Evening star., 1898-07-30

Creek, which ran through, the Tiber, a
name which it still bears, and of course he
was the Pope of this Rome.
1t was with the descendants of these peo-
pie that negotiations were made for the
land on which Washington was built. It
was from these humble river farms in this
quiet valley that there was to arise in di.
rect succession, uninterrupted by human
occupancy, untrampled by the heel of bus
mess activity, as it were. beautiful city
a city whose buildings stand amidst acres
of green grass and brilliant flowers, whose
towers rise above trees contributed by
every country and climate These build
ings are peopled by scholars and furnished
with the results of generations of labor
study and research. This is the mall,
stretching in continuous and perennial
green between the White House and Cap
itol, and in which the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition, National Museum, Army Medical
Museum, bureau of engraving and printing
Department of Agriculture and Washing
ton monument form classic neighbor-
mood. This is great, green resting place
for Washington eyes, and its broad area is
traversed every day by strangers feet. 1t
was the gift of nature to art, of the past
to the future, of prmitiveness to culture
when this Arcadia became a part of Wash
ington.
The city was planned and thought out
with great care and painstaking by Cen
eral Washington. 1T was situated on the
Great Post road, exactly equidistant from
the northern and southern extremities of
the Union, and nearly so from the Atlantic
to the Ohio" THE ground was surveyed
in the spring of 1891, by General Washing
ton, Major Ellicott and Major Pierre Chas.
L'Enfant on horseback Major L Enfant
is regarded as the architect of the city.
He was a French officer in the American
revolution. He was the first civil engineer
of any marked talent in the country, and
General Washington considered him val
liable man in the laying out of the capi-
tai. But he had strong will which some
times clashed with those of his superiors,
and it was Major Eilicott, who finished the
plan which had been so ably begun and
carried forward by Major LEnfant. and
this plan was authorized and accepted.
Major L'Enfants last work was Fort
Washington, about ten miles below the
city, which was built a fortifcation
against the British in 1912. He was a
bachelor, and died at the Digges farm near
this city in the spring of 1925. His grave
is in the garden of the farm and unmarked
by any stone.
One of the Land Owners.
OF all the sturdy settlers with whom
Gen. Washington had to deal he found the
Scotchman, David Burns, the most OBJ
durate. He had to be approached often,
and at last with great decision before he
could be persuaded to part with his beloved
lands which had come down to him through
long Scotch ancestry. At last, with the
assurance from Gen. Washington that the
streets should so run as not TO disturb his
cottage home, he yielded and this great
farm became part of the national capital.
1t was situated on the north side of the
river, and extended from the site of the
White House on the west to that of the
patent office on the east. 1t was 'Davy
Burns cottage to the old neighbors, who
used to drop in. after the days work was
Gone, to sit around the fireplace and talk
after
of the 600 acres had made Davy d rich
man, and Washington, Hamilton and many
noted people were his frequent visitors, 1t
came to be known as the "Burns' man
sion.' 1t was simple and primitive in every
way, with only three rooms besides the
attic. small room on the ground floor
was called Tom. Moore's ROOM" for there,
in 1904. the poet sojourned and wrote the
poem expressing his ridicue of the grand
and as he supposed, impracticable plan of
the city. That was in the days of "n1ag-
nificent distances deep mud and few COM
forts
AN embroyo capital, where Fancy sees
Squares In morasses, obelisks in trees:
Where second-sighted seers the plain adorn
With fanes unbuilt, and heroes yet unborn;
Though naught but woods and Jefferson
they see,
Where streets should run and sages ought
to be-"
The light of the Burns home was Marcia.
and beauty and afterward wealth she
lacked not for FRIENDS or sutors She mar
ried Gen. John P. Van Ness of New York,