Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-03-22
DIR. MACKAY,S ACCOUNT OF WASH.
ISGTON.


WGshtngton, the official and political capital
OF the United States, is beautifully situated on
the Potomac, a wide but not deep river, at a
distance Of upwards of $50 miles from the ocean.
1t IL 226 miles from New York, 136 from Phila-
delphia, and 40 from Baltimore; and contains a
population of upwards Of 90 900 souls, of whom
5000 are free blacks and :, 900 slaves. The city
is laid out into wide streets and avenues
wider than Portland place in London, or Sack
vile street in Dublin. The avenues as the
principal thOroughfares are called radiatc
from the Capitol, or palace Of the legisla-
tare, as their centre; and are named after
the fifteen original States Of the federation
Pennsyivania avenue, leading direct from the
Capitol to the White House, or mansion of the
President, is about a mile in length, and of a
noble width, but contains few buildings of n
magnitude commensurate with its own stately
proportions. The houses on each side are for
the most part Of third-rate size and construc-
ton, and, IN consequence of the spacousness of
the roadway, look even meaner and smaller
than they are. Washington, with a somewhat
unsavory addition, which it would offend polite
ears to repeat, was called by a late celebrated
Senator the "city of magnificent distances"
and well justi6es the title. On every side the
distances stretch out in apparently intermin-
able lines, suggesting to the stranger who walks
through the city at night, when the gas lamps
show their fairy radiance at long intervals, a
population of at least a million of souls But
at daylight this illusion vanishes The marks
of good intention and noble design are eyery-
where apparent; but those of fulilment are no.
where TO be found. All is inchoate Struggling.
confused, heterogeneous, Incomplete In the
same street are to be found a splendid marble
edihce OF magnitude such as would make it the
ornament of any capital in the world; while op-
posite, and each side of it, are low brick
houses, crazy wooden sheds, and filthy pigsties.
suggestive OF the Milesian element in the pop
ulatiOn such a street is street in which the
Patent Ofhce Is situated and such streets are
III and streets, where the diplomatic corps
aud the fashion of Washington have taken up
their residence. And here it may be men
toned that the founders CT the city seem to
have exhausted their inventive ingenuity when
they named the principal streets after the
States OF the Union. Having taxed their ina
glnation to this extent, or having no imagina-
ton at all, they resOrted TO the letters Of the
alphabet as a mode of nomenclature. When
they had exhausted theso-an easy matter in
growing city-they brought arithmetic to the
rescue OF their poverty, as done in New
York, Philadelphia, and other cities Thus,
In receiving cards and returning visits, the
stranger may not unfrequently find that he
has been called upon by Mr.. Jones, of No. 90
NInety-ninth street or must visit Mr. Brown,
at No Third street, or Mr.. Smith, Mt No %
Twenty second street. The system has its ad-
vantaSes, no doubt, but is somewhat stiff and
mathematical, and ignores a very cheap but
very effective mode of rendering honor To the
great men Of the country, living or d,a l-the
giving OF their names to the public thorough
fares If Washington gave his name TO the city,
why should not the names Of other great men
be given to its streets?
Besides Its noble Capitol, with its towerin,
dome, Washington possesses many elegant
public buildings, such as the White House, or
Executive Mansion, the Treasury Buildings,
the Patent Office, and the Post Office Were
these edifces, which are mostly Of white mar
bic, concentrated, as they might and ought to
have been, in the great artery of Pennsyiyania
avenue, instead of being scattered over various
portions of the city, " Washington might have
possessed at least one street to rival or sur
pass the Rue de Rivoli in Paris But the on
portunity has been lost, and can never again
recur. Sll!, 1t Is impossible not to believe that
Washington will yet become the most spiendid
city on this continent. 1t has all the elements
OF beauty as well of greatness. both in itself
and IN Its Immediate envir rs; and when
IT becomes as pOpulOus as New York, which it
Is likely 10 be IN less than fifty years, the nfe-
rlor buildings that line its spacious streets will
disappear, and Its magnificent distances
viii be adorned with an architecture worthy of
the capital Of fifty, or perhaps of a hundred,
young and vigorous republics
The site OF w Washington was chosen by George
Washington himself, who laid the corner stone
OF the Capitol on the 18th Of September, 1893
At that time, and for some years afterwards,
the slttings OF the legislature were held in In
dependence Hall, Philadel phia. The city stands
in the District of Columbia in territory ceded
for the purpose by the Commonwealth of Vir-
glnia and Maryland, and covers an area Of
sixty square miles; but, in 1916, forty square
miles were restored to the Commonwealth The
design, as well as the location of the CITY. is
due to the genius Of General Washington, un-
= WI dU IL.
oy Major Ii Enfant. The limits extend from
northwest 10 southeast about four miles and n
hall, and from east to southwest about two
miles and a half. The circumference of the
city ls fourteen miles, and the aggregate length
OF the streets is computed at 1893 miles and of
the avenues sixty-ive miles; and the average
width Is from seventy to one hundred and ten
feet
The original Capitol was 30 much damaged
oy the British invading force in the unfortu-
nate war OF 1914, that In the following year IL
was found necessary to reconstruct it. In 1928
IL was entirely repaired; and in 1851 be-
Ing foand insurlcient for the increasing busi-
ness ot the nation, 1t was determined TO add
two wings to it, which are at the present time
In process OF construction. The Capitol con.
tslns the halls or chambers of the Senate and
the House Of Representstives-the former num-
bers 81, and the latter about go members. Ii
also contlins the hall of the Supreme Court
"Hcle uAHe JuuSes, rODeu Dut not Dewlgged-
and the only functionaries, except those of the
army and navy, who wear an official costume
cit to administer justice, and TO control and
regulate the whole action Of the government
In manner quite unknown to the constitu-
tion OF Great Britain. The Capitol is built of
pure white marble, which CLEANS in the sun
SHINE oil this beautiful climate in a manner
trying to the eyes Of any Englishman accus-
toned 10 the murky sombreness of the public
monuments Of Lo n
The White House, or Presidents s mansion. is
oil tree-stone, painted white in imitation of
marble IL Is plain but elegant building
oentnng the unpretending dignity of the pop1-
lar Chief Magistrate Of a country where gov.
eminent Is minimized, and where the trappings
and paraphernalia Of State and Office are u1-
known and uncongenial. Here the President
"a man who possesses, during his term of
office, a far greater amount Of power and pa
tronage than the sovereign Of any State in
Europe, except the Emperors Of France, Rus
Ella, and Austria-trsnsacts, without any un-