Evening star., 1912-11-10
Fifty YEARS AGO
IN THE STAR

In InE OlAk
During the civil war newspaper publish
ers found themselves frequently en-
barrassed by the excessively
Paper hish rates charged for print
paper. In The Star Of N0-
| vember 8, 1862, Is a para
graph about this matter:
| Since the days OF the revolution OF ia
paper has never been as high as at the
/ present time. This arises from the great
| scarcity of cotton and linen rags, which
are the component parts in the manufac-
ture. The prices Of these have risen over
| 100 per cent and hence the mills have
| been forced to advance their rates on all
the different grades from Is to 90 per
cent. which, upon an article in such gen.
eral use as paper, must seriously affect
| the whole community. The newspapers
throughout the country are puzzled now
to Get along without a corresponding IN
crease in the price OF their issues. AL
ready the Philadelphia publishers have
called a convention to a~ree upon the
necessary advance and nearly all others
will apparently soon be compelled to
adopt the same course.
x ::
The following paragraph in The Star
Of November 3. 1862. indicates that the men
in the military ranks were
| Soldiers not above petty graft Con-
| c., sidering the fact that post
S"AoS' age stamps were current as
money. it is to be believed that consider
able sums were acquired in this way:
~
soldiers to raise the wind Is one which.
on account of it's frequent occurrence. de-
serves notice. viz: The practice of SOL
d,ers approaching individuals and asking
for a postage stamp. exhibiting at the
same time q sealed letter. Our citizens
should know that stamps thus given are
seldom appropriated for their legitimate
restaurants for liquor. etc. An honorable.
| sober soldier Is not apt to be necessitated
to beg stamp
The joke about Alexandria being slow
seems to have had an early origin. In
The Star of November 4, 1862,
Slow is the following paragraph OF
49,, complaint regarding the delay of
1aA' the mails coming this way from
| that Virginia city:
I'VE get the Alexandra papers usually
.wo or three days behind time-somet mes
In accumulated patches week OLD ano
quite frequently not at all. Where rs the
fault. with Uncle Sam, or the mall clerks
| or the papers? In the way of mail COM
munication New York Is notorfously near
| er Washington than the neighborfnS city
| of Alexandria"
Statistics Of the area of the city OF
Washington are given in The Star OF No
vember .. 1862. in the following
| City'S paragraph and are Of interest
A.. now, although to this area
Aea' have since been added George
town and the old county;
THE total area within the city boun-
dairy, exclusive Of all east of 25th street
east and exclusive of the basin at the
| west end Of the canal west OF 18th street.
| is 6,11O94 acres. or 266. 1885 square
| feet, divided as follows:
Area of public reservations
and squares occupied by
| public buildings Square ft) 2o.1 1s9 O62
! Area of building lots. III ,GS III
Area OF Alleys. f,lt1'1uo
Area Of avenues. streets, open
spaces and canal. ....-........ liz. 1929
THE extension Of the arsenal grounds
gives the following as The aggregate length
length of streets. 1,010.6S feet: total
length of avenues. 1s3.797 feet; total.
27.93 miles, or ,1OS, AGO feet
| Inasmuch as the Long bridge was prac-
tically the only means Of communication
| by rail between Wash
End8ngerinV ington and the south
| its safety was a mat
Long Bridge. ter of grave public
concern. On this subject the followin &
paragraph was printed in The Star of No
vember Z, 1862:
| Some months ago careless masters or
| pilots of tugs and steamers were in the
| habit now and then Of staving their ves-
sells against the draw Of the Long bridge
when to.ng through it. A few arrests
(and the detention in the old Capitol
prison of the guilty partieS very soon
cured the evil then. Recently the de-
mand on the service of the government
| railroad across the Long bridge has again
become very great, and again masters OF
tugs and steamers seem inclined to smas i
it with their vessels, by way of defeating
it's competition with them in the govern
| ment carrying trade. On the day before
yesterday and yesterday such collisions
took place. Orders for the arrest of
those in charge of the vessels have been
issued by the War Department, which
designs holding all such parties hereafter
until they can prove beyond question that
it was the result Of neitner negligence
nor design, and also pay all the resulting
damage"
The provost guard was an institution OF
such prestige in Washington during the
civil war that Occa-
Provost Guard sionally officers were
r.4.c:4a inclined to envy the
0o"'SA power possessed by it's
members. A case in point is shown by
the following paragraph in The Star Of
November Z, 1862:
Last night Lieut.. Poynton of the 10Th
Virginia Union) Regiment improvised a
provost guard Of fifteen men, and. going
to the vicinity of Growers Theater, he
ordered several of the alehouses to be
closed, proving himself to be very em-
cient, and afterward he went into the
thealer and demanded to see the passes
of a number OF officers, among them sew
eral attached to the provost marshafs
Office, but. smelling a mice he came out
and dismissed the guard and returned
to the theater to enjoy the performance.
his coming out. however, he was arrested
by Lieut.. Franklin and ordered to report
to the provost marshal. This morning he
reported himself under arrest. and was
sent to the old Capitol, where 1t is to be
hOned he will learn how to attend to his