National Republican., 1880-06-22
KENDALL GREEN.
One of the Picturesque Spots About
Washington.
Tho Deaf and Dumb College and Its Sur
roundlngs-Why the Name of Muili-
gau's Hill Was Changed Wild
Grapes, Trailing Arbutus and
OdoriTerous Magnolia
An Inspiring Scene.
Among tho Environs Of Washington.

Among tho Environs Of Washington.
Perhaps no portion of The environs of WASH
ington is handsOmer at all seasons Of the year
than Kendall Green. In the summer it is lit
orally beautiful. On its southern line tho
quaint and picturesque proportions of the deaf
and dumb college stand out against back.
ground of dense aud waving foliage with an
Alhambra aspect. The view from the north
cas- ern part of the city is very pretty. The
gentle curve of the hill whitencd with daisies
and green with the smooth grassy sward, the
billowy waves of tho dense grove crowning the
top aud seeming 10 sink swell with every
uudulation Of the ground, like the sink and
swell Of an ocean wave, the brown and red
turrets Of tho college just sufficiently relieving
| the great masses OF greenery behind them, and
| the wooded heights OF Corcoran's and Form
| Hill further 20 the east, form landscape that
for quiet, still beauty cannot be surpassed.
| There are studies of color and of form in the
grand old woods behind the college worthy
the earnest attention ofthc artist. In these long
summer days the light broods upon those hills
| in soft, trcmul0us glow that lascnatcs while
! IL attracts. The summer haze In purple and
pearl aud lilac hucs sleeps noon and evening
and night on the billowy forest, like the blue
| and gray mists that rise from the sea herald
ing the rain. Purple shadows lay lovingly on
the greensward against the sun, deepening
toward evening into blue wraiths that kindle
the fancy to poetic dreams The grass Is like
an English turf, thick, dcwy, crisp and of
emerald freshness. Myriads of wild flowers
vary the vcrdaut aspect of the sward, with
hundreds of tints in which rose and violet
and lily shades predominant. Crushed he
meath your feet at every step thoy breathe out
their souls In thotc delicate odors which only
the wild flower exhales, snd which cling rs
fragrautly and as tenacionsly to the memory
as the scent of the rose to The shattered vase.
The wild grape chambers in the wood, and in
the season of bloom loads the air around with
its sweet, penetrating perfume, as delicious to
the smell rich vino to the taste. Wild
roses run riot under the shadow of tho grand
old trees. In fact, the Kendall Green groves
wear just the fnce that would have charmed
Thorcsu, from his cabin by tho water lilies
on the Assabet, the face of cultivated nature
takinga vacation from the restraints Of the
schools.
In these woods the trailing arbutus is found
In profusion, almost the only place about
Washington where IL can be had without in
finite toll and search. Ferns of hundred
different forms invite the eye TO their grace
full sprals Ferns are so plenteOus in these
woods and further eastward that the cone-like
hill just north OF Graceland, known for many
years rs Mulligan's hill, from an old hermit of
that name, who retired to its picturesque Sc
clusion about the tins of the Blahcnsburg
races, has been re-christencd and is now called
Fern hill. The graceful and odoriferous mag.
noia has its favorite home in tho marshes of
tho Anacostia east OF Kendall Green, and stray
prodigals from its ancestral halls may bo found
by the little runs that water the meadow
bottom north OF this college hill. One charm
of this place is that the feet of the tramp are
not yet beautiful OH these hills and the voice
of the rough is still unherrd in that land.
The saunterer in its pleasant ways finds
all its paths are peace. lie may pluck daisies
| MI Ui rt ~
gather the buttercups chalice Of gold; or,
stretched at full length on tho grassy hill
slope in the purple shadows Of the trees,
listen to the hum Of tho distant city as it
. comes in faint, subdued buzz to his drear ~
ears, and meet with no other interruption
than what is occasionally offered by that
j pirate of the pines" the yellow jacket q
o species of the hornet gonus, the most irae
courageous and diabOical engine for inficting
. singing pain that nature, in her meanest
stepmother mood, over designed. But tho
yellow jacket is limited as to numbers, and
need cause no unnecessary apprehensions to
the saunterer who cares to ramble through
these quiet and lovely woods. On Boundary
street, at the southern edge Of the meadow
bordering the slope Of the hill, rises the
graceful and picturesque architecture oi
the DesfMute college. On clear, sunny
!. afternoons groups of the pupils may be
seen dotting the lawn in front of the build.
ness resembling the voiceGss calm that brood.
upon tho faces Of these lovely students. 1t i:
not altogether a fanciful idea that inanimatt
nature partakes of the character Of the
sentient beings who are brought into closest
> communion with her. The college bears
voicelcss look upon its quaint 'front.' duml
+ aspect that is never tircless, eloquent in itt
silence, aud vocal in its mutoness. There Il
something different in its graceful but ode
Z appearance from the usual look of buildings
One thinks involuntarily Of Moorish turrets
of Saracenic colleges, OF Semitic ed fees erect
ed by foreign peoples in strangely diferen
times from ours. The very beauty of its sur
roundings the well.kept lawn, the floral anc
sylvan taste displayed in the keeping of th
" grounds, only heighten this impression o
quaintnoss 1t is truly an institution re
moved from the plane Of the common or til,
a usual, and this very fact seems impressed h
e the imaginative behOlder on every line Of it
N Caslellated front, in every pane of its mul
loned windows, and therefore are helghtene,
the charms OF the quiet lOveliness which thes
hazy summer days fingers upon its surround
= ings and broods upon its purple. shadowe
hills.