St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-02

hollowS and assures worn by the grind
ing OF many feet.
Autographs" he said, pointing
down, as he saw Washington Star
man standing by him.
"Where?"
There" And he pointed again to
the hollows in the paving. Then he
added. following out his reflections:
THE pavementS in Washington are
worn by the footsteps of great men.
Did YOU ever think of that? The num-
Der of great men-and l might add,
wOmen-who have walked and who do
walk every day the streets of Washing
ton? Stand for an hour III public
place here and you Will see more
of the famous people of the day than
you could see in the same space of
time in any other place in America.
Since Washington became the capital of
the nation there has not been famous
man in America who has not walked in
its streets and most of them have been
more or less intimately connected with
life here. Lincoln and Stanton and
Chase and Johnson only a few years
ago used to walk by here. Nearly every
morning for eight years Gen. Grant
walked down this avenue toward the
capitol. The echo of his steps has
scarcely died away!
The footprints of Gen. Sherman
have worn deep into the pavements
down Fifteenth street, around by the
old National theater, and between his
house and the war department. Gen.
Sheridan. Gen. Van Vliet. Admiral
Porter. Admiral Worden, who whipped
the Merrimac. and dozen other military
and naval heroes walk the streets here
every day almost unnoticed. Some of
the famous diplomats of the world may
be seen here most any day. Every day
of his life, while representing the court
of st. James here, Sir Edward Thorn
ton used to walk to the capitol and back
to his residence on Connecticut avenue.
Rain, shine, snow or Sleet. he walked in
brisk gait down Connecticut avenue.
through Lafayette square and down
Pennsylvania avenue to the capitol, and
then back by the same way. And the
British minister of to-day, with his little
braSS-key hanging from the button of
his coat. takes almost the same walk.
And there are the gaily attired Chinese
minister and his suite, the Japanese
minister. the representative of the Rus
sian bear. the Dane, the Prussian and
the Swede. feZ-capped diplomats of the
far East. and the swarthy South Ameri-
cans of the diplomatic corps, may be
seen Strolling about the streets. And
there are some little convivial corners
where some of them make resort and
are merry companions with some of the
simplest of us.
1.-The glamour of greatness is lost
here The footprints of Webster, Clay
and old Tom Benton are somewhere on
the avenue, though much scratched
over, dug up and repaved. They may
be above the grade or below the grade,
or they may have been carted off, in the
general turn up of improvement-bu
those men have walked here often
enough. Washington and Hamilton
have walked on this avenue arm in arm
The figure of Jefferson has been as
familiar here as yours or mine, and
.Jackson's military heels have ground
into the stone tagging, no longer here.
Aaron Burr has jumped lightly across
the stepping stones things of the past,
and MarShallS face was familiar to the
people here of his day. All the pfesi-
dents and all the statesmen of this
country have lived in and been part
of Washington.
"You knew all that? Of course! But
when you associate them all together it
is something to think of. You are asso-
ciating with famous people here all the
while without noticing it. When coll
gress is in session you pass fifty men on
the street any day without more than
noticing them. any one of whom would
be pointed out as some one to see even
in large cities, and sight of whom
would be thing to be remembered and
talked of by thousands of people in re-
mote parts of the country"