The mountain Democrat., 1863-12-19

be Ontdope. has torn down. mn extern.
porial theatre, which, a. have remarked,
sIOol,aa the fOuAdatiOn of the old Nation
Al, and = hoE building large apd solid
structure, which will be opened in the
course d dfTWmth or SixTaeeka This
theatre win Be entered through a fine
new hotel, which Is being built, it Is said,
by o. B. NAttisoD, Of NeW York, on the
foundation of the old Union printing Of
fict, and d1NhdinginhOHt Of thotheatra.
As q friend of the dramatic art l re.
joice As the progress it is making here,
and have no doubt that itbaveS han
dreds from petTonising the grog shops,
the gambling houses, and other more
loathsome haunts Of crims-f there be
others more loathsOmc than gambling.
~ regret to say that gambling and
drinking have increased in even greater
proportion than legitimate business. The
authorities, military and civil, are greatly
to blame for licensing or toleratihg drink.
ing, while gambling should Be suppressed
with the stVUug hand I.undeFstand that
the Provost Marshal with his troopers,
who promenade the streets by nigh, have
pounced upon many Of those establish
ments recently, and that he has resolved
to break them up. We have law here
Furnishing faro dealing with the peniten'
tiary, but the FIRST victim who was con.
victpd under the law, though an old Of.
fender, was pardened out, and thus these
dens of infamy have hourished none the
less In consequence Of the severe penalty
which the silent letter Of the law pro.
vides.
"Houses Of i'll fame keep pace With
those devoted TO gaming and drinking,
and the abandoned women who have
focked here since the war commenced
are said to be equal to an army in num-
bers. Common fame reports that they
have monopOlized whole streets and
blocks between Pennsylvania Avenue and
the canal, and that they register them,
selves, suppose from the popular name
given to them, as Of the Fifth Army
Corps. A victualler and confeCtioner in
the vicinity, who was about to give up
business at the commencement of the
war, is rapidly making his fortune by
supplying these disreputable houses with
dinners at the expense Of army cOntrac-
tors, dealers in suffers stores, and army
officers.
at is to be regretted that schools and
churches have not fourished in equal de-
gree with other things. So far from it, if
the truth must be told, they were never
less fourishing. Ihave already mentioned
the conversion of one church into thea
tire. Several others were for months past
shut W, partly as punishment Of their
disloyalty, and partly from the military
necessity which brought them into requi-
sition as hospitals. The schools were for
several months almost entirely suspended,
at the breaking out of the rebellion, ow-
ing to the number of families most able
to pay, who went South; and even now
Washington is by no means forward as
regards facilities Of education.
"During 1861 and 1862, the streets
were either some feet deep in mud or
fathoms deep in dust. Last winter they
were nearly impossible. five had had a
pictorial, the condition Of the streets
with carriages and horses sinking out Of
sight, men and women clinging to an UNI
brella until boat could come to their re.
lief, and similar scenes-might have fur
nished lively subjects for illustration.-
This horrible condition of the streets was
entirely due to the thousands of govern
ment wagons which are, or were, EN-
ployed daily in the transportation Of army
supplies. During the present summer
much has been done to remedy the evil
Several streets, most used and worst in
jured by the wagons, have been graveled
and in some places paved, and it may be
hoped that the worst is now over.
ut is not to be wondered, then, that
oil the foreign Ministers, who can move,
are removing themselves and their fami-
lies from Washington. Cannot Congress
be removed to Cincinnati or Buffalo, or
Philadelphia. or Harrisburg or New Ha-
ven, or New York, or even BostopS"