Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-16

HOW many of the boys of today con- a.
dozens often did 'is what
hen was a boy left home and mn,
Out LOT mysef. going toward Baltimore hui
they were building the railroad then and
t tnere ,,,M Was much rioting. some persons be-
ING kliied. When l got to Savage I vas
pressed into service given a gun and m,ds
10 stand guard one night on the br;da.s
tnere The militia came out from Rait;
more and i was allowed to 90 -, -
after working at shoemakinp at 0n,,, anu
Wills Liberty and Johnsonviile 7 returnoS
IN 1887. and for a time followed shoemak-
NE at LOUISIANA avenue. 9th and C streets
the site OF the Bijou Theater
Opening of HostiIitie.,
Inc civil war found me CARRYING, on .
shoe shop near the old Schuetzen Park y,
the corner of Brightwood and the old RIa-
uehsours roads, and when the soldiers came.
OUT set up little refreshment stand you
remember SCOTS 800 don't you? They
camped just behind my place, and 7 had :,
s'oo run Oh custom from that regiment
and others, and some rougher times copId
have been brought on If | had been ohsti-
nate. l soon learned that the easiest u,,
Is the best way in dealing with soldiers 90
with me 1t was all right if they did and
all right If they didn't pay for what +ba,,
sot. l soon found that | had made many
friends among them and their good wiii,
served me well later when l became no.
llceman. po-
When the metropolitan police force was
e .s IN September, 1861, was one of
the privates appointed to what was tho
second precinct, whose territory coverad
much OF the present eighth precinct. orr
sergeant was milkman named Miller and
the station a little frame building az The
northwest corner of Whitney avenue and
Ith street, which we occupied for the fret
SIX or eight months. Our force numbered
nine all told and we were expected TO nre-
he IN, II fhot
trict and city above N street north he
tween the Eastern branch and Rock creek
At best there were but four or five men on
duty at any one time in this vast terri
tory, in which were many camps with the
usual following. to say nothing of the many
contrabands then making their Way into
the District. Our station was moved to
Genan's house, on 7tht street opposite the
old SchuetZen Park, in the early part of
1862, and from that time on for several
years 1t was our local headquarters and at
times the scene of some very rough en-
counters, when a soldier would be arrested
and attempts would be made to release him
There were knock downs daily in the sa-
looms and on the streets, and 1t did not take
much to get up small riot. l think the
narrowest escape with my life I ever had
was in arresting two soldiers belonging to
the 9th Corps for shooting cd man Seller
on It'll street between s and streets. /
was near at the time and grabbed both of
them, when In moment l was surrounded
by mob of soldiers, who demanded re-
lease of their comrades. But held on and
finally their officers got control and l was
able to get my prisoners to the station.
But this was only one of the many cases.
and the soldiers were not the toughest ele-
ment, either, for among the contraba nds
were plenty Of tough characters .HelPs
Bottom was the not inappropriate name
given to the neighborhood of the contraband
camp, about 18th and Q streets, near the
| site Of which are now several large colored
churches But this section was finally civ
ilized.
Many recall some of the election riots in
the latter part of the eos, in which we had
to resort to shooting. Happily such riots
do not now take place, and the old scenes
of crime have become residential netRhbor-
| hods. in which churches and schools have
an influence for the future good.'