The Washington times., 1904-08-04

Washington is a queer city. My father
Charles Poisson, was a clerk in The
Interior Department for twenty years.
and ne was always planning to buy a
fruit farm and get out OF the service
when he had money enough. but he
never did. / was little shaver OF ten
when we came here. and no other place
seems like home, and yet / never had
the feeling that we or anything else
had come to stay. 1t IS city of
changes. and yet in essentials Il re-
mains pretty much the same The
players are different. but the old game
goes on. When it's finished-the city
I mean-it Will be the most fascinating
capital I'm the world.
/ am a civil engineer. and I've been
dredging on the Potomac Flats. When
the job was finished. the men in my
gang gave me a dinner down the river
It was a good dinner. and when our
boat pulled in II was nearly midnight.
gave the crowd the slip and walked up
into the Mall-it was a hot night and
the trees looked alluring. Ever notice
how Italian some Of the streets here
look by moonlight? They're too wide
of course, but ere level ground and the
white marble and the twisted shapes
Of some of the trees cause a curious jllu-
sioa-
The shadows were extra big and black
under those trees in the Mall, and
presently I came along to a clear
stretch Of path where there was moth
ing but a big white spill OF moonlight,
and in it stood an old gentleman twirl-
ing a cane. noticed the self-contained
jaunty attitude of him, which was a
little odd. especially at 1920 a. m. You
know nobody walks I'm the Mall much
except tramps. Then 1 saw that he
wore a bell-crowned hat and an old
fashioned gresnish blue surtout; but
that didn't surprise me; you see all
kinds OF queer old spectres here, espe-
cially Saturday mornings at the market.
When he saw me he looked at me at
tentively, and then came closer and
peered into my face.
II beg your pardon. sir" he said in a
voice that was just what you might
expect. thin and precise and foreign.
but may I inquire your name?'
"Polisson-Dick Poisson" answered
on an impulse. and then wondered why.
He said "Ahr' in a satisfied sort Of
way, and then fell into step at my side.
Il was only civil TO ask for his own
name. and I did.
Me. l have no longer a name" he
said with a sigh like a little wind that
just hips over the under sides Of the
leaves. mo name and no country,
though / lived for almost fifty years
in this nes- land. and fought for her,
and served her. How long is II since
General Washington diedz"
I'm no encyclopedia. but 1 made a
guess that it was about a hundred
years
so long ago. And these unsishtly
shops and taverns border our Avenue
vet. like a row Of broken teeth He
gave an old mans cackling chuckle and
sighed again in the middle Of IT, There
should have been a row-a double row
Of Lombardy poplars, and stately mar
Bile buildings, by this time. But he
would not let me keep those tradesnen
from their chanering and bargaining.
and they sold the beauty of or capital
for dollars. They had no care for those
who should come after them. And be-
cause I do not think of dollars all the
time they laugh at me, these people,
and when 1 ask for my dollars. then
also they laugh Robert Morris
/ the Continental Congress-the pry-
/ ing fools who used my plan 10 ill their
/ own pockets-to them. I know, 1 was
/ ridiculous But some day my city will
not laugh at me. Have they drained the
marshes?''
They're doing it by degrees said
more and more puzzled.
"A hundred years. and the land not
I drained yet! Mon dieu. 1t was work,
/ making that first survey. Ellicott. Ban
neker the negro, Roberdieu and I. we
were all weak from loss of bloOd-the
mosquitoes swarmed so. In those days
| the canvas-back duck whitened AnalOs-
! tan Island every year. and the wains
| that carried the building material mired
/ in the streets. But that Roberdieu. he
was more greedy than any winged in
| sect. We were always plagued with
/ pestilent bloodsuckers.-sycOph and
| schemers,-and Washington and Jeffer-
/ son were ever too ready 10 turn aside
/ for them. All. that dream city Of minei
/ 1 cannot understand why 1t has not