The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-06-19
LIVE TOPICS ABOUT TOWN.

Blf Z 1UEIUS ABDUL ~ " ".
It is only few months since the com
plstion OF the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
was properly commeTaorated by the cree
ton OF a stone monument. The great
waterway into the West which Washing
ton and all the Presidents UP to John
Quincy Adams greatly favored as a ma
tIOnal undertaking, was thrown open to
traffic some half century ago, but the
event was passed without any memorial
being erected to celebrate it Concerning
the stone which has recently been placed
in conspicuous position near the bridge
that spans the canal at the foot of Thirty
second Street there is rather an interest
ing bit of history. The monument is com
posed OF a base about thirty inches square
and eight inches high, upon which is a
Eated pedestal. supporting a shaft about
eight feet high. Upon the shaft are
carved large number OF names.
The parts of the memorial were discov-
cred in the attic Of an, old Georgetown
warehouse. a number Of local capitalists
organized to start a paper mill and took
over the old George R Hill Company,
which had its buildings on the corner
Cf Potomac and X Streets. After running
q. year or two it was decided that the
space for machinery would nave to be in
erased and men were set to work clean
ing out the attic. The wOrkmen, after
having removed a lot of miscellaneous
rubbish, came upon some granite stones
boxed up At first 1t was thought that
they should be thrown away, but some
one concluded that it would be wise to
take the stones from their crates to see
what they might have been intended for
The first one opened was the shaft cover
cd with names and bearing an inscription
which showed that it bad been originally
intended IS q monument to commemorate
the completion of the Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal. No one seemed to be able to
account for its being in the Hill ware
house, and as the paper manufacturers
could make no use OF it they turned it
over TO G L Nicholson. the present gen
eTaI manager of the canal The stones
were in very bad condition, having been
in q greasy, dirty attic for SO many years
1t took a great deal Of scTubbiuS and
polishing to get them into shape After
they had been cleaned up they were put
together and placed in the conspicuous 10
cation which they now occupy.
Almost everyone who lives downtown IS
familiar with the loud clang of the ETner-
gency Hospital ambulance gong and the
quick clatter Of the horses hoofs as he
hurries down the Avenue, responding as
fast as he can to some urgent call As
the ambulance returns, going rapidly yet
carefully in order that the injured person
it contains shall not be jolted any more
| than is necessary, it is always an object
| Of curiosity. Few people. however, under
stand what an immense amount Of work
! IS done by the ambulance each day. or
what a hard life is lead by the horses
which pull it
The monthly report Of the Emergency
Hospital has just been issued and it tells
q few things about the ambulance service
The hospital has one ambulance and two
horses. and it is particularly the hard life
| to these faithful animals that the report
! brings cut It IS stated that the horses,
/ though they are the best that can posi-
/ bly, be procured, and are given every pos
sible attention. rarely last more than Il
year At the end OF that time they are
| practically worked out and have to be
disposed of, while other horses are bought
to fill their places he calls upon which
rapid runs have to be made often run
| as high as ten day. The average is
| greater during the summer than the win
ter, because Of the number Of heat pros
I
| hottest Of weather, when the sun is burn
ing the asphalt at midday the hurry call
comes and the horses must be harnessed
| to race perhaps a mile to bring relief 10
the sufferer. Even though there are two
| Of them. this kind of life is destructive
to the horses, and they soon become IN
1T for the work The report for the last
month shows only edghty-seven rams, but
those figures are unusually low Frank"
and Merge" the latter name being an
Authorization for Emergency have done
faithful service, but they will shortly 90
the way that all other horses used by the
| hospital have gone.
The hospital authorities have hoped be-
fore this to spare horsefiesh and to sub
stitute for it electricity, or some other
form Of motive power An automobile
ambulance is what they want, but no
funds are at hand with which to buy one.
Two or three thousand dollars would
probably settle the bill, and in addition
/! TO saving horses from ruiIous but IN
avoidable oveTworEy, would give better
service.
A former resident Of Washington who
! has not been in the city since the sad
times at the end of GarfieIds Adrninistra-
ton was passing through the White
| House grounds the other day
I wonder how sIrs. Mckinley IS to-
day" he said, and then walked toward
the big tree that stands near the north
| east entrance TO the enclosure. He looked
on ali sides Of it and then turned away
with disappointment on his face
Don't they post the bulletins there?''
he asked Of his acquaintance. They used
to when Garfield was so III. We all called
it the bulletin tree. and during the aux-
ious days before the President died more
people gathered with eager eyes around
that tree than in any part of the city
1t has associations Of the deepest sorrow
for me, and has, I imagine, the same for
anyone who was living in Washington at
that time I thought surely that they
were posting the bulletins Of Mrs McKin-
Iey's conditions on the bulletin tree"
IN MRS. EDDY7S FOOTSTEPS.