The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-01
ON WASHINGTON STREETS
Scenes That Ares Curious. Common,
Gay, or Pathetic.
sights of the Tho
Observation-Disclosures of Thou
sand Articles. Their Cries and
PccuIiarities-This City Para-
disc for Children and Hnwiscrs.

Each city has its characteristics, rs each
person has his id.osyncrasies; in fact. The
municipality is almost person. if one
views it from a distant enough point
The streets The arteries of the body cor
porate, surging with the energy, WITH The
blood corpuscles of gregsrious life; the
houses and buildings that lire the streets
the organs. and the tissues fed by the cor
puscles, wherein may be stored health o.
disease, without the knowledge of the
( community. The simile. perhaps far
; stretched thus briefly perhaps capable Ct
further parallel, is surely true in one re-
spect, the life Of city III is streets;
they are its arteries. The Cosmopolitan
city. bred of a thousand races, shows the
mixture in its blood that is, the varying
throngs on its thoroughfares; the inland
city, restricted in its growth and its pop
uIation unchanging, presents less interest
in its crowds; it is a thoroughiarc, per-
/ haps,- but a weedy Jue. II has paid
through the nose for its blue blood. 1t
has sacrificed vlrllity.
Washington is not cosmopolitan as the
word is applied to New York or even to
Chicago. II has no Chinatown, no Little
Italy, no Ghetto. Its cosmopolitan fea-
lures include only those which are national
with slight dash Of the European given
| by the presence of the legations and en-
! bassies. So its street life falls between
the picturesqueuess of New York and the
thin cold conservatism of New England
city.
Still the scenes on Washington's streets
and avenues are curious and TO an extent,
distinct What is more odd and pathetic
than the old man. usually TO be found on
the Avenue, who cries all through the aft
ernoon and evening. in tone running
from musical to rancous: Pen ellis. PEN
ellis. Pity the old pencil man. Pencils.
Another figure, less pathetic because of its
robustness is that of the stout. old Irish
woman, who, in rain or in sun, may be
seen each afternoon. around 4 O'Clock. sell
ing papers opposite the Treasury Building
on Fifteenth Street. Wrapped in faded
shawl and her feet swaddlng in gunny
sacks she defies the severest weather. she
has, apparently, her,Tegular customers who
pass by all other 1pOpgers of the daily
news anG deliver their Denies regularly to
her. They are easily 70. be distinguished.
for she selects the @ye;ite paper of each
and puts it into his pocket without solicita-
tion and without ;earoGTefusal. The othcr
day Ii was noticed hy the writer that a
cripple pushed in asehair by an attendant
passed by her she dropped Times upon
his lap without a Word and received her
penny Undoubtedly, he was OF her ellen
tele. There are many other oddities among
those who sell papers on the streets, but
none seems such fixture she
Throughout the winter at different
points along the ASenne. the vendors OF
cough drops have done business. The cold
er the day. the more bleak and forbiddiug
the weather. the more certain are they of
being at their stations5 No matter whose
was the controlling spirit. he was a mas
ter mind. As one looked upon the forlorn
faces of the statesmen. blue with cold,
seemingly drawn and peaked with suffer-
ing, he was reminded of every cold from
which he had suffered and was urged TO
buy, if not for present need. at least for
future contingency. They reminded him Of
what might happen through neglect. 1t
was another instance of the cobbler's chill
dren going unshod.
On certain streets. at certain hours Of
the afternoon. the stroller is sure TO en-
counter the carriages of the rich. The
coachmen and the footmen, smart in liv-
cry and brass buttons. bear the badge of
their profession upon their faces. 1t is
a queer expression. something between the
look of an anchorite and that of success
full saloon man, one whose place is head |
quarters for the ruling political gang of
the ward II also tempts one TO yell or do
sudden and rash in order 10 dis
cover whether the face which wears it
would not SILVER TO a thousand fragments |
in making a change. Among those same
streets one sees also the automobiles of the |
The o;ner day. through the midst |
of all these trappings of fortune. drove a |
strange equipage. A soap box, mounted |
IyaI fre eli.
drawn by moth eaten and disconsolate
goat. Its fur was a whtewashed seal |
brown shopworn and faded by the sun. I
Apparently the quadruped had not winter |
ed we'll. In the box. or, hguratively on |
the box. was a handy legged little pick |
aninDy. whose most conspicuous garment !
was . jacket OF bright red plush trimmed |
with ermine. more or less royal. On his |
face as he sal holding hard to the rope |
lines. was an expression as stony and as (
naughty those which adorned the car
riages on either side of him. il was pity |
the cOachmen could not smile.
If there is any excuse for the existence !
of the street piano il must be found in
the pleasure ii gives TO children. Watch !
the swarthy soc of Sicily as he plies his |
more destructive of happiness |
and comfort than the stiletto, more cruel /
than the cold poison OF Lucretia Borgia
Follow him to a side street, TO the quarters
Of the poor. and hence to the place where
swarm. Instantly he begins the
of the crank. to the adult eye the
handle of AN inquisitorial rack, he is sur
rounded by the youngsters. The gloomy
street changes to a ballroom. or, better TO
the fete day at the end of harvest time
in his own bright land. With arms locked,
or revolving singly. the children dance TO
the wretched music, and when the piano
man and the hockey pokey man come into
conjunction few pennies makes perfect
Joy. Only one other picture can approach
this in unalIoyed happiness is the small
boy sucking an orange through length of
stick candy Mt even the worlds APP
plause can bring that look of ecstacy.
Washington. by the way, is the paradise
city for children. The asphalt pavement
seems to have been invented for their spe-
cial pleasure. and it is an opportunity not
overlooked Every afternoon crowds of
boys. armed with sticks. play hockey or
ce polo, gliding on roller skates almost as
smoothly as if they were on ice. 4 few
more wears and the same pavement affords
hem the best bicycle paths in the world
md few more years. Dec volente per
'ect roadway for the automobile.
Where is the flower girl in Washington?
The pinched. half-starved. cruelty beaten |
Dy heartless stepnotheT and drunken |
Iather fowergirl; the street character.
lear to every reader of children's books of
lalf a century aeo-where is she? Seem
ngly. like the flowers she sold, she has
AIDED away Possibly, the old visible sup
ply" was really adopted by wealthy but
.hildless people or married a Ia King
cophetua. as the stories told us Certain
y those who stand on the street corners
With trays Of ''violets sweet violets have