QEVENTEEN Millions Ex
pected at the Polls?Why
Nine Million Citizens Quali
fied by Age and Sex Will Not
Vote?Line of Voters at Polls
Would Stretch Diagonally
Across Continent From Point
of Florida to Northwest Cor
ner of Washington?Farm
er Vote the Largest?How
Other Occupations Rank?
700,000 Candidates in the
Field This Fall, One for
Every Two Dozen Voters?
One m Fourteen Voters Is
of Tender Sex?Methods and
Paraphernalia to Be Used in
the Balloting.
BT JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS.
TBSDAY next, fo:
the first time in
1 istory, our ever}
county from ocean
to ocean, from
Canada to Mexico
and the gulf, will
vote for President
of these I'nlted
States. No terri
tory now remains
in all of tliis vast
continental stretch.
Seventeen millions of voters will proba
bly participate in this our thirty-second
? luadrennial battle of the ballots. Should
all of these be drawn up single tile in a
straight. comract line, whose leader stood
at the threshold of a voting: booth in the
north westernmost corner of Wasihngton
state, the last man would be found some
where down in the tip of Florida's petrn
sula.
Four jears ago junt 14,SS8.4-t^ Americans
voted for President. Since then suffrage
has been given to 8W),WJ0 more of our
women?in California and Washington?
170.000 males of voting age have been
admitted to statehood in Arizona and
New Mexico, and the country ha.- profit
ed. through its steady increase oi' popula
tion. by about 2,500.000. who in their
states are qualified, by age and sex. to
vote. Allowing for the usual proportion
who will be absent from the'pulls and yet
for a reasonable co-efficient of expansion
to cover eftet ts of tae extraordinary heat
of this campaign, we arrive at the grand
total given? 17.<j0??.???*? voteis at the poils
day after tomori ow.
Be it appreciated. that none oi"
t factors has #ft>ven dependable in
years past. For ?CUuiiple, the only previ
ous campaign it. vhich Col. Roosevelt
w as a presidential candidate?the spirited
contest of 1!*M?failed to bring out as
man> vote s, by several hundred thousand,
as had eitner of the two previous McKin
lcy-LJrvan campaigns. That of Roose
velt against i'arker was, however, the
only presidential campaign since reeon
strm tion which failed to show an increase
in the popular vote. The 'laft-Biyan
'ampaign brought out over one and a
third million more votes than the Rocse
\ eit-ParKer contest, wnich nad persuaae i
to ti?e polls less \oies than bad
turned out in the previous AicKinley
Itiyan battle.
Why millions qualified by age and sex
to vote fa l quaorennialty to show up at
in- polls is a mystery which always
vexes the politician atid puzz.es the stat
-tician. The director of the census has
just supplied me with j-ome newly com
puted figures which throw some light
;:pon the problem. He finds that in the
?ist census year, 1WO, th?*i>' were in con
:inental United States L'c.'HHU.Il males of
v "ting age, and in the ,present woman
i?frage states, including /California and
V. -isbington. l.Md.lCi women of voting
ge. Allowing for an increase of popu
lation in the pasi two years, the total of
; lie.-, figurt-.s grown to 29,.V?),0(X>. I >e
lifting about 11 per cent of those who
-tr;! "'t vote because they fail to receive
? |>roi?-r naturalization papers, we have
?'i ir.urf than men and women
? h ified by age and citizenship to vote
th^ presidential contest Tuesday.
\bout n.rf million of these will remain
way from the po Is. Why?
To l.eg;r< v.itn. tberrs are Just about an
? en 100.000 male ei'izetis of voting age
the District of Columbia who are dis
franchise*] merely because they are resi
dents of that l>istr;ct. A trifle over a
fouith of these (1KMH)0) are negroes. Then
there art- about .'JliO.OuO negroes in Louis
iana and North Carolina who are dis
franch sed by the "grandfather clauses''
<>f the constitutions of those states, and
tens ff thousands of negroes are dis
qualified- ii South Carolina and Missis
sippi by the educational requirement that
each vote: must be able to read and un
derstand the constitution of the state.
Thousands of white as wel' as colored
citizens are barred by such educational
tests nnt only in the south, b it in Maine.
Delaware. Arizona and California, where
the voter must be able to read the Con
stitrtion in Knglish and write his name;
in Wyoming, where he must meet the
former of these qualifications; in Con
necticut. where he must read the Eng
Hsh language: in New Hampshire, where
be must wt ite as well as read it, and in
Massachusetts, where he must read and
write some language, even if not that of
tht- land of iiis adoption.
Tens of thousands of our citizens are
also barred from the polls this autumn
because they are lunatics, idiots, pau
pers or persons with criminal records.
Throughout the country are 180.000 In
dians and Mongolians who cannot
vote, the former because they have not
yet severed their tribal relations, and
th* latter because our federal laws
l?ar the yellow races from naturaliza
tion. Many other citizens cannot go
to the polls Tuesday because they have
not met certain state requirements as
to paying taxes. Seven states bar sol
diers and sailors of the federal estab
lishment.
*
* ik
Probably the largest proportion of
those who. although otherwise quali
fied. will find the polling places closed
against them Tuesday are citizens who
have oeen unable to register as voters
or who have lately removed to a new
community and have not as yet estab
lished a residence therein for a suf
ficient time to meet the requirements
of the election laws. These laws vary
greatly, requiring a state residence of
from six months to two years, a county
residence of from twenty days to one
year and a town or precinct residence of
from ten days to a year.
Hut all of these disqualifications,
when taken together, can hardly be ac
cepted as accounting for the absence
from the polls of half the voters who
quadrennially remain away.
it may be reasonably predicted, then.
that about 5.000.000 fully qualified vot
ers will remain away from the ballot
boxes Tuesday. Some of them will be
unable to go to the polls because of
age or illness, but the greater propor
tion will absent themselves because
indifferent as to their country's destiry.
The 432.000 voters who refused to go
to the polls in the Roosevelt-Parker
election after they had east their bal
lots in the McKinley-Bryan campaign
of four years before just aliout equaled
all of the male citizens of voting age
then in the state of Kansas or in the
citv of Philadelphia. If all of Kansas
or Philadelphia had been disfranchised
that year there would have been a
great hullabaloo, but our old friend
General Apathy, unnoticed, performed a
task of equal magnitude. In New York
state the official count of noses in 1010
showed 2,836,773 males of voting age.
but in the election for governor the
same year almost exactly half of these
voted?1.437.010. Two years before 1 .?>'<*,
of them had voted for Preoident.
m
* *
Of our citizens qualified by age and sex
to vote this year, one in fourteen is a
woman. Had California ani Washing
ton not given our sisters suffrage in the
past year the proportion of women' would
have been only one in eighty. In none of
the six equal suffrage states are there
nearly as many woman as man voters.
The men of voting age in these common
wealths are in the majority by about
r>K8,?0L\
L.ess than half of our possible voters
are native whites of native parentage, a
sixth are native whites of foreign or
mixed parentage, a ninth are natural
ized immigrants and over a thirteenth
are negroes.
In nine of our states there are 60,Oft ?
aliens who can vote, although, they have
taken out only their "first papers," in
which they have merely declared their
intention to become citizens. In Indiana
alone there are 14,000 of these entitled
to suffrage; in Missouri 10,500 and in
Nebraska ln.Oim.
The fact that we have among us this
fall nearly three and a quarter million
possible voters of foreign birth caused the
campaign managers to systematize the
canvass of this vote as never before, and
raeh one has been bombarded with lit
erature printed in his foreign tongue. In
New York city alone there are :?n.<r>o
naturalized male immigrants of voting
age. and only 210,000 American-born
males of native parentage and of votin-r
age. Indeed, of possible voters in out
metropolis the American-born are out
Typ i c aiTPqjui. me^L acx.
liumbere.l two to.one b\ the naturalized
foreigners and those of foreign parentage.
The possi'ble naturalized vote in New
York city is as great as the possible
total vote of Boston and Cincinnati com
bined.
Glancing over our great army of citi
zens of voting age, we lind the largest
class to consist of farmers. and others
engaged in agriculture of one kind or
another. There are about ten millions of
these, and tile next greatest element, nu
merically, is the. labor-vote.* There are
about 9,000,000 laborers ? in'- the country,
but a large proportion . o'f itftese*. a*e
women who cannot vote.- Next *rank the
business men, then those of the clerical
elass, by which I tnenn, not preachers,
but clerks, bookkeepers, stenographers,
etc., and. lastly, the professional class,
who cau enlist a force or but 1,00i;,000.
So you can see pretty clearly that in
the choice of our next President, the
farmers,- mechanics and laborers will
r?vi*;' v
i \ Ml
"Voting >iachi>te. ?
have a far bigger say than the business
men. offlce-workers, lawyers, doctors,
preachers, teachers and writers.
You will be surprised when I tell you
that if all the candidates who are run
ning for office this fall were lined up,
as we did our voters, there would lie
700,<>00 of them in the procession, and
they would stretch 132 miles, or the dis
tance from New York to Springfield.
Mass. Thero are five parties in the fle'.d
this year, and in addition to their na
tional and state candidates at least four
of them will have various tickets in each
of the 3,000 counties of the country, each
of which is divided into various town
ships. boroughs or cities, with" their own
tickets for local offices. In other words
there is in the land one candidate for
each two dozen voters expected at the
polls.
?
* *
Even though our election morals are
not yet what they should be, our elec
tion manners have vastly improved since
the days when the typical polling place,
either a rumshop or a convenient room
adjoining, was the scene of constant
brawling and disorder; where bribery
and Intimidation were at the height of
effectiveness, because every one could
see how his neighbor voted. Indeed,
within the memory of men still alive, our
election etiquette had not in many places
progressed far beyond Its standard over
2,000 years ago. when the Roman his
torian, Dion, complained:
-When the people insisted upon giving
their v'otes, the youag patricians hinder
ed and took the urns <hallot boxes) from
those appointed to keep them, and drove
them out of tr> lorum."
The accompanying etching is from an
old painting in the Philadelphia historical
society depicting a seen* it disorder be
fore a polling place in front of our cradle
of liberty. Independence Hall, in ISIS, the
year that James Monroe was first elected.
In those days candidate*? furnished their
own ballots and their henchmen hung
about the polling places to press them or.
voters and see that they were deposited
In the open ballot boxes. In some of our
states elections- were conducted by yea
and nay vote in the early days, and lit
Kentucky this .system wag legal for local
elections until only twenty-one years ?go.
In Jackson county, that state, it used to
he the custom to elect a sheriff by ar
ranging the friends <?f one candidate on
horseback on one side of the road, and
the friends of the other candidate on
the opposite sid**, the lonKest line winning
the election. Iiut Kentucky saw estab
lished on her soil the first Australian vot
ing booth 'adopted in this country, in
1888.
All of Tuesday's votes for President will
be cast according to the Australian sys
tem, or modification of it. except in
Georgia and the Carolinas. In Georgia
the Australian system is sometimes used
in municipal primaries, but this is left to
party discretion and Is not required by
law.
The fact that all of the states except
three now use the Australian system
means fair progress, considering the fact
that It was never used in a national elec
tion until that of Harrison, in 1888, and
then only In Massachusetts and Louis
ville. It generally followed the system by
which the party instead of the candidate
supplied and distributed the ticket, and
it went a step further by providing tick
ets of all parties paid for and distributed
by the state and deposited in individual
booths or stalls guaranteeing privacy to
voters.
Where this system has been carried
nearest to perfection the voting booths
are small portable buildings owned -by the
community and, that they may be free
from all private influences, so placed on
the public highways or in the public
squares that every side is exposed to the
glare of publicity. As yet, however, the
typical polling place in our cities and
towns is a rented room opening into the
street.
In ten of our states a part at least of
Tuesday's balloting will be done by vot
ing machines, devices on the cash-regis
ter and arithmometer principle, which
automatically count the votes for each
candidate and give returns the minute
that the booth is closed. On these ma
chines the voter records his choice in pri
vate and Is able to split his ticket, al
though unable to repeat without leaving
the booth and reopening the doorway,
which resets the mechanism
In such ways is machinery almost doing
our thinking for us. Perhaps within a
few years some genius will invent a dr.
vice by which we can predict the result
of a presidential election with mathe
matical precision. Perhaps.
? Copyright 1OT2. by Jobii Klfretb Waikin-..
THIS i.? the .-'awn *h'n man. for
all hi.s scoffing at woman's slav
er' to fashion, must look ovt-r
hi- <>wn wardrobe and figur<
out how many or how few new
a-tides of wearing apparel he hiinc-if
r: mi bu>. In other wor?ls. this is the
-? a.-on of men's fall shopping, and so con
-?antly ehanging ar< the styles of !at^
T'-iat in most instances it will be necessary
m buy a complete new fail outfit. \N ith
'Ins fact realized. the average man will
' rst ask himself the question. "H?iw
?!. i.-ii <an I afford to spend?" And then,
in rat iral wijuent-f, he will wonder,
? low much eari I get for my money?"
In an effort to find the answer to both
t i?-se question^. The Star ? poster made
t ? round* of ti:e city's shops, first .1 i-l<
*'iK apparel within the means of a man
ving a salary of a week, then
l'?"kini{ over outfitting.- which would cat *h
i ne ? >e and fi; the purse of the man with
?? salary of *1??> a month, and. finally.
> >?:! li*; the most expensive and exclusive
? ?f haberdasher?"??s and outfitters where
.? e kept ( lothe.s and othi r articles for
vie man win? need not be so particular
iiimut the pri- e.
In all the shops, irrespect:vc of their
l>rn?-s. tiie faet was borne in thi;t there is
. ft'- oj no excuse lor any on?* not appear
i.jr well dress: 1 Naturally, in the eh? :<per
garments there is less <t lalitv of mate: ial
but j regards smts. overcoats, shoes and
'? ? - the patterns ard eUtS of tile exclu
s w shop were all. or nearly all. to be
had in other less pretentious establish
ments ."?>? per eent cheaper, or more. Nat
rallj. t'i ? more expensive garments prob
ahly will wear longer. Perhaps, too. they
hu' a distinctive "touch" la' kins in t ??
les- exp>ns:v>* ones but the fact rem iin
thai, tor all the high cost of living, it i
? asils possible for the man of moderate
-alary to be well dressed from head to
foot without straining his income
T.icre are many th n>cs which the man
v 1th a salary of only Sl,*> a week will see
when he sets out to buy his fall outfit
which he will like to have but can't
afford. There are certain things, bow
ever. which he absolutely m ist have, and
fl-st among these is an overcoat. Visit
ing the various shops, he will be confront
ed l?y a bewildering variety of styles.
He will be shown one of the loose,
round shouldered short "rag'.an" coats, de
cidedly English In styl< . and shaped, when
worn. like an inverted cone. If he wishes
a pronounced English type lie may have
? cli a ? oat in large checks or plaids, or
In r> dai k red. purplish brown, or a dark
gre^n. If he be conservative in his tastes
1 ?? may have the same coat in moflest
gray, dark blue?almost any other color
known to man.
Kut while English styles are perhaps
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MAN
WHO MAKES?
I IKTKKN IXM.I.AKS A WKEK.
1 ... $15.00
One Mil t of i lotlim 17.So
Si\ slilr: < il ev? rydav ami - ilres*! .?.2H
Kullf Heekt'e- 1.0ft
SbocM :t-5"
Six paint of nicli^ <?>
TliriH' suit* ?>f underwear 4.5n
Hat 2M
Total Wft.'d
n\i; 111 iMiIJUltCS A Mo.NTII.
Overcial - *25.on
Two suit/ of clothes 4.YOO
Si:. ->ii i 11? if i veryday. - fire
Five II' ckli??
s.5o
.Y.'iO
4.no
Six |u*iis ? I -in !.n I two si 11^'
n>r.-.- ??iili-- ?>i" uinl'-rwear ?
II;. I ?-i.tjn
(JinV; - - 1 .? I
J > ill
AIinmio
K?>K llll. MAN WHO CAN AJ-FOUI?
T<> SI'K.M i.
I M ,-rci i;i I *40.111
Thre. Mill- <>l c'otlii-*.. loYOo
on.. <|r>.> i ici ? oi uiailmt. ?; silk'. IliLlKi
i in" :i I>?-< k 11'-?
Tmii l.ai - of . . . .
o.i ? 11 -*/> it |mi "I
S. vi'ii underwear..
'I \mi hats .
Two |?.i|- of pin is . . . .
? ?IJ<
T..|jil
ir..?fo
lii.mt
9.00
. 2H.OH
>.oo
a.<M?
now th?' popular \ogue. one is by no
means forced to il loose them. < me may
buy instead a knee-length coat, fairly
wide of shoulder, and neither pronounced
ly loose or tig'it lilting, or lie may have
a coal molded o*i a style between the
two just described "and aptly summed up
by the haberdashers' description "semi
English "
i:i ul! ti!?-s.- garments the buyer may
have any pattern his whim dictates. And
tiie |.-rice w II suit his purse, for he can
buy an overcoat for as low' as 110. Few
men with ti."i a week choose only a ten
dollar overcoat, however. More choose
an overcoat costing ?l^.r>0. and more still
buy ore costing For this last named
price th? buyer will get a coai guaranteed
to .keep its appearance and shape through
out the entire winter, and. more im
portant still, to keep him warm.
Ho. with $ir> expended foy an overcoat,
the buyer begins to look about for a fall
su t Having just expended an entire
week's salarv lie will, of necessity, look
out for a suit that is serviceable, of good
appearance, yet cheap, and lie will find
what he is seeking?for the busiest sec
tion of Pennsylvania avenue has a num
ber of stores that make a specialty, of
catering to just such men.' Indeed, he
may buy his siiit in the same establish
ment where he KOt his overcoat.
Ah iu the ca>f of the outer garment,
i here are all styes of suits, from the
extreme English cut, with its narrow
shoulders and its glove-fitting body,
through the semi-Knglish. to the middle
styled suit that Is fashionable yet not
aggressively so. Any ore of these suits
may be bought, in almost any pattern,
for as low as Then comes a bit
better quality for ?10?still better for
?12.50?and so on up the scale of prices
until the buyer is shown a suit at ?17.5>
which the haberdasher man is willing to
Kuarantee. This one he buys, picking out
a color that will match his Qvercoat-7-or
mayhap he has bought the suit first, in
which case it is the overcoat which must
match.
Then come h'hirts?and here the man
with only $15 a week find a field stupen
dous in its bigness. Probably he wiil not
confine his trade for these articles to one
store, but will buy from several. Prob
ably he will buy six shirts, four for every
day wear and two for ''dress." For his
every day s*hirts lie will find good serv
iieable shirts at ??!) cents ea.-h. Kor
hts dress shirts he may pay *1, or it'
lie be ext?t particular lie may pay $1.5<>
each for th< in. Perhaps he will buy one
of each. Then with his expenditures for
shirts totaling S5.2ft lie will remember
that the ties he wore list fall have be
come lather frayed. Besides* the styles
have changed?for wlilje the knit ties, so
popular one year ago. are still being
worn, fashion has all but counted their
death knell, their place being taken by
semi-flowing siiks.
Ties are the one article of wearing ap
parel which permit a man to add a
t< uch of co'or and individuality to his
appearance?consequently, they run tne
entire gamut of color, texture, material
and price, ranging from 10 cents, for
cheap cotton material, the "right side"
ol which i>' made to give a feeble ap-_
pearance of silk by chemical process, to"
tlie soft neckwear'of Persian silk, which
may cost *?">. But the man with $15 a
week will find plenty of ties, not of the
finest quality of silk perhaps, but silk for
all that, at a cost of only 25 cents each.
Naturally thesie will wear out quickly,
but a man soon wearies of his ties and
buys a new assortment anyhow. So the
buyer invests in four of the twenty-five
cent cravats, and goes' away well sat
isfied.
Then comes the search for shoes and
socks. The shoes are easy. He can get
a good, serviceable pair, heavy enough
for most kinds of weather, yet not^too
lieavy to answer the ordinary social re
quirements, for JS5.30. If It wefe 'summer
he probably would pay at least 25 cents
a pair for his socks, but it is fall, and he
wears high shoes, which, hiding his
hose, makes them less important. Be
sides, the tliip and more expensive ma
terial used in summer is not required
now. So lie looks for a heavier and
cheaper grade, lie finds it in socks sell
ing two pairs for a quarter, and invests
70 cents for six pairs.
Forty-three dollars and fifty-one cents
have, r.ow been expended but only the
underwear remains to be bought, and if
one does not wish especially heavy under
wear, he can secure it at as low as 50
cents a garment. More probably, how
ever, h? will want better material, for
good underwear is quite as essential if
not more so than an overcoat. So he
will probably buy underwear that costs
75 cents a garment?three suits of it. for
a total expenditure of Two dollars
will go for a fall hat-and if the buye.
knows where to go he will get a splendid
hat for that amount. ?
Counting in 10 cents for car fare from
his home to the shopping district and re
turn, tlie man with the fifteen-dollar-a
week income starting out with $50 will
return home with only "!* cents, but he
will be completely outfitted from head to
foot, and h>s clothes, while not expensive,
will nevertheless be uniformly good.
The average man with an earning ca
pacity of $100 per month will probably
allow just about the amount of one
month's salary for his fall wardrobe. In
buying lie will be shown identically the
same styles and patterns looked over by
the fifteen-dollar-a-week man?but the
quality will be better. Also, he will buy
more la visibly.
The average one-hundrtd-dollar-a
month man, for instance, will buy two
suits of clothes, one for "everyday" and
one for "dress." His everyday suit will
Probably cost him S2i> and the other per
haps .<2.". -aithough he may pay only SI-S
and $*-2.5-1, respectively. Hike the other,
he, too. will probably buy six 'shirts,
some for everyday and some for, dress,
but he will probably pass by the sixty
n:ne-cent shirts and pai ?1 for those In
tended for everyday wear. Then probably
he will buy another shirt for $2. 'The
sixth shirt more than likely will be or"
silk, but if he Is a careful buyer it will
cost him but If he lias eveninir
clothes lie probably will buy tw-o stiff
shirts?but these will cost him but $1.."?0.
The overcoat that the one-hundred-dol
lar-a-month man buys will probably cost
him about i??2."> at the outside. He
may pay cents a pair for hif hosiery,
but it is more probable that he will buy
six pairs at '-!?"> ?-ents each, and two pairs
of siik Hose for dress, at 5o cents each.
He will find shoes that satisfy both Jiis
eye ard his purse for $4 a pair, .and his
hat. like that of the fifteen-dollar-a-week
man, should not cost him more than $2?
$:{, accorlirp to hat dealers, usually be
ing the outside limit.
He will ivuuue -three suits 'Of under
wear, and'these will cost him $.1 pe!? gar
ment?or $#. For this price he -will get
underwear a Jajge portion of.wMsh is
wool, not too heavy, but warm and
lasting?.underwear that ought to last
through two winters, ,
Neckties will almost complete the ovjt?
fitting of the injln' with >UH> a month,
and in buying the*e he will probably ex
ercise more painstaking care than In all
his other purchases put together. In the
bt-ginning ae wil1 probably buy three ties
of "standard" colors, plain blue, plain
black and plain brown. These will ctet
him 50 cents each. Then probably he
will pick out some flowered design of
more expensive material, paying *1 for
it?and the average man, according to
the dealers, usually goes to the neck
wear counter, buys one. tie, then sees an
other that catches his fancy.' and' Winds
up by buying that.' too. So the total
cost of neckwear fer the -n?aj\ ? YLith an
income of $100 a month will.be $5.50?
and with ltfs' assortment; ;-?? will have
plenty-of variety.
Last comes the i>urchase of a pair of
gloves, costing probably II..TO. and if the
man be married his outfit will have been
completed, at a total cost of $100 even.
If he is a single man. perhaps he will
spend another dollar, or mayhap a bit
more, and buy a cane?but this will de
pend largely, on his walk of life. For in
stancc, if he is a newspaper man, or a
young practicing attorney, he probably
will. If he is in the government employ,
he probably won't.
For the man who is especially particu
lar about his dr??ss. and-who need not be
too careful about price, there are shops
galore where everything Is o? the finest
possible material and where the cost is
proportionate. In the beginning, the over
coat which such a man will buy may cost
Lini anywhere from thirty to fifty dollars
? forty dollars, according to the dealers,
being the average price paid. Then comes
the clothes. Probably there will be three
suits, which will cost on an average of
$'!."> each.
Like both I is less fortunate brothers, the
man who need not pay too much atten
tion to price will buy two kinds of shirts
hut instead of buying six he will buy :?
dozen. Six of them will probably be of
madras and will cost $2 each. The other
six will be of silk, and will probably cost
on an average of $4 each. He will also
probably buy a down pairs of. socks?and
probably all will be of silk, sotpe costing
.50 cents per pair, the rest costing Si per
pair -total -5D." ' *
riuch 'a man will probably buy-two pairs
of shoes?and they will probably cost him
$0 per pair. He is also likely to buy two
hats, one of which will be imported and
will cost $4, and the other, a "knock
about" hat costing $3. His . underwear
will be half silk, and-will cost him $2 pefc,
garment. Being fastidious, he will want'
a daily change?:hence he will buy seven
suits at a total cost of $28. He will buy
not less than two pairs of gloves, paying
$2 a pair for them, and he may buy a
dozen ties, the cost, of which WW range
from $1 to $-"> each.?perhai* *1."> wouljl be
a fair total for the lot. Finally he will
buy a cane which will cost him about &">.
Altogether such, an outfit wilL have cost
a total of but . to the man who can
afford. to spend., this; njuch.it". .wQl be
worth" every* certt* of It?aafi' imfre.* "
THE SEASON OF FEEAK. SETS.
OKT be siirprised if. in. the near single vote in the United States Senate is
"future ' vou se.- some frtle'k- hlatorv- but the "remarkable part of the
ruture. you see some matter lies in the fact that the man who
coated, s.Ik-hatted person of jq^ paid his bet?and is still paying it.
dignified mien down on hts ne now past seventy and a man of
hands and knees in the middle wealth and prominence in his section, but
of Pennsylvania avenue, solemnly rolling his hafr hangs far below his shoulders.
a neanut in the direction of the river bInct* the day tH* vote of the Senate was
a peanut in tne oirecuon nit n ci announced he ,,ag never had it eyen su
front. For thi?s is the. season of frc^k much as trimmed.
election bets, and nin*? chapcas to one There is a certain young practicing at
the dignified looking person will be mere- torney in Washington who, it is safe to
lv one of those who lost, and is 'paying s*>\ positively wiH not make a freak bet
"} ., of any kind, either on the coming election
? , . . . ' or on anything else. He made one four
Some day some historian with the time years ago, and that's the reason.
and the. inclination, will probably get on At that time the attorney was new to
tbjp trail of the freak bet and traceit Washington. He had come up from tjjie
back to its origin. It is probable, how- south to take a final year in law at one
Tint his task will be elirantic and of tho local universities, and he was a
evei, that his task will be gigantic, ana red.hot democrat in general and an ar
that it will take>hlm back to the eailiest dent Bryanite in particular. He was ab
days of the world. The custom of solutely certain that the Xebraskan would
wagering mere money or other valuables defeat Taft?and, strange to relate, he
on.-some uncertain result is in itself shared a bachelor apartment with another
, - ,, , ? . . student from Connecticut, who was a
thousands of years old, but compared to dyed-in-the-wool republican. Both wanted
the freak bet it is a mare youngtser. to bet on the election, but, being students.
Vreak bets were probably made before neither felt that he could afford to risk
there was any such thing as money. money. So they took it out in political
* *
arguments lasting far into the night, until
both all but ran out of words.
There are all sorts a-nd varieties of
freak bets, some-of which are repeated
year after year, all over the country. Of ?tne night ,the demo^ (llon'?
these, the non-hair-cutting bet in which with a extolling the "peer
person. making the wager agree not to ^ one" and Predicting all sorts of dire
cut their hair lor a stipulated length of lhin*s due to befa11 the republican stand
time if they lose is, perhaps, the most ard bearer. The member of the Jeffer
commo.n.. Usually the time agreed on is sonian party sang this- song over and
three or four months-or occasionally one over again, while -his apartment mate
year. There is one Instance, however, glowered at him. J ou II sing a different
where the bet was carried to an un- s?nK after election night," the latter said
equaled extreme. finally.
Many ye?rs ago, when President An- "Oh, no," returned the other, cheer
drew Johnson was facinsr impeachment fullv; "Instead vou'll sing this song your
iuv>ceedings there was a young manJiV- se,f -. }le pausedi ,hHI a bri&h, id?
mg m southern Gwrgia who was bitter ^ ,
in his hatrfd of the chief executive. A struck him. ' Make you a bet, he re
frier.1 of his was enthusiastic 111 the marked, succinctly?"If democracy wins
President's support, and the two had you ptart at midnight on the night after
many arguments, which grew more and he election and walk up and down all
more neateu.
'?He's going to be kicked out of^office? the halls of this building, singing my cam
and he'll get just what lie deserves," paign song for two hours. If the t3. O. P.
one would say. wins I'll do the walking and I'll sing
"He's a victim of abuse, misander- .
stan<1in^ and ignorance." the other would a";''. nf? >uU ^. -
reply heatedly. "They'll never impeach The democrat lost. but was game.
him. They won't dare." ? ? 2.V Jol?? * *1*1 slnR- he
Daily the arguments continued, until asked. The other pondered a moment,
finally the "one favoring- impeachment th^n smiled. ^ ou begin at midnight,
suggested a wager. "Tell you what," mused. * At that time e\er>body will
said he, "If they impeach Johnson, you probably be asleep. Let's let them have
let your hair grow without cutting it for sweet slumber You walk up and down
five years. If they don't impeach him, and sing "Rock-a-hye. Haby." "
T'll never have my hair cut again as The democrat did it. All through the
long as I live?that's giving you odds? apartment house he walked, singing the
will you take it?" same song over ard over again, and when
The other would and the bet was made, he tried to lower his voice to what he
m ... called k a gentle croon there stood his
* * apartment mate, inexorably ordering him
How both.the .wagerers got the best of 'Vs a^Jul^of 'tliat wager seventeen ten
run* "0i\ their money and how Preal- ants of that apartment house threatened
dent Jbfin'ebn escaped* imf>e'achment by *a to* ha^c the midnight" warbler arretted'for
disorderly conduct and the.agent a.?ked
him to move.
*
Always in making a freak bet the prin
cipals try to hit upon that which will
makt! the loser the more ridiculous?each,
of course, being sublimely confident thai
It will be the other who loses. A bet thai
approaches close to the quintessence of
absurdity uas made in Washington, just
before the congressional election two
years ago. on the question of whether or
not the House of RepresentativeE would
be republican or democratic.
Shortly before 5 o'clock on the evening
that the bet was to be paid a man in
evening clothes, white gloves and operd
hat rode up to t ie corner of Connecticut
avenue and K street in a big automo
bile. got out, dismissed the chauffeur and
began walking slowly up the avenue. An
other man dressed in an ordinary busi
ness suit, who had been waiting on the
corner, followed him about ten feet l>e
liind. The man in the evening clothes
walked a few steps, then t>ank to his
hands and knees, where he appeared to
pluck something from the sidewalk and
put it In his mouth. Then he rose, walk
ed a few feet farther and repeated the
performance. Th? man in the business
suit still remained a discreet distance be
hind him.
A crowd soon began to congregate and
follow the man :n the evening clothes.
Utterly oblivious to them, he continued to
pluck invisible things from the sidewalk
and eat them.
Finally, one of the mor? curious in the
crowd summoned his courage and walk
ed up to the peculiar one. "What's the
matter." he asked. "Nothing," replied
the latter; "nothing at all I'm merHv
picking some of these strawberries. Havt
some, won't you? Help yourself."
The questioner drew ha< k, grinning, and
the grin grew still wider when the man
in the business suit tapped his fore
head significantly.
For two blocks the man in the even
ing clothes continued to pick his straw
berries-. from the sidewalk, the crowd
growing larger and larger. Some of then*
sought information from the man in the
business suit. "Don't worry." the latter
explained. "He's a little off. but per
fectly harmless. I'm his keeper?he won't
hurt you?don't be afraid."
But evidently some of them wer*
afraid, for pretty soon one of those in
the crowd departed and returned with a
policeman, who, certain that he had to
deal with a maniac, gripped hhi dnt>
tightly and looked resolute. It took many
minutes to persuade lilm that the man in
the evening clothes was not at all craxy,
but was merely paying an election bet
lost to the man In the business suit?
and when the bluecoat finally became
convinced that this was ? the case it re
quired still more persuasion to keep hjm
frpm arresting them both - for'disorderly
conduct.'" But he 'didn't.