Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-13
FIFTY YEARS AGO
In THE STAR

There was evidently comparatively little
tendency in 1855 toward local panic on the
subject of yellow fever. for
Aeuo" the following paragraph is
Fever. found In The Star Of August
6. in q relatively inconspicu-
GUS place and with no mention Of local
quarantine:
I'VE learn that during the past week
about fifty persons arrived In this city from
Portsmouth. Gosport and Norfolk. to avoid
the yellow fever now prevalent at those
places. It Il said that . few individuals.
who there contracted the disease. have died
in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore.
respectively. All persons arriving at those
cities and Richmond are examined by the
proper quarantine or health ofhcers. and
their physical condition severally certified.
This IL with a view to guard the public
against the possibility Of contagion."
AS an example Of the old-fashioned meth
DDS Of newspapers in the handling Of certain
classes OF matters. especially those dealing
with the private feud. the following item
in the same issue IL interesting:
Yesterday four gentlemen in a hack. re-
turning from the camp meeting. were way
laid on the road, their horses stopped and
an attack made upon them in the carriage.
One of the gentlemen. Mr.. Sewell was bad
ly beaten: the party attacked another. Mr..
Ellsworth, who was struck In the mouth
with the handle Of q whip. The attacking
party appeared to have a particular desire
to injure him. one Of them crying, Kill him.
XIII him! Mr.. Ellsworth made his escape
by displaying his agility. The names OF the
attacking party are known, we are in
formed, and proper measures will be resort
ed to by the waylaid to bring them all be-
q In kBxa upvrtN xA4r. 80
Tense was committed"
The judicial and police systems were
much moro complex fifty years ago than
they are today. as this para
Cou1e graph In The Star Of August
Costs. attests:
Juggling for the Fees
Yesterday an amusing scene occurred In the
vicinity Of Justice Goddard's Office while the
trial Of Belrdsly and Mary Heissler was
progressing. The parties concerned were
constables and police officers. The matter
at Issue was. who was entitled to all them
COSTS One claimed them. another denied
his right. and a third came in and exhib
tied pre-issued warrant in the same case.
Hard words were used and the parties grew
very warm, but luckily no blows were In
fiicted Police officers are selected from
among the county officers, and are paid by
the corporation. They can serve United
States warrants and obtain the fees paid
by the government, but are forbidden to
serve civil warrants. County constables are
commissioned by the court They can do
civil business and serve United States war
rants, but do no corporation business be-
cause they get no pay for such service. The
United States warrants. paying the best to
all parties, are frequently bones of conten-
ton among ofncers'
The weed nuisance was recognized in the
mid-century. and there was on the statute
books corporation law passed in June,
August g.:
1T shall be the duty Of the commission
ers of the improvements of this city to
cause zanthum (xanthium) spnozum Tor
cocklebur) and every other species OF this
tie that may appear in the streets, alleys
and vacant grounds within their respective
wards to be rooted up. destroyed and en-
tirely extirpated in the months of June and
July Of each year; for which purpose sum
not exceeding ten dollars for each ward is
hereby appropriated. payable out Of the
contingent fund placed from time to time
in the hands Of said commissioners for the
casual repair of streets removal Of nui-
sauces."
Evidently $40 did not suffice to give good
thistle-pulling service in every ward. for
The Star adds: ut Is now August and we
hear some complaints that thistles are
abundant In certain sections of the city"
I'm these days of marvel and humbug,"
says The Star Of August g. almost every
locality must have Its Won
3Aar1he der. whether a negro with
Novelty. horns, as in Louisiana. a
sea-serpent in the placid Sill
yer Lake (Which turns out to be a log).
The best we can do in this vicinity is to
show a hen with four legs-a double chick
tn tipo hn Nd
wings. and which lays two eggs day!
The bird is the property Of Mr.. John
Richey. But there was a fish-not sea-
serpent-in the market house this morning
which attracted attention more on account
OF its peculiar shape than for Its size. 1t
was a saltwater stranger, the first of its
kind which had ever been captured In the
Potomac and brought to Washington for
SALE Old fishermen. however, expressed no
establishment. 1t was. in fact, nothing
more than a fiat fish Of large proportions,
resembling somewhat a long-handled fry
ing pan, or founder with the addition of
a broomstick for tail. 1t was an estray
In our waters, from Virginia, although we
cannot suspect that the prevalence OF the
yellow fever had anything to do with it's
coming hither."
1t Is not often that the amateur city mu-
sician is appreciated by his neighbors. hence
the letter signed Eighteenth
Mooest Street" here quoted. printed
Vocalist. by The Star August 10. 1885,
is noteworthy an excep-
ton to the rule:
Gratitude for favors induces the writer
to say that the part of the first ward In
which he resides has been the fortunate
theater of some of the sweetest songs. sung
in inimitable taste, in the quiet hour of
g
by one whose modesty, in keeping himself
unknown, indicates his Inconsistencies of
his high attainment in the cultivation OF
his extraordinary musical powers
Excited yet by the memory of the thrill
ing influence produced last evening by the
song John Anderson, My joe the writer
deems himself to have apprehended, to
some degree, the rapture under which the
poet was moved to declare
" Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast,
To soften rocks bend the knotted oak
I'm his early life the writer, under youths
vivid impressions. has listened to Phillips,
- atha rio ctar