Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1858-04-03

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s1suual aSRH "a IN q If
ltimoss3 1neat y,
{s as 49, 3 ss s XXI ssass ass
and asenqss
g.
Psas's., ,asssqsh :l's.s 5000
and arsnsmed after tie afts ea the
Penney from
the Cspit0l To- the hits HotSt ots The
President, is about ,mieie length spd OF noble,
width, but contains few buildings of gnitade
commespraae With its owpr stately The
houses each side are for the most part Of third.
the spaciouspess Of the feadw look eaner
and smaller than they are. Washington. with III
sornevhat ur,sayory addition which it would offend
polite to repeat was called BY late celebrated
senstor The ycity of magnificent distances, and
we'll justifies the title. On every sde the diahhces
costing to the stranger who wdlks through the city
at night when the gas iamps show their iaify radi
ance at long intervals population OF Of least mill
lion Of souls But At daylight this illusion vanl6
The marks Of good intention and noble deesign are
everywhere apparent; but those Of fnlfliment are
nowhere to be found All is inchoate. struggling,
confused, heterogeneous and incomplete In the
same street are to be found . splendid marble edi-
flee of magnitude such rs would make It the or
nament Of any capitol in the world whlle 2pPesste
wooden Sheds and filthy pigsties, suggestive of the
Mlesian element in the population a,s.rset is
street, in which the Patent Office Is situated 4ed
such streets are and Streets where many Of the
diplomatic corps and the fashion of Washington
have taken up their residence And here il may be
mentioned that the founders of the city seem to
have exhausted their inventive ingenuity when they
named the principal streets after the States of the
Union. Having taxed their imagination to this ex.
tent or having imagination at al, they resorted
Il H. ~1n h.t~ a. ne
ciature When they had exhausted these-an easy
matter in growing cty-they brought arithmetic
to the of their poverty, A. was done in new
York, Philadelphia, and other cities. Thus in re-
ceivng cards and returning visits, the stranger may
not unfrequently find that he has been called upon
by Mr.. jones, Of No. 80 Ninety-ninth street; or
must visit Mr.. Brown. at No. Third street; OF
Mr. Smith, at No. % Twenty second street. The
system has its advantages, no doubt but is somewhat
stiff and mathematical, and ignores very cheap but
very effective mode of rendering honor to the great
men of the country, living or dead-the giving Of
their names to the public thoroughfares. II Wash
ington gave his to the city, why should not the
names of other great men be given to its streets?
Besides its noble Capitol, with its towering dome,
Washington possesses many elegant public buildings,
Treasury Buildings, the Patent Office, and the Post
Office Were the edfces. which are mostly Of white
marble, concentrated, as they might and ought to
have BEEN in the great artery of Pennsylvania
enue, instead of being scattered various por-
tons of the city, Washington night have possessed
vo in Paris. But the opportunity has been lost,
and can never again recur. Still it is impossible
not to believe that Washington will yet become the
most splendid city on this continent 1t has oil the
elements of beauty well Of greatness both in its
self and in its immediate environs and when it be-
comes as popuous as New York, which it is likely
to oe in less than fifty years. the inferior buildings
that line its spacious streets will disappear, and its
"a magnificent distances :" ..;n b. .yaOsuSa With
architecture worthy Of the capitol of fifty, or per.
haps of hundred, young aud vigorous republics
The site of Washington was chosen by George
Washington himself who laid the cornerstone Af
the Capitol on the 18th Of September, 1913. At
that tme and for some years Afterwards. the sttings
Of the legislature were held in Independence Hall,
Philadelphia. The city stands in the District of Co.
lumbia, in territory ceded for the purpose by the
Commonwealth of Virginia and Maryland, and GOV.
ers an area of sixty square miles. Originally its
measure hundred square miles but, in
1916, forty square miles were restored 10 she Com
monwealth. The design, rs well rs the location Of
the city, is due to the genius Of General Washing
ton under whose directions the plans were executed
by Major L'Enfant The limits extend from north.
west to southeast about four miles and hall, aud
from east to southwest about two miles and a half
The circumference Of the city is fourteen niles and
the aggregate length of the streets is computed at
1919 miles, and of the avenues sixty five miles and
the average width is from seventy to one hundred
and ten feet 49, ss.sa
= The original Capitol was SO much damaged by the
British invading force in the unfortunate of 1874
that in the following year was found necessary to
reconstruct it In 1895 it was entirely repaired
and in 1851, being found insufficient for the creas
ing business of the nation it determined to add
two wings to it, which are at the present time in
process Of construction. The Capitol contains the
halls chambers of the Senate and the House of
Representatives-the former numbers GA, and the
latter about $50 members. 1t also contains the hall
of the Supreme Court, where nine judges, robed,
but not bewigged-and the only functionasies, ex-
cept those of the army and navy, who wear an off.
cial costume-sit to administer justice, and to con-
troll and regulate the whole action of the govern
ment in a manner quite unknown to the constitution
Of Great Britain. The Capitol is built Of pure white
marble, which CLEANS in the sunshine Of this beau
tiful climate in manner trying to the eyes ofAH
Englishman accustomed to the murky sombreHess
of the public monuments of London. az. g
The White House or Presidents mansion, is Of
free stone painted white in imitation Of MARBLE: It
is plain but elegant building, betting the unpre-
tending dignity Of the popular Chief Magistrate Of
a country where government is mnimized, and where
the trapping and paraphernalia Of State and Office
are unknown and unconganiaL Here the President
IA man possesses during his term Of office, afaf
greater amount of power and patronage than the
sovereign Of any State in Europe, except fhe Eupe