Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-05-02
THE TOPICAL TAlKER.
Washington's Alleged Appetite for Water
The Old Horse Car surviscs-The Pc.
cuiinr Charms of the CapiInl.-Experi.
mental Rapid Trausit-The Cabman To

The Old Horse Car Survfscs-Ths Pc.
cuiiar Charms of the CapiinI-Exper,.
mental Rapid Trausit-The Cabmnp =,
Avoid.
tFRoM STAFF CORRESPONDENT.
; WAsH1NGToN. d. c., May L-"Morrison,,
Strangers Guide to Washington ryitv
states that 1.-THE consumption of water daily ia
at this date, l26,OOO,0OO gallons, the largest
quantity, proportionately to size, of any city IN
the world" The figures and the English are
Mr.. Morrison's, remember not mine. The or.
binary observer would not suppose for an in.
slant that water was SO popular beverage in
Washington. 1t is good water. tested 1t nv.
self. Yet it lacks certain stimulating qualities
which the strain of Washington life upon the
human system would seem to render desirable
in liquid refreshment. Perhaps the natives of
Washington, who are to the manner born, dis.
pose of most of the hundred and twenty-six
millions of aqua pura. 1t would be interesting
to know how many gallons. or pints, of Potomac
water official and political Washington con-
sumes
1t was Congressman. you will remember,
who asked waiter at Willard's to bring him
another drink of what-d' ye-ca1l-' 'em with ice in
| it. He wanted water, but he had forgotten the
name. 1t was his third term in Congress.
| I T seems strange that the antediluvian horse
| car is still paramount in the streets of Wash
ington. Streets SO wide and level seem ideal
for electric or cable railroads. There is a cry
ing need for rapid transit here The vacant
gaps have been filled in, but in very impress
| sive sense Washington is still city of magnifi-
| cent distances OF course, the cab gliding
easily over asphalt pavements is great deal
| more available here than it is ever likely to be
| in Pittsburg. There are CABS and cabs how
| ever, in the capital They do not compare fa-
vorably with the cabs of that other great cab
| opolis, London. They are not horsed SO well,
| and the hanson cabs, which are the pleasant
| est vehicles under the SUN on good pavements,
are often old-fashioned, crazy and frowsy to
| painful degree.
A drive down Pennsylvania avenue on a
| spring morning in a well-hung, clean and well.
horsed hanson is only comparable in my mind
to like passage through Parliament street.
Pail Mall or Picadilly in the English metropo-
lis. But the grand advantage Washington
has over London and in lesser degree
Paris, Berlin and Vienna, lies in her trees that
line her avenue, conspire for beauty and shade
in her numberless parks and gardens. and fairly
enmesh the whole city from border to border,
from wooded hill to silver river in a net of
dazzling green. Those who can, more and
more, are building homes in Washington and
all that surprises me is that more have not sur
rendered to the wonderful charm of an
American city that puts beauty before dollars
and comfort before commerce, and has an
abiding thought for the things which bring
health and happiness to the human race.
Washington is the product of the enterprising
new world working upon plans that the old
world has proved to a certain extent to be the
best for congregations of men in cities. The
Washington of the future will have no equal
in the world as place of residence.
THERE is of course little doubt but that
electricity will supplant horsepower in
the street railroads here before very long.
There is a cable now in use on the Seventh street
line. An accident happened to it last week,
and the cable stopped for two days. 1t is run
ming again now, and Is of course a great i'm
provement UPON the horse cars.
From the strong-smelling and altogether un-
beautiful center of Georgetown new electric
railroad runs out to Tennalytown, a suburb
which is not town. Further out on the same
road Is the beautiful place which Mr.. Cleve-
land once owned, and sold lately so advantag.
eously Land spectators hold all the property
about Red Top, and the electric road seems to
have been built to create want rather than fill
one. The scenery is lovely, however, and as the
continuation of Massachusetts avenue will
bring this suburb into close connection with
the city, no doubt a population will grow
quickly there. The Thomson Houston over
head system is the one used by the Georgetown
and Tennallytown road. and 1t drags the car
up very steep grades quickly and easily enough,
but with q very noisy accompaniment. 1t opens
up to visitors some lovely views of Washington
and the surrounding country, including both
branches of the Potomac The woods are still
untouched, and cover the deep valleys and
broken ridges with a most exquisitely varied
mass Of foliage. OF course this sylvan country
is at its best just now.
REwARE of the cabman who volunteers in
formation, whether it be typographical,
architectural, biographical or otherwise. Ten
chances to one he will endow you with more
curious misinformation than you could acquire
from all the guide books published in life
time. And this cabman with a taste for Cicer-
onic exploits is not rare animal. He is only
too common in Washington.
Perhaps 1t was punishment for not going to
church last Sunday morning that fell into the
hands of a deceiving jehu, who drove hanson
with white horse. Through the trap-door in
the roof this engaging individual dropped mug
gets of general information anecdote and his
tory upon our devoted heads. We were navi-
eating the fashionable avenues and streets of
the Northwest section. and about every other
house contained Senator, foreign Minister
Representative, Cabinet officer, million |
aire or some other notable person. |
That cabman revealed a most pecu-
liar knowledge of the houses and |
their inmates, which he impaired in a beery |
but respectful voice to us. He became auto |
biological at times in his remarks. For in |
stance, close to Dupont circle he showed us |
the exact spot where he shot a rabbit three |
years ago-"when this here place was a open |
field" He took care to point out to us the |
residences Of Senator Quay and Congressman |
Bayne, for somehow he had OWNED our |
origin. And it was in this way that he re-
vealed his unreliabiity. 1t happened that we |
knew Mr.. Bayne's new house. which is a very
handsome stone structure, on Massachusetts,
avenue, but at the time the cabman showed us
another house for it we did not perceive the
deception.
One of the curious features of the entertain.
ment was that after the cabby had related
some particularly astonishing thing he would
give the old white horse a startling flick with
his whip. did not notice this incident until
after the journey was over and had paid an
extra half dollar for the jehu's services as
guide.
Since Sun day have taken a melancholy de-
light in convincing myself of the falsity of that
cabman's stories. HEPBURN JOHNS
THE PRINCE OF THE PENCIL.
Mr.. Thomas Mast. the Best Cnrtoouisf, Now
nfsuutch Contrihufor