like
object of some four feet long and two
feet high waving from side to side ir
the water. No sooner had they turned
their glasses on to this strange object
than there appeared a huge eel-like
neck, some six f»*)t long, and as thick
as a man's thigh, and this neck was
surmounted by a great turtle-like head
with large eyes, now borne high above
the sea, which was quite calm. It was
dark colored above and silvery white
below. After a few moments the head
and neck were slowly lowered, and
when level with the water were vio
lently lashed from side to side, churn
ing up the sea into a great sheet ol
i foam, and then it vanished.
Adverse winds caused the ship to beat
about so that at midnigut they were
only 20 miles from the scene of the
morning. This is noteworthy, because
when Mr. Nicoll came on deck after
breakfast one of the officers came up
and reported that during the night he
saw a strange commotion in the water.
A HUGH EEL-LIKE NECK APPEARED.
Stories that have been told, it is sad
to reflect that those of clergymen
surpass in wildness of elaboration
even the yarns invented with intent
to deceive.” At least, so says Mr.
Frank Bullen—and he ought to know!
One or two of the more serious ac
counts are worth repeating. No long
er ago than 1891. one Peter Nelson, a
quartermaster, and therefore "an
honorable man,” saw from the deck of
the Rotomahana a beast with the head
of an eel aud fins ten feet long rise 30
feet out of the water. It was dark
above, and white below. He gave a
long account of this strange beast,
yet, so far, those whom he intended
to convert only reply that it was "very
like a whale”—in short, that he saw
nothing more than a whale "breach
ing.”
Capt. McQuhae, of H. M. S. Daedalus,
and his officers, in 1848 created a
great sensation in England by a sea
serpent story which at the time was
discredited by the late Prof. Sir Rich
ard Owen. But time brings its re
venges, for it may turn out that the
professor was wrong. Briefly, he re
ported having seen an enormous ser
pent with head and shoulders some
four feet out of the water, and some
60 feet of its body on the surface. It
passed rapidly so close to the ship
that a man's features at the same dis
tance could easily have been distin
guished. It had no fins, but something
like seaweed washed about its back. -
Now within the last few weeks the
honor of the captain and his officers,
or rather, their credit as observers,
has been singularly vindicated, for at
the last meeting of the London Zoo
At first he thought it was a rock
“awash," but a most careful examina
tion showed that it was a beast of
some kind, traveling faster than the
ship, which was then making only
about eight-and-a-half knots. The of
ficer “hailed the deck" and the look 1
out man, and thus got witnesses t< :
this weird phenomenon. Though tht I
sea was calm, and there was a brigh
moon, nothing satisfactory couid hi
made out owing to the “wash" whiel
the creature was making: but in it?
movements it resembled a submarine
traveling just below the surface.
Seriously, we can no longer regard
the "sea-serpent.'’ as a myth. There
can be no question but that the ocean
harbors some secret which we have
not yet penetrated. It seems unlikely
that this evasive creature should be a
descendant of the old Plesiosaurs
which became extinct millions oi
years ago. though the resemblance to
those monsters is striking. More
probably it will prove to be some
bizarre form of reptile. But the re
semblance between the descriptions
given by these gentlemen and that
given by the officers of the Daedalus
agrees too closely to be passed by,
and furthermore, both agree with the
description of a similar creature seen
offTonquin some four years since. It
is possible that it may even prove to
be a “serpent.” For it is well known
that the land-snakes once possessed
limbs, and some gigantic forms of sea
snake may well have preserved its
limbs, though now transformed into
paddles, like those of the turtle and
whale
VV. P. PYCRAFT.
Thoughtful peopie have doubts, but
doubts ought not to be the sum total
in life. Doubts ought to be like
clouds that by and by are swept from
i the sky. We have got to have sun
| up and sunlight, and the blanketing
of the clouds must some time be
i torn away, and the sunlight must get
at the flowers of the world, lest the
flowers fail to bloom and eshale per
1 fume to the sky.—William A. Quayle.
Can Walk Under Water.
Geneseo. N. Y., Man Gives Two Start
ing Exhibitions with Inven
« tion of His Own.
k> _
Rochester, N. Y.—A submarine con
trivance which permits a person to
walk under water has been invented
by R. P. Lawton, of Geneseo. Already
he has given two demonstrations of
Its power. Once he remained under
water for an hour, the other time for
45 minutes.
Lawton's experiments were made
at Silver lake. Clad in a bathing suit,
he walked out toward the center of
the lake, holding aloft a fish pole, to
the top of which was attached a flag.
He had remarked to some boys on
shore that he was going for a walk
In the lake. When the flag was about
_ 40 feet from the shore It suddenly dis
appeared below the water. The boys
waited for Lawton to reappear, and
wb-an he did not do so they gave the
alarm.
Lawton reappeared soon after
wards, and explained his ability to
walk under water. The crowd was
skeptical, so Lawton climbed into his
bathing suit again and gave another
exhibition. He slayed under water
this time for 45 minutes.
He will allow no one to see his con
trivance. He says it is of the sim
plest kind, and weighs little more
than a pound.
Chinese Coffins.
Chinese coffins are made of timber
eight inches to ten inches thick. I*
is calculated, therefore, that over
8,000,000 feet of timber is utilizer:
yearly for coffins in China.
Cleveland’s Distinction.
Only one of the * rst 14 cities, in or
der of population, ia the United Stater
was named after a man. That city U
Cleveland, O.
Genteel Poverty.
If one’s income us limited the gen
eral rule is that one must live and die
in a black hat.—Ladies' Field.
HIGH POSITION FOR LABOR LEADER.
E. E. Clark, of Cedar Rapids, la., grand chief of the Order of American
Railway Conductors, has been appointed by President Koosevelt to a seat on
the interstate commerce commission. In appointing Mr. Clark President Roose
velt made a concession to labor which will elate more Ilian 38,000 railway con
ductors.
KEPT THE WIRE HUMMING.
Great Feat of Henry Bogardus, Who
Was the Original Tramp
Telegrapher.
Henry Bogardus was the original
tramp telegrapher. He had traveled
all over the world and undoubtedly
was one of the finest operators in the
business, but he wouldn't hold down
a job for more than two or three
weeks. One night he wandered into
the office of the Atlanta Times and
asked for a job. The paper needed a
man badly and put him to work.
The chief operator got hold of the
other man on the wire and told him
be had a new man on and to work
him out. That was the day before
typewriters came into general use.
Everything: was written out in long
hand. The story began coming in.
Bogardus asked for a pencil, leaned
back in his chair and slowly began
to sharpen it.
The sounder was pounding away as I
fast as the man at the other end of
the wire could send. The editor spoke !
to “Bo" and told him he had beiler
get busy as the man was a rather fast
sender and he would get behind. “Bo" j
told him to never mind, that he would
attend to that. He got up and walked
{)round a moment, picked tip the poker
and stirred up the fire, got a drink of i
water, then seated himself and start- i
ed to take the message.
He sat there through the night and
took between 15,000 and 20.000 words,
which were written in a beautiful
hand. The feat went the rounds of
operators all over the country and
became a legend as one of the great
est tricks over.
Sleeping Out of Doors.
Outdoor sleeping, which is such a
VALUE OF COCOANUT PALM
Tree's Many Uses Have Made It Al
most Indispensable in the
Tropics.
There is absolutely no part of the
cocoanut palm which is without its
uses. The tree grows all through the
tropics, but it is the natives of the
Philippines and other islands in the
Pacific who most largely depend
upon it.
First, the nut is a valuable and al
most complete food, and the liquid
which the shell contains is a refresh
ing drink. From the husk is made
ropes, sails, netting, and the familiar
cocoanut matting. The leaves are used
for thatching and make the best and
lightest roofs in existence.
The leaf ribs are formed into brooms
or ejse are used for fuel, while the
ashes mixed with the oil crushed from
the nut form an excellent soap. The
shells form cups and goblets.
The trunk makes excellent pillars
for house buildings, being both strong
and light, while cut into sections, and
with the pith hollowed out. it forms
tubs, casks and water pipes. Front the
roots is made it red dye. and the green
crown, or central bud, when crushed,
gives a liquor called tuba, delicious to
drink and which' when fermented
makes first-class vinegar.
PHRASE OF QUEER ORIGIN.
"Morganatic Marriage” Suggests the
Mirage of the Desert—The
"Fata Morgana.”
One of the words having a deriva
tion the significance of which is lost
upon most of those who use it is
JUSTICE FULLER’S DAUGHTER A BRIDE.
Dr. Robert French Mason is now in the north on his honeymoon trip with
his bride, who was Miss Fannie Louise Fuller, youngest daughter of Chief
Justice Fuller, of the supreme court of the United states.
’ad in this country, is by no means
unknown in England. A writer says:
‘1 have encountered a baby, born last
summer, who was set to sleep in a
Chelsea garden during the hot weath
er. When the temperature dropped,
the careful parents brought the baby
into the house at night. But the in
fant was restless; could not sleep.
And now, throughout the winter, the
child has slept peacefully in the gar
den. It is well wrapped up, and a
tarpaulin guards it from snow or rain.
But it is a fine and healthy child, and
a compliment to the fresh air that
London can provide at night.”
Housewifery.
When Mrs. Flatleigh chose the re
frigerator with the mirror in the front
door of it Flatleigh laughed.
“Of course,”_ exclaimed Mrs. Flat
leigh, bridling at once, “a man has no
interest in saving his wife's steps.”
“Steps, my—’’
“But possibly he can appreciate the
advantage of her being able to get
dinner half again as quick through
not having to run to some other part
of (he house every time she wonders
how her hair is looking, or her apron
behind, or something.”—Puck.
Helping Him On.
“Now. for my part,” said Mr. Tim
mid. tentatively, “I wouldn’t dare
think of marrying—”
“Why not?” eagerly interrupted
Miss Ann Teek.
“Because 1 haven't any money.”
"But,” she suggested, helpfully,
“couldn’t you get sqiiebody to lend
you a little?” /
"morganatic.” in the term, “a mor
ganatic marriage.”
Such a union between a royal
personage and a woman of inferior
rank is not uncommon in Germarny,
or at least it was not until recently.
The man gives the left hand to the
woman when the ceremony takes
place. The wife gains no rank by
her union with a man of royal blood,
nor do her children become princes
and princesses. They are regarded
as perfectly legitimate by the law,
but they have no right to the prop
erty of their father.
The origin of the name given to
such mockeries of marriage seems to
be the optical illusions of the des
! erts. The Italians call the mirage
which mock parched and weary trav
elers “fata morgana,” that is. the de
lusions of the Morgana.
The Indispensable Man.
Let no man fall into the dear de
lusion that he is an indispensable part
of this world's machinery. No matter
j how much he may overestimate his
importance, it is yet probable, at least
possible, that he has a definite, if
elastic, value, but let him drop out of
the whirl, having still breath enough
to last him while he surveys the situ
ation, and he will find that the wheels
will go right on turning in the old
familiar way.—Detroit Free Press.
Silence.
“To be successful in politics,” said
the young man, “I suppose you’ve got
to keep your wits together at times.”
“Well,” replied the politician,
“that’s not so important as to keep
your lips together at the right time."
CONCERNING OUR BOYS.
Without Doubt the Boys Should Have
Duties About the House Re
quired of Them.
The teaching should not be all on
the girls' side of the house. There
are lessons the boys should learn,
and learn thoroughly. In many homes
where the mother is almost a nervous
wreck from overwork, the boys are
given nothing to do, and run about
the streets out of sheer restlesness.
They should not be allowed to lie in
> bed until called for breakfast, but
should be among the first out of bed.
Teach them that it is but fair to wait
on themselves. Teach them to pre
pare vegetables, to cook simple foods,
to wash dishes, to scour shelves, to
black stoves, to make beds and sweef
and dust, and put their belongings In
order. Teach them that it is as much
their duty to keep their rooms tidy
as it is for the sister to look after
hertl. A slovenly, disorderly boy is
every bit as bad as a slatternly girl,
declares The Commoner. They should
know how to handle a needle and
thread; to sew on buttons; to mend
rips and tears on the sewing ma
chine; to replace the book taken
from the book shelves; to fold and
lay In its place the paper they read;
to shake the rugs; to dust the fur
niture and do the “fetch and carry”
work that every home must have
done. Teach them to be considerate
of others, not only as to burden-bear
ing. but in all work or worry. Boys
should be taught to take the part of
the weaker ones in all the battles
of life. If the mother would begin
with the boy when lie is still in
dresses, allowing him to do little
kindnesses and setting him little
tasks, thus saving herself many a
step, he would hardly be ashamed to
help her when he gets older. Com
pared with mother's weak arms, the
boy's strength is magnificent. Do not
wait until he is in his teens to begin
the lessons for he will rebel hotly
against “girls' work" then, no matter'
how much you may need him. But
ieuch him that the home is as much
his as it is that of his little sister,
and that you look to him. even more
than her, for its happiness, and. dear
mothers, he will seldom fail you.
► TO LAUNDER MOURNING.
An Expert Laundress Advises Black
Starch and Salt and Vinegar
in Rinsing Water.
A good laundress is what is need
ed to solve a serious problem for the
woman who wears mourning, par
ticularly in the summer. Black goods
not only look warm, but are warm,
aud the black lawns and sheer goods
are avoided by most women because
it is generally thought that they can
■iiot be laundered with Bauch success,
says a contributor to the Brooklyn
Eagle
A certain laundress who is well
known among her clients as an au
thority on all matters of soap and
water and starch, offers the follow
ing directions, which will bring the
best results if attended to carefully:
“Dissolve a heaping tablespoonful
of black starch in two tablespoons ot
lukewarm water. Then pour a quart
of boiling water over it, stirring con
stantly until it gets perfectly clear,
but do not let it boil.
“Wash the dress in a little soap
suds, just warm. Rinse it in two
buckets of cold water, with one tea
cup of vinegar and a handful of salt.
Dry the dress and then pour the black
.starch over it. Let the dress get a
little bit dry, then roll it up, without
sprinkling, and iron upon the wrong
or under side, over a black cotton
cloth. The dress will look as good
as new.”
An easier way to solve the problem
js not to wear pure black in summer.
All white is considered by many as
almost as deep mourning as black.”
HOUSEHOLD HINTS.
Beef or niuttou reheated in a double
boiler is a vast improvement over the
ordinary stew.
For the removal of grease spots
from woolen dresses salt dissolved in
alcohol is recommended.
To improve the flavor of roast beef
and give a rich brown color add a
tablespoonfuf of sugar to the water
for basting the meat..
A piece of coarse net sewed over an
extra large hole in a stocking will
make it easier to darn, and will make
the darn more lasting.
A small paint brush with long,
strong, supple bristles is the best
thing with which to keep cut glass
clean. It is the only means of reach
ing the dust which lodges in the small
•carvings.
Copperware may be brightened by
rubbing with a piece of flannel that
has been wrung out of hot water,
well soaked and dusted with borax.
Rinsing and a polish should follow the
rubbing.
When frying croquettes be sure to
plunge the, basket in hot fat before
the croquettes are placed in it. This
will prevent them adhering to the
wire when lifted out.
The value of wringing clothes well
cannot be overestimated. A good
laundress squeezes out the last drop
of soapy water, and again rinses the
garment well after she has thorough
ly rinsed it.
W'hite crepe paper has been found
to be the satisfactory tablecloth at
fetes. No one is ever anxious to do
nate one of her own tablecloths for
this purpose and the paper kind is
just as effective.
Flower baskets are superseding thd
more ordinary vase. With fluted edge
and graceful handle they make a most
artistic receptacle for short stemmed
flowers.—Brooklyn Eagle.
German Potato Cakes.
This well known German dish has
been made a part of the cookery of
our country, introduced by many of
our German families. In making it
grate the potatoes raw. add buitec to
enrich it, eggs and flour to hold the
grated potato together, a little salt,
and season with sugar and cinnamon
to taste. The cakes are fried in but
ter on a griddle or in a flat saucepan
| till brown.
Ginger Plaster.
Ground ginger used for plasters in
stead of mustard is just as godd to
[ “draw" and it never blisters.
Gossip of Washington
OUR WEEKLY LETTER FROM THE NATIONAL CAPITAL
Not Lese Majesty to Decline Informal Invitation to White House Din.
ners—The Big Market in Central and South America—To Maintain
the Dignity of the United States Abroad—The Summer Sonv.iolenc*
of Washington.
WASHINGTON.—There were few presidents
who cared less for conventionalities than does
Mr. Roosevelt. Where these conventionalities
mean national dignity or have any particular
diplomatic significance Mr. Roosevelt wants to
have them observed, but he is not a stickler for
form and in his private life in the White House
goes a goal deal on the plan of a genuine oid
fashioDed American homebody. With some presi
dents an invitation to take dinner at the White
House took the form of a command much as
would a similar invitation from one of the
crowned heads of Europe. Anyone receiving
such an invitation would never have thought of
declining it unless prevented by sickness or some
providential interference.
Mr. Roosevelt's invitations to dinner have
been sometimes declined, but only such as have
been extended in a generous sort of come and
take pot luck with us" way. Not long ago one of his old ranch comrades from
Montana called at the White House and the president asked him to take din
ner with him that night. The old cattleman declined on the ground that he
had no evening dress and in fact had never worn that sort of togs. Mr.
Roosevelt pressed him. but he was firm in his resolve that he would not sit
down among lot of other folks without being dressed as they were.
There have been others who have good-naturedly declined the president's
informal invitations and their excuses have been just as good naturedly
accepted. On one occasion Speaker Cannon had an engagement to dine at a
cabinet dinner where the president was the guest of honor and he bejjped
off in order to attend a gridiron dinner. The matter was compromised by a
postponement of the cabinet dinner. It does not constitute lese majeste to
decline an informal invitation to the White House dinners.
A PRECEDENT FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTRY.
Secretary of State Root is now or. a mission
that promises to be of great importance to the
United States and to all the Republicans on the
western hemisphere. It is a great departure from
' long established custom for a cabinet, officer to
visit neighboring countries and discuss with their
administration international affairs, but the pres
ent administration at Washington cares very lit
tle about precedents so long as the thing con
templated to be done is for the good of the
country.
Mr. Root is a man of practical ideas and
since he became the premier of the administra
tion he has been looking into the matter of ex
tending l nited States trade to the countries to
the south of us. He has been impressed with the
idea that there is a big market in Central and
South America that is in danger of being monop
olized by foreign countries and which naturally
ougnt to belong to the merchants and manufacturers of this country. One
reason that the people of the United States are not getting their share of
that market is a prejudice that exists among the Central and South American
republics against this country.
Mr. Root has gone down on a visit to our sister republics for tlip pur:
pose ot persuading them that we are their best friends, and that they should
look to the 1 nited States rather than to old European nations for commer
cial as well as political friendship, it will he Mr. Roofs purpose also to
inquire as to whether Germany and Great Rritain are trying to make any
headway in the politics of those countries as they are doing in their com
merce. He hopes by personal contact with members of the administration
to strengthen the old-fashioned American Monroe doctrine which denies the
right of European governments to acquire anv more territory on this hemis
phere.
_ a
SUITABLE LEGATION AND EMBASSY BUILDINGS.
Now that the United States government lia.s
made a start in the direction of erecting suitable
legation and embassy buildings for our represen
tatives abroad it is hoped that before many years
the l nited States flag will fly over property that (
this government owns in every prominent capital
abroad. The fact that American ambassadors and
ministers have had to rent their quarters abroad
has been a disgrace to the United States diplo
matic service.
The experience in Peking during the Boxer
troubles in 1900 made it imperative that this gov
ernment erect ils own legation building in that
city where a proper guard could be placed. A
handsome ministerial residence and guardhouse
have been provided there and now that the prece
dent is established, congress will be appealed to.
as it was in this last session when an appropria
tion was made for the purchase of an ambassa
dorial residence in Constantinople. Munster .John A. Leishnian, who has
been in Constantinople for a number of years, spent his leave of absence in
Washington, and through Senator Knox, of Pennsylvania, and Secretary Root,
had little difficulty in persuading congress that the diplomatic i>ost at Con
stantinople should he made an embassy and that a suitable residence should
j be- purchased for the ambassador.
Th - rentals that our ambassadors at London. Paris, Berlin and other
Eircpean capitals pay for their quarters is far in excess of the salaries the
United States gives them. It is possible only for men of great wealth to fill
these positions unless congress makes provision for their official homes and
for the entertaining they are compelled to do in order that the Cnited States
may not suffer in dignity in comparison with other governments.
THE PERSONNEL OF OUR CONSULAR SERVICE.
Those who have had occasion to observe the
United States consular service in recent years
have noted a distinct improvement in its person
nel. Now that congress has passed a law reor
ganizing this service still greater things are ex
pected of it. In the old days one of the standing
jokes and constant sources of amusement when
there was a change in the administration was
afforded by the horde of politicians who came to
Washington soliciting appointments to the United
States consular service. It was almost the excep
tion to find men urged for these places who. were
in any way fitted for them. The story is still told
of a man during Cleveland's first administration
who was an applicant for a consular post of great
importance in Germany. When Cleveland asked
him if he could speak German, lie said: "No, but
I have a brother who plays the German flute.”
The consular posts were regarded as so many plums to be distributed
among political workers who had aided in the election of a new administra
tion. The places paid both salaries and fees and it was reckoned that u
shrewd man would be able to make a pretty good thing out of the latter even
if the salary was not very high. Then tne service was also regarded as a
convenient place to dump political workers of the "has been" type who would
be stowed away in some far off corner of the world and forgotten. There
have been cases where men were sent to consular posts and only heard of
by an occasional report and left there :!or years and years until their very
names almost were forgotten.
This order of things has been changed tinder the present administration
of President Roosevelt and Secretary Root. Under the operation of the new
law there will be constant changes and promotions on civil service principles
and no consular officer is likely to l>e forgotten no matter how far he is away
from Washington.
SUMMER IN THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.
In mid-siminer the great national capital at
Washington is like an overgrown country village.
The quiet of its streets and its general somnolent
character are remarked by visitors from all parts
of the countrv. There is no rush, no crowd except
at very brief periods during the day. From eight
until nine o’clock in the morning the street cars
are crowded and a good many people are seen
on the sidewt.lks, but. they compose the army of
25,000 government employes that is swallowed
up behind the doors of the big marble and gran
ite government buildings upon the stroke of nine
Again from 4:30 until 5:30 there is another
little bustle on the street as this ink-stained
crowd of clerks come out of their office buildings
and go home. That is about all the excitement
there is durliig the daytime. There is a gentle
little stir later in the evening as a few hundred
of Washington's citizens go to the wharves and
take the boat for an evening nae aown ice roiomac or uoaru me uuiej ™ =
for a trip to the suburbs. After this crowd has gone Washington goes to
sleep until about 11 o'clock when these evening pleasure seekers return
iiome By midnight, an hour when New York is just getting awake, Wash
ington has its shutters closed and blinds drawn and anyone found on the
street 1b looked on with suspicion by the ])olice.
On Sunday or on a holiday the streets are so deserted that a pedestrian s
footfall will start an echo. For three months at least Washington is dead
socially and politically. With the return of the cool weather in the fall the
thousands of citizens who have gone to summer homes and resorts or abroad
come back and the national capital Is once more upon the map. The presi
dent and'his official family are absent all summer with the exception of one
or two cabinet members who remain here to represent the administration or,
I as Secretary Taft expresses it, to “sit npcn the lid."
■ -1^' * ' % i. *• y•
