The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-09-30
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From Our Regular Correspondent.
WASHINGTON, D. c.,
Sept, 81, 1886.

Sept, 81, 1886.
A refreshing GOODNESS in the air
increased activity about the hotels
and on the streets; the reappear-
ance of familiar but long absent ia
ces in churches and theatres are in
dications that the season at Sara
toga, the White Sulphur, and New
port is over, and hat the season at
Washington is about to begin.
When the Capital of the United
States was a village, and the gov
eminent a loose jointed federation,
the season at Washington was syn
chronous with the Congressional
session. But now the United States
has risen to the place of primacy
among nations, not as a military
power, but in population and in
wealth. The capital has grown to
be a great and beautiful city, and
each year the res gestae and res dc
tae at Washington, whether social
or political, grows in Importance
and are read with increased inter
est by an increased population, the
most intelligent in the world.
What will the combined increment,
population, wealth, intelligence, be
in another hundred years? The
thought is staggering, like the ia
thomless and the infinite. One
hundred years ago we were an
anonymous string of weak sea
coast colonies roughly estimated
at 100000. Now we have 6O,OO0,-
900 with wealth and resources in
calculable, a great empire whose
eastern and western boundaries
are oceans. Is it too much to pre-,
dict that in another hundred years
our northern and southern boun,
diaries will be the Arctic ocean and
the De Lesseps canal! Or shall
we say Terra Del Fuego for the
southern boundary, with an cleo.
trio railway running from Hudson
Bay to Cape Horn. This prospect
does not seem more evtravagant
than the retrospect for the last
hundred years is wonderful.
There is to be a centennial, con.
stitutional, and presidential cele
bration in Washington in a few
years, and the establishment of &
permanent exposition of the pro.
ducts and resources of the various
States and Territories. Other eli
ties, of course, are contending fol-
the honor, and insisting that theil
corporation limits shall be the TO.
Gus of the National Exposition
But it is not intended to have any
more Philadelphia provincialism
in our National celebration. The
Capital of the United States is
Washington. French national eel
ebrations are not held at Cher.
bourg, nor British national expo
sitions at Birmingham. We have
no reason to be ashamed of the ma
tional capital, for, aside from its
being the cleanest and most beau
tiful city in the world, it is espe-
cially adapted for pageantry, and
entertainment. More people have
sisters, cousins, aunts, and other
relatives in Washington than in
any other city in the Union. They
T here in the public service from
every State and Territory The Wis
itor to the Exposition will be in
direct communication with a rela-
tive or friend who will entertain
him or direct him to a place of en-
tertainment. Half the houses OF
Washington are boarding houses.
and half the population have been
boarding house keepers. In short,
here is a bureau of information
and a city Of ~expansible boarding
houses ready to hand. Washing
ton to-day car and does entertain
a larger transient population than
Philadelphia. Besides the building
in which the continental Congress
was held, and the Liberty Bell, I
do not remember anything that a
patriotic visitor would care to see
in Philadelphia. Here are monu-
ments and colossal statues COM
memorative of the %illustrious dead
of every epoch in our eventful his
tory. Here are public buildings,
museums, the Corcoran art gallery,
the White House, and the Capitol !;
the National Botanical gardens,
and the Agricultural Department,
comprising, before a dollar has
been expended, such an Exposition
as no other city in this hemisphere
could produce, even at an expense
of $4,000 ,O0O. But perhaps the
strongest claim of Washington is
the fact hat here, right in the midst
Of the city, in sight of all these
commemorative and architectural
monuments, and in easy walking
distance, is a great unoccupied
plain Of three hundred acres for
the temporary or permanent bull
of the International EXPOSE
ton. This plain is on the banks
of the Potomac, and no exposition
IN the history Of the world has had
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