The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-12-01
PENNSYLVANIA Avenue-Ehe bo"erS W
our National Gapftai.
From Mrs, z. F. Piercc's article on washington
IN the December atlantic .,.s

r &c
In the December atlantic
Pennsylvania avenue Is oouievaIu ny
less than ono hundred and sixty feet VICE
The inevitable double lorse-car track oe,
aces its centre, but tho rest OF IL IL paVe''
with wood, so that il is smooth IKE h,or.
but, unlike loor. It is swept so seldom INA.
the dust lies thickiy upon IL. Ihefc IS no.
single church or public building upon II;
hut the closcly-set houses along us leng.li
are Of every variety Of sltabblness anu ug'i'
ness, aud of all heights, so that Their roofs
DIRE as uneven as an old saw. In their lower
stories may be found representatives or all
the avocationS that wait upon the kitchen
| and back.stairs wants of humanity, upon
the sordid needs Of the poor, VI
upon the cravings Of the disso'utc ;
for alongside the grocer and the meat
| man, the plumber and the sas.flttcr, the
cheap eweller aud miIlner. are bar'roons-
| har.rooms--at nearly every ten S'etE, tnu
part nearest the Capitol is the worst sec'i3ii
nr thc whnlr: As Won emerge upon the
ayeu,,e from the little ofscshoc-shapcd PARK
n, itS hasc vol, Zee on the left hand the ma
tional botanical garden, which IL large
enclosure surrounded by Il tall hrtck-and'
irnn fence. and planted with young trees.
Its rcntre !, necessarily filled with conserva'
tn,ir. which. considered as conservatorles,
mr. handsome; but Horace Wapole said
truly .'it is impossible to make green
house ornamental" and these look pecu-
LARRY out of place. Opposite the garden OH
the riuht is Il row Of dirty and paltry shops
and drinSing-pIaccs that would ucilt HI iflSu
allry. the corner one being aclu,t'i! laul''
dry (only at this writing. May, 1873, I'D course
of Gcmolilion), which Tor years Mapped tit'
wash on its roof In friendly uemocfn;l'
greeting to the United states haGs OH tue
capitol, two StUne-throWS Oh.
From the latter TO the White House is a
distance OF fifteen streets, and nc Seventh
street the avenue Is lnterSected by announcer
avenue. the three combining TO form Il large
open space set of By triansles, wh!ch. next
to that of the capitol itself, is perhaps the
most effective situation for magnificent
building in all Washington. \ year age The
several hundred feet Of this unique site we're
occupied by an old shed, covered with Il
roof OF tarrcd shoddy, and AS perfectly black
and dlapidlIci with age as any S!nlthy ever
imagined. This was tie Washington mar
kcf. and it had stood thus coD*picu-
ou.iy ia The very centre Of Penusyl'
| vanil avenue for Two generations . 4
| little way past the market come. With
| in the space Of a few blocks. the leading
shops of the city, which, excepting the
| acc-shops, are ordinary III the extreme ana
after these Tie avenue ptlrsuc> lis drelry and
shabby way until. fronting you at Fifteenth
! street. the southern porlIco OF The treasury
Department shoulders itself into The AR.
aud. contr,r; to what trust was the intcn'
| ton Of Washington. completely hides the
White House from the avenue and from see
Ing or being seen By. the capitol-an eternai
dig in the ribs of p0sterlty from the obSll-
uaie elbow Of old President Jackson (who,
| am told, would have it therel that posterity
must ever resent and his contemporaries
should never lave permitted; for the aWk.
| waruDeSs of the whole corner rs then AND
there fixed 10 all time cannot be exaggerated
IIalt:yrowu Or scrubly, ugly trees, Or lie
trees at all, ALTERNATELY preside over the
broad side walks, which. when Congress is in
session, arc alive with salf-cumplaccnt ne.
grcsseS; with whSkey.soaked, ioaterlsh'look,,
! lux men; with loudly or tawdrily.dresSed
women, and with dirtg-l&ccd children,
whose homes are over their parents aioTC'
| mentioned shops. Several large, second
rate hotels interrupt, but with their flat,
white iacadcs do not redeem the deprcS>'
iug succession. There are IL few tolerahlt
| stOnc-ilontS, and Just two handsome Man
sa.d.ro0ftd structures approaching compile
ton: hut they are lost in the general don't
care IMPRESSION. The soil upon everything
| i, Undesirable; and, in short, as Il gentle
man remarked in my hearing on fist seeing
it, Pennsylvania avenue is the New lolk
BUWCTy gone to seed"