The evening times., 1895-08-07
LURKING PLACE OF THUGS
Franklin, Lafayette and the Smith.
sonian Grounds Never Penetrated
by Light of Any sort-Col. Wilson
Has Asked Congress In Vain for
Money to Protect These Spaces.

region which extends all the way from
the White House ellipse east to near tn,
Capitol grounds.
The condition of these on other evening"
when the moon supersedes the Washing
ton Gaslight Company and the electric
light company's contracts compares ia
vorably with that of any uncivilized cOun
try on the globe. The superintendent oi
public parks and reservations knows tina,
fact, and Congress knows II because the
superintendent has told 1t SO in several OF
his annual reports.
II one stands at the corner of Sixteenth
street and Pennsylvania avenue and looks
in the direction of Lafayette Square on
any moonlight night his eye will run up
against a section Of the city in which all
| is blank. One might as well try to peer
through an Asiatic jungle at midnight
SEEN FROM THE CORNER.
II one stands there for a short while
after 10 O'Clock he will See an occasional
couple saunter By enter one of the avenues
and in few seconds are lost in the gloom.
By and by another couple win come along
aud another, and another, but where they
go or what they do it is needless to ask
of the mau in the moon. His eye gets only
as far as the tops Of the trees.
In Franklin park the conditions are very
much the same with the exception that
here and there a beam or two penetrates
the foliage aud Immediately the straw hat
aud the corsage bouquet move to the other
end of the handsome Turkish lounges under
these shady trysting trees.
But the region Of questionable romance
par excellence is that wonderfully beautiful
cnn pf Ula nd
outrageous trees in the peighborhood of
the lake in Agricultural grounds.
The trees are brauched to the very bottom
and the lovers lanes and shady hooks are SO
numerous that they make one vast labyrinth
out Of which park inspector could scarcely
make his way. Whether 1t is moonlight and
the gas flickers are extinguished or whether
the electric light aud the gas combine TO
illuminate the place, the darkness in the
many seQuestered spots Is always thick
enough to hide successfully both crime and
immortality. Even in the sacred precincts
Of the Capitol grounds there is less light
than there should be and 1t is not SO well
pOliced as. 1t should be.
PROOF OF THE NEED.
A sufficient commentary on the regu-
larity with which this place is patrolled at
night is that not very long ago the body of
q man who had committed suicide (?)
near the grotto was not found until long
after daylight. There are also true
stories Of men being sandbagged in these
precincts. Grimes of this kind have dimin-
ished, but the possibilities and probabilities
remain the same. A murder could more
easily be perpetrated in the Smithsonian
or Agricultural grounds than in Jackson
City, because all there is OF that infamous |
city is lighted better than the prominent |
parks OF the Capital of the Nation.
Nothing could be easier of execution
than the crime Of which The Times car
toon speaks better than words. Whether |
Or not they ply their trade in the dark PARK |
in the center Of . city, it Is q fine
Held for the thug, for the sandbag, the
loaded cane, for the grasp Of the throat, and
, knock down blow.
What could be easier than the robbery
If wayfarer through a park the interior
,f which is absolutely invisible from the
streets 1t is sheer nonsense
o assume that a night inspector eau keep
lis eye on the invisible
This is no fancy sketch. Every now and
hen perhaps policeman or park W watchman
Its through the shades, but he is a harm
ess silhonette. He offeuds nobody's mod.
sty and nobody's immodesty can offend
lin.
REPLY YOFTHEPOLICEMAN.
''At what time of night" a policeman
vas asked yesterday, do you order the
ettlers on these benches to their honest"
''oh, don't order them home at ALL"
lesaid, $50 long as they beha We themselves"
$50 then you are judge, jury, aud exc.
utioner of what constitutes an offense?"
Il think am" said the mau at the bat
uite conclusively
Imagine a lynx eyed detective undertak-
ng the contract of discovering from the |
treet anything worthwhile condemning or
pproving when there is nothing before
i'm but shade aud shadow, aud inaudible |
Whispers.
,ale aud female, which tell their own
tory graphically.
The young man is on the edge of one of
lese internal gloomy forests Of Wash
lgton. One can hear and see him invite
laud into the garden. One or two other
,enes from these nightly tragedies of |
mau life are given to illustrate the girl
'ho has learned to love the shaded park
III Tie UtUCu DeIeI Iudu JQ6 l
rect or cable car. /.
Any one who has or takes occasion to
, through these parks at night, say from :
to IL O'Clock and especially on moonlit
ghts, will find the benches well filled
ith couples, the female part of which,
least, should be homo with her mother
is only one step from the park to dis
ace and 1t is only the first step that costs
FREQUENTERS OF THE PARKS.
And what an incongruous assembly is
is under the trees. You are not aware
their presence until you are abreast of
em. There are about as ma ny faces as v
ack as the shade or as yellow as the I
ooniight, as there are those which are as 7
hite as the occasional ia sh of the passa-
enterie of the lady lounger e
It Is not an infrequent sight to see very
ung girls at compromising hours of the
yht emerging out of these sylvan slums
the arm of men who know it is easiest
capture fledgling doves. 1t would be
eresting to know how many of the fallen
ives of Washington can trace their down.
I to nights of misguided affection in the
rks, near or far from their homes. This
q only be conjectured, for English spar
ws tell no tales.
,oL Wilson, the superintendent Of the
rks. was .asked -ysterday II anything
q been done toward decreasing these
ngers to the young and innocent He said
It he had twice called atteution to these
ls, and had asked Congress for an appro-
alton for the sufficient tighttng Of La
vette Square. Frankiin Park and the
,ithsonian grounds. /" and, - said he, en-
ntically. "I paade the immora litiea prao III