Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-23
FIFTY YEARS AGO
IN THE STAR

in THE STAR
The Potomac river was an important
highway of commerce half a century ago
and as a source of news
River was not neglected by report
Notes ers. In The Star of June Is.
1857. is a quarter of a column
Of notes of river happenings from which the
following items are taken as specimens:
THE boys at the Long bridge were out
yesterday fishing for sturgeon; they took
eleven-some Of them whopping big 'uns-
which were sold at 81 each.
Accounts from the lower river hold out
gloomy prospects for the coming crops. In
st. Mary's county, Md, the fly. cinch bug
and army worm. heretofore almost I'M
known in that part Of the country. are now
so numerous that one may gather up in the
fields in a few moments. bushels of these
destroyers Equally unfavorable are the
reports from King George and Westmore-
land counties. Va.
Some specimens of the army worm were
brought up the river this morning. 1t Is
the same worm known in New England as
the corn worm, and receives the name of
army worm in this part Of the country
from its habit Of moving In slarge num-
bers. with great regularity, through the
extensive grain fields of the south, where
1t Is not easy to exterminate them as Is
done In the smaller fields of the north by
the use of wood ashes. The planters are
taking into favorable consideration the
plan of cutting off the march of this de-
stroyer by dividing their fields into strips OF
different crops"
The recent outcry OF the people against
the abolition Of local pumps perhaps re-
minds the elder residents OF
Poor circumstance noted as fol-
p, lows in The Star of June 16,
1857:
This morning we were waited on by a
delegation Of ladies, housekeepers on Penn
sylvania avenue, who rely on the avenue
pumps between 9th and 18th streets for the
supply Of water necessary for their fam
lilies, to beg us to beseech the proper au-
thorities to cause the said pumps at once
to be put in order. They say that the
pump at Patterson's corner gives precious
little water with very hard pumping; that
the 9th and streets pump emits offensive
water; that the pump at the southwest
corner Of Pennsylvania avenue and 10th
street has been broken and next to use
less for two years past. that the pump at
the northeast corner of the intersection OF
the SAID streets won yleld water, ana tHdt
the pump before our (Star) door is as dry
as bone. They represent the most popu-
lous part of the city and we know well
that their complaints are we'll founded.
1t is the duty of the Commissioners at once
to cure these evils and Of the police to keep
sharp lookout for all who are disposed
to injure such public necessities"
The first Of July has always been time
of great anxiety to government employees.
owing to the uncertainty of
Dropping tenure as appropriations fluc-
rIo-k. tuate from year to year. In
The Star Of June IS, 1851, is
the following paragraph indicating that
the government workers in those days had
their woes and anxieties:
"On the first Of July, between thirty and
forty of the clerical employees of the
pension bureau must necessarily be drop
ped. The consequence Is that while nearly
may draw black beans in the allotment
of those whose services may be dispensed
with. many Of them are engineering at
great rate to avoid q dreadful possibility
We feel for all of them, having in our
own day known what 1t Is to be without
either employment or the means of living
without it. Nevertheless, the exigencies Of
the public service are stern and cannot be
avoided by the Interior Department chief.
So those who will be designated as on the re-
tired list must bear their lot as philosophi-
cally as possible
A citizen of patriotic impulses, writing to
The Star tissue Of June IS. 1S5O to urge
the appropriation of munich
Patriotic pal funds for a display Of
p1eo fireworks the night Of
July 4, continued:
1T is invariably done in the larger cities
as matter of policy as well as patriot
f,~, l1t,, it,
terests of the city in bringing crowds of
visitors from the adjacent country into
the town who. by their presence. benefit
tradesmen. hotelkeepers and many others.
THE celebration Of this. the most interest
ing event of our history. has been sadly
neglected of late years, and unless some
thing be done to awaken in the minds and
hearts of the people the necessity Of It's
course of a few years the Fourth of July
will come and go without remark. John
Adams. upon the passage of the resolutions
declaring the United Colonies free and in
dependent states. said: I beneve that 1t
will be celebrated by succeeding generations
as the great anniversary festival. 1t ought
to be solemnized with pomp and parade.
with shows games. sports. guns. bells. bon
fires and Examinations from one end Of this
continent to the other, from this time forth,
forevermorer Some token Of rejoicing
interesting day, the anniversary Of the
Declaration of Independence and the foun-
datlon OF the greatest nation on earth.
kA
Washington has always been interested
in the comments passed upon it by visitors
who have expressed them
Visitors selves here or after lclving.
u;.1,s In The Star Of June 20, 1857,
there IS found letter copied
from the Albany Argus. written by tran
sient visitor to Washington" from which
the following is taken:
MY views Of the city of Washington have
been somewhat changed within few years.
l have been accustomed to believe that the
scale Of magnificent distances according to
which 1T was laid out was a mistake, and
that the filling up Of the grand outline
would never be realized-that without the
advantages of commerce and relying only
upon those resulting from the location here
Of the seat of the national government, a
great and important city could never spring
into existence. But the recent indications
are very decided that IL the bonds Of our
Union remain unbroken and the seat of
government is not changed. the views of
Washington In relation to the capital Of the
nation. as well as other points in the
destiny of the country of which he was the
father, will turn out to have been rendered
with sagacity well nigh prophetic.
Men of means engaged in the Sery-