The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1861-01-12


dry shod as the fsrc.ites were while cross
| log the Red Sea, voa reres shealss seem q
bs IN the midst oil 9 s,n sii ases of nneceoans
able sloors Of the Saurian p4s,oi. Ial
question whether these are not the fshuleu
"shfps Of S.a.e.>o often mentiorea in n,
elegant crarorv of yosr eountrr.a fou ei.
serve thai tae ships are aaahogd in Sd ocea1
ofpasement, ard yaqv no longer :Fusiwor-
thy eyes search FOR their hens. The lear.
est approach 70 aruiaer Is q chimney or al
untnished pillar; ihe closest resemblance.
70 piiotis . ksd-cargyins workman elsm-
berlag up q gangyay. D.smissiHg the
nautical hypothesis, your next effort 10 re-
lieve yeur perpieIity results 10 the coniee
;uEe that tbs rrodigioas masts and hooms
n y be nothing mere than curious. gthhets.
the cruss-Iieces to which, conforming rigid
y 10 the Washington rule of eoptrariety
are fastened 10 the bottom Instead of the top
OF the upright Your theory is, that the
destinics of the nation are 10 be hanged on
these monstrous gibbets, ard seu Sorder
whether the lave Of grayi;ayicu wiH be COM
plaisaDt enough to 10 turn upside down for
the accommodation of the hansman, who
ever be may be. 1t is 4 OF without pain that
~ asC AU4 Sto bISt ~ ttaG SslG ACI
belief that these remarkable mountinss Of
the Public Buildings are neither mast nor
booms, but simply derricks, mechanical
coutrivanees for lifting Of very heavy
weights. II is some consolation however,
10 be tod that the weakness of thnsa der
ricks has never been proved by the endeavor
to.eleyate BY means OF them the moral char-
acter of the inhabitants Of Washington
Content yourself, after reas asonable delay
tor ruatural uoaderment. to leave the strange
scene. This shipping Ike aspect of the
inconpl, t Departments is orly a nice ar hi
tec'urM tribute 10 the fact that the popula-
tion Of Washington Is floating population
The Oldest inhabitants are here to-day and
gone Tomorrow, rs puncsuailv, il not, poet
iealiy, as the Arabs Of Mr.. Longfeltow. A
Few emain,-parasitic growths, clinging
tenacious to the old hauDts. Like tartar Oh
the teeth, they sra proof against the b .rdosl
rubs sof the toothbrush of Fortune.
As with the pecple, so with the housas.
Though they retain their positions, seldom
abandoning the ground on which they were
originally built, they change almost hourly
their appearance and uses, ,--insomueh that
the very solids Of the city seem luia, and
even the stables are ,nutabIe, the horse
house of last week being an otEce for the
sale OF patents. or periodicals, or In:tery-
,cEets, this week, with evcry probability Of
becoming an oyster ceilar,a billiard saloon.
cirgar-store, a BARRIERS shap. d bar room,
or a farobank. next week. You will OBJ
serve that the paiatial museums for the
temporary preservation os fossil or fungous
permen join walls. Virtually. with hab-
itations whose architecture would ref ect no
credit on the most curious hamlet in tide
water Virginia. To your Arrangement, you
learn TINT all these houses, Thousands in
number, are boarding houses. OF course,
where everybodyis Il stranger, nobody keeps
house. IL would be rardonable to suppose,
that, cut Of so many boarding houses,
some would be in reality what they are il
name. Nothing can be farther from the
fact. These houses contain apartments
more or less cheerless and badly furnished,
according TO the price [alanvs exorbitant,
however smallit may be) demanded for
them, and are devoted exclusively to the
storage of empty bottles and dem Johns, to
large boxes of vegetable and flower seeds,
to great piles of books, speeches, and docn.
ments not yet directed to people who will
never read them, and to an abominable odor
Of boiling cabbages. This odor steals 10
from number Of pitch-dark tunnels and
shafts. misnamed passages and staircases,
in which there are more hooks, documents,
and speeches, other boxes of seeds, and a
still stronger odor of cabbases. The piles
of books are traps set here for the beneE,
of the settlers of broken legs and the patch.
eFs of skinless shins, and the noisome odors
are propacated for the advantage Of gentle
men who treat diseases Of the larynx and
lungs.
Ii would appear, then, that the so-callcd
boarding houses are, in point Of fact, pri-
vate gifs-boos stores, or rather commission.
houses for the Receiving and forwarding OF
a profusion of undesirable documents and
vcgetations. You may view them also ir
the light cf establishments for the mauufac-
turc and distribution Of domestic perfumerv
payment for which is never exacted at the
moment Of its involuntary purchase, but il
left to be collected by doctor, who calls
upon YOU during the winter, levies on you
with a lancet. and distrains upon your Wis
cera With compound cathMtle pill. ..r
1t is claimed, that in addition to the vic.
tins who pay egregious rents for boarding.
house beds in order tha. they may have q
place TO store their documents and demi-
johns, there are other permanent occupant.
Of these houses. As, for example, Irist
ehambermaids, Tho subtract few INC nent,
from the morning half hour gigento drink-
ing the remnants of your uhiskev, ant
devote them to cleaning your room. Also
a very strange being, peculiar to Washing.
ton boarding. hou ses, WHO is never visibl,
1T auv time. ard oaiv heard stumbIipc M.
stairs about four O'Clock in the morning 2
Also beidames of inealcuiable ansiauity.-
a regular allowance of one 10 each BOARDING
house.-wLo fit Boiselesslv aad unceasingi,
about the passages and up and down tn,
stairways. adm onisking you Of their pres
| ence by ghos.iv sniiie. which AWAY,
frighsens you, aud prevents you from run
ming into them and knocking them down
For these people. it is beIiey cd. a table is Sc
in the houses where the boarders prooe
tiatter taeir acqsGintances that they sIeep
Il must heso. for the entiremals rspuiatio,
10 constantly eating in oyster cellars. In
! deed. il ocular evidence may be relied on ! tn
best energies of the metropolis.are given .,
the incsssans eansumnsion Of s'haIf aozel
raw" or .'four fried and glass Of ale.'
! The bar-roo,ns aud eating houses are AWAY
full or in the ses Of becoming full. BIZ
| fatality SO uneFring that il has ceased TO b
wonderful, II happens that 7oG can nere
enter Washington restaurant and End !
partially empty, without being ips,anti
followed By dozen or two o. bipeds q
kungrT and thirsty As yourself. who crow,
/ up 30 the bar and destroy half the comfor
you dsrivs from youT lunch or your so5as
Bat, although every body is forever satin
oysters and drinking ale in r,yriads cf snb
serTanean holes and corners, nobody fail
to eat a. other places more eurprisiny 30
original than any ycu have ye. seen. In al
ether citief. people eat at home or 1t hots
or an eating. hose in Washington they "a
81 bank. But they DO no. eat mcusy,-s
least. not ], the fern Of tuIliou, or peel,
or notes. These Washington baaks. upiik