Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-14
THE CITY OF WASHINGTON.
The People of the Country Should
Visit 1t.

Joe Howard in the New York Recorder.
A little knowledge Is a dangerous thing
Therefore the more one learns the further
away he gets from difficulty Of an embar-
RAISING or serious nature. Washington Is
the capital of the nation. Everybody
knows a little about it, everybody ought
to know a great deal about it. There are
various ways of learning, but 1t has always
seemed to me that literal eyesight is about
the best method for intelligent observers.
One experience on the bounding pillows.
one awful sensation of mal-de-mer. one
weeks observation of men and brethren,
women and sisteren, give one a greater
insight into the mysteries and the miseries
of a voyage at sea than careful reading
of all the books that were ever read or
ever written.
Just so with travel
All intelligent men and women know a
little something about Liverpool and its
wonderful docks, about the railway trip
from that commercial center to the great
cosmopolitan center Of finance, London.
Every schoolboy can tell you in brief a
history of the British capital, can rattle
off a list of it's noted bridges, its historic
buildings, it's city and its town. but; having
made the trip, having seen the docks of
Liverpool, having had an opportunity to
watch the conduct of the government Of
ficials, having experienced the delights
ocular through the long stretch of gar
dening and of cultivation between Liver
pool and London, having spent II 1t were
but a week in that famous old town. is 1t
or is it not a fact that literal observation
imparts in the briefest possible time an
amount of understanding degree Of
knowledge, that no mere reading of books,
no mere listening. however attentive, to
lecturers and to friends could possibly
give?
Therefore a week here
He must, indeed, be an ill-informed citi-
zen who couldn't give pretty clear de-
scription of the city Of Washington, its
marvellous architectural developments, Its
beautiful drives. and its ordinarily enjoya-
ble climate. l defy, however, the best
educated, the best-informed individual,
who knows Of Washington and its pc
culiar eXcellencies by reading and by look
ing at pictures alone, to approximate the
hither verge of intelligent understanding
possessed by the humblest visitor who.
with his own eyes, has taken in the ex-
traordinary panorama here presented, and
has seen literally the superb structures
put up by the government at an expense
of very many millions of dollars. has
down by Mr.. Sheppard, has speeded through
the adjacent ruralities. has visited the
great cemeteries, has stood on the porch
of General Lees late residence and cast a
longing eye over the picturesque beauty
of the scene there disclosed. The more in
telligent the observer, the more expert
his detection of the beauties, the wider
horizoned his appreciation of the magni-
ficent distances. the surprising develop
ments made during the past twenty-five
or thirty years. 1t really Is the duty, as 1t
Is obviously the pleasure, OF every Ameri-
can citizen to visit the city of Washington
the capital of his nation. that he may be
able to discuss intelligently. not alone the
men who meet here. and the measures de-
bated here but the physical aspect, the
material grandeurs, of this glorious CITY,
which bids fair in time to be SO noble in
proportions, so charming in adornments, so
attractive in its fascination, as to be
worthy the immortal name 1t bears.