Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-16
FIFTY YEARS AGO
IN THE STAR

In The Star Of June 0, 1857, is an interest
ing account of a visit to the studio of Clark
Mills. the sculptor. on the
Clark Bladensburg road In the
Mills course of it occurs the fol-
lowing paragraph, suggest
ing the troubles of the artists of past
generation:
Zone Of the most graphic narratives We
ever listened to is the artists description
of the difficulties through which he strug-
gled executing the castings of his Jackson
statue; how. after having permission to use
the navy yard furnaces. he found at the
last moment that to make>the requisite ex-
cavation near the fire would. In the opinion
of the navy yard authorities. endanger the
safety of the tall chimney flue. and he was
the first molders in the country refused to
undertake the work except at his risk
how. when at his wits end, he recollected
having seen in his boyhood piece of OK
pieces Of brick. was completely fused by
the intense heat of the pit; how he cried
Eureka! and started to construct his fur
mace upon the principle of the coal pit:
how all the scientific savants of the day
ridiculed the idea of a furnace without
draft, and how his nearest friends and pa
irons. appalled, by the dictum of The sa-
wants. entreated him to abandon rs vision
q
some things can be done as well as others
he persevered and triunnphed, and all the
increduious savants came and examined the
furnace. inside and outside. and admitted
that It vas an achievement not dreamed
of In their philosophy"
The spring and summer Of 1857 were back
ward. and complaints against the weather
uh. were as comr1on then as they
are in this year Of grace
crop. 1907. In The Star of June
10 is an article which indicates that tho
wheat crop was a subject of much anxious
consideration. then:
"Quite a number of the leading farmers
Of the adjoining counties Of Maryland hap
pened to be thrown together in this city
yesterday. and an interesting consultation
was held as to the prospects for the grow
ing crops in their section. One of them
exhibited specimens of his wheat. which
had been destroyed by the, depredations Of
the fly and the joint worm. 1t was ascer-
tanned, on comparing notes. that consid-
cradle portion of the growing wheat in the
state of Maryland was similarly affected
and apprehenSionS were expressed that q
short crop would follow. The depredatons
of these destroyers not, however. I'M
form, and fields adjoining those terribly
preyed upon are left quite untouched. The
opinion was expressed tffdl IHe DtSt crops
of the season would be obtained from COM
para tively poor soils upon which guano had
been freely used, as the ravages of the In
sect had been most noticeable on rich soil.
The hope entertained that the severity of
the winter had destroyed the fly was proved
to be most fallacious. The other crops were
in a most promising condition. the late
rains having euickened vegetation wonder
fully"
X *
Every city has it's odd characters and
Washington has perhaps had in the course
Queer 10 rather HUI
than it's share of eccen-
Snafacter' tries, attracted here by
the presence of the machinery of govern
ment. These "quaints'' have their day
and then pass into semi-obscurity, to
emerge from time to time to interest later
corners on the local scene. Such reap
pearance is noted in a news paragraph
printed in The Star of June 10. 1857,
apropos of citizens meeting bearing upon
the election riots
The meeting at the city hall yesterday
brought to light an historical character
who has been lost sight of for the last
twenty years or more, and who would
appear to have been enjoying a comfort
able Rip Van Wrinkle snooze during that
period. as our old citizens who recognized
Hill are Wliil!lS 10 QepOSe Indt ne does
not look day older than when last seen
a quarter Of a century ago. At that time
he immortalized- himself as the COM
mander-in-chief at a parade Of Fantasia
calls got up to ridicule and put down the
militia system Of that day, which 1t did
most effectually, killing it as dead as
julius Caesar. But the Fantasticals did
not conquer without some loss of life on
their side The horse Of the COMMANDMENTS
chief. selected probably neither for beauty
nor strength, required considerable prop
ping up on parade. and finally dropped
dead in his tracks; what was fun for the
men being in this instance. as In many
others. death to the animals. This COM
mander of credit and renown was an &C.
centric individual who had an impeachment
in his voice, and other qualifications Of
dress. manner and physiognomy to qualify
him for his duties. His presence yester-
day at the meeting noted by the de-
cided mo- which, solitary and alone. he
sent up in response to every question put
by the chair. His name, we believe, is
Edmonson."
Although the public agitation over the
election day riots had somewhat subsidized
af4,n4h the capital was inundated
with speeches of more
OF h1ots. or less infiammat tory char
acter in denunciation Of the local and fed
eral authorities for the part they had
taken in the affair of June l. Public
sentiment however, was in the main favor
able to the mayor and the President for
the steps taken by them to suppress the
rioters. A meeting was held on the 18th
of June at the city hall, attended by
large number of representative citizens,
who adopted resolutions warmly praising
the authorities for the promptness with
which they met the emergency and de-
nouncing the invasion" of Washington
by "a notorious band of lawless ruffians
from the city of Baltimore" One of the
speakers referred scathingly to Baltimore
as the "Sodom and Gomorrah of this
generation"
Those who took issue with the admin
istration, however, were not content with
silence under the fire of the accusation
that the disturbances were the result of
local political enterprise. but held coun-
ter-meeting at the city hall to demand an
investigation of the circumstances attend
ing the death of those who fell on the
1st of June. The Stars report indicated
that the meeting was sparsely attended.
The resolutions adopted called upon the
citizens of Washington to abstain from
elimination or excitement, but calmly to
await the result, and then when it shall
be known let the full weight of their dis