Telegram-herald., 1889-07-01

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shrozss of psa-ssrlahs rho hasa lrisure
e0os4xh ~ so1Die bAn ~ koaege Ia fTons
= tie slaos ~io1oss And ~ksf .
lslsazFels laxs crowd thai l. - hleA po.rs
cut II tas d~p&rt2ent< ~ p IA Of
warm s2Hazss<r sfteFaloon and sSanters
do~u Tx Pxlacipai tiaeFocghfsxs.
00seFnaaeag elsT2s 4re almost IS lazy
- tie nssEo~s. though they 10 not d
thsiE sie~rli-g IA publlc. - d. Ghs happy
soas II Affica- Every tlock or tso
along the street. oaas colaes uPoa = sle-p-
iag darby Tie eoot5lack sleeps In his
o~a chair. aud the customer wakes him
Up with s0aas difficulty. ID Is a fax that
u fToAt of Wili&Fds kotel t~o loot
blacks. rivals Ia winter, form a pool Ia
bot weather, the teTl1s II tie compact
belng that willis one sleels ths other
shall be On guard. with rec~Ipts divided
eoLored walters 60 % sleep while stand
ing behind your chair trying 70 keep tho
dies away Washington people. by tho
Way. are fond u flies Not one house in
q dozen = lifted with screens. aud tho
d. population Is extraordinarily large
Ia fact. IL l. 40 strain Of the truth - SAY
that there are hies on this town
People from the north and west look
very cuTi0gIsly on tho colOTed people Of
this clty-theIr quaint dress. the grizzlod
old men and fst old ma-nmies Here
the negroes 20 10 all sorts Of extremes
One second you meet wretched old
weGch with bare feet and a ragged gown.
A few steps more and you are face 10
face with one or two couples Of gayly
dressed young people. the black youths
with patent leather shoes and big canes,
and the black girls with La Tosca sticks
and yellow slippers. But on hot after
moons the sleeping capacity of the Wash
ington colored man Is one Of the most
picturesque features of the town.
All the paris are full of colored men
and women. IA lost Of them asleep. Even
the drivers of darts AM wagons snore on
their seats while the horses amble lazily
along. 4 popularity Of the colored man
is that he canpot sleep standing on his
feet, rs white man can. But he can
sleep in all the other attitudes known 10
the human frame.
The only white man | remember TO
have seen asleep in public was an office
seeker who has remained SO long IN
Washington that his exchequer Is ex-
hausted and he literally has not place To
lay his head. He was seen the other
afternoon leaning his broad back against
the portico Of the Riggs house, sound
asleep and dreaming, perchance, of salary
day in the treasury. IL is moro than
likely he tells his friends he lodges at
the Riggs"
The scenes at the hotels are also char
acteristic of Washington. One always
finds lazy, seemingly aimless crowds in
the rotundas or sitting out in front in the
cool of the evening. Hotels everywhere
have plenty Of loungers about. but these
Washington hotel loafers are unlike those
Of any other city. They arc place hunt
crs, second rate politicians, old pension
ers. 1.-The judge and the major" Very
wise men are they all. who have in their
day won great battles, military and POI
litical; but do not imagine they are
guests of the hotel at which they assem-
ble TO exchange condolences. The ma
jority of them sleep in back rooms, third
floor. and take their meals at the cheap
restaurants.
About one-fourth of the population of
Washington lives in hotels and boarding
houses. All the servants are colored,
the white girls and boys working in the
departments and the government print
ing office. Many of the mechanics are
negroes, for here, as in the south. col
ored boys are given chance To learn
trades. Carpentry and other skilled
work is taught them in the public
schools, and white brick masons and
blacksmiths and plasterers work along
side colored men without prejudice.
There are negro quarters OF the city, but
the colored population is by no means
confined TO these. On NJ, n, Fifteenth,
Sixteenth, Seventeenth and many other
thoroughfaies in the aristocratic north