The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-11-28
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.

VuK WASHINGTON LETTER.
"A EDITOR OF THE NEW NORTHWEST:
Inc telegraph brings US the welcome
news that the yellow fever is waning at
Memphis' and soon will have disap-
Peared under the chilling touches of
JACK + rost' We know by personal ex-
perience and observation in 1879 tba
horrors of Memphis epidemic. and for
the few who remained there this season
to lead forlorn hope against the Ktng
OF Terrors in that horrible STRUGGLE for
/ life given by the yellow fever, we have
had most earnest sympathy and fellow
/ feeling. Many friends have suecumbed.
One, DR.. VIM. r. Lowry, a physician
who began the treatment of yellow fever
during the Mexican War, and since has
! been in more or less annual contact with
1t, to our intense surprise and pain was
not proof against the disease, and his
name, too, is inscribed in the roll Of the
dead. Mr.. Tomony, a lawyer, who in
the past made Washington his home
during the sitting of Congress, with all
his family, is also among the dead. To
the few who survive is due the greatest
praise for their courage. One of these,
J. NJ. Heating, editor of the APre1l,
seems to bear a charmed life. In 1867
be was in daily contact with cholsss
and yellow fever, the same in 1873, ana
this year was at times the only one ofh.s
force at work in the Office Acting as
editor, composition, clerk, ETC., he labored
necessarily upon his paper and among
the sick and afflicted, and we are thank
ful indeed that such brave, loyal spirit
has been spared by the destroyer Mem
phis scenes a doomed city. Plague has
swiftly followed plague, sweeping thou
sands out of existence, and crushing out
aud paralyzing all trade and busi uess,
and though revival has followed, yet it
has not been Of that permanent type
which begets improvement in values
and increase of population. In 1866 the
/ GayosO House was the largest hotel in
Memphis, in 1873 it was given up to
squatters. Other hotels were aban-
dOned, and on every hand were other in
dieations of decay and abandonment
How can it recover from the fearful
blow Of 1878? We fear it is impossible
/ Ford's Theater, in which Mr.. Lincoln
was killed. and which has since been
used by the government as an army
medical museum, was found this sum
mer to be in a most unsafe condition.
IL was mere shell, erected on the
weakest of foundation walls, and there
| is every reason to suppose that had It
been continued in use as a theater, some
terrible accident would before this have
occurred through the breaking orcol .aps-
ing OF its walls under the pEessure given
by some large or unusual audience. In
view Of its insecurity, the wonder is that
! it already has not fallen down. Thorough
repairs have been made, and the building
is now regarded as safe for the purposes
of the surgeon general.
The new State House is being slowly
finished, and by March next the War
and Navy Departments can be removed
to it. Congress is to blame for the slow
progress made toward completion Of
this magnificent, as well as essential
building, for instead of appropriating
enough to finish in one year, the funds
requisite have been doled out ia such
manner as to stop all work Oue-half of
each year. How not to do it is some
what the rule governing appropriations,
unless votes are to be gained. Then, as
with the river aud harbOr bill, the
merest sehOOlbOy fishing stream, where
a pin hook sufiices to catch the largest
miunow therein, eau secure a slice of
plumber if some member demands il.
/ Dean Stanley when visiting here, said
I he regarded this new state building
as the finest official structure he had
ever seen, and it was one Of which
Americans had cause to be proud.
The Capitol begins to show signs of
life as the workiugmen are busted max
ing the usual repairs aud preparations
for Congress. Proper ventilation of the
House of Representatives is the most
difficult problem in the whole matter OF
repairs at the Capitol. Every yearsome
new scheme is devised, only to be
abandoned, and there is constant COM
plaint by members at the impure ait
which fills the chamber during the
daily sessions. We fear that bad air is
the scapegoat for every i'll affecting our
soIons. The more dissipated the mem
Der, the greater his indulgence in liquor
and tobacco in and out of the hall, the
greater his condemnation of the imper-
fectness of ventilation. A member
whose dietary at home is of plainesr
food, and whose regularity of habits is
precisely what is needed to give him
rugged health, enters our hotels, feasts
at all hours of the day and night upon
the richest Of viands, aud abandons all
exercise and regularity. Ill health nee
essarily follows, but of course bad air
alone is chargeable with his afflictions.
Miss Eva Mills, our leading soprano
} singer, has entered into an engagement
with Max Maretzek, of New York, to
! sing in his operatic troupe this winter.
She has magnificent voice, and we feel
| assured will make her mark in her pro-
, fession. Our citizens gave her fare
; well benefit recently at Lincoln HAM,
: and the crowded house testified 10 tue