Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-12-19
CITY AND DISTRICT.
SEVENTH STREET SCENES.
Saturday Night ON a Great Business
Th0r0ughfare.
CHARACTERS ON THE STREET.-THE STORES
AND THE LIGHTs-THE CHANGING CRARAC-
TER OF THE SCENE, ETC.

TER OF THE SCENE, ETC.
ACiot 'em hot. Got 'em hotv' the peanut boy
cries out 70 the passing crowd as ne twists the
mouths of the paper bags under the light of the
street lamp. Seventh street is an active place
on Saturday night approaching Christmas
times The peanut boy reaches his custom
through his lung power, and, standing behind
his push cart, plies his small trade in a small
way with as bright an eye to the main chance
rs his more pretentious cousin, who deals out
silks and laces in the brilliant plate glass win
dowed store across on the prosperous side ofthe
curb. The candy boy has his push cart, too,
and the apple man, and the man with the au-
tomato mice, ''all alive" who makes the nerv-
Gus female gather her skirts close about her
shoe tops, and squeeze over to the other side of
the pavement All these hang on to the outside
OF the curb, and go to make up the picturesque
OF the street scene. The man who tempts the
children to an old age of repenta by display
Ing fancy painted candies under their eyes.
stands side by side with the great big red faced
double-fsted six-footer, who drops one shoulder
and then the other when he walks, and looks
rs II he might be a slugger, but who contents
nS n,,1s ; WIN selling hs m.nSy pass nress
back and forth through the light that bursts
forth from the brightly lighted windows, and
the tired hill horse hangs his head under the
gas lamp and waits for the next car. For
mile before you, north from the avenue.
A SHEET OF LIGHT
spreads out from each side of the street. ana the
lights all run together in the distance. Seventh
street is most attractive from the Center mar
ket to E street. The great big stores are there,
the electric lights are there. and there the
crowd fingers around the windows. Then
there Is q blank space-a chunk cut out of the
bright scene by the heavy shadows of the Post
Office and Interior department..
The gay scene, the crowd looking in the gay
windows and all that starts up again suddenly
At street. and If you follow IT on there Is no
telling where it will lead you. The activity
continues on out to the Boundary, may be
beyond, but the character OF the scene
changes, almost block by block, as you go out
until after awhile the lights get DINNER, the
stores are smaller and more dingy, and the
crowd is more mixed and less attractive.
The cOlored people are more numerous as you
Overhaul buying q secondhand calico wrapper,
with big, bright flowers on 1T, to give to his old
oman" for Christmas; or if he has had work
one with a ruffle around the bottom. Aunt
Charity is buying red cotton handkerchief or
= pair of coarse yarn socks for her Old man, or
q secondhand doll for one OF the little ones.
BACK INTO THE REALM OF LIGHT.
Coming back into the brighter part of the
street again it is relief, and the big stores look
bigger, the lights brighter, and the gay, rich
goods and toys displayed in the windows look
gayer and richer and brighter than they did
before. The people look as if they belonged to
another world. Some are hurrying along with
market baskets, conscious suddenly that they
have spent too much time looking at the pretty
things in the windows and forgotten the real
object OF their trip. Others have arms full of
bundles, whose rugged and uneven outlines
denote that they are toys. One man feels very
uncomfortable because the crowd has rubbed
the paper off an immense doll he was carrying
In his arms done up as If it were loaf of bread
or q sausage. Everybody is carrying some
thing. Every brilliant window is surrounded
by q crowd. The rich silks and satins, and
laces, furs, coats, books, parasols, knickknarks,
and brick-a-brac, are all admired. Even the
boots and shoes, hats slippers, overcoats and
dressing gowns come in for share of attention
The dolls that are dressed in their holiday best
attract large crowds, and the windows of all
the toy shops are surrounded In some of the
windows nearly every thing one can imagine
that Is beautiful in color and attractive in de-
sign Is displayed, the colors being blended in a
most artistic manner.
THE STORE WINDOWS.
Some of the windows look as if they repre-
scented every line of trade. The inevitable red
plush toilet sets and fancy combs and brushes
are conspicuous everywhere. Handsomely
bound books, plush-framed mirrors, gentle
mems dressing cases, toy guns, albums, fancy
purses, china figures, music boxes, little autom-
atoms that do all sorts of smart things when you
wind them up properly, tool boxes, dolls.
fancy bric-a-brac, are thrown together in pic
turesQue confusion. The stores are crowded
with people, the pavements are in motion.
little wipd-milis and the man with the mice,
sall alive - in little boxes marked rat" have
disappeared, and the peanut boy has got 'em
hot, two bags for five cents, ~ and pretty near
sold out. The candy mans torch has gone
out, and he wheels mis- candy cart away, as
mere are no more children to make sick.
When the purchasers are nearly all gone, and
the stores begin TO close up the scene is changed
The shop girls come out in a troop, and the
lights go out in the stores as if they carried the
brightness with them. On the curb escorts are
doesn't know any of them stands on the corner
and smiles as they pass by.