Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1900-05-03
A TEN DAYS OUTING.
AND IMPRESSIONS OF
ATRIP TO WASHINGTON.


Visit to the Capitol, the Monument
Trip Down the Potomac to Mount
Vernon. bureau of Engraving,
Corcoran Art Gallery, White House
and Treasury.--COngress in SEES
sion.
Continued from last week.
One is not long in Washington be-
fore one discovers the difference be-
tween it and all other American cities.
! Washington is sui generis-a place
unto itself. The snap and hustle of
the ordinary city are entirely lacking
here. Everyone takes life easy. All
seem to be on day pay, and not work
ing by the job. The stores are inferi-
or, for a city of the size. The smoke
of no factories obscures the sun. The
dinner pail and frock are seldom seen
on the streets.
Washington is the capital city of
the United Staies-that is all but it
is enough. The very atmosphere is
surcharged with the electricity given
off by the wheels of government.
Everybody and everything is, or has
been, or hopes TO be, connected with
the vast machinery whose power plant
is here, save the persons who minister
to the daily needs Of otfieialdom. |
These are legion. Washington is a
paradise of hotels and hackmen. De- |
prived OF being the seat Of govern |
ment, Washington would be nothing. |
But there is no prospect of such a Ca
tastrOphe, for Washington is the ideal |
capital Of a great nation. Far better /
is it that everything should be subor-
dinated to governmental functions
than that Congress should meet and I
the President should dwell in some inn
mense city, prone to mob violence, like
Paris, where the affairs OF state are
merely incidental to the sharp and
bitter struggle for wealth and power
hat always marks manufacturing and
commercial centres.
Association and sentiment play a
eading part in Washington life.
)ne lives much in the past here. II
s impossible to resist the impressions
hat meet one at every turn, speaking
% directly of the early days of the re-
public; Of those who laid its corner
tone; who labored on its foundation
walls; who guarded il in DAYS Of adver- [
ity; who reioiced when the storms {
eat upon ii that it did not fall. 4 II
isit to Washington is an inspiration q
I patriotism to any American. The
ag has new meaning to him, after J
e has seen it floating from the White /
louise, where have dwelt every Presi- I
ent except Washington. /
a beautiful city is our nations cap. d
al. It's broad streets are nearly all C
'phalted, making travel over them de- \
ghtful, compared to the stone pave =
ent Of most other cities. Washing a
m was laid out ION purpose Alb p
'iginal COW paths were not followed o
II streets, as in Boston, and the sur
,yors had a more original idea than
to follow, as in New
ork and Chicago. Pennsylvania .
'enue, the main thoroughfare, leads y :,
ON the White House directly to the =
lpitol, a mile and quarter distant, "
I'd also extends back OF both of these !.
.itices several miles. From both | =
e White House and Capitol avenues =
diate, like the spokes of a wheel, =
ID quite often where they intersect /"
it'll each other OF the streets that are !,
i'd out in squares one finds delight =
| little park or "Circle," with per- =
.ps monument or statue of some Il.
table character. The city lies on p
ntle slopes that relieve the monot. u
y. There is a large section known =
the Mall that is reserved for govern ~
ent buildings, parks, drives, etc. ~
or course the public buildings of ~
ashington give it character, but there ~
e thousands of costly and beautiful y
sidences, not to speak of the luxuri- w w
S hotels and the foreign legations. "
ot a trolley wire, electric light, tele- ..
one or telegraph wire appear in the y. ~
'eets-they are all underground. ~
he streets are kept neat and tidy. "
lcle Sam and Dame Columbia are y
cellent housekeepers. -
THE CAPITOL. 81
The itinerary for our excursion m
rty, arranged by our attentive bu
ersonal conductor" was posted on its
; elevator at the hotel each night tn
I the day following. The second gr
y, Monday, we were to visit the ex
pitol in the forenoon. Congress ha
es not begin its session until noon. tin
that the time to inspect the build th'
I itself is before that hour in the
Y. bri
The Capitol exterior is one OF those gri
sights that are not disappointing, she
viewer great ones preconceived pc
as. 1t is majestic and imposing. gis
tn its broad tiers of steps, its cen pr,
] rotunda, its dome and its wings. wa
away in the distance. A do
'uliar thing is that il fronts both tha
Us. One approaches it from the TO
st, but the cars circle around the mo