Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-11


anniversary of Mr.. BIrth-will take place
this evening, when a few close friends OF
the family will dine with him.
Mr. Birth held up his hand for short
time without a tremor, and told the re-
porter that he was surprised himself That
a man should reach his age and be able
to hold his hand in midair without trem
bling. He attributed this alone to the rea
son that since 1890 he had never touched
a drop of any kind of liquor except upon
the advice of a physician. He talked inter-
estingly of the time near the middle of
the past century, when he was commits
stoned by the Secretary of War upon i'm
portant Investigations relative to the build
ing of the Soldiers Home.
Always Wing.
In the early '4O's Mr.. Birth was in North
Carolina and recalled with much pleasure
the fact that he was a wing at that time,
has been since and is still WING. AS ne tod
of his devotion to his party he laughed.
For forty years during his early me- MT.
Birth said, he smoked an average OF nVe
cigars daily, but later he became CON
WINGED that the practice was bad ana ne
at once stopped He was told he SAID.
that the sudden cessation OF the use OF
the cigars would seriously impair ms
health, but being a man of strong Will
power he brought the smoking haplt 10 d
sudden close so far as he was concerned.
II would not be idle he declared, Tor
ANYTHING. linen leaning DdCh III his easy
chair Mr.. Birth said that each day he does
a certain amount of architectural drawing,
which he declared is source of much en-
joyment to him. !, .o
known for years, Mr.. Birth stated, pleased
him greatly. He spoke particularly OF the
visit of the members OF the Association VI
the Oldest Inhabitants of the District OF
Columbia after they had attended the re-
ception to President Roosevelt, and de-
clared that the meeting was one of the
happiest events of his life.
Serene Old Age.
II is not giverr to the lot of many men
to round out ninety and nine years of life,
and to have resided almost continually dur
ing that long period in the city of their
birth But such is part of the memorable
life record of Mr.. William W. Birth, an
honored member of the Association OF the
Oldest Inhabitants of the District OF Co
lumbia, who is today celebrating ms ninety,
ninth birthday anniversary. Stlil ha1e ana
hearty for a man whose experience IS SO
rich in years Mr.. Birth presents sample
of the sturdy stuff the old-time Washing
tonians were composed OF, lot ne was IN,
deed one of the pioneers of the capital
city.
When Mr.. Birth first saw the light of
day here January H. 1893, the city was
indeed in it's swaddling clothes and the
present scenes of hustle and business activ-
fty of Greater Washington were then pic
lures of the pastoral in old Washington
Wide commons, with brooks meandering
over their length and breadth, and patches
of forest were in evidence on all sides,
while "love apples as tomatoes were then
called, grew along the hedges and high
WAYS that are now handsome streets tenn
ing with the hurly-burly of modern COM
mercallsm.
Stages of City's Advancement.
This venerable citizen has lived to
81 c.Gr, Of thn aarlxr fat hnr.
realized, as Washington through it's vary
ing stages of advancement has become the
most beautiful and picturesque city the
globe, being known the beauty spot of
America" He has lived through the Or
deals of four wars in which this country
was involved. three of them with foreign
powers-Great Britain, Mexico and Spain
and the other the fratricidal civil war. He
witnessed the burnin OF the capital city by
the British and has seen it rise from its
ashes to it's present grandeur, and has the
happy consciousness of having been one of
it's upbuilders. He has seen the experiment
of self government tried in the municipal
ity the District of Columbia as a federal
territory and lastly, the present form OF
government by appointment.
Mr. Birth has lived history and through
it. and has seen Presidents come and 60.
He has seen greatness enthroned and de-
throned in the whirling OF the maelstrom
of politics here. His life has been most
memorable one, ripe with years, experience
and the consciousness of his own work we'll
done.
Early in his life Mr. Birth took unto
himself as his wife Miss Elizabeth Taylor
a native of Lancashire. England. She died
in 1876 AS result of the union one child
was born, Elizabeth Taylor Birth, who
married Edward Baldwin. Mr.. Baldwin
PASSED away in 1896, leaving five children,
Rrenton william, Eddie, Bertha and Eliza
beth.
His Business Career.
For many years Mr.. Birth was engaged
in the grocery business, and is said to be
the dean of the Association of Oldest In
habitants. having become member of
that organization at the time of its forma-