Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-07-30
CRITCITES RAILROAD
WESTERNER FINDS FAULT
WITH DIRTY CARS AND
STATION
Wants Name OF StatiOa v 0ytySh Changed
-Ihe Oh Stale House

The Uld >tale House
The follow ing IS the conclusion %
the story The Ancient city, written
by Mr.. Wallace Dunn foF a western
paper;
The old state House belongs a. tAe
colonial period. II Was used hy the
governors of the colony and alterwar1
by the state AMI Is also tAe plaee
where the legislatures met both before
and after Independence was declared-
II is situated on high plat % ground
and surrOuued BY a dome ~ peculiar
construction. This dome - made of
logs cut aud hswed into exact pieces
To complete the structure
Many times IL has been suggested
that the dome be replaced with seine
thing more modern. but the idea never
gets very far. There are iot of things
about the old state House that w0uld
delight the person wh0 searches Ter
old historical relies. Major tienernA
Riggs. adjutant general of the state.
is about To have a very mnl4ue c0i-
lection in his office. 10 will contain
all the battle flags of both north and
south carried by Maryland tEo0ps dur
ing the civil war. There are not many
states that can have battleflags 81 both
sides, but Maryland had troops In
both the Union and Confederate ar
mics. These old tattered relies Viii
be an interesting exhibit General
Riggs also expects 10 secure the orig
inal nag that inspired Francis scott
Rey to write the ..>tar-Spangied
Banner.
In the state House grounds there
is n statue Of Baron peKalb. who
commanded the glorious old Mary
land Line" during the Revolution
airy war. lie was n Frenehman. but
Annapolis claims him. There is also
n statue Of Roger Brooke fancy. who
was once attorney general ~ Mary
land, but who won renown as chief
justice Of tine United states Supreme
Court from 1888 to 1864. Ills name
will always be associated with the
bred scott decision, the famous ease
that did SO much to bring on the civil
war.
Annapolis and all It's surroundings
are pleasant. ~ Is = nice city ia which
10 live and ought 10 be the home 90
many people doing business IN Bal
timoTe and Washington The eouu-
try round about is charming and there
would be many fine homes ON the
beautiful bay and the arms 81 the
Chesapeake were IL not for one draw
back. This capitol of Maryland. the
home of the United states Naval
Academy. this well located city. Is
cursed w the worst railroad system
that ever afflicted any city in the
United states. ! have had experience
with Z" "terk-water roads In the West
I have been over newly built lines
in wild country just opening to
settlement ! have had ali possible
experience. with poor railroad services
that a man could have in ali parts "a
the country. but have found nothing
that could equal the raiiroa1 thai
pretends 10 give a service betNe cen The
national capital and Anuapol -
Prom two first-class lines running
between Washington anG BaltimOre
passengers for Annapolis are trans
ferred to the Annapolis, Washington
and Baltimore Railroad. and thence
they reach Annapolis when the trains
get ready to move. The connections
are bad, the carr are worse and the
road bed the worst 0f all. ~ there
was ever case where the United
states sh0uid build and operate a line
Of railroad IL is between the national
capital aEd the Naval Academy. Here
is>a greet naval base. and the place
where the officers 81 the navy are edu-
Gated, yet il is reached from the ma
tioEal capital under most trying cir
cgmstances and discomforts- If the
weather is bad the diseomforts are
multiplied, for the little stations ~
the junction points are entirely made
quate.
Here IL Annapolis the people must
put up with a miserable. blthy little
station. The other day ! noticed
the dirty floor was covered with rice.
showing that a bridal party had re-
Gently departed. That rice Was an
improvement and il fairly gIeanesi
on the dirty planks 0f the station
have been going up and down ON
this road for many years The sans
cars are in use that were used when
first made a trip over the line and
| the oldest inhabitant cannot recall
when they were new or the constant
traveller when they were eleansed-
This worst road in America has oc-
casioned much 1nirth and a great deal
| Of .'cussing.'f II is 50 bad that it -
| ludicrous. Is IL not surprising that
| the State Of Mary land does not foree
il TO make improvements Is n noi
strange that the United states govern
n1ent does not secure through and
/ comfortable service between the ma
tional capital and the Naval Academy
There is one amusing feature a THIS
road The names uF the Stations Are