National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1882-02-11
WEST WASHINGTON.
AN OLD AND NOTED CITY DESCRIBED
lis Beautiful Gardens, Spacious Homes, Old.Fnsh-
loned and Comfortable Buildings-Noted
Literary characteristics. South.
worth and Others.


| For THE REPunLIcAS.
Georgetown IS quaint place-old and emlnently
| respectable. When Washington was n city in name
only, Georgetown lorded Il over her lowly neigh.
! Dor, and was the Mecca toward which the tide of
fashion turned. Then a thriving commercial mart
tho substantial warehouses lining her decaying
| wharves are the most now remaining of her then
rich prosperity, The Heghts--of which the pro-
posed Garfield avenue Is an extension, the most
beautiful portion of our District-are adorned by
the grand old houses, builded by the merchant
princes who in the long ago coined their shekels
in the India trade" They stand, weather. beaten,
melancholy landmarks Of. what "has BEEN" but
with the distinctive air of les dncien regine quite
refreshing in these too too" days They are Of
brick, few of L" shape, but the greater number
with spacious centre aud wings outspread over the
| luxurious eNpanse Of lawn, whose green slopes in
summer are unbroken except by shadows thrown
from stately trees or lowly shrub. These lawns
run TO gardens and they in turn terrace by ter.
race TO the street below.
| SUCH GARpENsl
Not laid of by square and rule, but flung in shape
with that glorious disregard of precision in which
nature reves and at which art revolts. In them
snowbHlls kiss lilacs, tulips brush jonquls lilies
| of the valley grow in the shadow of tho shrub and
the dear old thousand leaf rose Tor is 1t hundred.
lcaff), so compensating by quantity what it lacks
III Huhiitg DiOOinh hll ullulSlnnye0 Dy
her nearness to the more pretentious lacaueminot
or course Georgetown is not all made up Of such
homes or beoutifed by such gardens. In other
sections, houses Of English brick, gable pointed
low. .ceilcd, and small.windowed, set quite con.
tented In gardens of limited extent but blooming
in color and fragrant with sweets. Then there are
still Others mean aud squnlid, but of these need
not speak. They are the flaw In the jewel, and
that they are so inferior to their neghbors Is due
entirely TO ~ Circnm bpv0n1 hni
Tho people Of the old town are conservative, but
not provincial. They need be assured OF many
things before extending the right hand of fellow
ship to 1.-THE stranger within their gates" They
live delightfully."- and cententedly-the one a nat
urai sequence OF the other For place Of It's size
THERE Is MORE o. HAPPINESS
to be found than in any other spot know Of To
some the atmosphere of repose, reigning over the
town and the people, would be oppressive: to
Others 1t is Gods gin. W. L. Shoemaker, the
poet, artist aud musician, here makes his abiding
place. His weird verses are possibly more highly
appreciable in New England than by us-those
people like the cold rugged lines wherein he ex-
presses sentiments which require tender words
to properly outline their grace. His home
sized, old fashioned building. but Il
has yielded to the march of Improvement ana
now stands forth three -storied modernized sruc
plate-glass In October / was sirolling along,
coming from no place, going nowhere, my thoughts
snguarly in accord with the gloomy day Each
side the street, mp and down, there was blaze Of
golden light from the vivid yellow of the naples.
The sidewalks were covered with the leaves too
ripe TO longer cling to the branches gentle vino
sighed through the trees, and soft October rain
mistcd over all My attention was arrested by
THE FIGURE OF MAN
about whose thin person was wrapped coat much
| too large, partially concealing pair of still more
| lily fitting trousers, an old army hat pulled low
over the eyes concealed the face-that is, all
fnr M VNR RfYNh pA al,f
| bedded under by grizzly beard | slowed my
steps to watch him, for his actions attracted me;
| he had n rake, and every now and then threw IL
forward and drew It back in o semi mechanical
way, and apparently without purpose; frequently
he paused as If wrapped In thought, looked
| then up among the bruiiches of the trees also
losing their belongings and then his eyes would
but scowled and wept sad tears; sad because 80
slow aud so quiet ! wondered what he was
evolving" from II all. few evenings later
| rend in paper his sonnet on "Autumn," nnd
readily recognized from what his ideas had
sprung A wwceks on saw him. watching with
in little time his thoughts erystalizcd to shape
and the public read the exquisite verses inspired
by what he saw.
MR.. SHOEMAKER Is VERY GIFTED,
| an artist and musician as well as poet He Is n
linguist of exceptional ability. In his library ali
| the best among the good works of the most noted
among French aud German and Italian authors,
and vast number Of volumes IN that Language
| used by kings and emperors TO proclaim their CON
quests aud 10 dcplore their reverscs; by Horace
and by, Virgil, who bent its strength and shaped
It's supple tongue to the creation of exquisite lyrics
and beautiful epic poems, the language Of the
The same old town and on the same street I'm ia N
modest two-storied house, fanked by generous
garden and shaded by locust and willow trees, the
| artist and author, Charles j. Lnnman, makes
his dwelling. place. Mr.. Lnnman's pictures trl-
umphed at the Centennial and the Paris expositson
lie loves art for arts sake, and he paints not to
| fll canvas, but because II Is delight tor him to
bring from his brush every cloud, each twig, each
| stone, all figures he sets about creating. His
| literary productions show the same nice attention
| to details and the work Of his pen finds ready
| purchase and eager readers. For many years Mr.
| Lanman has been connected with the Japanese
| legation. and his services have been incalculAble
| to the home government through their repre-
sentative. To his care was intrusied
THE PmsT JAPANESE CHILD
ever sent to this country for education. She came
a wee bit Of u thing of about five years. Now she
| is quite young lady, speaks English Huenty has
no accent and in another year will return to that
country OF which we know so little and from whose
| teachings we might learn SO much. In this place
Mrs. L. d. L. n southworth has delightful home
country has ever produced, and certainly belongs
| TO the limited number who have grown
rich of their writings. Librarians throughout
| The land, specially in manufacturing districts,
| and notably in Massachusetts, bear testimony to
the fact that Mrs southworth's novels are oitener
from their shelves than those of any other author
| She has now under way n new romance IL Ia
stated, and very generally believed, that in the
warp Of nearly all her early stories Mrs. south
so full of sorrow that II grew bitter, and small
wonder II, in the foodtide OF bitterness, she has
lost faith in humanity and Christianity as well.
She lives in charming, rambling house, rejoicing
"PRospEcT COTTAGE"
It Is perched aloft q high hill overlooking the
Potomac, just ut the Aqueduct Bridge. The view
| is magnificent extending far over into Virginin
and for miles up and down the river. She is n
woman ofmedium height with strongly-marked
features, sad face furrowed by the care which
has plowed roughly over her life, keen, penctrat-
brushed severely back from her ' broad IAE iord -
head and gathered in a coil at the back
less Observer S sho appeor Ike anybnS S re
world but the author of those thrilling, blood.
cnrdling, Ledger stories over which the factory.
girls OF New England forget their own pathetic
sorrows ana waste tears enough to turn n mill
wheel. with friends Mrs. 'Souhworh is genial
ana dellght!uli TO strangers she Is almost nocces-
| sible Her home gives every evidence OF artistic
taste and Il well.tlled purse Mrs SoulhwOrth
divides her time between Prospect Cottage and the
homes of her son and daughter, both now hap
PLY married and living at the North. II Is said
She is deeply interested In spiFltualism and con.
verses very intelgently on subject which Is fas-
cinating TO those who have no faith,
| MRS. DALI, WHOSE WRITINGS ARE
so familiar TO us all, has lovely home on Congress
street hlled to rSpeton with articles of vertu and
objects of art Who among us has not, through
Julia schayer the wife OF General schayer who
i,yeS iv ~ picturesque cottage on nnnbarton and
washington stTeets2 Aslight, delicate woman, re-
firing almost 10 timidity one can scarcely realize
while talking with her that IL is she who makes
those stories as vigorous IN their strength as they
through the genius Of her pen that she lays claim
to tribute, She sings as delightfully."- as she writes
ana Is as clever an actress as she is writer on Gay
street, IN homo made attractive by the gracious
wife,
LIVES DIR. BILLINGS. U. g. A.,
too well known for my pento do more tbsl9 Hlr6,
to his being among u.s. His works 100 s,a
ana few hospitals In the c-rsNl epn aLe SUMMARY