Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-01
FIFTY YEARS AGO
IN THE STAR

Saturday night previous--the escape OF
convict from the penitentiary. The affair
Is thus narrated:
A convict. named Lghtfoot, escaped from
the penitentiary on Saturday night having
bored his way through the
wall Of the hospital, to which
Convict. he had been transferred on
account of sickness. which,
1t Is presumed. was merely feigned by him.
in order to accomplish his nberating pur-
pose. Lghtfoot is not inaptly named. Sew
eral years ago. on the approach of an officer
to arrest him, he darted of. minus his
clothes-save his undergarments-at an ex-
traordinarily rapid pace, the man Of police
putting and locomoting like railroad iron
horse after him. 1t was a race without a
precedent in our city's history. He proved
himself to be, indeed, light OF foot. but like
most other fast" mortals, he was obliged
to come to halt After a good long rest
sumed his journey. Whether or not he will
permanently distance his pursuers remains
to be SEEM
The gas question was just as annoying
in 1856 as 1t has been In recent years. In
The Star of September 20.
oau 1856. is to be found the fol-
Gas. lowing complaint:
1.-THE condition of the gas
with which our fellow citizens on Pennsyl-
vania avenue and elsewhere were furnished
last night by the Washington Gaslight Com
pany was disgrace to our city. besides
being positive pecuniary injury to those
thus treated. The cause Is said to have
been deficiency OF supply which extended
everywhere gas may be used in Washing
ton. This must have been the result of
gross mismanagement about the gas house.
or of oyereagerness to ecOnOmfze. which
by no means squares with the extrayagant
prices demanded of our citizens for gas,
which cause the eyes Of persons accus-
toned to pay only the rates of other cities
to stare with establishment when they hear
them mentioned. At st. Matthews Church
last night, with thousands of persons within
its portals, the gas went out, leaving them
without light other than that Of candles,
hastily procured, which but dimly served
the end intended. The consequence was to
greatly decrease the sum total which would
otherwise have been collected for the
benefit Of the Norfolk and Portsmouth or
phans as the result of the powerful dis
course of the Rev. John p. Donelan and
the beautiful execution of Rossinis 'Stabat
Mater by the choir of the church.
"The truth Is the Washington Gas Com
pany requires proper regulation by law. 1t
charges much higher rates-some IA per
cent higher-than are charged in George
town, where the charter fixed a minimum
rate, and neither our city councils nor any
other local authorities have the slightest
legal control over the manner In which the
Washington Gas Company deals with the
public. The remedy lies In a general petit
ton from nearly all housekeepers in Wash
ington that Congress will charter another
company here and that the government will
patroniZe IL, as the existing company has
become an odious monopoly through the
entire absence of provision in its charter
for the exercise OF wholesome restraint
its eXdctiOnS and SHORTCOMINGS
X
In those days 1t was no uncommon ex-
perience for passers in the street to suffer
the Inconvenience of occa-
a housed sional dousing from the win
Dandy. dows of residences abutting
on the sidewalk. The fol-
lowing letter, signed tom Yellowkid."
printed in The Star of September %, 1856.
paints picture which will doubtless evoke
memories of that period:
las you now and then deign to listen to
the complaints of those who conceive them
selves doing the public service by relating
their selfish sorrows, do give me a place
in your local columns that I may speak of
a nuisance of magnitude. l am one, sir,
of that much abused class. yclept dandy,
and you have perhaps seen me threading
the avenue with my long coat and fashion
able gait and have no doubt admired the
splendid cut Of my pantaloons, which to
tell you in secret were made In Paris.
Well, sir, was walking few hours since.
when some one deliberately threw guam
tity of dirty water out of a window, the
whole contents bespattering me from head
to foot. You can imagine my Indignation
blended with no small degree of mortifica-
ton, as I observed that no one pitied me-
and every one seemed highly amused by
the occurrence. To complete my disgrace
two fashionable females of my acquaint-
ance hove in sight. l rushed to the door
and fIri0lISiv. q merit huSSV of q hnnqe.
maid made her appearance. Miserable
woman / exclaimed, who threw that filthy
water on me?' The only answer l got was
rude laugh, and bursting into the hall
ran upstairs. determining to have vengeance
on somebody. Every one met denied all
knowledge of the occurrence, and finding
the entire household congregated by this
time In the entry, and that they were
criticising my appearance, 1 beat a hasty
retreat. resolving to revenge myself on
them some other time. On arriving at my
lodgings Immediately sat down and COM
menced the penntng Of this. believing You
will sympathize with me and execrate the
authors of my calamity"
X
The advent of cool weather precipitated
the annual problem of accommodating the
houseiess poor of the Dis
homeless trict, and The Star of Sep
Ones. TENDER % printed the fol-
lowing paragraph:
'sThe nights are how becoming rather cool
for the unfortunate poor to make their beds
upon the fields or in old barns, stables or
the market places. The captain of the
auxiliary guard Is beginning to supply the
unfortunate ones with the shelter of the
guard house. Sober men who apply for
lodgings at the central station are always
accommodated and dismissed in the morn
ing, but the vagrant, inebriate or disorderly
person who applies for lodging and is iden-
tilted is certain to pay for his lodging by
serving a term at labor on the corporation
farm. Recently the police have had but
little to do at the guard house. The city
has been remarkably free of candidates for
the farm; Migrants are scarce and other
offenders appear to have changed their
mode of living. The majority of those who
are brought in for trial at present are only
visitors in Washington, and we are glad to
be able to state that very few of our own
citizens suffer for violating the laws"
In the same issue of The Star appears this
bit of news: 1--WE notice that workmen
are now employed in stripping the Capitol
dome of Its copper covering, preliminary to
the removal of that part of the building
The panels OF the rotunda are protected
from the dust incident to those operations
by shedding erected near them and close
curtains in 'front.'