Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1874-05-14
JoTTINGs By THE WAY.
rom our own correspondent.


| When last we parted, gentle resdel
we were standing Oh the west steps G
the Capitol, ard, passing in review
some Of The notable places OF attractio
in the city. We will not attempt al
analysis OF the, resplendent wonder
and fascinating attractions of this re
nowned spot. We could not, had W
| the desire, for nothing short of tim
and careful study, would suffice to hal
elaborate the subjects of interest tina
crowd upon the attention of the studen
| Of the beautiful 10 art or the exquisite
| in science, svery " here to be seen. -,
repeat, If the men who profess to re
| fleet truthful eXhii,it of Washington
City and its accompaliiments, the pro
/ fessional reporters, would, in = spiri
| Of fairness and with a desire really Il
| interest their readers, the uninitiatet
| in the splendors of the Capitol of oul
nation, AID the great men whose voices
talents, learning aud power, are not
only q part of the Capitol, but also in
tegral important elements of our grea
compact; in q word, s'telk the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the
truth" in regard to all these things
instead of pandsring to morbid taste
Tor which they are in great measure re.
spolsibie, ana feeding prurient appe.
tite for the scandalous, having its origin
in defamation and detraction, We all
would think better of the great city,
its attractions, Its Congress, the officers
of the nation, of ourselves, our cOun-
try, its institutions, and each other
We can remember well when the let
ters of the genial Jack Downing
we're read by everybody, and relisked
by everybody that could appreciate a
good thing irrespective Of party,
were the type Of the correspondence
that alone found favor with the peo-
Pile. Replete with hunOr and scath-
ing sarcasm, they yet carried with
them The dignity of true manhood in
ali their utterances. So of the more re-
fined and statesmanlike productions OF
tJunius.' For many years these were
the prominent correspondents OF the
Cspitol. After tbs came the present
system OF illicit scribbling about the
Congress. aad everything associated
with the nation 8 interests thereabouts.
Mack of GiAeinnati Commercial
fame, was, we believe, the author OF a
more yindictiye System OF correspon-
dence which has also dSgeaerated in
low order of black mailing. We heard
a prominent good man say that
"M henever any of d number Of cor
respondents, or newspapers, in Wash
ingten, said anything favorable OF any
man of distinction, the suspicion of i'll
thy lucre having been Used, was nt
once suggested" Mack, welding y
pen, and using ink of worm
wood and gall, lashed such men as Nc
Dougal, Vt California, Salisbury, of
delaware, Logan, OF Illinois, whom he
used to call John, of great sxpecta-
tiuns,' in view of Johns love, of the
weed, and Bob T00mbs, of Ga. 1t
was a common wonder then that
Mack was not killed about nine times
a day for the bitter personal abuse of
these and other men whom he disliked.
This was the period, and this the man
when and by whom the present dis
system of epistolary review
was inaugurated at Washington. In
my friend Mack's praise be it said,
however, his structures were well ap-
proved by the better men of all parties,
as his terrible thrusts were aimed at
some popular vices, then but too COM
mon in high places, OF which these
characters were tAs living exemplifi-
atiOn, interAperanee being a prOmi-
nent one. Mack used Sp say, for in
stance, in noticing the ASSEMBLING of
Congress: drunken 10. MeDOugal
to, and fell into his scar"
'.Dick Yates came to his seat drunk az
usual" But let this suffice. We only
meant by the depression to say word
ia favor of Q better, a purer, a more
honorable and ennohling system of
from all who profess to
furnish US with "neEs from the Capt.
taP' and elsew here; th.t we may all
earn to esteem ourselves aEG our
her rulers and her law-naa-
than is our wont just now.
But our space is exhausted without
reaching our object. We pass by all
minor attractions, and walk through
the labarynthian passages and ever
lasting array of models, samples, jim
cracks, old bonnets, hoOp-skirts, mouse
traps, cOffee-mllls, and LeghOrn-hats,
and butter-knives, doll
babies and monitor turretts, blind-bri-
dies and baby-wagons, tOOth-picks, RI
fed cannon and a hundred Thousand
other things, "tOo tedious to MENTION"
and our old friend George Washing
toms entire camp equipage, used by
him, including his camp-chest, with
It's furniture, consisting of tin plates,
very rude knives and forks, iron
spoons, hatchet, (the latter we borrow
ed } camp-stOol, blankets, gloves, wri-
bed-curtains for his house,
boots and uniform, with a number of
other trinkets he had gathered, as
soldier will, The first Treasury Safe
Of the country, little rude square
wrought iron affair, about two feet
long and twenty inches high, and
which w0S,d hold about bushel. 1t
was evSde0tIy q homemade article,
and as uncouth in appearance as the
times in which it was made. All
these, and enough old traps in shape of
models to make about fifteen first-class
fires, we saw in the Patent Office, now
so ably conducted by our old army
Gen. M. ID. Leggett, than
whom no honester man lives.
OF course, the Treasury building,
where greenbacks are counted, manip-
ulated and preserved is an institution
of remarkable interest. A visitor here
can spend many hours of great pleas
ure and profit. To be properly appre-
ciated, however, one wants to spend
much time to watch the careful and
intricate workings of the greenback
machinery, including the pretty female
clerks.
An object of much interest to the
lovers of the beautiful is found in the
Gallery of Fine Arts, established by
the munificence of w. w. COrcoran, and
known as the "COrcoran Art Gallery"
In connection with this is the Louise
Hcme," founded by the same benevo-
lent hand, for INDECENT Protestant fe-
males. We were informed that the
ability to read and write is an essential
qualification to admission. The donor
was formerly a wealthy N. Y. Banker,
and is now retired on his laurels and
money, and has invested one and
half million Of dnllars in these two en-.