Evening star., 1909-03-14
FIFTY YEARS AGO
IN THE STAR

Washington was an important point o1
! transshipment In the traffic between the
| north and the south along
Spring the eastern coast half CEN
| tury ago. owing to the fact
| that here practically met the
two main trunks paralleling the ocean
shore. In The Star of March Z, 1859, is q
paragraph dealing with this matter:
'"The travel both ways TO, from and
through this city is now very large The
| usual spring caravans Of southern mer-
| chants going north for goods are daily
passing over the Orange and Alexandria
| and Potomac and Richmond railroads.
Apropos. the story of landslides in the
| mountains upon the great Southwestern
| line is made of whole cloth. 1t was
| doubtless manufactured to injure the bust
ness OF this great and important line.
Passengers who have just come over it
| from New Orleans to Washington city
| assure us that no other railroad line in the
world can be in better order or more
agreeable to travel over. We may say as
tersburg and Wilmington. The rivalry OF
the southwestern line has spurred up the
companies composing the Southern line to
the point of availing themselves Of every
improvement in their reach likely to in
duce travellers to choose their route. The
consequence is that nowhere else in the
United States are there two more splendid
and delightful great lines of railroad con-
nectlon. 10 Washington city this is a
matter or great Importance, as 1t is rapid
ly resulting In drawing the through travel
from the New York and Illinois lines, the
pennsylvania lines. and, indeed from the
Baitlmore and Ohio line, through the fed
eral metropolis"
*
1nrnndfo VII ie-
III any community, even when there is
well organized fire de-
1ncend1ary partment, but in the old
p1,, days of the volunteer fire
companies the crime of
arson was calculated to terrfy the
d"ellers In cities. Washington suf-
fered from an outbreak of this descrip-
ton half century ago. In The star
of March 8, 1859. is the following news
item:
Last night about II o'clock row
OF two-story frame tenements belong
ing to Mr.. w. Berry, on Az street, near
virginia avenue, were set on fire and
burned. and with them a double frame
adjoining. Berry's row consisted of
four houses. some of them untenanted
jackson. the unfortunate owner of the
house and rented the remainuer.
AT the same time two untenanted
frame houses on 1st street, near the
canal, were also fired and burned. 1t
is rumored that several attempts to
fire property in other parts of the
seventh ward were made last night put
failed.
I'VE cannot be too lavish of praise
or the hremen who were out last night
The Franklin and Columbia fire companies
hCtan6inp in, Iocn
Ing In torrents and the roads were deep
with mud, pulled their apparatus to the
distant scene of the confiagration and
continued to labor with diligence to
prevent the spread of the fire. Since
incendiarism is making it's appearance
so boldly, would it not be we'll for the
mayor to offer the reward for the
arrest and conviction of incendaries
winch the law authorizes, and in case
Of arrest and conviction to pay ito"
X
The art of periodical illustration mad
not advanced very far fifty years ago.
the wood engraving
Newspaper process being the only
p.r.:.. means of reproducing
pictures in print One
consequence was that few papers attempted
any sort of illustration whatsoever.
The metropolitan weekly press went
in for illustration. however. on a scale
then regarded as extraordinary and
lavish. In The Star Of March 10, 1859,
is the following passage:
"The New York Sunday and other il
lustrated newspapers of the same sensa-
ton school have had an immense run,
especially those that have pictorial il
Illustrations of the dramatis persona who
are named In connection with the recent
tragedy. And such likenesses! In one
instance a cut that was originally eX-
ecuted for Piccolomini is palmed off as
Mrs. Sickles; in another instance an
old likeness of Jenny Lind is pressed into
service. while Mr.. Sickles and Mr.. Butter
worth are fiattered with having the coun-
terfeit preSentmentS of couple of fel-
lows :hat were hanged not long since ex-
hibited to the enlightened public as the
veritable portraits of the injured hus-
band and his friend. Mr.. Key, being
dead, is spared the modification of see
Ing an old engraving of Alfred Bum
the London theatrical manager, shown
up as fac simile by our artist"
Probably as long as the United States
remains in existence as a national Or
ganiZation the question of
Official whether the Supreme Court
49, . takes precedence of the
'Aa"o''o' diplomatic corps will con-
tinue to puzzle the brains and embarrass
hosts and hostesso3 at this capital. A very
few years ago 1t was in evidence at the
White House, to the confusion of certain
we'll laid social plans. 1t appears from
the following paragraph. printed in The
Star March IL, 1859. that it was then re-
garded as a perennial poblem:
"The wags of both sexes in society here
have been greatly amused in quiet way
for years past by d sort of squabble