The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1889-06-21
SwAsHINGToN LETTER.



thc river front was fortunately ovcrcst-
in,atesl. II Il doubtful indeed that the
work has been injured ut all. The
lropcrty damage dono Ia ami about
she city BY the flood Is almost limited
" the embankment Of the Chesapeake
and the Ohio canal, which are COM
,detcly wrecked In many places. Tho
canal will be abandoned, ~ the repairs
would cost several million dollars moro
than the company is worth. The old
irAd will probably share the fate Of the
Pcnnsylvanlnn canal way, which was
filled IN and utilized for railroad. The
baltimore and Ohm railway will make
an attempt to obtain possession.
The canal has chiefly been used for
tile past twenty ywrs In the shipment
focal, and Its abandonment IL great
blow 10 the business of the sleepy old
CITY OF Georgetown. The canal WAS
one of the oldest In the country. When
Washington was President he conceiv-
ed the scheme Of u canal following the
general direction that was afterwards
adopted, and II became Hobby with
him. Public interest was not easily
excited in favor Of the project however
and It was not until John Adams was
President that the first ground was
broken. President Adams went out 10
tse0rgetown thr.ugh the yillainous
road of those days, with q brass hand
and a crowd Of several thousand people
and spade. With all the people
looking OH and the band severely lac
Grating the air, Mr.. Adams tried to
stick the spade in the earth. Ii struck
n root, hut the Presidents blood being
I'm. lie flung aside his coat and strtrk
again and again until he had success
fully landed in a wheel-barrow pile
If earth. Thereupon the people cheer
c,lwildly AMI the President went home
and wrote the whole story, including
asynopsis of his speech, in his diary.
The people Of Washington were sorely
disappointed that the canal did not go
through the city and 1t was predicted
Chat Washington would forever remain
4 .puny village while Georgetown
would 20 ola 10 greater and greater
rlosies, time without end. Alexandria
was also proud commercial city at
that time. To-day the commerce of
both towns Il a mcagre farce and only
crazy ghosts of great store-hnuses stand,
anunt and deserted along the river
fronts for crones to point out and be-
wall the past.
The local subscription to the Johns
town sufferers fund pour In from all
classes OF people. Politicians and mer-
chants vie with each other in giving.
Amid all this graceful and grateful
evidence of human sympathy, there
are however instances of pretty meaIi-
ness and niggardliness thatare surpris-
ing. i saw subscription list yester-
day that had been through the Pension
Bureau. There were two endOwments
together that were In striking contrast,
tile flrner being for a contribution Of
twer.y five cents, and the latter for
five dollars. happen to know about
both. The man who subscribed %
rents has been ten years at the pub
lie crib, draws Sl80Oa year salary for
work that would disgrace reho0l boy
and has pension Of $50 per month
He Is accredited curious to record. to
the state of Pennsylvania. The wo-
man wflo gave $500 Is bright, cheer
ful little widow who Is struggling
along on SEQ, per month with two chit
dren TO support, one cripple. ! slw
on the same list dozens Of % cents sub.
scription from men whose salary should
make tile sum the merest trifle to them
The most miserly class of people !
know are mean Government clerks.
When Il Govcrnment employee begins
10 be- oyer-econemieal he becomes an
expeit at 1t. Iie smokes villainDus
tobacco in his office and t,egs cigarettes
of his fellows tn smoke OH the street,
Congress should give this sort Of peD-
Die Il chnnce tn Ae generous by return
iug ia the issuing OF half pence. a
cent il too large coin for them To
give away
Many wagons are going about town
collecting clothing and other supplies
for the devasted region Of Pennsylvania
"Wednesday night q train Of thirteen
freight cars left this city with orders
torun toJohnstown on passenger time.
The cars were packed with supplies
from this place, Baltimore, and Pliila-
siplphia. 4 second train Of nine ears
ieFt Thursday night. This train load
was made up entirely here.
The President had q busy time We'd |
resday yesterday between the Office
seekers and the needs Of the Johnstown
sufferers. Allday long the War de-
Dartments officials were consulting
him as 20 wnat actions to take and he
was IN constant wire communication
with General Beaver. The number Of
congressman who called on Wednes-
Jay were Iarler than on any former
day for month.
The rrlxse ~ NBnnnan