Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-30
FIFTY YEARS AGO
IN THE STAR

IN THE STAR
1t Is Interesting to note in the files of
half a century ago reference to the names
or men and women then active In the
worlds affairs but now long since passed
away. The personal" column of Mon
day. April "a, 1856. contains several para
graphs which arouse latent memories. Thus:
Rev DR.. Tying of New York is at Will
lards Hotel in this city"
This referred to Rev. Stephen H. Tying
who was rector Of Protestant Episcopal
Church in Georgetown in 1928. then of
Queen Anne parish, Prince George county
Md, 1929. and subsequently for a period
OF over thirty years served as rector Of
st. Georges Church, New York city. re-
firing as rector emeritus in 1873 He died
in 1885, at the age of eighty-five years
Mrs. Niohol, better known as Miss
Bronte, still better known as Currer Bell
but best known as the author of Jane Eyre,
one of the best novels of modern times, died
at Haworth. in Yorkshire, on the 31st of
March"
It is to be doubted II one of ten novel
readers today remembers that Charlotte
Bronte was chiefly known to her admirers
In her lifetime as Currer Bell. Her sisters.
Annie and Emily. wrote their novels under
the names of Acton and Ellis Bell, each of
the three preserving her own initials.
washington Irving has SO far recovered
from his late indispositon as to be pro-
nounced entirely out of danger"
Mr.. Irving died four and a half years
later
Late advices from Paris state that Mr..
Mason the American minister at Paris, had
left for Nice. where, it was hoped, his
health would be perfectly restored"
This was John Young Mason of Virginia,
who, prior to his appointment to the French
mission in 1888. had served as Secretary of
the Navy and Attorney General under Pres
in 1859
Old residents of today who
were young men in 1855 will
Planting. remember James Maher, who
known as public gar
dener." He was one of the true capital
makers. man of far sight and a proper
and requirements of Washington On the
18th of April The Star printed a "charac-
teristic and really interesting communica-
ton from him. in part follows:
L long since suggested to the Commits
sioner of Public Buildings (then Major No
land) to give me one avenue a year, graded
and curbed and one mile in length, to i'm
prove horticulturally' What a city you
carried out. You would now have twenty
one avenues, in the heart of the city, with
the reservat tons as well as the streets,
all planted and improved A fountain
in the center of each reservation, and
statue of each of the Presidents facing
east. From the width of our streets,
reservations and pavements, in my opin-
ion, we will surpass London or Paris in
beauty as a city. All now depends upon
good generalship. There were more
trees planted this spring and last fall than
for the last ten years. This springs plant
ing will speak for itself l am the
oldest gardener In the United States. 1 am
fifty-one years gardener. have been
forty years in the country. twenty-one years
in this city. Jackson did not send for me
without knowing who | was. l hope
to plant 10000 trees before I die, to inn
prove the city called after the Father of
His Country. l hope to see it surprising
the world. 1 helped to make 1t and
willing to die for it,
little more of the spirit of James Ma
her in all public officials and more appre-
citation of such artistic enterprise on the
part of Congress would have made the task
of subsequent capital builders easier, and
have yielded greater results.
Yesterday says the Star
n IN usAeaA of April %, mo less than
Invasion. eight organ grinders, bring
Ing with them their instru-
ments. arrived in this city. by the railroad
ever and soon as they could commenced
operations. Their instruments, for the
greater part, seem to be new ones, and are
not only fine toned but discourse popular
and familiar airs, including Julien's famous
American quadrilles. Never before were
many organ grinders seen at the same
time in this city,
This was before the day of the piano
organ" now the instrument of the modern
Orpheus.
A few years ago The Star became impa-
tent with the dilatory methods employed
in the construction of the new post office
building and finally adopted the expedent
of daily counting the number of men en-
gagged on the work 1t was at least a COIN
cidence that the work was forthwith materi-
ally FASTENED. Fifty years ago The Star
had this same habit. April 81. 1866 it
printed this paragraph about the work of
enlarging the Post Office Department build
ing:
hands were employed, excavating and haul
ing away the dirt.
The Star quoted, on this
"a Ne~ same day. the following par
Woman" agraph from the Baltimore
Patriot, showing that feni-
nine mannishness or mannish femininity is
no new phenomenon:
Observation-Disclosures 8 and 10 o'clock
this morning a lady lin italics) was seen
walking Baltimore street, near Eden street.
she seemed to enjoy with much zest as
some masculine biped. She attracted of
course, considerable attention. there being
some fifty youngsters following in her wake.
An officer coming along at this time ac-
costed her. and in the most delicate man
ner possible removed the weed from her
mouth, after which she took refuge in an
omnibus, and the crowd dispersed"
The following news item, taken from the
issue of April IS, is an effective reminder of
the fact that in 1855 there were no horse
cars, far less electric cars. no bicycles and
no telephones, and that the task of getting
news to the printer from distance was
far more difficult then than now:
This morning, just before noon, the
scanolding around the new steam frigate
Minnesota, at the navy yard, gave way, pre-
cipitating some thirty Workmen about TWEEN
tyfive feet to the ground. Many of them
were very severely injured, but when our
informant left he had heard of no Deaths"
Today such an accident would be known
in The Star office within ten minutes, and
in less than half an hour reporters would
be the scene. That same days issue
would print all details. to the extent pos