Evening star., 1901-07-06

HEARD
and SEEN

railroad That engine drew the Lincoln
funeral train over the Cumberland Valley
railroad No. 1899 was built at the Bald
win shops. Philadelphia. for use on the
Cumberland Valley railroad, and continued
on that line tin five years ago. when 1t
was sold to the Pittsburg and Eastern.
and when that tine was absorbed by the
New York Central No. 1899 went into ser
vice on that road as yard engine IN the
Pennsylvania division"
X X X
ITO guard the inmates Of st. Elizabeth's 8,
the Government Hospital for the insane
from the morbidly curious public which
focks to that institution on visiting days
is task imposed on those in charge Of the
unfortunates- that has caused no small
amount of diplomatic maneuvering. said
a prominent physician who is making a
special line of observation at the inStitu-
tion.
1T Is required by law. and justly so, that
the Institution shall be open to the public
at certain stated periods. Friends and rel
atives of the inmates who wish to visit
them should not be disbarred. and are not,
but those who go to the institution to graft
fy idle curiosity or morbid desire to behold
suffering should be treated exactly as they
are at the present time"
The physician then described how the
usual visiting-day crowd, which is mostly
made up of women. is shown the institu-
tion. On going In at the public entrance
and making their request to be shown
through. the visitors, who usually come in
pairs, are shown into a large reception
room. where they wait until sufficient
number have arrived to form party. The
speech of these people seems to leave them
the minute they enter the door and. no mat
ter how long the wait is or how large the
visiting party, no one speaks word. When
a sufficient number have arrived a male
guide comes to the door and solemnly beck
ons the waiting "visitors'' to follow him.
He leads them in silence through long cor
ridors on several floors, the procession
winds silently through several large dining
rooms, and again back through other cor
riuors. Not an inmate of the institution Is
met during the Inspection, save perhaps an
old man sitting silently at hall window.
The guests troop on in silence, expecting to
soon be shown into a ward, but after much
tramping they are finally ushered out into
the sunlight. and their visit is over.
The whole proceeding Is done with so
much quietude and precision that no one
dares to question the guide. and no one
however. the guests may perhaps reason to
themselves that they have been served in
the exact manner they deserved
Southern boys who were in Washington
for the first time July doubtless wondered
southern man. Children in southern cities
and towns know nothing of the popping of
crackers and the great display of fireworks
seen here and in eastern and northern
places on the patriotic Fourth They cele-
brate Christmas day in the same manner
as the northern boy does the Fourth. Fire
works of all kinds are set OFF, there Is
great noise, and a Washington boy down
south at that season of the year would be
as much surprised as a southern boy is up
here on the Fourth. Until recent years the
colored people made 1t a custom to turn
out on the Fourth to have paradcs. pic
MICS, f1remen's tournaments. etc. They be-
gan this just after the civil war and as
there might have been trouble had the
white people also turned out. 1t was consid-
cred judicious to let the colored people
have the day entirely to themselves The
day Is observed as holiday in the south,
and the boys take part in ball games or
sports of other kinds, including fishing"