The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-12-23

has its home government with it's de
part1nents and the representatives Of tn.
governments from abroad It is mos
truly capital city. 1t is not the great
est capital city. but the one in which
the concrete rulity Of government can b,
more clearly seen than in any Other
city in the world.
Washington is essentially a capital cfty
! and not a business point There is M
large manufacturing or business enter
| prise here. The combined employed In al
enterprises does not equal one-half the
/ employed in the government depart.
| ments. Having no great enterprises Il
has not the rush, the worry and thu
diet that other cities have. There Is
( comparatively little noise and smoke. The
streets are mostly paved with asphaltum
! and the clatter of horse shoes in the
/ dominant noise produced. which is small
! compared with the cobble stone and gran
/ lite paved cities. The streets are kept
/ clean by street force. who sweep them
/ constantly and gather the dirt into street
/ cleaning wagons and haul it of
! Washington IS a beautiful city. Il has
! wide, paved and clearly streets. 1t has
numerous small parks throughout the
/ city where children may find play room
/ and fresh air and grown people may
/ find flowers and trees and recreation
There are pretty homes. long drives and
opportunity for bicycling unlimited. It
has excellent public schools 1t has num-
erous and well patronized churches It
has theaters for the highest class OF
amusement. Tt has the COrcoran art gal
lery with its free days making out free
toe public part Of the time. 1t has col
leges though not the best which are good
enough TO answer all educational pur-
poses.
washington has its Disadvantages. Its
people who work on a salary do not
trouble themselves about ambition. They
do routine work, live routine lives and
there is small business opportunity for
boys and young men-the girls are left
to marry outside. The people to an ex-
tent are temporarily residents who live
in boarding houses. They have no say
in the government Of the city which is an
imperialism pure and simple. The local
government seems to be good, with am
pie police and fire protection, but the peo-
pie have no direct say so. Three COM
missioners, responsible to the president
govern Washington. The United States
pays half the expense. the etax rate IS
S1.50 per 800, but citizenship is really I'M
know. The death rate IS q per 1000; the
water furnished by the Potomac accounts
for the prevalence Of typhoid fever to an
extent above the average in other cities.
filtration will remedy this. The climate
IS only fair. It was a hundred years ago
said to be a desert a sand storm and
aa quarymire in a rain The dust and
mud have been practically overcome by
the paved streets However the humid
atmosphere makes it somewhat oppres-
sive in summer and chilling in winter.
Washington as place to live in when
one has a fair income; as a place where
one may be free from worry incident to
American life in TOO many cities; place
where society is not exclusive outside the
official and diplomatic set and $ excellent
As a place for education and observation
and general comfort Washington is first
class. On the other hand as a place
where emulation and ambition are lost to
view, and where The life Of the depart
ment clerk becomes automatic and where
the opportunity for the young man is re-
duced to the minimum. Washington ex-
cells on the wrong side Of the picture
Washington is one hundred years old,
and celebrated the centennial of the seat
Of national government on Wednesday,
<he y. There were governors Of states
and their military stats; there were mil
itary organizations; there was a parade,
mostly military there was a review by
the president; there were centennial GER
emonies and speaking in the house Of rep
resentatives; there were admitted only
a few outside the official class-space for
babe; there was the army and the navy,
the cavalry and the infantry, the artillery
and the marine lads; men on horse back
and bands of music, mounted and on
foot; there was a white house morning
ceremony an da reception at the art gall
lery at night: there were arms and toy
gerry and gold braid and epaulets and
military hats and gauntlets and music
on the streets. The air was hurnid with
the military feeling. The blue and the
grey fought over the battles of the late
war war in good nature. One old colored
man standing by me said: That's
child play. lie bin on sem bosses when +
a man w'd freeze to death. lie bin where +
bullets fell like rain. lie bin se5en DAYS
a hghtin. lie bin captured two times /
and neber Kill once"
I gave him an attentive nod and was
tempted to congratulate him on not hav-
ing beene killed at least two or three +
times
The centennial Is over and the man out
side who reads the newspapers knows
quite as much as the resident Of Wash
ington, aside from view Of the parade. .