Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-15
FIFTY YEARS AGO
In THE STAR

In The NIAk
Mail troubles are not particularly. char
acteristic OF the present period. There
have been such annoyances
Delayed in the past at this point.
For example, the patrons OF
s' the post ONCE Of half q CEN
fury ago were in q ferment over the fall
ure of the mails, and the explanation Of
the misadjustment appears In the follow
ing paragraph in The Star OF March 8,
1853:
For three or four days past the mall
line by the Potomac river and the Fred
ericksburg and Richmond railroad has
missed connections at this point, owing to
the ice In the river and the low stage
of the water at the Aqua creek landing.
Thus. OF course, the mails have also
missed and hundreds OF passengers have
been delayed and otherwise fntolerably
vexed. We presume that the Post Office
Department will exact the stipulated for
FIXTURES from the contractors over the
route to the last penny, as they could
have avoided the loss (failure) Of q single
mail by transferring the mails for the time
andria and Gordonsville and the Alexan-
dria and Orange and Central railroads,
which have not missed connections with
the Baltimore and Ohio or the Richmond
ana petersburg railroad once this season.
contract exists under which the great
southern mails are to be SO transferred
when the river may be- frozen up. The
1aliure or the railroad companies to COM
ply with their obligations promptly, be-
SIDES compelling their passengers to lose
IN txRyn ynAS -
eilng time. and also to submit to con-
siderable additional expense, involves a
grievous injury to the public interests in
the way Of mail failures. The Postmaster
General will doubtless bring the delin-
quent parties up with round turn.
4 i
An amusing account of how fashion
yielded to comfort and health appears
in an article printed in
Big The Star of March IL,
poo+. 1856 descriptive Of Presi-
dent Buchanan's levee:
THE 'slosh' or 'sposh.' or what you
Will call the milk and molasses colored
mixture with which the streets were
plastered Tuesday night, caused a some
what diminished attendance at the White
House reception, and was. moreover, the
occasion OF an amusing piece of mysti-
fcat1on. Very much puzzled were the
men folk at least. to account for a Pc
culiar, heavy -all-pervading tramp tramp.
tramp. as If a team Of elephants were
stamping about in the Executive Man.
sion. Don Quixote's falling mills were
not a circumstance to the appalling mys-
terry of this noise, which swelled above
the crash Of the Marine Band. and In
the pauses OF the music rose to some
thing frightful. But the secret leaked
out, and. after all. didn't amount to
much. The ladies. it seems. have been
lectured SO persistently by their lords
and masters in general, and the medical
fraternity in particular, on the suicidal
practice Of wearing butterfly soles in
sloppy weather. that they have taken to
treble-soled boots we see In the shop
windows. This accounts for the special
thunder Of Tuesday night. OF course.
thanks to crinoline. the big bootees were
anguished howl set up by an elderly
gentleman, on whose tender toes one of
these No. 10 slippers lit with emphasis.
the mystery might have remained un-
solved. Naturally, the East Room 'brus-
sells suffered some, and the elliptica1
course followed by the fair. but heavy
hoofed prone naders. were outlined as dis
tinctly upon the carpet as the mule track
in a bark mill. After all, 1t is a sensible
fashion. and we trust it may prosper"
Il 4
A negro woman was hanged at Alexan-
dria half a century ago. and SO keen was
the morbid public interest
Saw the in the execution that the
pressure for places within
hanging. the Jail was immense. The
gallows. however, being erected In the
jail yard, was open to the view of those
who might manage to mount the wall.
In The Star of March II. 1853. is this
account Of the plight sof some of these
enterprising horror-seekers.
''At the execution Of the negress Jenny
few days ago at Alexandria some man
large number of the outsiders were en-
abled to mount the Jail wall and witness
the execution. This was all very we'll:
but the wall audience, after the sight
had been seen, on turning about to de-
scend again to terra firma. discovered
that the ladder had been removed, leaving
them high and dry and In an exceedingly
unpleasant position. The man with the
ladder stood a short distance OF. enjoying
immensely the predicament Of his cap
threats either. would induce him to re-
iieve. The boys looked down with an
eye to a desperate leap; but, alas! the
distance was too great; and only then
did 1t occur to them to try the enect OF
silver to induce the ladder man to come
to terms. This was precisely what that
gentleman had been waiting for, and
when he heard the word money he con-
sented to negotiate terms. which were
that he should receive the small fee OF
10 cents a head and that the pay should
be in advance. The dimes were accord
ingly pitched down and gathered up,
when the ladder was again placed against
the wall: but the eccentric and specula-
tive manager performed a sudden exit,
to the unbounded chagrin Of his victims,
who had fondly hoped to get even with
HIM as soon as they should reach the
ground"
I'VE are very sure" says The Star of
March IL, 1858. that the owners Of real
estate In the District of Co.
School lumbia will cheerfully accept
r., the proposition Of Senator
Brown of Mississippi to tax
them 10 cents in the hundred dollars for
school purposes, in addition to the tax
to the same end they now pay. No COM
munity can make q better investment
than in paying literally for educational
purposes. provided. as here. the money