The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-04-08

Ii Z tiri'. III makes one lrt'l almost like
Il / IN. itI'iHrN 10 peer thr,n III the nil
9raiilrS of It's churrlyarl~ an;l read
the old inscriptions there, to see its an
tiIuc furniture and porcelains, and its
quaint interior decorations. and to
study the colonial jewelry of its ladies.
1t is true that other cities in the United
States are old, but there is little visible
, evidence of their age, for the reason
that they are less conservative than
Charleston, and arc constantly pulling
/ down old buildings in order to put up
new ones. In other places they poiEt
out as Il curiosity any very old house
that may he left standing among them,
bnt in this city it is the new house
which is rarity. passed block after
block in the residence part of the city
where every dwelling was approxi-
matcly a century old. VI re interest
ING than their age was the fact that
many of them still sheltered descend
ants of the families by whom they were
first built. and that, to-day, people
identical in name and feature with the
Revolutionary fathers meet and greet
in exactly the same surroundings.
Instead ofdwelling up town. far from
the Battery (for Charleston, too, has a
Battery and one even more beautiful
than that of New York;, the wealthy
people of this unmercantile city re-
served the best part Of the waterfront
fir their residences. From their ver-
andas they can look out to the seas
horizon. And what vcrandas the
Charleston houses have! Sometimes
they run halfway round house, some
times all the way round. and they are
large enough to be used for giving 4
ball. The rest of the house is of the
same generous proportions. Indeed,
|
size, even 10y the side of the great sum
mer dwellings of a place like Newport.
Several OF them are 81 large rs to indi-
cate the necessity of Il great fortune to
keep them up. 1t is an unceasing
pleasure to take note of their Old-!ash-
ioncd beauty, with colonial dopr-ways
and windows and Greek porticoes.
There is no city in this country where
the student of oilr early AMI most taste
ful architecture will find more to inter
est him.
Ones historic sens. delights to rc-
people these ample halls with the, old
figures and the old costumes that once
adorned them Little doubt can there
he of the picLurtSuurneSI and of the
prh. Of those who must have tlOuris.Icd
in these homes. Each quaint window
and carved doorway seem Il frame for
Il figure OF colonial times The past is
emphasized by the frequent evidence
of decay in some of the noblest of these
residences, and totterin. balcony
may hetray the present poverty of
the once wealthy family within. Here
and there one 'cS Il great house with
all its windows closed The garden is
choked, the slaves quarter is tumbling
down, and the vcrantIaS echo with the
cIirp of birds VIII, have n,Stcd in the
nc ,lccted vines c!amhcring up the pill
lars After its hundred Years or more
of lie a III history, the hous" is no
Ion yrr a home Tor medieval III ,ster
but n mpnum ut of Il divine comedy
whic,, the gods ra,lS Il t, h;' played,
with men for puppets.
The comparative inSigniic,ncc ofthe
business part of TIL. city Is very notice
able 1t is obvious that Charleston
was built for the benefit of :. Group of
rich families. In other days each large
house OF this small capital reprcs rnted
a large plantation in the interior, with
All army Of slaves upon it. Strolling
amid the mansions on the Battery, one
who WAS not born within their atmos-
pherr is greatly moved rs he thinks of
the stran &c and nDw remote $ Jcial sys-
TIM OF which they are the symbols
This beautiful city is So full of associa-
tiols that it is difficult to look ~ any
thing in it without givin" way to re-
Election.
Wide streets. with trees in them run
the length OF the city (Which is shaped
much Ike New York; and very mar
row streets traverse it. Nearly half
the people one passes are negroes.
White people of all classes appear more
courteous and cold.aI to each otlcr
than in ordinary towns. There are no
signs of hurry. fhe street cars, which
are drawn hN mules. Will stop for five
minutes to enable an old person to
| rel"i, them. hav,. seen a gentleman
il 4 I'i~urcly AMI gallant farewell to
Il Ia iy -, a street corner before turn
, inr his reluctant step towards car in
which sat a waiting, but sympathetic,
public. Nearly all the private houses
ofCharlr,ton have gardens about them,
surrounded hy high hrir,; walls. over
the top OF which one : 'rs magnolia
trees and live olis with m,S, on their
branches. Ninlet> aud roses bloom
her. in February, AMI 4 month later
gar'lenias and polnsettias, both Of which
int