Evening star., 1897-07-31

the period between the revolutionary war
and the adoption of the present Constitu-
ton. Congress met at Princeton An
napoliS. Trenton and New York. After the
adoption of the Constitution. March T. 17s9.
warm discussions took place in Congress
In regard to the location Of the capital. On
June 2S, 1890. an act was passed containing
the following:
Potomac. az some place between the
mouths of the Eastern branch and the Con-
ococheague. be, and the same Is hereby, ac-
cepted as the seat of government of the
United States.
The same act also provided that Congress
should meet at Philadelphia until the first
Monday in November. 1900 when the gov
ernment should remove to the district Sc
1ected on the Potomac.
The area fixed upon was ten miles square.
or 100 square miles. This embraced sixty
four miles of Maryland soil, constituting
the county of Washington. which
ceded by that state to the United States in
1ISS and thirty-SiX square miles of Vir-
ginia soil. constituting the county of Alex
andria. ce'led in 17s9 The portion on the
Virginia side of the Potomac was retro
ceded to that state in 1876
First Acquaintance With Washington.
Mr. President my acquaintance with
Washington began fifty-eight years ago
Friday next. Upon reaching the capital l
found it what might be termed a strag
Cling village. There was but one public
mode of transportation north of the Poto-
mac leading into Washington. That was
the Washington branch OF the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad.
1 remember we'll the impression that 1t
made upon me. The train of cars consisted
of one passenger car. a portion of which
was devoted to the storage OF baggage, and
the engine. We approached the depot, which
was formed of dwelling house which had
been utilized for that purpose by removing
the interior up to the second story. The
engine brought within short distance
of this old house. and We were pushed in
by the engine switching down and driving
ii at the other end. This depot was 10
Gated on the north side of Pennsylvania
avenue. about $50 feet from what was then
called the Tiber. 1t will be remembered,
and I have no doubt you will be told to-
night by several gentlemen who are to ad-
dress you, that the condition of Washing
ton. compared with what we now real
ize. was something marvellous. There was
not a paved street in the city; the side
walks were very imperfect; the crossings
from one side of the street to the other
were formed by fiagstones of about three
feet in width so that the citizens desiring
10 pass from one side of the street to the
other had to find the corner of the street
before they had reached this passageway.
There was no gas light and no water ex-
cept what was taken from the pumps and
they were distributed all over the city
with reference to the. accommodation of
the population. II frequently happened
that pump would get out of order and
that always created trouble in the neigh
borhood. not only with the families, but
with the servants who had to travel off a
square or two to find pump and get water
Tor culinary purposes and other domestic
wants.
President HnrrisOn's Arrival.
recollect that upon the arrival of Pres
fdent William Henry Harrison here after
his election In 1Si0 very large crowd
was attracted TO this depot-large for
Washington in that day-some prompted
by a desire to pay their respects to the
incoming President and others undoubtedly
attracted by curiosity. 1t was an extreme
ly inciement day. SO much so that II would
be difficult to imagine that people could
De attracted from their homes for any
such reason without facilities such as
We have now fc- passing from one portion
OF the city to the other There were no
carriages nor omnibuses or conyeyances
OF that sort. SO that whoever went to see
the Presidcnt-elect travelled on foot, with
the use OF an umbrella and a great number
OF them cotton umbrellas at that.
The Fro sident himself an old soldier de-
chned any conveyance from the depot to
the point at which he was to hold d recep-
tion, but insisted upon walking, and the
people present held their umbrellas in
such q manner that they would afford COM
Petent protection. at least from above. on
his transit from the depot to the city hall
where he went arm-in-arm with Col W
w Seaton. the mayor.
IL VIII he borne in mind that the revenues
cS4iHeoi al that day were very lin
1ted The making of improvements such
as were rendered necessary for the com
fort and convenience Of the people WAS a
tning utterly out of the question, so that
the most that could be done was to pro
S1de q passage way. IL may % use the
term. The streets were all mud: the r,,t-
tiers were formed Of oobble stones rendered
necessary to carry OF the drainage. which
ct that time was entirely upon the sur
face. The lighting, of course was with
OIL lamps. sparsely distributed and on dark
rights the population had to grope their wa
about the town as best they could This
state OF things continued up to the adyen,
of Mr. Seaton as mayor, In 1910. but still
lie was without means-with all the liberal
fty that characterized his generous nature
to do anything that would advance and
produce greater amount of comfort than
the people then enjoyed.
But with all these difficulties, Washing
ton possessed many advantages for the So
cial enjoyment and comfort of her pcpl,ia-