The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1862-01-24
Ripples at the Capital.

saIuratinY Toy, more dense than u month
OF London Toys compressed into a day
has literally bloued out and eaten ur
everything here. While it lasted, The
restless thousands Of this mob city saw
nothing and nobody, but the roar ard
tramp OF the streets never c.ased for q
moment, and occasional cries came out oil
the bosom ol the mass, rs il from the gul
OF uuer oblivion. This morning the log
lifted aud rolled down the Potomac, aud
exposed Pennsylvania Avenue, a sea oil
mud, with the huge army trains rumblIng
through it, and the sidewalks crowded
with mass Of eager passers. by, whose
footsteps had before only been heard.
The first thing that arrests the eye o.
stranger in this city, is the immense
mob oil humans OF all varieties that crowd,
and hurry, and dodge, and jostle along
the sidewalks, all eagerly rushing some
where; officers, citzens, soldiers, sen.
'lnels, bands oI music, squads, more
officers, ciIZens, Members OF Congress
women, more women, officers, men with
carpet bags, more officers, women, some
soldiers DC, &c.,sn erdless stream or va
rlous streams, hurrying, skurrying along,
as 1t the Nations salvation depended on
| expedition, And, all the time, over The
paved streets thunders an lnIerminab BILE
lrain OF huge army wagons, each drawn
by tour or six mules or asses. Intetd, the
latter have much 10 do with affairs here,
generally. Queer, amt it, that this re-.
mark copjures up the long procession OF
i've hundred Generals. two hundred and
more Members OF Congress. not 10 men
ion the President and heads OF Depart
nenls But so it is. ...... ...
Hasn't it occurred TO you, Mr.. Demo
| crdt, up there in your quiet little ,own,
now rather muddy perhaps, that, down
| here on the Potomac, we are in wan, OF two
or three men one to preside IN the Exec.
ulive Council, one TO lead the army, and
another to lead in Congress? Vel, SO il
is. Everything here. TO the eye of an
outsider. is on a common. fat, dead level,
and II may perhaps, as well be mentioned
while we pass. ia
But 10 ge' back 10 tie streets, for an
giving merely liv.e, superficial ripples.-
Another feature which arrests attention
is the immense lhrong OF hacks, all neally )
and elegantly 80 ten up. and all drawn by
the leanest and shabblest plugs" in The
world, which huddle and cluster about al
the principal hotels, in front OF which, or
the sidewalks, collect their swarms oil
rude, rough, ciamoring, swearing, wran
Cling drivers. No city, save Baltimore
can, in a bad way. compete in the matter
OF hack drivers. with Washington. Un
lucky is the man who looks towards them
He is. in II moment, surrounded by the
whole noisy rabSIe, with. "Want car.
riage 2" "Take mne." "You be id
be wants mine," &c, &c. And still
more unlucky is he who gets into car.
rage, lor he may teel uncertain whetheI
he will ever get TO any place, and certain
that he will be robbed il he does.
II you escape the hackmen, you vii
6nd yourself imporuned by the 1.-THE,
ragged boot blacks, each with his ilile
box, having small. -soe.shaped step or
the top. tor the loot 10 res! on, in the
process of polishing. IL is amusing 10 See
the imperturbable goodnature and tenac.
ity with which these urchins ply theil
craft and solicit custom. No biped mas
culiEe escapes their opportunity. BLACK
yer boots ?" 'llavr bouts blacked ?''-
"Black 'em for half-a. dime, Z" "Blacs 'em
for penny" "Glve 'em good polish, -
&c. Everywhere on the sidewalks, You
find them engaged in polishinga customer
shaping and polishing his ends, sometimes
very roughly bewn indeed. The Ora.
goons, with their long, coarse, mud LOADED
boots, generally get 'her moneys worth
In front OF my windows. this morning, one
OF these. a huge son of Mars. was good
naturedly elevated on Two boxes. smoking
"a penny grab" while the busy propri
etors we're scraping and brushing, and
rubbing, below. Twas hard job. Tn,
mud was the "sacred SOL" ana opposed
10 secession. The group would have
made good picture. r.e. a.a a. "
Escaping the brushes, you encounter
the newsboys, whom your lncinaions and
necessities recognize as too useful TO be
monumental. By the way, save the Intel
kgencer, old, cold, staid and unenlerpris
ing, that never gets any news, new or old
the papers. (the Inteiiigeneer, Republican
and Star, are not worth the wrelched
paper they are printed on. Ii is amazing
that not single daily paper here. nor
all of them together, are worth rush ioi
news. Indeed, do not know as there is
any way OF finding ou; or knowing any
thing here, until we get the New York
and Baltimore papers. / never saw q
man here who knew what was going on.
or what had gone on. We get any
amount of rumors. no one OF which evel
proved true. 10 m, knowledge, The New
York and other city news,makers agree
or disagree as to what has or ought to
have happened here, during the current
day, and then print it. o. course, as no.
body ever knows anything here, nobody