Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-23
FIFTY YEARS AGO
In THE STAR.

In the old days o: the volunteer fremer
the headgear Of the laddies of the pumps
was something wierdly
beautiful. Occasionally oaA,
Art. of these heavy painted he'll
NETS IL now to be Been in
the equipment OF Are company. some
times on dress parade. but rarely In ac-
ton. The Star OF July 10. 1855. printed this
paragraph:
There was shown to US this morning
. handsomely painted frenan:s hat.p enc
work executed by Mr.. John O'Brien. On
the front Is the representation OF an eagle.
holding In his beak flowing scroll. red
with gilt letters composing the words.
western Hose Company and in an oval
Enclosure the ngure /. On the back OF the
hat are the words. Justice to ALL leb5;'
ana on the crown a delicate gold wreath
the Initials Of the name OF the owner Of
the article to be inserted within 1t. Tho
nat Is painted a deep claret color. With
narrow band OF gold above the rim. -
Washington has ai@ays been a quiet
Sunday town. resenting any attempt at
disorder or license on the Sabbath. This
same spirit prevailed in the mid-century.
as the paragraph here reprinted indicates:
Our city. usually outlet on the Sabbath
day. Is beginning to be pestered by law
less youngsters from other cities, who
come here to practice their beliigerent sci
In addition to these Sabbath-day emil
grants numerous body OF 'cent-ante'
gamblers occupy the unguarded public
squares and lose their fps. but claim to be
go to their homes at night, bawling and
screaming. to the great annoyance Of the
peaceably inclined. One row came on In
an alley. usually called Soap alley, sit
uated hRtWann f1fh nd
Some OF the party were arrested. but be-
ing least tn fault were let go. Another
came of In the eastern section Of the city.
What was the cause, or who the parties
were, we have not learned.
Il
The local election Of June 4. which re-
suited in a Know Nothing" victory. led to
much acrimony and several
Gtectlon contests were prosecuted
Contests. by the defeated party. Two
OF these contests were de-
cided by the board OF aldermen on the
night of July 10. The Star of the 18th said:
The contests were finally dis
posed Of last night at IN pm. by deci-
sions in which the Know-Nothings OF the
board manifested all the peculiar charac-'
teristics of that political organization.
We have no space in which to comment to-
day on the extraordinary doings OF last
night In the city hail. Of which we re-
manned a spectator and reporter until ii
pm. We transfer to our news columns
our report of portion of the proceedings
In question. because they involve outrageS
on principle. common honesty, self-respect
and. indeed, on the capacity of men who
so conduct themselves as our Know-Noth-
ing aldermen did last night for self-gov-
eminent, which cannot fail to sink. as les
sons, deeply into the minds Of all who
value the privileges OF American free
men"
The original treasury building forms
only the east portion Of the modern struct-
ure. The granite wings on the south.
west and north were added many years
ago. The Star Of July II. 1855 noting that
the ground for the extension on the south
was broken at pm on the preceding day.
ION the 4th inst." says The Star Of July
Is. "a young man named J. Brannstick
amused himself by shooting
Avenue pigeons in the avenue west
Snort. Of the Capitol. He may have
been ignorant OF the law,
but could not plead ignorance an excuse.
The fact was proven before Justice Bates,
who ordered him to pay a fine of IS and
the costs. Shooting pigeons on the streets
is dangerous sport, and very costly in the
fifth ward"
In the issue of the 18th of July was
printed the statement that "a report is In
circulation that two young bloods Of this
city went out of town yesterday to settle
their private grievances by means Of the
recognized code among gentlemen-the
duello. We have heard none of the partic-
ularS and presume nobody was hurt"
T. S. Arthur was one of the most popu-
lar and prolific authors of that day
From his sanctum in Philadelphia, where
he edited Arthur's Home Magazine, he
turned out his works by the score, his to-
tai publications during his life exceeding
one hundred. One OF his best-known nov
els was Ten Nights in Bar-Room." The
aP J,,lr, ftta jcCy nF
book by Mr.. Arthur. Trials and Tri-
umphs, or Firmness in the Household"
Mr.. Arthur died in 1885.
Juvenile Washington was set agog by the
announcement in the advertising columns
of The Star of July 20 that
Grec1an the circus coming. 1t
Circus was distinguished from nu-
merous competitors then
the road by being styled Rivers G. Derious'
Grecian Circus without explanation Of the
adjective. No three-ring affair this, with
two stages thrown in. No vast stretch OF
canvas to cover audience of 1900 and to
accommodate the activities of 300 employees
and 200 performers. This was a modest af-
fair as compared with the shows of today,
yet proud OF its "Thirty-five Performers"
and it's total aggregation of no less than
zone Hundred and Ninety Men and
riders and were starred" in the bills. to-
gerher with their sons. The tents were
pitched in Center Market space. The cir
Gus did this region thoroughly, showing In
Alexandria the Goth and 9th of July,
in Washington on July %, 30, 81 and
August l and 2, and in Georgetown August
3. twice in each day, thus Offering the in
habitants of the capital neighborhood six
teen opportunities, against the four now
given by the several greatest shows on
earth to the local population. The adj
mission was % cents, with mo half price"
Judging from The Stars later comments
on the performance 1t was of commendable
quality while 1.-The clown" was hilariously
amusing.