Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-01
WASHINGTON
NEEDS FIRES

Washington Correspondence N. Y. Evening Post.
Probably in few communities is there
so great a need Of several space-limited
conflagratons unattended, of course,
with loss of life. Not in one quarter
merely. but in many. are eyesores and
worse. which detract from the respectable
ity II not the very decency of the town.
1t is strange that there is no sense of
the value of property on the principal
avenue nearest the Capitol grounds.
Either in the cars. in sightseeing autos.
or afoot. all strangers pass this part of
Pennsylvania avenue. which is opposite
the horticultural gardens The buildings
are old and shabby. and cut up for petty
tenants into small quarters. Here are
cobblers, the sellers Of dilapidated and
depressing souvenirs. and Of ragged and
dirty second Inland books. BARRIERS. boot
blacks, suit-pressing tailors. laundries.
pawn shops. tintype artists and fake pho
tographers-who will picture you as shak-
tary Taft-beer saloons, and, In particu-
lar, three-cent lunch places, which fill
the street with HOT and sickening odors.
Farther downf On the other side, are
numerous Chinese shops and restaurants,
also malodorous and grimy. On the side
walk are Chinese children OF tender age,
to be recognized chiefly by their peculiar
eyes. They are the companions Of white
and black children. and are growing up
to become English-speaking Americans.
They are entirely American in such scanty
dress as they wear, and are without even
the queue. which they have never known.
In this nelghborhood a dingy frame house,
hotel with a saloon on the ground floor,
bears a cheaply painted sign, which reads:
Gen. John A. Suffer, on whose Property
in California Gold was First Discovered.
Died in This House in 1880" Evidently
the general at the time of his death re-
tanned but a small part of the profits
of his great and famous find.
Perhaps 1t is not in the province OF the
authorities to disturb the unpleasant con-
ditions of this part of the citys main
avenue, but still farther down and near
the center of business activities the need
of interference Is obvious. Back of and
close to the city post office, near the main
entrance of the new Smithsonian and near
the market. are stores devoted to such III
smelling things as tallow, fertilizer. hides,
pelts, wool. leather and the like. and on
hot days they need no written signs to
guide the purchaser.
Junk dealers here have a strange pride
in their battered collections. If their OBJ
trusive display Of them is an indication.
The sidewalks are freely used for the
permanent storage of scrap heaps At
one place more than score of broken
dowr, irreparable, rust-eaten vehicles oc-
Cupy space. AT dNOlHeT, just UdCh VI
the post office, a section Of the walk is
given over to a vast pile of smashed t,,
boxes, crushed smokestacks, scrap iron,
broken water pipes and like refuse. Bor-
dering the park, and sometimes the ave-
nue., are not only strange collections OF
broken things. out also machine shops,
iron works, woodworking shops, lumber
yards and other establishments which In
most cities are far from the course of the
madding crowd. Perhaps these things are
al tod known
time the entire region will be Incorporated
in the park. This fact might well. pre-
vent the better use OF SO much property
touching or near the avenue. Undoubted-
ly buildings in Washington continue to
be propped up and occupied long after
they would have been burnt or allowed to
fall down had they been in almost any
other community.