National Republican., 1880-07-26
THE H-STREET CARS.
How East Washlns ton Is Accommodated d
With Transportation.
How the Moderns Excel the ADcients-Cleo
patra and a Car Conductor--studies
OF stln Life silhouetted Against
Street-Cnr.

Street-Cnr.
Street railways, like Colts rovolvers and
tho Darwinian philosophy, are products OF
modern civilization. In nothing slse does The
superiority of tho nineteenth century 81
brightly exhibit itself as in horse.cars. The
wonder Is how Antiquity could have got along
without them. When glowing accounts are
read Of Cleopatra and her gildcd barge gliding
down the silvcry currents Of Egyptian rivers
one thrills at the thought how much more
vivid aud interesting the story would be II
the old chroniclers could have had chance OF
telling us how Antony got mad at the long
delay the strect-cars made In front of tho
government printing office in Alexandria, and
how, with true Roman brutality, hc refused to
give up his scat TO n fair Egyptian press.leeder,
Just quitting her work in the lucent twi.
light of the African summer tide. II
Is melancholy to think how much time
was wasted By the reporters Of the Greek,
the Roman and the Phonician press in walk
ing from one police station to another In the
moonless midnights of Tyre and Athens aud
Cornth and the Eternal city herself. How
tho heart Of the humanitarian would rejoice
at reading in the epigrammatic pages Of
Tacitus of tho way Domitian or Nero OF
Caligula treated the newsboys to an excursion
down the Tiber. aud sfterwaid sent them all
home on the Belt line of street cars! And
what an episode for the poet to know that
Nicssalina or Faustina got her polonnaise wet
and her golden back hair disarranged and her
temper rufflcd by being forced to wait noar
the Forum for quarter Of an hour in the rain
because the managers of the Via SacIa &
Exha.Mural railway stopped issuing transfers
good for this trip only. on the cars, and ap'
pointed tickotagent to givo her q
transfer 10 the Fourteenth street line,
that passed by the baths OF Caracalla
All these "reminiscences would be pleasant
but they are numbered among tho sadGcst
words OF tongue or pen, for they are en-
braced in the might.haye-bcen and was.not
Tho ancients were n miserable set Of poverty
stricken wrelchcs after all. They had ne
telegraph, no telephones, no Columbia Rifle
associations and shoo,ing-matchcs Mt Wimblo
don. no presidential nominating conventions
no Dr. Tanners, no Worths nor Sarah Bern
hardts, no cock tails no nothing; worst of all
no street-cars.
A slrcet.car is a primary school and n uni
versity. Get into one of them in Washing
ton on a market morning, or when the ex
curson steamers are coming in, and you will
be taught lesson in mathematics with more
practical force than you ever received
at college. Eou think with pleas
ure of the definition of point
as something that has neither breadth, length
nor thickness aud you fervently wish yor
were point. If you were you would not b,
incommoded by the two old stout women oil
either side, burying you amid their super
luous dipose and their restless movements
nor would You mind tho market baskets ant
the tin cans piled up in front, nor tho fellow
that treads on your corns, nor the three o
four that hang on the strap and are pitched
on top ofyOu at every lurCh of the car, ever,
! jolt of the horse, every turn Of the break. No
| if you were point would you twist your necl
| into u crck trying to get look at the onl.
pretty girl in the car, who obstinately and Of
purpose keeps hor face in such position tina
you cannot see, bat, like st. Anthony, at tn
close of his temptation, you cannot choos
but look"
A strcGt.car is better than a milliner's q
modeste's opening day for one to study til
latest fashions. 1t is, therefore, an artist
training-school, for the girls of Washingto
exhibit the perfection of taste in color an
form, aud in streot-car you can study to you
utmost satisfaction the marvellous effects
harmony and symmetry as afforded by dres
a streot-car is q good place for q philosophe
In fact on busy or rainy days you need to |
! a philosopher 10 ride In n Washington stree
car without losing your equanimty. YC
will note with pleasure, if you have any sem
Of humor, tho conduct of the passenger
There is tho married man, for example, who
beard is beginning 10 turn gray and who h;
been several times snubbed by young gin
with whom he tried tn get up q Irritation. II
onters, gets a good seat, takes out paper NJ
is too busily engaged in reading it to noti
that several ladies are standing and that no 0
Cupics at least two seats There is the your
) man in the callow state and with Il
cnllow mOustache SO anxious to show i
gallantry that he starts from his place when
yOung lady signals the car and before sho b
It had time to give the polite conductor an o
IT,. T.. IL
gets in. And the young lady drops into u
seat thus vacated, with the mental rolectit
Thank heaven all the fools are not yet deat
u What horrid-looking goose is that fellow wi
gave me this seatW While the object OF h
thoughts blushes up to the roots of his hair
anticipation of the sweetly murmored "thaI
you" ho expects to hear, but docs not. The
ia the young lady who says to mau Oflcril
her o seat, Keep your seat, sir; / prefer
stand, ;" aud squats down into it before iinis
y ing her declination. Then there is the your
II generally tho very young lady, who brin
70 her book with her takes her seat and col
mences to read with the pretty atfoctatiOn
being so deeply interested in art or scien
m that she cannot lose q moment from study.
is pretty sifectstion, and the girls soon
over It. There is also the girl who iii
in the street car, You don't ia
much notice of her, for you
sho cannot help herself. If there wasn't
man within gun-shot ofthe car she would fl
with the brake. And there is also the WON
who talks loud, and under pretense of CO.
municating with her companion informs t
whole car about all her private domestic
laiIs, especially what "she" said to "hin
And you get 10 wondering If Horny Wa
Boechcr, when he wished he was dead h
had much experience in street-cars with lad
of the above kind. Frequently you notice
q street,car the fascinating behavior of yo
own girl when she is with another fello
And ever after you never get into horse.C
without trying yourself to be particular
}, agreeable to that other fellows girl. TT
latter episode is the most agreeable incid(
Of street-car riding.
1t will be observed that the reporter
paid moro attention in the preceding obser'
lions to the female than TO the male pass
gers. Your genuine Bohemian does not botl
himself with men when there arc bet
things to look at,
.- Washington is favored with street-car lin
And one Of tho most useful of these lines
the Columbia or H-street limo. This rot
was organized about tho year 1871, II
ming from Fifteenth street aud New Yo
avenue northwest 10 Fifteenth street a
Maryland avenue northeast, a distance of
three miles although claimed by the compa
to be only two and hve-eighths miles. 1t
3 less upgrade than any other line In the ci