Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-01-01

taking of the twelfth census. On the 4th
OF last March William R., Merriam was Sc
lected as the head ot,thei census office and
Fred w. Wines assistant director These
appointments were shortly followed by the
selection of A. F, Ch4nds a. chief clerk. and
the organization of The Office began. Tenn
porary quarters were secured in the new
Columbian building, on 9TH street between
d and E.. Here the preliminary force as
sembled and mapped out the early work
Director Merriam wF4rkedt earnestly to Sc
cure new building for the census office
and after some dffifihlty Gsucceeded in in
sereseing some local capitalists, headed by
building at the corner of LIST and B streets
Early in the spring. the, director decided
that all employees ST the census office
fitness. The examinatonS were held, and
the result has been very gra tifying, an ell
gible list almost suff1ciene to take the en-
tire census having been secured from all
over the country. These were divided
among the senators and representatives pro
rata The selection of census supervisors
In the different states was also left to the
senators and representatives, and the full
list has been completed and forwarded to
the President. The year closes with the
census Office well organized and ready to
begin the taking and enumeration of the
twelfth census.
MISCELLANEOUS AFFAIRS.
The remains of Gen. Rawlins, who was
Secretary of War during President Grants
first administration and died in office,
which had been lying at Congressional
cemetery since interment were removed in
February to Arlington and reinterred with
impressive ceremonies.
Early in the summer many persons were
bitten by a mysterious bug, who, from
making his visitations invariably on or
near the lips of victims, gained the popular
soubriquet of the kissing bug" For some
time it was the subject of much anxiety
and greater speculation, which included
even grave scientists. 1t was finally deter
mined to be beetle with a name nearly
as bad it's bite, and when this important
identity was established the reports of bites
ceased.
In September the Industrial commission
resumed its hearings on the subjects of
trusts, which continued.
A mass meeting of citizens was held to
express opinion on the verdict Of the Drey-
fuS case September -, but nothing i'm
portant in a representative sense developed.
The announcement of the appointment of
Archbishop Chapelle, formerly pastor of st.
Matthews Church, as apostolic delegate to
the Philippines was made September %.
SPORTS.
Outside of base ball, the local sport rec
ord for 1899 can be said to have been the
most successful in many years The Wash
ipgton base ball club was once more tall
end team. finishing the season in eleventh
place with twelve clubs making up the Ma
tional League. Horse racing, foot ball.
golf. bicycling, croquet and athletics, bas-
ket ball, bowling and indoor base ball have
enjoyed a healthy life
The spring and fall meetings at Benning
were conceded to be the most successful
Sir tho pft ~,
The races were conducted without legal in
reference; the sport was frst-class in the
matter of time made and horses entered,
and the attendance was unusually large.
Increased interest was manifested in foot
ball owing to the great rivalry of the High
School teams, the Centras finally winning
the championship over the Easterns in their
last game. Georgetown returned to the
intercollegiate foot ball world after several
years absence, and Gallaudet took great
strides toward the top The Y. NJ. c. A.
and other local teams deserve mention for
Improvement in play.I
The in and outdoor athletic games for the
High School championship, and those given
by the Y. NJ. c. A. and Georgetown Col
lege, were highly successful. the attend
ance being large and interest developed
being of the kind that augurs we'll for track
athletes. The Central High School lads
once more captured The Evening Star cup
for scholastic athletic champion with COM
parative ease. their nearest competitors be-
ing many points in the rear.
The increase in golf was also marked dur
ing the past year, many members being
added to the local clubs.
Professional bicycle racing was not in
very good shape around the local tracks.
The different clubs have increased their
membership and>the> Numerous runs and
road races have been uniformly successful.
A notable event in whist circles was the
congress of the Woman's Whist League In
this city in April. when women lovers of
the silent game gathered from all the large
cities.
In boating the notable event was the WIN
ming of the race for Junior, Fights at Phila-
delphia by the utterly green crew of the
Potomac Boat Club. tJ
The base ball nine of Georgetown mi
versity accomplished a wonderful feat in
winning from the best college teams of the
south and east and established Itself easily
as the champion in the college world
A new sport was introduced early in the
winter-indoor base ball-and a local league,
composed of eight clubs, was formed to
foster it.
WEATHER.
In regard to weather the past year
proved a frigid record breaker The cold
est temperature ever recorded here since
the establishment of the United States
weather bureau occurred February II last,
when at o'clock in the morning the mer-
curry dropped to IA $40 degrees below zero.
Prior to this terrific drop, the official ther-
mOmeter nau registered a temperature or
from zero to degrees below for several
days. The cold spell terminated in biz
card. which began February IL and con-
tnued throughout the 18th. Thirty inches
of snow fell during the two days of the
storm. Six inches of the frozen precipita-
ton already upon the ground, making
the total depth thirty-six inches. 1t was
the worst blizzard and the deepest snow
the city has ever known. There was much
suffering throughout the city, which was
largely relieved, however, by most generous
charities. Following its custom. The Star
organized a pound party. during the bliz-
card weather and in this way relieved
quickly and directly large share of the
want. Practically all business was sus-
pended for from two to three days. The
railroads and street car systems were al
most hopelessly snow-blocked and no cars
or trains We're run for several days. The
Potomac river was frozen completely and
thickly over. and there was much fear eX-
pressed that with the beginning of the
thaw an ice gorge at the Long bridge
would cause the waters to back up and
flood the lower portions of the city. A
number of boats were employed to break