The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1880-12-29
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Capitol Episodes Congress Adj
jOurns - Christmas Scenery
Projected City IniproVments.
I From our Regular Correspondent.

From our Regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D. c., Dec. "a, 1880.
1t would require a very large book
10 record all that Congress has omit.
ted 10 do during the past week. On
Tuesday, Senators Conkling and La
mar both returned to the Senate
Chamber, and, after gazing at each
other with fierce, pretentious, beet
ling brows, without saying howd'ye,
resumed their respective chairs
Nor has the House been without its
episode, less dignified than that of
the Senate, but not less dignifed
than the episode Of last session which
caused the arrangement Of Conkling
and Lamar. You have doutless al
ready been fully advised Of the way
in which Messrs. Weaver and Starks
hurled billingsate at each other, and
how other members were disposed to
engage in the melee. But the Capt.
tolls nogssilent and deserted. Con,
grcss has adjourned for the holidays.
Alarge majority, both Of members
and Of Senators, have returned to
their homes for the enjoyment Of
Christmas.
Never before, within the memory
Of woman or child, have the shops on
Pennsylvania Avenue and Seventh
street presented such gorgeous APP
pearance, and never before have wo-
men and children had SO much mon,
ey, and such an inclination to spend
it. Toys, dolls, and gimcracks of ev-
cry conceivable design and price, fill
all the windows of all the stores
Christmas green's festoon the booths
in the market places, and give a
hateful emphasis to hundreds Of
drinking saloons. The odorous scent
of cedar is in the air. Clinging mis-
tletoe and prickly holly-every va
riety of greening that has withstood
the winter is now brought from the
4
forest to decorate churches, homes
and drinking holes. aa
Standing on the steps of the Capt.
tol, and looking down Pennsylvania
Avenue, the scene may well remind
the beholder ofParis. When, except
in Paris, will he see such broad and
perfectly paved ayenues2 But with
the avenues the comparison vanishes.
Washington is not INTELLECTUALLY all
that it promises to be provided the
Capitol shall remain here. A sweep.
ing fire, such as has regenerated and
renovated great cities, from London
to Chicago, would be a heroic reme-
dy; but nothing milder will sweep
away numberless mean looking
houses that contrast strangely with
the marble palaces that Uncle Sam
has built, There are many project.
ed improvements for the National
Capitol. In this holy city of "The
Great Republic" as English news.
papers call US, there is no suffrage.
The residents Of Washington do not
vote, but we are none the worse for
that. Washington is the special
protegc of Congress. Congress votes
for US, or rather appropriates for the
National Capitol, and Congress is ex-
pected, either during the present
session, or in the extra session, which
it is almost certain will follow Gen.
eIai uarlelds Inauguration, to ap-
propriate for the draining of the Po-
tomac marshes, and for the erection
ola National Library building. The
first is q sanitary sine qua non, for
even sunset Cox is down with ma
laria. (Abstinence from whiskey
would reduce much so-culled malaria
among Congressman
A library building is a biblical ne.
cessity, for there are in the Capitol
literal hecatombs of books with no
shelf room for their arrangement.
c.. AS.
LONDON LETTER.