Evening star., 1901-03-09
STRIKING CONTRAST

There must be some occult means where
by the spirit of order and OF decency on the
part of this capital population is communf-
Gated to strangers who come here In fcs-
tive mood to attend inaugurations and other
great national ceremonies" remarked a
New York gentleman who came down to
Washington to witness the second induc-
tion of Mr.. Mckinley. This idea occurred
to me particularly on the day after my ar
rival. came down on one of the limited
trains with gang Of about fifty of my
New York friends and acquaintances. In
ordinary circumstances they are all sensi-
bic, Ievel-headed chaps of a mild, orderly
way of living, but on big public occasions
in New York I've seen the most Of them
act like Blackfeet Indians just off the rts-
ervation and surcharged with bad firewater.
What's more, they all had a perfectly unan-
imous and well-framed intention Of doing
that same thing while they were here to at
tend the inauguration. They were, to en-
ploy their own phrases. to swoop Upon
Washington and rip it up the back and tear
1t right in two; they were going to literally
kick the Stats out Of Washington: they
were, fguratively, going to raze Washing
ton to the earth and fire volley over it,
and their expedition down here was to be
one wild vortex and simeon. 80
We'll, the way they started out from
Jersey City led me to believe that their
candid announcements as to the manner in
which they intended to enjoy themselves in
Washington were correct They surely were
one uproarious lot of Indians from the time
the train started until we got in here and
l figured that they'd keep the unseemly
hllarity going until We got back to New
York. But they did nothing of the sort
When they woke up the next morning-we
all put up at the same place-they got out
and mixed with this population, and then
they seemed to quite change their minds as
to the wild man of Borneo schemes they
had plotted for their pipVmept while l,nr
They became as orderly young folks at
tending a Christian Endeavor or Epworth
League convention, and when I saw EN- off
on Inauguration night l asked EN- both in
fun and curiosity, how it had happened
that they had changed their plans and been
so good-how they'd acted so differently
from the way they'd always acted during
the big New York blowouts They could
only reply that, as they had found no other
parties down here making idiotic and spec
tacular displays of themselves, they had in
dividually and collectively decided that they
didn't want to take the initiative in the
registering business.
THE good order that distinguished the
streets OF Washington during the Inaugural
ton period was singularly impressive to
New Workers.. For example, l saw only five
drunken men. and three of them were mani
testify country chaps, while the other two
wore badges indicating their residence IN
other cities. Now, when one of the big oc-
casfons is on in New York the whole crowd
insular and uitlander seem to regard it as
an excuse for one colossal jamboree, and
every block is filled with roaring, ribaId,
hooting and often fighting drunken@ men,
Even the grand stands along the line OF
march are filled with them, and the women
In the stands have to suffer from the near
sight and sound of them. Again, 1 didn't
see single man roughly handled by po-
liceman either before during or after the
inauguration. In New York the policemen
club. with fine impartialty, both the often
sive and the inoffensive citizens and out
siders all to pieces during the progress OF
the big outdoor occasions. The mounted
cops in New York will ride down with
their fiery untamed steeds folks who are so
closely packed that they can't move an
inch to save themselves. / saw no instances
of ill-nature among the Washington crowds
that were uncomfortably packed together,
among a lot of chaps of certain type who
find themselves pent up in big crowds to
fight their way out with fists, feet and ell
bows, no matter whether their onSlaughtS
injure women and children. Moreover, L
was amazed to find so few instances OF
thievery reported during the Inauguration
period. The way the thieves go through the
population of Manhattan Island when the
downtown streets are jammed is surely a
caution. The pickpockets work with scarce
ly attempt at cOncealment, sometimes in
cliques of ten or a dozen, and when they
get through a crowd they certainly have a
lot of plunder to show for their operations
Moreover. the housebreakers get in their
work uptown at the same time, and their
harvest is always enormous, despite the pre-
cautions of householders.
Il used to think that the Washingtonian's s
belief that his town was the best governed
in the western hemisphere a somewhat ami
able, unctuous fiction of his Imagination,
but l have changed my mind.