San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-01-09
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE.
WASHINGTON, ID. c., Jan. 6.


one feels indeed that they have
said Adios to "Dixie." Entering
the great city of Washington,
rode on the platform, that / might
catch my first glimpse of the Capt.
tol, the Monument, the White
House, etc. 1t was a bright after
noon, just before shutdown, and the
approach had every advantage of
atmospheric attraction. Though
the trees were all bare the mall"
was covered in some places with
grass as green as the grass OF Texas.
In summer the parks and avenues
must be a forest of shade, for the
trees are very large and thickly
planted.
Surely no patriotic American
can enter Washington without a
thrill of pride in the glory of his
country, for though Washington
in itself may not be one of the
largest or greatest of American
cities, it seems to me it should be
the Mecca of every true American,
even an alien cannot but be greatly
impressed, delighted and instruct
ed by visit.
To begin with, / went to the
capitol. What magnificent pile
it is, its immensely is positively
crushing. The houses were not in
session at the time; through the
courtesy of a congressional report
er for the Associated Press, / have
been offered a seat in the ladies'
gallery, to see the "Monlley Show"
as | am sorry to say this disre-
spectful young man designates
the law makers of Column
bia. This young man has
a singularly mild and con-
scientious aspect, there is moth
ing about him to indicate that he
is responsible for some of the
flights of fancy we read every
morning in Texas. On going over
to the Washington Monument, l
found New York excursion,
probably on it's way to Texas and
Mexico, had got ahead of me, and
as the elevator was so jammed
with tourists, going up the 800 feet,
l just simply climbed. 1t was a
climb, but then one need not do it
more than once in a lifetime,
besides, it is the only way in which
one can read the inscriptions on
the tablets erected by every state
in this Union, societies, churches,
schools, individuals, and many of
fhn .,nfinnn 90 Yth 70 thn
memory of the immortal Father of
his country. Those who assembled
and descended in the elevator, miss
ed the full spirit and meaning of
all that this glorious memoir
ial stands for, to no other of the
sons of men has just such an one
been raised, and a visitor cannot
but be deeply impressed by it.
| visited the Corcoran Art Gal
lery, but l must say l was some-
what disappointed in it. 1t is not
as extensive collection nor does
it contain as many examples Of
great modern painters as | was
under the impression it did. The
sculpture of course is simply
the casts and copies of
the masterpieces of the old
world, notably the cast of the
gates of the Baptistery of Flor
ence. Still there were a great
many lovely pictures to feast up
on, nearly all of the French school,
several of which had taken gold
medals in the Paris Salon in
different years. Speaking of pic
lures, there is on exhibition in
the business office of the Wash
ington "Post" a very large paint
ing by Victor Nehlig. of "Poca-
hontas saving the life of John
Smith" representing the In
dian camp, with John laid out in
rather an uncomfortable position,
while the dusky angel of his saliva
ton stands in defiant attitude
between him and the battle-aXes
/ of her tribe. The coloring is very
deep and rich, the Indians are the
Indians of "Hiawatha," not the
modern disillusion. The "POst"
states in one paragraph that the
artist was born in Germany, then
further down the column says he
was born in Paris, but / imagine
| from the name that the first state
ment is the correct one.
The United States Navy yards
were a point of attraction for me,
so L went over into the gun man.
ufactory and asked them to show
me how they made great guns.
The superintendent took me over
the shops showing me the process
of constructing and finishing the
65-tonners for the new battle-ships.