Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-02
FIFTY YEARS AGO
In THE STAR

Half kenturE ago the Atlantic cable
had not ID len laZ and consequently news
paper readers ii the United States were
dependentAupon lie vessels which piled be-
tween thea shof1k and Europe for the It'd
ings fron4 the Ia world. Great events
were moving Owe there. the Crimean war
being In progresS and unrest prevailed In
every capital Nowadays the news col
umns are filled with dispatches telling OF
circumstances only few hours old. Then
If budget Of European news came once
a week the editors regarded themselves as
well supplied.
Work at the Navy Yard.
A singular sense of roominess is gained
by a reading of these old files. Thus on
the 10Th of March. 1855. The Star gave
more than half column to a detailed
account of the work in progress at the
navy yard, where the frigate Minnesota
was then building, and going into minute
particulars as to the task of each gang
and the name Of each foreman.
The conscience of a secret debtor OF the
government occasionally troubled him then
as now, but the fact was not treated as
an item OF news. being proclaimed In an
advertisement, as follows, on this same
date:
"Notice-The Secretary Of the Treasury
dChuO#IcUSoS the receipt Oh $otO III HI Gil
velope marked .over-paid.' The amount
has been paid into the treasury"
Death Of the Gear Confirmed.
The next day. Tuesday, March q, The
Star was enabled to chronicle the arrival
of the steamer Atlantic at New York,
bearing a confirmation of the report that
the Gear of Russia had died on the ID
More than a column of space was given TO
hHr6 erat ne nf in
terest.
That day The Star warned its readers
that the good old custom Of dropping un-
stamped letters into the mail and relying
upon Uncle Sam to carry them and to col
1ect the postage must be abandoned, ow-
ing to certain legislation enacted by an
unfeeling Congress, and the consequent
ruling by the then Postmaster General, Ho-
ratio King.
An idea of how Washington has grown
in fifty years may be gained by consid-
ering this statement:
THE mayor of Washington is author
lied by the city councils to have iron
plates, with the names of the most prom
inent streets indicated on them, placed ut
the corners of such streets, wherever 1t
can be well and permanently done, pro-
$50" ~
To designate the streets now would cost
about $1,000.
| The Man Who Buried Louis XVI.
A curious bit of information came by
steamship. in the form Of the following
extract from the Lyons (France) Gazette,
thus printed in The Star Of March %:
"a person named Bernard. gravedigger
to the executivea government In 1893, died
a few days ago In a village near Lyons.
It was to htms~that the Able Sylvani
Renaud, first vicar of the Church Of the
Madeline, delivered the decapitated bodies
of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette'
which were both deposited in open cof-
| fins. The king wore white waistcoat
and gray silk brooches and stockings. His
head Misplaced between his legs. Ber-
nard, who was tailor. continued for
| forty years to exercise the function Of
gravedigger in the village where he died"
1t is by%no. means a new cry that the
government wastes printers ink in the
making of public documents. as this para
1.-THE newspapers in every direction are
| publishing an article from the Rome. N.
| Y, Sentinel stating that one and half
in the post ofnSe at that place for the
| expected. What a member of Congress
costs is the imposing heading Of the ar
ticle. 'eser
1.-THE printing Of the late Congress will
cost, it is said two hundred thousand
| dollars, and therefore it Is no matter of
wonder that members of Congress are so
pEOVIueO WIFI uOCuIuSLtS, IuetHy
of which are for distribution among the
people. "
Though the amount appropriated for
this purpose Is large, 1t is better to eX-
pend 1t even for printing than to permit
unprincipled schemers to abstract 1t from
the treasury without corresponding bene-
fit to the people"
The total appropriation for public printing
for the next fiscal year Is approximately
Cost Of Living.
An editorial column was devoted on
Thursday, March %, to an exploitation Of
the attractions Of Washington as a place
of residence, and a refutation Of the
claims advanced by critics that the cost
of living here was excessive. These criti-
cisms, said The Star, originated chiefly
| with the disappointed political spectators,
who, coming hither with extrayagant
hopes and slender means. live fast while
among US, and go away with empty purse
and sick hearts, from the failure of their
personal expectations
Despite the protestations of The Star
there is evidence in this same issue that
| the cost of living in Washington was just
then very high. though perhaps not higher
than elsewhere. Under Local Intelli-
gence" runs this statement:
1.-THE prices Of all kinds of produce in
| this city are so well known to housekeep-
ers that they need not be mentioned in
print. The mere announcement of them
by the various dealers causes many a one
to heave a sigh and wear a lugubrious
countenance. The present offensive tax on
gastronomic necessities might be borne
with philosophy If there were even a pros
pect that the tariff will shortly be re-
duced."
The Star goes on to quote from the Bal
ttmore American and the New York Even
ing Post to show that food prices in those
cities were very high. And yet the beef
trust and It's kind had not then been re-
Ericsson's caloric Engine.
One little paragraph in the editorials Of
Friday, March 80. arouses a wide range Of
thought:
THE Ericsson experimental propelling
vessels by caloric-is at an end. The in
vention is conceded to be a failure, and
ri ic a cd