The Washington herald., 1907-12-23

where such fierce people as congressman
and Senators run wild and there are
politics two or three weeks each winter.
But Miss District isn't q BIT afraid, and
she isn't carried away, either. by the fact
that she's reached sweet I19. as an ordi-
nary. common old district would be.
When a reporter from The Washington
Herald called upon her yesterday in her
apartments, in the Carnegie Library, she
was most pleasant
you see." she said-''you'n have to
pardon such a prosaic beginning, because
I'm surrounded by the Congressional Rec
ord most of the time-lrs really the fault
OF Capt John Smith and Mrs Capt. John
Smith. nee POcahontas. that I'm having
this birthday anniversary tomorrow.
~Of course, know that my Grand
father Christopher is held responsible for
discovering America. but then he didn't
| discover the Potomac or Chesapeake
Bay. or Congress. did he? Capt. John
did that No. of course, I don't hold *
Up against him, because 1 could never
have had all the fun OF living if he hadn't
explored the river and found out what a
nice District I'd make.
Mr.. Chief Executioner Powhatan. you
know. tried rather pnsuccessfully to dis
connect the captains head and shOul-
ders. give him the AK, so 70 speak. Dear
me- am using slang again, and there's
Uncle Joe listening all the time, too.
Created Out of Maryland.
y You know that I didn't come into
/ legal existence until December %, I7SS
when the governor OF Maryland signed
a bill. or a billet douK, or some such
/ thing. that created me out OF Maryland
I'm rather large for my age. nearly ten
! miles square. whatever that means. You
can see that it takes an awful lot 10
! dress me. and such a terrible amount OF
talk. too. about my school system. and
other unimportant things"
/ Miss District didn't say anything more
about herself. but one of Mr.. Carnegie's 5
| aids 20 the propagation OF knowledge did.
/ Here's about what was said, put into
! typewriter English.
| In the beginning the aid talks about
/ the location Of the District. OF which the
I Capitol is near the center The center OF
the Capitol is exactly 70 degrees Is min
utes and 4l.69 seconds west OF the me-
4 ~
/ thing for such a young debutante as Miss
! District
The latitude is IS degrees 50 minutes
and 2325 seconds north OF the equator,
which is an imaginary line drawn around
l the earth half way between the poles.
/ According 20 sailors. you have 10 dodge
/ under this line IL you're a green man,
and according TO Mr.. Samuel Taylor
I Coleridge who wrote the Ancient Mar
liner" it's q pretty hot place, so that Miss
/ District is well TO be SO far north Of It.
The center Of the District. which used
20 be marked by a stone called the JEFF
/ ferson stone. IS about ije yards north
west from the Washington Monument.
The stone marking this spot was re-
moved Inadvertently in 1872 by somebody
who. perhaps. had in mind the plans OF
"a decadent monarch. who wanted 70
make everything straight lines and
I angles
/ Mr. Carnegie's aid also said that owing
20 the low elevation above the sea and
/ the low latitude il might be inferred
that the summers are extremely not
Experience and observation, too. have
proven, il says, that this Is true. On
the other hand, IN January. l7s2. Miss
District was garbed in a mantle OF snow
three feet deep. and In 1880 Thomas JEFF
ferson said that the whole OF Chesapeake
Bay was frozen over"
The First Congress.
Congress-that is. ;he Congress Of The
Colonies, which first discussed the rude
ness OF Great Britain TO this country
met for the first time in New York
The second and the third. the latter tn,
/ Congress which did the real work Of
separating from Mr.. Bull, met in Phila.
delphia AL through the war Congress,
met in the latter city. when it wasn'
busy running to some other place be
cause Of redcoats.
In June 17s3. Congress. then sitting il
Philadelphia, was threatened by a moi
Of soldiers. This. Mr.. Carnegie's assist
ant declared, was one OF the creates
causes why Miss District came into ex
istence. Congress evidently didn't Hk,
the threats Of the soldiers, and as it wa.
before the day Of discharges withou
honor" Il moved 10 several places-a
different times Princeton, Annapolis
Trenton, and New York all claimed th'
honor on different occasions.
This act Of the soldiery brought up tn,
discussion of the location Of the Capita
Of the nation in some permanent place
New Yorls State offered Kingston, Mary
land offered Annapolis while later bOtl
Pennsylvania and Virginia made similar
proffers OF a location for the Capital.
On June 1, 17S3, a resolution was passed
by Congress setting the next October 70,
the consideration Of the offers of severa
States for the place Of the seat Of govern
ment. When October came whistlInf
around, sure enough Congress took VI
the question. You better believe that i
was well thrashed out, too. Not even {
rate bill was the subject Of more ex
PEELED thought than was the selection O,
the Ccpitars location.
Congress passed resolutions setting one
place as the site-then the other brancl
amended that resolution. and il was SEM
back 10 the House. whence il came. Tho
bill was used as sort Of tennis-baIl-
the Cabinet Of that name was not In form
that fall-for many weeks. Virginia
along in December. I7SS. offered a tract
OF the necessary ten miles square q
Congress. Maryland passed her law on
this day 11S years ago.
sim The fight went on in Congress. Al
though Miss District had been born. be-
cause OF the, act OF MarylG1d, she hadnt
been christened yet by the government
or adopted legally. In August and Sep
tember, IIS9, Congress debated the ad-
visibility Of having two capitals. in
which sessions could be held alternately
Some wag-he may have been Attorney
General Of the time-suggested that since
a statue Of Gen. Washington was. accord
Mcconnell Discoveries In Vitality