Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-03-23
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER
IIE CAPITOL.

TiIr CAPITOL.
A lady At q concert the other evening
entertained all those around her with q
conversation sbou, her favoriie poodle
At frs, /, Was amusing. but sooa !, grew
TO be mono,onous. Ys, no oae could
restrain q smile. when. in high soprano
voice. ,hi. sentence fell from her li'pins
tongue: "Only think. my poodle Won
the frs, prize q, the New York show and
, then only took third At Philadelphia
ba, friend OF mine had poodle that
took hr, prize in Pans. the city OF
POodle'."
Many good Americans Who never eAn
see "P.ri.. the city Of poodle'. may be
Interested 10 know tha, their own ooan.
try h.. a city which is very like the cap.
i,al Of France. and ,ha, Is Washington.
There i. no city in the United States in
which a stranger can find hi, way more
easily. |, !, laid on, on the plan Of an
immense ehecksr.board. Beginning a'
the Capitol. the streets running north
and south are numbered. while those ex-
,sndins cas-, and ives, are le,,sred. All
,ha, /. needed Is knowledge Of hgure'
up to thirty and an AoquAiniAnee with
the alphabet. When you are thu, libsr-
ally educated. you can walk al over
Washington wi,hOu, the fear Of being
lo.,. You are no, obliged TO withdraw
ia,o any doorway TO consult silly a city
map; you need no, seek Information from
policemen or from anything etcep, the
friendly lAmp-pos,s. which take the place
Of our northern sisn.boArds, unless in.
deed you should happen TO ge, confused
on . circle. Where the ragged ends OF
several streets meet. circle is formed.
To cross ,hi, aud enter the rish, stree,
on the opposite eide requires the prae'
,ieed eye Of . drawing master. One poor
woman WAS heard to exelaim the other
day 81 have wandered around this
circle an hour aud now can no, find the
stree, want"
The nphal, with which the roads are
paved, is plea.ln, TO walk upon and is
hard enough for the lish, travel and
,eaming Of ih., city. Ba, II these were
the heavy traffic Of New York or Boston.
the pavements would have 10 be OF 4
more durable material. The streets Afe
shady, and 20 broad ,hA, IL !. almo., i'm.
possible to crowd them. Even last Ia.
ausura,ion day. while thousands Of visit.
on. were in the city, the avenues and
streets weie no, ineonvenienily filled.
They never have the business-like air o!
the Boston streets; nor do the people
move q, such a rapid pace. In New
EnslAnd cities, every man rushe. along
A. II be were hurrying to = fire; while
in Washington be erAwls along as II he
va. going TO the den,i',s. A, first this
calm. lsisurely manner il eIAsPsraiins TO
Northern energy. bu, one soon realizes
how much more wise and comfortable |, Is.
After four o'clock when all the Gov.
ernmen, clerk. are ou, Of office, the parks
are filed With s,roller,. Washington
doe. no, expend Us money on one or two
enormou. parks. which only compare
lively few people can enjoy; ba, every
few square. /, has little park. refresh
ing with i,s many trees aud cool places.
Soms,ime. there Is a fountain in the cen.
ter, bu, more often there is the statue OF
some famous commander Of the army OF
navy. Here any bright afternoon be-
tween four and eish, o'clock, you can sec
The clerk. reading their newspapers.
Everybody j. quiet excep, the omni.pre-
sen, newspaper boy. lie rolls his eyes
and show. his white teeth TO gres, Ad.
vantage as be opens bis black lips to call
out. "S,ar. Yer"
Amer dusk those who are engaged,
and those who want 70 be. walk around
under the trees or 81, on the se,,ees far.
,hes, from the electric lights. In the
daytime the eolored nurses aud the little
children have q monopoly Of the parks.
II forms q convenient, playground for all
the babies Of the nsishborhood. and !, Is
slmos, as free as their own garden would
be, IL they had one. for there are no po-
licemen TO warn them off the grass, or 70
awe them into silence, with their gilt
buttons.
Asa rule the place which patriotic
citizens yi.i, frs, on reaching Washing.
ton. /, the Capitol II you come in,c
the city on the Baltimore aud Potomac
line. you can see the dome from the cars,
and ,hA, makes you all the more esgel
to investigate what Is beneath II. A.
you look up Pennsylvania Avenue. ,h'
Capitol seems 90 near, TO your eyes un'
accustomed to Washington distance, . thai
you decide to walk to IT, You start and
walk on and on. and are apparently nc
nearer. Your eyes are on the dome
your thoughts are with the great mer
who have made history under that whit,
roof; your feet are following the sam,
path which theirs have often tro1; YOU
snele suddenly turns in the same hole il
the sidewalk in which The renowned
Clay or Webster may have twisted his
But that does not seem to make IL ache
less or to prevent the loafers from smiling
a. you huniedly look around to zee !
your accident was observed. As muel
as the pavements Of Washington are 4
be praised. by jus, 80 much are It's aide
walks beneath contempt.
Al last you take one Of the little bob
tailed cars where you have to be you
own conductor. II iss question which
Is the more agreeable--to have. Ns SCOT
a. you are seated, = burly condueto
punch you with care. and say. Ticket, !,
or to be obliged to push through crowd
ed car. past the fat. good-natured man
and the lean, vinegsr-fsoed woman will
the baby. to deposit your own Ave cents
Perhaps sometime the Washington car
may follow the example set them b.
Lynn. That horse-car company employ
woman. who would Be obliged to rid
as noon and at night to collect the fares