Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-02-27
TO. BUY A HOME HERE
OBJECT OF MISS RIvES' VISIT TO
WASHINGTON.
Says the Potomac is Much Prettier
Than the Thames-Wil Live
Here in Summer.

than a century ago the three fates, so dear
to the childish readers Of Hans Christian
Andersen and the brothers Grimm, must
have assembled without their evil sister to
shower on the infant city Of the republic
hardly out of its swaddling clothes the
great gifts they were wont to bestow With
such lavish hand on those fairy creatures
who grew up to marry princes and become
great kings. These three fates must have
hung over the cradle and searched their
stores of good things for the best they
could give to the newborn metropolis, and
they must have decided that after remain
ing morass, blotch on the face of the
earth for generations, the city would BIOS
som forth and become one Of the greatest
of the earth. One fate gave to it SYM
metry of outline another proph .sled for 1t
architectural grandeur, while the other
must have willed 1t to be the intellectual
and artistic center of the Union.
Gifts Realized.
The first Of these great gifts was realized
through the forethought and wise arrange
ments of the father of his country, whose
ideas entered into the plotting Of the city
until every block and every street line
formed and framed picture of regularity
of structure and dignity OF outline. Inc
second has been and Is surely being real
lied through the wisdom of the great men
wherewith the plans of the architects are
being carried out. The third gift one OF
the most important Of all, becoming more
and more q thing of fact every day. From
all parts of the country the great minds
are slowly, but surely f1ocking to the cap
ttal city, there to abide and pass their days
in a perpetual intellectual feast. The writ
ers and painters and composers and sing
ers, the scientists and scholars and think
ers and inventors, are all moving east and
north and south. each with the little s'Iuare
of land between the Potomac and the East
ern branch as their goal.
Writers Of all kinds have made the capital
their homes for years, and the artists of
the country are beginning to realize the
possibilities of residence here. The hurry
and hustle Of the towns to the north and
west are lost the minute one enters the
quiet shades Of the District The sleepiness
and drowsy self-satisfaction Of the south
disappear the. moment one crosses the Po-
tomac. In place Of these two widely sepa-
rate surroundings one finds the repose and
restfulness of a healthy community, tine
tured with just sufficient gayety to prevent
the decay of social life and yet not enough
to wear out lle soul and body OF the seeker
for Intellectual peace.
The quiet country about the capital Is dot
ted with villas and semi-country homes
erected by those Intellectual immigrants
some OF CloS6 MONIES are olu-OlueT llldll tlS
city itself, relics Of the colonial days. In
these places the writers and painters of to-
day have settled and amid these surround
ings, reminders always Of the simple life OF
the colonies or the stately period before the
revolution, they expect to turn out the best
brushes.
Miss Rives Wants a Home.
The latest Of the modern writer's to hunt
for a habitation in this wilderness of bright
minds Is Miss Halle Ermdnie Rives, whose
last book dealt with the revolutionary times
In old Virginia, the old part Of the state
drained by the James and filled with re-
minders Of the early colonists. Miss Rives
desires to find a home, summer home,
near the Potomac, which she regards as
one of the most beautiful streams in the
world.
1T is so much better and prettier and
bigger than the Thames" she says, land
the people Of London all have homes on the
Thames, you know. AT least all who make
any pretensions to gent1lity."
Miss Rives came here yesterday to find q
home. She had not found one last night,
but she has hopes Of securing what she
wants.
"One wants quiet and rest after a winter
In New York." she told friend. II would
not live anywhere but in New York in the
winter, but l want to come to Washington
for the summer. 1t is the most beautiful
city know of, and 1t is SO much south and
southern. Southern people feel more at
horse here than anywhere north, think. I
vas born in Kentucky, you know, and with
the exception of a few years during my
childhood and a few trips abroad l have
lived almost always in Virginia. love the
state. though 1 am still loyal to Kentucky.
My father lives down in Virginia, near
and like to be near the south
1 want to have home here where 1 can
come and rest and bring my horses and
dogs. l have a place IN tie Allegheny
but 1t is only a shooting lodge
I want a nice place near Washington, near
the Potomac. The Potomac is so broad and
so big and it has SO many historical assoc
Citations.
mo, am not going to do any work here
I am coming here to live and enjoy myself
l might raise some chickens l believe that
Is what some people do now and find great
enjoyment in. But want place where
can breathe the sweet cool air in the morn
ings and evenings, and / want to hear the
water as 1t rolls on lazily to the sea-
want SO many things about this place Of
mine that / am afraid 1 will have a very
hard time finding it, but l am going to look
just the same, and am not going to be salts
fled until do find it,
A Natural Quest.
To the friends of Miss Rives her quest
for country home does not seem unnat-
ural nor does 1t seem strange to them that
she should choose the environments of the
national capital as the place for her habi-
tation. They think that the picture of her
slender form enveloped in the folds Of a
apron. her auburn locks concealed
by wide sun bonnet, would be only a nat
ural outlet for her love OF the country and
the things of the country. Miss Rives is at
work on a new book, but 1t will not be pub
lished for year or more. She Is not hurry
ing to finish It. She says she Is not one of
those who believes the writer Of q success
full story must turn out books at high speed
Just because one story has pleased and
sold well. Just now nothing regarding the
book she Is writing can be learned. All
she desires and all that occupies her spare
moments is the search for the country
house. She has looked at several and will
not say whether they please her or not.
1t Is said, however that a beautiful coun-
try house in Maryland about sixteen miles
from the District contains some of the ele-
ments that enter into the makeup Of the
Ideal home Mise Rives 10 hunting for and
she may select this one. 1t Is an old house,
hundreds Of years old, and was built by
one Of the first of the distinguished colo
nists who settled on the Maryland shore of
the Chesapeake bay and after whom a large
city Is named. But whether this place is
satisfactory or not, the kind fate Who de-
creed Intellectual greatness to the nation
capital when 1t was yet In IT'S infancy have
also decreed that when summer comes
L., ov16 Atn ri