Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1889-07-29
WASHINGTON LETTER.

ly deserted appearance on Sunday.
The houses along Connecticut avenue
are closed for the summer, and that
thoroughfare, which is wont to be the
afternoon parade ground of fashion
on foot and in carriage, showed yes
terday only a few solitary wayfarers.
Pennsylvania avenue, democratic as
it is respecting its loiterers, at 3
o'clock Sunday afternoon in midsum-
mer, boasted only a few apologize
passers by, who are wondering why
they didn't go out of town themselves.
The sidewalks were as hot as frying
pans, and the asphalt pavements
seemed to sizzle under the July sun
yesterday.
At the corner of Pennsylvania ave-
nue. and Seventh street is wide
space, where hacks stand on week
days and which boasts curiously-
shaped drinking fountain which was
erected five years ago by some West
ern man and which has never by any
chance contained water since its first
months existence If there is any
breeze in the business part of the city
it is here.
Across this deserted space at 3
o'clock comes wiry, lame, little old
colored man, with Bible under his
arm and without any preliminaries
he kneels down beside the fountain
and prays long and earnestly. A
score of loiterers slowly gather around
him, and he commences to harangue
them. His sermon is rather long, and
! is like the efforts of most old colored
preachers, extremely doctrinal and
the text is taken from Revelations.
He concludes by getting the Johnstown
horrors in some mysterious tumble
mixed with the use of wine among
congressman.
The score of loiterers that have
gathered are now doubled, and as
black charts comes into view. These
charts have ships drawn on them and
mountains and pyramids with novel
lettering scattered about. The white
man begins his discourse without
prayer and for a half hour explains
the pictures on the chart, the whole
thing appearing to be an object les
son. treating of the deliverance of
the children of Israel out of bondage.
The white man is not an eXhorter,
and, indeed, he becomes so much IN
terested in his subject and wanders
so far into speculation, that he has
no time for cxhorting before he is
interrupted.
A huge wagon is drawn up by six
horses into the center of the plaza.
There are fully twenty people, men
and women, seated in the wagon, land
there is also small organ. A sound
of a cornet is heard striking the first
notes of 'sNearer my God to Thee,
and the people in the wagon COM
mence to sing. By this time, people
are Just coming up from the post-of-
flee where the Sunday evening dellv-
erv hour is on, and the crowd as
sumes very respectable proportions
Speech after speech is made relative
: to personal experiences, the quality
: of the speeches being perhaps more
of a matter of astonishment than the
s experience. Some are really able
5 and some are really drivel. With
parting song, in which many of the
crowd join, the wagon, with its grea
: gilt letters, sGospel Wagon" glisten
: ING in the setting sun, is whirleC
a away.
i. For the last half hour, waiting pa
: tiently on one side, is little groul
n kof fouroof five women and half doz
Il en- men. They are cheaply ant
!. coarsely clad, and the women's face
s bear the brand of care and worry
: These people belong to the Salvatio
i Army and are waiting their turn t
l. take possession of the square. The
n stand there perfectly stolid. On
3 Young Austrian among them, wit
It the most intensely stupid face l eve
; saw, tries to sell few copies of tn
n ssWar Cry" the official organ of I'll
ID Army (which he carries under his arm
III When the wagon has gone awa'
Is they all kneel down, and the captain
g who is young woman, prays In
al shrill, piping treble. When she
ee through it is dark, and the lit
ic group commences to sing some so
ed of religious verses to the air of 81
in meet her when the sun goes down
n So it goes on for an hour, the sin
$. ing and praying and exhorting, un
on the women's voices are faint and t.
25 crowd gets tired and departs.
he Then this miserable remnant of
ts' shabby army sinks off to bed up dir
ill alleys and into poverty-strlck
he houses, and yet happy in enthusla
ms tic and unwavering adherence to th'
he s.cause.' What few of the church
It that retain their Sunday night serv
ill es, have discharged their congreg
on tions and no sound breaks silence G
lc- cept an occasional street car, un
raj the belated excursion boats come
ng at nearly midnight. A party
og- heavy. drinking 'sports," who ha