Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-16

venient to the hand Of each passenger The
| cars travel fast and as a rule are close to-
| gether. Tie-ups are infrequent and repair
| service prompt. Herding of passengers
| such as may be seen during rush hours
in New York and Chicago Is unknown
here. A ticket of one line is good on every
| other line. and the system Of transfers Is
generous. One may ride from end to end
| Of the District for one fare, which Is four
and quarter cents If a passenger buy a
quarters worth of tickets Employees are
| uniformed. civil, patient and efficient. An
| uncivil or impatient conductor does not long
| retain his position. Riding for pleasure in
| the open cars Is a summer diversion prac-
| ticed by everybody in the District. 1t Is
| model street car system and immensely
| popular with the people.
Washington Architecture.
| In architecture Washington presents a
broad field for study and contemplation.
All the architecture in the city is not good.
| Nor is it in any other city. Every picture
! must have shadows. They emphasize the
| lights. There are more fashions of archi-
| lecture represented in Washington than are
represented IN Notre Dame as described
| by Victor Hugo We have the severe and
| the ornate. the classic and the up-todate,
| the ground-hoor dwelling and the steel
| frame skyscraper, the Doric, Ionic and Co.
| rinthian. the Gothic and the Renaissance,
| the American Colonial, the Moorish and
thousand variants and combinations of these
| styles. We have beauty and ugliness in
| brick, granite and mortar-"poems in mar
! ble' and rhapsodies in rock. There is the
| Capitol, wide. massive. majestic, grand in
It's strength and grace. happy in its har-
mony Of weight and lightness. There is
| the Library of Congress, one gigantic cube
Of sculpture, inspiring at once in richness
and chastity-a reminder Of what other
public buildings might be. but are not
Then there is the pension office building
Yes, gentle reader, there 1t is-a geometric
pile Of brick with barn roof. There is
the patent office, its pallid features mellow
ing with age-simple and elegant-a build
| ing that directs ones thoughts back $500
years to the time when Doris was a factor
| in Greece. There Is the old Post Office De-
partment building. symmetrical in outline,
mellow in color reminder OF old Corinth.
Then there is the new Post Office Depart
| ment building, overgrown, awkward and
ungainly. And then to think Of the time
wasted in its construction! And some per-
! sons say time is money! There is the
White House, simple and democratic, char
| acteristic of an age in our life and man
| ners when a man could be hospitable with
| out being imposed as an "easy mark"
There is Smithsonian Institute, with point
| ed arches and mullioned windows, cold and
austere in its GothicSm. One could easily
| mistake it for a medieval monastery or
| feudal castle.
Changes in Architecture.
| The sky line of Washington has under
| gone a marked change in one decade. For
years the Sun building, the Cairo and the
| Loan and Trust building were the only ex-
amples of private architecture which boldly
| lowered high above their neighbors. But
| this is not the case now. The building reg
! ulatfons OF the District limit the height
| to which buildings may be constructed.
| and this prevents the erection of
| structures of unsightly tallness and slim
ness. The height to which a private
building may be carried is dependent on
| the width of the street and whether
! such street is a business or a residence
street. On a business thoroughfare having
| a width of 100 feet the limit to a buildings
height is 80 feet above the grade of that
street The inspection of buildings to deter
| mine the strength of construction and the
soundness of materials entering into them
which the press Of Chicago have recently
| complained has ever affected Washington.
| Buildings are also subject to inspection by
the fire and sanitary departments.
| In private architecture there is a variety
which keeps ones eyes alert. In New
York in the millionaires' district there is a
WEAKNESS Of brownstone. The rich mans
district in New York has been dismal in
brownstone for century. AS tradesmen
have driven him from the southern to the
| northern part of the city he has taken his
| brownstone front with him. The new
Yorker is always particular about his front.
In Philadelphia there is monotony of com
pact rows of red brick and white facings In
Baltimore there are more compact rows of
red brick, each with a little white marble
stoop at its door. There is no such dull uni
formity in Washington. Though ground is
valuable, grass and shrubbery are grown
about the houses, as is the case in San
Francisco, Richmond, Charleston, Savan-
nah and smaller cities. On some of the res
idence streets here there is wealth of
front yard and side lawn suggestive of
Michigan avenue and an abundance of foli-
age suggestive of Euclid and Commonwealth.
avenues There is individuality In the houses.
The Townsend house at the intersection of
Massachusetts and Florida avenues is as
unlike the Henderson house on 10th street
north of the boundary as the new house of
Mr.. Walsh on Massachusetts avenue is dis
similar from the Bean homestead on Column
bia Heights. There is no tenement dis
trict There is a Chinese quarter, an Ital-
ian quarter, a Greek quarter and Ghetto
to lend charm OF diversity. East and
west of the city, laborers, whose days wage
is s1.25. own house and yard. the children