Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-14
Snow

light to the owners of sleighs
Snow and caused a congestion of
Roupd traffic. AS an illustration OF
the difficulties of mid-century
railreading the following paragraph In The
Star of January I, 1856, may be quoted:
Never was the condition of confusion
worse confounded TO n greater extent ex-
emplhied than on the passage of the
O'Clock pm. train from Baltimore to this
city on Saturday last. 1t had been showing
briskly all day and the track was covered
to great depth with the wintry element.
The train arrived at the Annapolis juno
ton on time, but finding itself without wood
hacked on the Annapolis road and sup
piled itself. 1t then pushed on and reached
n point mile and half this side OF
the junction when it stuck fast. refusing
either to move backward or forward. Then
the biggest fuss commenced that was ever
heard amongst the same number of peo-
pie Capt. Owens was the conductor and
did everything to relieve the train from
It's position but it was no go. Reflections
upon the Camden and Anlboy accident con-
jGred up in the minds of some of the pas
Sengers visions of trains running into them
behind and in front. Like General Scott they
imagined they had a fire in front and in
the rear. Where is the half-past four train
from Washington cries one big, cowardly
ipchifes Sih-ioot giant. w hat Snail we 10
1t will run into us, continued he. This
started the fever and Immediately all the
passengers took it. And so it went
until the captain consoled them with the
assurance that nothing could happen to
them while he was about. The men were
pulling out their time pieces, calculating the
time it would take such train to reach
them and slaughter them, and seemed, UNI
less they were believing for the captain,
to be making their peace with their Maker.
After remaining stationary until 10 o'clock
p.m., they were reached by the O'Clock
express train from Baltimore, provided with
extra power, to which all the passengers
were transferred, which enabled them to
reach the city about 10 o'clock am. yes
terday morning"
The streets of Washington were filled
with sleighs of all descriptions in those
snowy days and The
Snow Balls Star of the period con-
for Sleiohers tains many items relative
to the great sport en-
joyed, which was attended by some unpieas-
ant circumstances. For instance in The
Star of January s, 1885, are these para
graphs:
Several ladies and gentlemen were Sc
verely injured yesterday while sleighing by
hard balls of ice thrown at them by boys.
One lady had her face cut badly, the ball
being manipulated into solid ice. Such
conduct is inexcusable and those who in
dulge in it should be promptly punished,
be their age great or small.
Quite ARRAY occurred on Pennsylva-
mia avenue yesterday near the corner of
AZ street. 1t seems that sleighing party
from Georgetown undertook to chaStise
some boys for snowballing them and that
others interfering, a general combat was
the result. Three of the participants were
bound over by Justice Goddard for appear
ance at court
ity abounded on the avenue this morning.
The sleighing was excellent and the wealth
er delicious, for the sun shone, yet did not
make the pending icicles trckle'
A colored man was. frozen to death on
| the road between Washington and Alexan-
drta during one of these cold nights.
Rag-time music was not In vogue in 1856,
but it had it's prototype in the old-fashion-
ed negro melody which, it seems,
Dance was quite likely to be heard
Music in polite circles as the eccentric
syncopation of later times. The
following paragraph in The Star of Janu-
airy IL is suggestive:
Not few complaints were heard last
winter about the character of the music
performed at the parties in this city. Per-
sons from the north and east but more
particularly foreigners residing or visiting
here, denunciaited in rather uneuuivocal
terms the taste of our musicians for per-
forming such commonplace Ethiopian tunes
| on the occasion of parties. and so forth
| Now we beg to differ; as not more than an
evening ago we were at a party where the
dancing music performed consisted exclu-
Sively of selections from Strauss, LaditZky
Lanner and Gungel and the intermfssions
were rendered agreeable by selections from
| The Prophet Don Giovanni 'Frese-
hatz. and other operas of like character,
-fnry, ,ncta HI
violin by Professors Scheel and Fisher We
| do not think music of the above kind well
performed could warrant any one in stig-
matizing our music as being devoid of good
taste on such occasions"
In this connection the following bit is in.
teresting:
The hop which was to have come off al
Wizards last evening was postponed until
Saturday on account of the severe indispo-
sition of one of the musicians. One came
off. we hear, at the National, where Espu-
| ta's Band offlciated another at the Ameri
can Hotel; both delightful entertainments
we hear"
Householders did not always clean of
their sidewalks in the last century, ever
though there was law ther
Uncleaned which, it seems. Is lacking
Sidewalks now. This paragraph in The
Star of January IL, 1885
shows that the troubles of the pedestrian
in winter are by no means exclusively mod.
ern:
Read section 81 of chapter of the act tc
prevent nusances, to be found among the
corporation laws, which provides: Thai
| every person residing on any street or ave.
nue. in this city shall within six hours after
any fall of snow have the same removed
| from the pavement in front of his or he,
house, under a penalty of fifty cents fol
every hour the same shall remain after the
said six hours That's the law, and al
virtuous, conscientious citizens obey the
| laws, don't they? How Is 1t then that two
| thirds of the population oe Washington are
black and blue with the bumps, tumbles
| knocks, contusions slips, slides and other
indignities visited upon them through the
| treacherous ice left upon the pavements;
| Let the householders who neglect theii
manifest duty in this respect take fall
or two themselves and see how they like
| it, Wouldn't they bless those through
whose negligence their topsy-turveying
| came about? And does it never occur tc
| them that other tumblers are visiting hourly
| the same kind of wishes upon themselves:
| Clean up your pavements and encourage
| the poor men and boys who want just such
| little jobs to preserve them from starva-
| ton, or at least suffering and distress"
THR RETJcENCR mr. RACERS