Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-31
FIFTY YEARS AGO
In THE STAR

Many awkward situations arose during
the days Of crinoline in consequence of the
misadjustments that re-
0ate fosts suited from the great cir
and Hoopa conference Of womens
skirts. In The Star of
March 80. 1851 is a news paragraph that
Will disclose an embarrassment Of that
day. and will also indicate that easily with
In the memory Of living Washingtonians
cows wandered around the city spaces in
the immediate neighborhood Of the White
House:
We learn that the object in placing the
iron posts in front of the gates of Lafayette
Square, which seem to have provoked some
complaint among the ladies, is to keep the
cows out of 1t. Persons in passing through
the square are apt to leave the gates open,
and the cows that Craze around 1t avail
themselves Of every opportunity to gain
admittance. and often commit great havoc
with the shrubbery before they can be
driven out. The ladies who frequent the
square must, therefore, either submit to q
loss OF the beautiful plants and flowers,
winch are so much admired, or to change
In their costume. and of the two evils surely
they cannot hesitate which to choose.
doubtless every lady of correct, and es-
pecially OF cultivated. taste will prefer the
preservation Of the shrubbery to the gaze
which the present outre style Of dress at
tracts. The same kind Of posts are set
before the gates of Oak Hill cemetery for
the same purpose, and. although there are
just as many visitors to that tasteful and
consecrated abode OF the dead. we never
near OF any complaint from the ladies Of
inconvenience in gaining admittance."
This same. hoopskirt question had an
economic side. as will be seen from the
following letter to The Star,
OMNIBUS printed in the issue Of April
Troubles. 1. 1857, apropos of then
current discussion regarding
omnibus fares:
Every one has noticed how mothers and
nurses. with troops Of. children. throng the
stages This is we'll. The omnibus af-
fords to even the humblest person a cheap
and comfortable conveyance. But is 1t not
unfortunate that the education Of some OF
the said mothers and nurses has been so
neglected that even the simplest sum in
arithmetic exceeds their powers? The
terms plainly printed-'Children occu-
plying seats. full fare (six cents). But in
the face Of this lady with child upon
her lap, and one, two or three more on the
seats. will at the end of her ride, con-
sole the driver with ftp (6A cents). Yes
terday one Of this class with four chill
dren entered stage in which the writer
was seated. and after a ride OF consider
able length passed six cents to the man
of the whip. Last week he saw a lady
pay eighteen cents for herself, nurse and
four little ones. The prosecutors (of the
omnibus enterprise) are wronged further
more by the common practice which con-
verts four into six; that is to say three or
four ladies with their hoops will occupy
one side OF an omnibus, and II either q
gentleman or one OF their own sex de-
sires admittance. with averted face they
will not see the intruder. or If compelled
to make room do 1t with so bad a grace
that many persons prefer walking to a
ride with such ungenerous companions"
Two paragraphs in The Star Of April 1,
1857. indicate that President Buchanan was
still having trouble with the
ohce office seekers. One follows:
Seekers. There are at least forty
gentlemen said to be on the
anxious bench in connection with this va
cant office Second auditor of the treasury,
among them being platoon of perhaps a
dozen Of our own ambitious fellow citizens
Of Washington. The hunt after the office is
becoming exceedingly interesting, the game
being near at hand and the trail being
very hot. AS but one Of the forty can
win the brush, we advise them all to be as
cool as cucumbers. for nothing is to be
made by fretting over defeated hopes in
such affairs. 1t Is certain that at least
thirty-nine Of them must be disappointed,
as well as. perhaps, thirty-nine friends of
and expectants from every one of those
thirty nine
The other indicates that Mr. Buchanan
was strategist of no mean order of abil-
ity:
I'VE presume that when the President
caused the doors of his office to be thrown
open today for the admission of the throng
o IN
at least 100 entered the chamber. How
ever fnconvenient this clever mode Of man
aging the matter may have been to his
guests of the occasion who hoped for pri-
vate interviews upon their respective
cases and claims, not to have been
granted without consuming an average of
fifteen minutes each, or an aggregate of
twenty-four hours every day in the year,
1t was certainly a very happy thought. SO
far as the dispatch of the public business
is concerned
Il Il
In The Star Of April 2. 1857 is to be
found an interesting extract from the first
issue Of Roger A. Pryor's
prophetic new journal, THE South"
View. published at Richmond, In
which Mr.. Pryor, taking as
his text the moral and political effects of
the enactment Of the Kansas Nebraska act
and the bred Scott decision, displayed a re-
markedly prophetic spirit:
I'm the final conflict between slavery
and abolitionism which this very decision
will precipitate rather than retard, the
principles of the Judgment In the bred
Scott case may be Of some avail to the
south in giving an appearance Of justice
and moderation to its position. OF these
advantages the south Is secure, but let us
not abandon ourselves to the delirium Of a
premature triumph. The victory Is not
yet gained, and it Is question whether
the decision may not add as much to the
material strength Of the north as it de-
ducts from its moral power. Another such
success as was achieved in the Kansas
Nebraska act, and the south would have
been undone-so hardly was the victory
won, and so much Of resentment and fero-
cious energy did it infuse into the ranks Of
the adversary.
1T seems as If the same consequence
will follow from our recent triumph III the
Supreme Court. The abolitionists are not
at all abashed or dismayed; on the con-
trary. they accept this repulse as another
blow in the work of imparting compact
ness and strength to their organization,
and from the fire that consumes bred
At-s a.