WASHINGTON
J0C7Sj
WOMEN WHO
COULD RE1X.
UPON THEIR.?
TALENTS
The claim that Washington women
are the most generously talented and
variously cultivated of any In the
country Is borne out, the Washington
Post says, by a knowledge of the
tastes and capabilities of many wom
en who are regarded chiefly as charm
Ing hostesses or admired belles.
The most notable Instance of a
Washington woman of leisure who has
made a name for herself, not only
throughout the country, but also
throughout the world. Is, of course,
Miss Mabel Boardman. Although she
lias always sought to keep herself In
the background so far as the affalrB of
the soolpty are concerned. Miss Board
roan Is admittedly the "whole show"
In Red Cross affairs. President Taft,
who has been for several years the
head of the organization, gladly gives
the credit for much of the success to
Miss Boardman. To a man and all
the other members of the central com
mlttee of the organization are men-,
the governing body of the Red Crosi
delights to sing Miss Boardman'i
praises. Few of those who meet her
socially realize that Miss Boardman's
roomings are invariably devoted to
the work at Red Cross headquarters,
and that she works' as hard as any
paid employe of the oraganlzation.
Not many persons are aware that
the first lady of the land, Mrs. Taft,
has a diploma from the Cincinnati
Conservatory of Music which entitles
her to teach. Mrs. Taft is perhaps the
finest pianist among the smart set,
and has paid much attention to the
development of her talent. As Miss
Helen Herron in Cincinnati she was
noted for her interpretations of the
masterpieces of musical literature.
1Yy
i mm SrW
LIVELIHOOD!
Musicians also concede her ability,
and as a concert pianist Mrs. Taft
might, had she chosen to do bo, have
become almost as well known to the
people of the United States as 'she
now is.
Miss Helen Taft Is still so young
that her talents and tastes are little
known to the public She Inherits the
fondness for study which Is Inherent
In the Taft family, and has always
been among the leaders In the classes
of the schools which she has attended.
In addition to her scholastic pursuits.
Miss Taft Is an authority on old china,
and Is quite capable of writing a trea
tise which would be valuable as a
guide to collectors.
Mrs. James Bryce, wife of the Brit
ish ambassador, holds first place in
Washington as a maker of salads. In
this much appreciated art she has
shown an Inventiveness that amounts
to genius, and her skill has given
her the place pre-eminent even in the
diplomatic corps, many masculine
members of which, proudly boast of
their skill as chefs. Mrs. Bryce's cele
brated salads are responsible for a
fever of emulation which has agitated
many Washington households, but
thus far her laurels as the best salad
maker of the local smart set have re
mained undisturbed.
One of the rarest abilities possessed
by a Washington woman is that of
Mrs. James Cecil Hooe, who Is an 'ex
pert accountant. From her father, the
late Representative Nelson DIngley, of
Maine, author of the DIngley tariff
bill, Miss Edith DIngley, now Mrs.
Hooe, Inherits her grasp of facts and
figures, two things for which the ma
jority of her sex have little fondness.
Her delight In these two prosaic
realms led her to make a study of ac
counting, and her work on the sched
ule of the tariff bill Is remembered
with something akin to awe by all her
friends.
Of fine singers and graceful dancers
there Is no lack among the fair daugh
ters of Washington, but there are sev
eral who excel their friends in these
two arts. The most gifted dancer In
Washington Is Miss Olga Converse,
daughter of the late' Admiral Converse.
After her appearance In the amateur
play, "We Are In .Society," Miss Con
verse received offers from several of
the biggest theatrical managers in the
United States, who put forth great In
ducements to tempt her to join their
productions. The hit she made would
have turned the head of almost any
other girl. Miss Converse is a true
daughter of Terpsichore, and her twin
kling feet are capable of evolutions
which even the most graceful of her
friends are not able to rival.
SOUL AND BODY.
Where wert thou, Soul, ere yet my
body born
Became thy. dwelling place? Didst
thou on earth,
Or In the clouds, await this body's
birth?
Or by what chance upon that winter's
morn
Didst thou this body find, a babe for
lorn? Didst thou in sorrow enter or In
mirth?
Or for a Jest, perchance, to try Its
worth
thou tookest fiosh, ne'er from It to be
torn?
Kay, Soul, I will not mock thee; well
I know
Thou wert not on the earth, nor In
the sky;
For with my body's growth thou, too,
didst grow;
But with that body's death wilt thou
too die?
I know not, and thou canst not tell me,
so
In doubt we'll go together thou and
L
-Samuel Waddlngton.
, r
!
The Tragedy of
! a Diamond Star
"And how did you come to this for
lorn condition?" inquired the sweet
faced old lady as she set down another
chicken sandwich and a glass of milk
on the porch rail. "You do not look
like an ordinary tramp."
His breast heaved with emotion.
"Madam," he declared, ravenously at
tacking the sandwich, "I am not a
common hcrtio. I am a man with a
past. Once whole cities bowed down
and worshiped me. I was a Hon.
Alas! In a brief moment all my hon
ors vanished and I became a broken
hearted has-been. Think what I once
"was and then look at me now."
"Tell me about It Maybe I can help
you to regain what you have lost,"
she suggested, kindly.
"No, madam," he said, hopelessly.
"It 1b too late. But I don't mind tell
ing you about It, although It is a bitter
tale. I was center gardener for the
old Red Legs, ma'am, In the days
vbm Pop Anson and Brouthera and
all of those old heroes were In their
prime. I used to reach up into the
clouds and pull out the high ones with
one hand, and often I picked 'em off
the top board of a fence with twe fin
gers and a thumb, and the roar that
went up from the bleachers sounded
like a fat man falling down a coal
hole."
A tear dropped from his eyes and
rolled down his grimy cheek.
"The world was very rosy then," he
went on, washing down the last of the
sandwich with a swallow of milk. "It
was all floral horseshoes and silver
Bhowers for me, and whenever I trot
ted out In a practice heat I got the
glad hand and the merry yell. I had
my picture in all the papers and I had
millionaires carrying my Bweater and
helping me on with my coat. I was
a top-notch sticker, too, and whenever
I came up to the pan the fielders got
way out and the pitcher Bent 'em In
wide to keep me from lammln' 'em on
the nose for a homer."
"I don't know that I quite under
stand," she said.
"Lammln' 'em on the nose for a
homer means puttln' 'em over the
pickets for four sacks," he explained,
making It all clear. "It was easy for
me In those days, ma'am. When I
swung at one everybody breathed
hard and waited for 'em to go over
the fence and hunt for It. The ump
"ONE strike."
always got ready to toss up a fresh
one when he saw me at the pan."
"But how did you come to to get
down on your luck?" she Interrupted.
He sighed and thrilled with a rush
of emotion!
"Madam," he said, "I am coming to
that soon. I remember the day as
well as though It were yesterday. It
was bright and sunny, and everybody
was limbered up and shooting 'em
through. We was flghtin' th' old Utica
Blues. They had four to our three,
aud it was the last half of the ninth.
We was on the flrln' line. Two of
ours was dead and two on the lines.
I was up at the plate. The cheer
I got when I grabbed my willow and
dusted me hands sounded like Cesar
comin' home from Galway. I shut
my teeth and picked out a board in
the fence to send It over."
- She grew interested.
"The Blues had put In a new flinger
in the eighth a scrawny college kid
from New Haven. I sized him up for
a glass arm, and went In to kill th'
first one. I lammed at It with plenty
of steam, but it skidded In close to my
slats and I felt th' wind of it in my
shirt. . The next thing I heard was
the thump of it in the catcher's glove
and the umps callin' 'Strike!'
"I was surprised, and so was the
bleachers. But I knew It only took
one to kill it, and I waited for th'
next one. It came Bailing along as big
as a football, and I figured on drlvin'
It. But just as I swung at It It blew
In down somebody In the street with
it. But Just as I swung at It Is blew
out to one side about a yard and
dropped in th' catcher's glove with a
thud. An' then somebody in th'
bleachers hollered, 'Take him out
he's sold th' game.'
"Madam, that made me a desperate
man. All of my future hung on that
next ball. It came lobbln' up like a
hunch of bananas on a string an' I
aimed for Its nose an' let go!"
He wiped his eye with the back of
his hand, overcome by the recollec
tion. "I figured on hittin' It on th' trade
mark, ma'am, as honest as I'm tellln'
you this sad story. ' But it shot up
about two inches like a boy slttln' on
a hornet and I juBt popped up a little
foul that the catcher gobbled like an
elephant swallowln' a peanut, madam.
I was out of the battle, an' the Utica
Blues had us trimmed to a sowsle."
Another big tear rolled down his
cheek and he sobbed convulsively.
"Something broke loose In the
bleachers then like a den of lions
smellin' fresh meat," he continued.
"They came down through the wire
nettin' aud fell on me in bunches of
twenty or thirty. They thought I
had sold 'em out, those mullygrubs
I'd helped to fly three battle flags for,
and they thirsted for my blood. Some
body whistled for the police, but be
fore they came a pop bottle got me on
the head and I went down for th'
count It was a crime, ma'am, th'
t'lngs they did to me.
"The police pried forty or fifty of
on my scalp, laid me on a aoor
and six of 'em carried me to the hos
pital. They sewed me up in a couple
of hours and I was six weeks on a
bed. When I got out I was tanned."
"Canned!" she exclaimed.
"Yes'm, canned!" he repeated.
"Canned! Extinguished! Bushleagued!
Chased! Fired! And all because a
college kid from New Haven sent 'era
up crooked from th' flrln' line. We
never used crooked ones In th' old
days, ma'am. They was new to me.
Up to that time I was a hero, but Just
because I fell down that once and
didn't deliver the goods they shot me
down th' chutes."
He strode thoughtfuly down the
road and the sweet-faced old lady
watched him sympathetically.
"The poor old veteran!" she ex
claimed. "I wonder what battle It
was?" Indianapolis Star.
SAME OLD VAUDEVILLE.
Ancient Basis Remain, Although
Lantern Sltdea Are Colored.
The code of vaudeville as we know
it to-day harks back to the year when
Maggie Cline was first discovered in
the bullrushes of Broadway by one
of the descendants of Pharaoh's daugh
ter, says the Bohemian. Although
some of the code has been altered at
various times by supes and supersti
tions, although slapsticks have given
way to Salomes and clothes to 8 team
heated stages, the basis of it remains
Intact.
"Advanced" vaudeville has advanc
ed only In prices. The clog dance has
not been lost In the shuffle; the drop
curtain showing a desolate street
scene, has not been peopled by the
painter despite the great growth In
the population; the xylophone playert
still conclude with a medley of pa
triotic airs; the grandchildren of a
score of different "world's champion
acrobatic troupes" are still on the bill
under the same caption; the German
comedian continues to ask the German
ditto the same variety of questions,
periodically swatting him in the face
with the same newspaper; and the
hobo species of monologlst still strikes
a match on his whiskers. There Is
one new feature; the lantern slides
that illustrate the Rose and Sue type
of songs are colored nowadays, but the
singer still quivers the note at the
end of the second last line of the
chorus. From "The Ten Command
ments of Vaudeville," In the Bohe
mlan.
Oatfrreir the Newpappr.
A member of a publishing house is
telling a story which he says goes
to show that the spread of the popu
lar novel is constantly Increasing.
He was on his way from Pawtucket,
R. I., to East Attleboro, Mass., by trol
ley and stopped off at the little vil
lage store at South Attleboro to get
a nibble of crackers and cheese at
noon, says the New York Sun.
The usual rural characters were
about the counter. He got Into con
versation with some of them and was
Interested to know how their political
ideas ran. He sounded them along
various lines and at last came to an
eld farmer who was sitting on a
sugar barrel waiting for the mall.
"Think they're going to make a
good job of the tariff?" he asked.
"What they doln' to It?" was the
astonishing reply.
"Why, revising It, of course. Don't
you read the papers?" said the pub
lisher. "Wal, I used to," said the farmer,
"but 'bout a year ago I stopped 'era
off. They got to be too frivol In' f
me. Since then I've been tuck uy
readin' a book."
Accommodating.
An American was showing some ai
tlst friends from Munich the sights of
New York. As they stood in front of
the Shakespeare statue in Central
Park, discussion arose whether the
figure was resting upon Its right or Its
left leg.
"Er steht auf dem rechten beln."
"Neln," retorted another, "er steht
auf dem llnken beln."
"Auf dem rechten," argued several.
"Auf dem llnken," retorted the oth
er faction.
An American gentleman, overhear
ing the dispute, came over and polite
ly tipped his hat. "Excuse me, gentle
men," he said, "but this Isn't Lincoln,
this is Shakespeare." Hy. Mayer, In
Success Magazine.
The Dnty of Forivene.
The most plain and natural senh
ments of equity concur with divine
authority to enforce the duty of for
giveness. Let him who has never, in
his life, done wrong, be allowed the
privilege of remaining Inexorable.
But let such as are conscious of
frailties and crimes consider forgive
ness as a debt which they owe to oth
ers. Blair.
Fall a re.
Whenever there la a failure there is
some giddiness, some superstition
about luck, some step omitted, which
nature never pardons. Emerson.
In every neighborhood there is a
man who is hated by the boys, be
cause he is always complaining about
them, and telephoning to the police.
SOMETHING FOE EVEEYBODY
The Salvation Army Is established
tn fifty-two countries.
There Is a great shortage of theolog
ical students In Wurtemberg.
The War Department paid $94,418
for artificial limbs last year.
Six out of seven pictures sent to the
royal academy every year are rejected.
The railroads of this country pay
out $24,000,000 a year In freight
claims.
There is still pending In the English
law courts a case which was initiated
in 1707.
An owl with a nest of young will
gather about forty mice a day for her
offspring.
One-fifth of the country's wealth is
represented In the New York Stock
Exchange.
For use during military maneuvers
the Kaiser has a portable house made
of asbestos.
There were fifteen executions of
criminals In Prussia in 1907, all but
one of them men.
There are thirty different kinds of
new roses for this year alone in Eng
land, where rose culture abounds.
Nearly all of the fifteen thousand
Inhabitants of Marchneukirchen, Sax
ony, are engaged in violin making.
An effort made In Russia to form a
gigantic steel corporation, ou the lines
of the one existing in this country,
has failed.
The Swiss government spends more
money, In proportion to Its population,
for the relief of Its poor, than any
other country.
The volcano of Stromboll has been
known to emit flames persistently and
lava and cinders spasmodically for
over 2,000 years.
A Parisian antiquarian has paid
750,000 francs for the famous Marfels
collection of watches made In the six
teenth and seventeenth centuries.
At Falun, Sweden, are the headquar
ters of a mining company with a his
tory so remote that the date of its
origin cannot be definitely fixed.
' South American woods were former
ly used exclusively in the making of
fishing rods, but the material is now
being largely supplied by Queensland.
In 1906 there were 1,171,000 textile
workers In Britain. The average pay
each week for men was $6.83. for wom
en $3.75, for boys $2.53, and for girls
$2.17.
Frogs may do some harm to fish in a
pond, but German experts have decid
ed that this is outweighed by the good
they do in destroying injurious in
sects. New York State has taken a prac
tical way of encouraging forestry. Dur
ing the past planting season more
than one million Beedlings were dis
tributed at cost throughout the State
for planting.
Solitary confinement still exists as a
punishment In Italy, although humani
tarian observers declare that capital
punishment would be far more hu
mane, besides being more effective as
a deterrent.
On the basis of a bushel of corn pro
ducing 2.5 gallons of alcohol. It has
been figured out that last year's corn
srop In the United States was sufficient
to furnish 20,000,000-horse power for
ten hours a day for an entire year.
Wilbur Bowser, living near Pitts
burg, has constructed a frame house,
built In sections, which he has moved
in a freight car with all his household
goods to Wyoming, where he has ac
quired a section of 160 acres of land.
The latest suggestion for the treat
ment of asthma comes from Germany.
It consists simply in breathing exer
cises conducted In such a way that the
inspiration Is rapid, whlle'the expira
tion ,1s as slow and as thorough as
possible.
Not to be outdone musically by New
York's police department, Chicago po
licemen have set out to organize a
band. Chief Shlppy, who used to
"pound the pavement" himself, is en
thusiastically In favor of the scheme
and promises all the aid he can give.
The exports of domestic merchan
dise from Alaska to the United States
in the calendar year 1908 amounted to
$12,255,255, of which $9,282,952 was
for canned salmon. The salmon out
put of Alaska equals the combined
catch of British Columbia, the United
States proper, and Japan.
Not the least Important feature of
the general agricultural revival which
Is in . progress in so many over-sea
markets, and particularly In South
Africa and Australia, Is the interest
thus created In steel windmills as mo
tors for such purposes as pumping and
operating small machinery. ,
Raw river water Bhould be stored
antecedent to filtration for thirty days,
In the opinion of Dr. A. C. Houston!
director of water examinations, Lon'
don. Storage reduces the number of
bacteria of all sorts, and, If sufficiently
prolonged, devitalizes the microbes of
water-borne disease (typhoid bacillus
and cholera virus).