Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-17
FIFTY YEARS AGO
IN THE STAR

| Police them from ordinary citi-
| padcee gems, a lack which was cor :
| rected early in December.
as the following paragraph from The
Star Of the 10th OF that month indicates:
| THE mayor has done very sensible
| thing, indeed, in directing that in future
! the police OF Washington shall wear a
| handsome silver star upon their breasts
by way of designating them to the pub
| lie. 1t often happens that strangers. par
ticularly, submit to outrages here as
| everywhere else, only because of the i'm
possibility Of recognizing an undesig
rated policeman without too great loss OF
| time or too much notoriety in making a
search for one The experienced reader
| viii perceive how much easier it will be
| Tor q stranger to obtain the services of a
/ policeman, especially at any public place
whefe those oiucers attend regularly.
when SO designated that his Office may be
known at glance by any one. The star
| IN question is of silver, with five points,
| and is two inches in diameter, clear of the
points Around the rim of the upper half
| circle are engraved the words city police,
| and around that of the lower half circle the
word Washington Across the diameter
| are the words first, second third or
| fourth district, as the case may be-
| ~
| The House deadlock over organization
greatly upset the calculations of those who
| looked for lively social sea-
Little son with the open,nr Of Com
| Gavetv. gress. The foil wing para
graph is to be -und in The
Star of December II, 1850
| We have heard of no preparations as yet
| for gay winter in Washington. The delay
1 is the result of the absorption of the
| thoughts or all In the current proceedings
| q tsg.- .s,-.
| Congress, now In Washington are northern
| politicians of the conscience stripe who
| come hither to doctor weak legislative
| backbones They are pious gentlemen
| whose minds are above the frivoitieS Of
| Washington life in many respects, though
| their souls do thirst after, the contents
| or the flesh pots of the national legisia ture.
After the organiZatio may be consufl-
| mated they will retire to their respective
homes, leaving only a sufficient guard here
| to look out after their general interests.
me close of the approaching holidays will
| bring us our usual seasonal quota of gay
| folks, to the qualification OF all classes Of
| persons in this city engaged in business,
whose prosperity depends in great part
upon the presence of such people among us
when we have Congress here
1t is only a few years ago that the con-
| gested Library of Congress, when housed in
| the Capitol building. was cleared out and
removed to the magnificent new building
| across the park Few users of the library
| will recognize the condition mentioned in
| the following paragraph published in The
| Star of December r. 1856:
| THE barriers of the Paris revolutionists
| did not cause more newspaper discussion
| than has the massive iron fence In the
| Library of Congress. But says the CORE
| spondent of the Boston Transcript. not
| withstanding the check given to visitors
| by the Intervention of iron barriers be-
| tween them and the contents of the Shelves
| the courtesy of the librarians, Messrs. Nee
| han and STEELE, and their accomplished as
lci fnftc INN l.. IN,
| abated. More attentive and oblging Of
/ ficers are not to be found in any of the
| public offices in Washington
Rock creek froze over on the night of De-
| cember IL, and paragraph in The Star of
| the next day to that effect gave great joy
| to the skaters.
| Hat fashions have greatly changed in the
last fifty years, many times, indeed and the
! feminine headgear of today
Fash1onable is altogether different from
Ronnets that of 1855. as this para
| graph from The Star of De-
| cember 10 of that year will prove:
THE ladies may be pleased TO learn that
| fur is now used for trimming ladies bon
! nets in Paris. On black velvet bonnet a
| roll of martens fur ornaments the edges of
| the front, the curtain and the crown A
| black lace hounce eight inches deep is
| sewed in gathers where the crown joins the
| front and continues behind. falling over the
| curtain. On the side of the bonnet is a
velvet bow edged with fur; the strings are
| of maroon taffeta, barred with black
| around the face are white, blonde and scar
| let velvet geraniums."
| The effort to find the railroad car that
| would not smash into splinters in a COL
| lision and kill and wound it's occupants was
| just as active fifty years ago as it is today.
| A paragraph in The Star of that period in
| dicates an invention to this end, as follows:
| "a genius is getting up a railroad car
| put of wrought iron and gutta percha. Such
| q car may be damned but not broken. 1t
| may mash you up, but it can make no
| splinters to tear your trousers or Iacerate
your limbs. The idea Is q good one, and
| we hope will realize his expectations.
| kk
| 1t is only during the last few years that
| the sidewalks have been telerable. In the
| old days they were beyond
| Wretched description In The Star of
| Sidewalks. December IA. 1855. is printed
| h g following paragraph
| yoicing the complaint of reader;
| "Ambuator makes q spirited appeal to us
| In behalf of those who walk on north f
| street. He says that the sidewalks are
| most miserably paved-in many places not
| paved at all, insomuch by frequent
| tramping the bricks have been worn away
| ana KNOCKED OUT Oh place. ASdNIilS Suiol
| and divers mud puddles or pitfalls. In
| other places are large patches of brickbats
| and tagging inserted making altogether
| one of the most unsightly, unserviceable
| and wretched pavements to be found with
| in the corporate limits. What makes all
this botehing and patching and string OF
| mudholes the worse is that at night the
| poor wayfarer must grope his way over a
| succession of hills and hoilows without the
| aid of scarcely single gaslight Let
| those whose duty 1t is mend their ways
and make F street a path of pleasantness'
| to our correspondent.
| Speaking of gaslights, it Is significant to
| note that in the same issue of The Star
| appears complaint as to the quality, or per-
| haps the quantity, of gas furnished to users
| of that illunlinant during the earlier part
| of the winter Following paragraph to
| that effect is brief note stating that
| since the above was in type we learned
| that the canal boat Sarah Sands has ar
| rived with load OF coal from the Lonacon-
| ing mines. May we hope to see an I'M
| provement in the quality of the gas2
PASSING UP THE PASSES
| From the Newark Advertiser.