Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1913-09-03
Washington: a Unique City.

States. 1t IS the most american, oe'
cause it's population is made up OF
people from all the states, and not
American at all, for the reason that
it's residents cannot vote. 1t is the
most cosmopolitan, because repre-
sentatives of all other nations dwell
in it yet it has no foreign quarters.
Washington's greatest industry Is
government, and its greatest prod.
uct is politics, but the issues are all
national! And it is the most beautl-
full city in the United States, and ls
claimed by many authorities to have
no peer in the world. There are
more shade trees in Washington
than any other city in the world.
1t has $4,000 beautiful trees, with
a population of $50, 200. The city
has 275 little parks, less than one
acre in size. There are ten large
parks the larges: being the Mall,
reaching from the Botanical garden,
at the foot of capital Hill, to the
Washington monument, distance
of three fourths of a mile. The
crowning of the park system are the
Rock Creek park and the Zoologi-
cal park which are practically one,
and have combined area of l,776
acres. More negroes live in Wash
ington than in any other city. The
Washington monument is the most
memorial ever raised by
man to the memory of a leader OF
men. The capitol and dome soaring
above the clouds is crowned with
the emblem of freedom, that sym
bolizes the highest national attain
ments Of the human race. This great
government of ours is builder 1t
can construct anything from a gau
that will hurl Two thirds ofga
ton of steel a distance Of fifteen.
miles, to pair of scales so delicate
that the balance will turn sharply
under the weight of a millionth part
of grain. 1t performs functions
ranging from diplomatic affairs to
the driving of mules, from making
maps to feeding hogs; from coming
money to making ice cream; from
digging canals to flying kites. The
service of half million men and
women, and at a cost of more than
a billion dollars year is required
to keep this huge machine going.
This is great country as well as a
great government. Having only one
sixteenth of the worlds population,
the United States has one fourth of
its wealth, owns a third of'its rail-
ways, distributes third of it's mail,
wields a third of it's banking pow
er, and prints more than half OF its
newspapers and magazines. Having
only one twentieth of the landed
area of the civilized world, the
United States produces one fifth of
it's wheat, one third of its coal, one
fourth of Its gold, one of its manu-
featured wares, nearly one half Of
its steel, more than half of its pc
troleun, nearly two thirds of it's
cotton, and four ffths of it's corn.
1t is the land of plenty, for it is
the only country on earth excep-
ting some of the British colonies
where an ordinary laboring man
May eat meat every day if he wants
it. This is the greatest republic on
earth, how the president, congress
and officers of the government, pro-
tects this nation against foreign
foes, safeguards the public health,
and administers, its laws to preserve
peace at home.
The president of the United
States is the foremost ruler of the
world. He ls not a ru Ter by accl-
dent or birth, but by virtue of the
will of so,ooo.ooo of people, who
fight the worlds greatest political
battles every four years for his Sc
lection; and they willingly and full
ly acquiesce in the verdict of the
ballot box. Washington has no fac
tories, no smoke in the city, all
trains run underground. The great
brass eagles at the union depot with
outstretched wings fifty feet high
watching the capital is very sig
nificant and one cab easily read the
meaning. Now l will tell of the Cat
at the Washington monument, and
the curtain falls. My guide told me
that when the monument was 455
feet high the builders had cat up
there with them and from some
cause it jumped off and hit the
ground running, but a dog caught
the cat and killed it. / said, Bud |
believe what you say, but | never
would tell that cat tale again.