The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1883-01-04
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
WASHINGTON, Dec. %.
To the Editor OF the Statesman
CHRISTMAS DAY


CHRISTMAS DAY
And the several days preceding, the
streets of Washington were alive with
thousands of fair shoppers dressed in
the latest fashions and in innumerable
brilliant and dazzling colors. The
federal capital in ante-bellow days
was quaint rural appearing town,
with aslow going ,unpretentiOus popu-
latloni but every year the city becomes
rapidly more metropolitan in charac-
ter. Wealthy families come here from
everycity and state in the Union and
ere long Washington will be the ac-
knowedged social, as well as political,
centre of the republic.
Formerly our population did much
OF their shopping in the other
large cities, the stores here
not being supplied with the
cunning outfits from Paris nor with
the brilliant articles of human attire
from Lyons and Manchester-our
stOr@ were small and meagerly filed.
But the last few years has seen a rev.
olutDn in the commercial business of
the city-the country town shops
have given places to palatial struc-
ture of pressed brick, iron, and stone.
ONLY this summer several dry goods
houses were built on Seventh street
that would ornament any section of
Broadway. and filled with all that hui
man ingenuity can invent and the
market supply, so that now our arts
tocacy spend their money at home.
After office hours the government
CLERK, with his family, were added to
the hurry burly mass, increas-
ing the Christmas gangs on
the streets to enormous proper
tioB, SO that to perambulate
was a matter of much difficulty. The
stores lining the Avenue and Seventh
street presented busy appearance,
andthousands of dollars were daily
passed over the counters.
After dark the many saloons would
disgorge their contents, and the
result was that fair sprinkling
of drunken men, with now and
then a female could be seen staggering
about in an unstatesmanlike manner.
A large number of rum and beer
soaked voters speedily found resting
places in ''durance vile" in the several
free hostelries. One of the prominent
cases hauled into the Fifth precinct
station was an aged colored man, who
had invested about ten cents in ginger
cakes and two dollars in
Hboker's division gin. He had fallen
in the gutter on Seventh street, where
hewas interviewed by a bile cnated
representative of the law. rVhen the
officer picked him UP and had his name
registered for the night, he reclaimed.
"IOnly wants tef stop her Jess long
'nbugh to sober up; Use fspd l VIII
fdl and buss by head oIqn. Dun
il g urday afternoon al SUNDAY
q c OF inebriates werl arrested
uthe station houses fere illled
to- tAeir utmost capacit& n large
percenpag1 on uIo oiscfpif OIL bacchus
were disOrderly and had tpee detained
for conference with theL august pO-
lice court functionary, ~. d. smell,
ESQ.,, and as early as 7OQEl. ID; christ
mas morning the impre.blve Denedlc-
ton of So and costs ymmenced 10
flow in sonorous eloar5nce from the
pulpit of the CITY Tabernacle.
A HOLIDAY IN WILMINGTON
Is different from in otlsr cities. Here
the people are not stifflecked ana re-
served; high and low, 1ch ana poor,
statesman and beggr, emDassador
and shoe-shiner, and7dod Dless you,
all intermingle, convese, discuss and
swear in and arouni the numerous
hotel rotundas. Surly, this is pre-
eminently peoples hty.
THE QUESTION OF fIXED SCHOOLS
u again generously agitating the
white people of Wilmington. The ne
gro children are giFn all the educa-
tional facilities thai the chlIdren Oh
Caucasian. parenta5 ENJOY, Dut stlll
our fourteenth S1endment cltlzens
are not satisfied flnd certain high
toned fanilieS among them
carly in IT'D summer sent
Their offsprins to the white
school. not becauHthey were suffering
from any disad dhtage but because
their parents wa led to have their in
fiuence felt. Th}hlld Oh one urego-
~, mulat o. fS adlillIted 70 Ihe
Prescott schCa)l, lat more than half OF
the white clildtn immediately left
and the youn,I Yolly head was order
ed to the cfilded school neal, by.
The negro solhlation kept down
their wrath Y tr the time, but
in the lau few days they
have engag97 jeff Chandler and
other promir legal lights of the
WashingtonB4 to test the question
whether the, n or cannot attend the
White schod.H they desire. If the
matter il del Id in their favor it is
needless to srfthat it will be equiva-
lent To depri. big the white population
of nnblic SELF facilities, and congress
will he cou1lle to pass an act re-
straining III iegroes.
s, Any SCANDALS
And 60 quarrels and false ru-
mors havf IN in circulation this fall
from fine Cy Imbia building, that the
commissions have issued an order
nrohihitin The different offices from
giving out formation relating to the
affairs of i District, unless the mat
fer is Est placed before the
hoard of a Emissions. The order does
NOT inclI9 the press in anything
nertalninO public interest. AT first
this actitJ was denounced as being
arbitrary nd despotic, and it created
much M. Eorable comment in Wash
in0ton. a second thought has con-
vi5ced III public of the business of
tbe decrI Commissioner Morgan is
now beinisued by the Louisiana lot
dry comtany for
R7OOO DAMAGES
The lota company claims that Char
oar ma ht to close their Office.
- - 80 rInua1 in tho
case 81 DC sides and probably the
nresle slcken the people OF other
I,artlQ he United States with the
ran "details of another great court
fr1al IA ashington.
The Japanese Prince Arisugawa,
uncIe n the Mikado, has reached the
citv atIDmpanied by his suite of five
nersonN The imperial party were
t,reatlI Relayed by railroad accident
End ioNed care-worn and disconsolate
when hey landed in the Baltimore
and fltomac depot. The prince
was net at the depot by
the .Banese minister, the Ameri-
can lecretary, Mr.. Stevens, and
othenlnembers of the legation. He
was Miyen to the Arlington hotel in
tbe carriage of the minister, and inn
med a5ely retired to his comfortable
sniff of ten rooms. The prince will
shotiy Leave here for the west. All the
meahbers O, the party are dressed in Eu-
roman costume and one enjoys the dis
tin0tion ofwearing full beard. They
are, provided with a private table ut
the Arlington and are very reserved,
caring little to show themselves IN