Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-26
FIFTY YEARS AGO
IN THE STAR

Washington was full of lobbyists during
the entire civil war period, Congress be-
ing importuned persistently for
PAPER and against various proposals
Tnkh,, affecting certain interests. In
""'' The Star of January II. 1863.
is the following editorial on the subject
Of the lobby of the paper manufacturers
who were concerned in proposals looking
to- the reduction in the cost of newspaper
print paper:
Tho most persistent and pressing lob
bying now being done here is by the
drummers of the papermakers' combina-
ton. Their recent scheming upon the
business of the country having already
put millions in their pockets, filched from
the public by their dishonest secret
operations. they can we'll afford to prom
Use enormous compensation to men with
out character In and out of public life
who will aid them to keep their current
entire control of the paper market to the
extent of dividing 100 per centum profits
annually, instead of the Ii per centum
they averaged before combining. with
which they were then well content. New
crtheless. We do not perceive that their
cause is gaining material strength before
Congress. as the whole country realizes
that their current operations are but
those of an organized band of plunderers.
1t will take more than a lavish eXpendi-
ture of their illgotten gains in Washing
ton to induce Congress to affirm the cor
rectness of and perpetuate their frauds
upon all who use writing or printing pa
per. including the government itself. that
being the plain issue involved in the
question whether the current duty on i'm
ported paper shall Or shall not be re-
pealed or suspended
The transfer of District prisoners SEN
fenced 10 long terms to prisons in other
Jurisdictions began fifty
transfer OF years ago, when the ac-
ro,u;o+. colnmodatiOnS for such
guests of the state here be-
came greatly reduced owing to the pres
sure of war necessities. In The Star of
January 30, 1863, is the following news
article:
Yesterday Marshal Lannon's posse re-
turned from Albany, n. y. where they
had been to convey gang Of forty-one
convicts sent from this District to be inn
prisoned i'll the Albany penitentiary, the
penttentiary here being no longer used as a
prison They started from Washington at
pm. Friday last and arrived at Albany
about dusk the next day. The prisoners
were all ironed in pairs, and when NOV
ing from one depot to another the males
were locked to a chain two abreast; and
during the journey. although the convicts
required to be watched to prevent them
from slipping the irons, which several
attempted, the officers had no special
trouble with them. At Albany an impress
sion seemed to prevail among the people
that the negroes We're contrabands, and
many inquiries were made by persons
there, who exhibited some excitement
Marshal Lamon, who did not relax his
vigilance during the trip, explained to the
Abanians the why and wherefore of the
taking of the convicts to Albany. After
getting the cOnvictS in the penitentiary
the warden had them drawn up before
him and addressed them upon the rules
of the prison. and told them that if they
complied with the rules and behaved
themselves properly they would be kindly
treated; If not, he had power and would
see that they We're punished according to
the rules. The prison is a fine building,
and the cleanliness of the interior and
the perfect order and quiet that prevails
throughout is highly creditable to those
having the control of it,
Much trouble was had during the early
days Of the street railway in Washington
over the transfers issued by
transfer the company to passengers
r1, who wished to ride upon
AAouoie' different lines in order to
reach certain destinations. In The Star
of January 81, 1863. is this news para
graph telling of such an instance, lead
ing to a test case:
Yesterday morning Mr. Hotchkfss
purchased ticket on a navy yard car
east of the Capitol and received a George
town check. He got off the car and
walked to the head of Pennsylvania ave-
nue., where he got on another car. The
conductor would not receive the check,
not considering it good. and Mr.. Hotch-
kiss was elected from the car by a
policeman. He then made affidavit of. the
facts before Justice Dom and addressed
them to Mr.. Gideon, cone of the directors
of the railroad company, in which he
threatens to test the question
The public diversions during the civil
war in Washington We're not altogether
of a nature to draw the
Lecture minds of the people from
49, matters martial. A course
S of lectures at the Smith,
sonian Institution was in progress at
this time fifty years ago, calculated to
keep those who attended thinking along
lines of slaughter. In The Star OF jan
uary ~, 1863. is this. news article de-
scriptive of one of these lectures:
Prof. Horsford of Harvard University
lectured last evening upon the subject,
Munitions of War at the hall OF the
He referred to the manu-
facture of gunpowder and the attempts
that had been made to secure requisite
strength, and at the same time not to
explode The qualities of gun-cotton
were then referred to at length, and its
fully explained.
1.-The lecturer then gave description
Of cannons which had been used in diff
ferent ages of the world, and the i'm
provements which had been made since
the first cannon was used. He mentioned
as an instance the discovery OF a gun
in the kremln at Moscow which had a
chamber in the bottom of the piece cap
able of containing 500 pounds of pow
der. The lecturer also fully explained
the differences between the Tread
well, Whitworth. Armstrong, Dahl
gren and other guns, and showed the
and the different apparatus employed in
the manufacture of guns. wrought OF
cast iron, bronze or malleable iron.
THE learned professor handled his
subject in a manner that evinces a full
of what he processes to ex-.
plain He illustrates every proposition
and every statement made by