davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1913-04-20

are gardens green with grass, in which
dandelions and dog fennel grow, and
some long questionable shrubbery. Per-
haps before the sun climbs much higher
or this ramble gets into print purple IL
lacs, snowballs and bridal wreath will be
blooming there, and later hollyhockS and
sunfiowers will glow unless these old-time
garden pets shall be too shy to show
themselves in a neighborhood where. as a
rule, only fashionable and carefully tend
ed flowers grow. Before the gardens are
old wooden paling fences. From the
fence line to the street is quite a strip
Of foot-worn turf. showing that the line
of the Avenue Of the Presidents Is not
precisely that of the older and less i'm
pressively named roadway
The northernmost Of these houses has
yellow painted weatherboarding and d
steep hip-roof timed and painted brown.
On the north side Of the roof a brick
chimney starts upward. 1t starts with
good intentions-that is. of following an
upright course and holding to its vertical
line. But in all this it fails-not falls 1t
inclines-tilat is, it actually leans-to the
north and east 1t is far out of plumb.
1t seems to have overleaned the center Of
gravity and that only the persistence OF
the mortar (they probably put lime and
hair in mortar in the days when that
house was builD keeps the chimney from
toppling down. Those who have observed
this slanting brickwork call it 1.-The Lean
ing Chimney of the Avenue of the Presi
dents.'
Evening star., 1913-04-20

with two strands of barbed wire, which
incloses what there is of this memorial.
Then the group moved down to the south
east corner of the structure to inspect
the artillery figures there. One of the
strangers had a weather eye, and his
comment on the sculpture is worth re-
peating.
To those persons who have only
glimpsed this part Of the memorial as
they have sped by in an automobile Or
a street car it is we'll to say that mount
ed on a marble pedestal on the south end
are a field gun, its carriage. its Timber.
two bronze and presumably bronzed cam
noneers on the timber chest, four horses
In harness, two drivers on the near
horses and a single mount ridden by the
guidon ON the near side of the near
wheeler. The gudon carries the guidon.
This may be confusing to one until one
knows that the enlisted man who carries
the fishtail battery pennon is borne on
the rolls as ''gudon." and that the scar
let pennon he carries is also guIdon
The gun and it's accessories are true to
the civil war period. So. too, is the har-
ness OF the horses and the uniforms and
euuiprr ent of the men. The gun is being
drawn up grade over very rough ground,
but the horses are not in draft. The linn
Der wheels must have hit something pret-
ty hard. The wheelers are on their
launches, and the fiat leather traces are
SO loose that they loop almost to the
ground
One of the horses before they settle
down in the collars will surely get leg
over a trace The lead team there is no
swing team is rearing and plunging,
and its traces are very slack. The pole
must be up among the hind legs of the
leaders and they are in imminent danger
of having leg broken. There is plenty
of life in the bronze portraiture-and one
would like to say that there is actlon
I'm It. only the reader might be confused
as to whether the word action were
Evening star., 1913-04-20
A Grass-Grown Street.

A GRASS-GROWN street is a rarity IN
Washington. but there is one, and
that close upon the wholesale food dis
tributing part of the city. There may be
other streets of this character in the CAPT
tai but they must he in the far outlying
parts of the great town. unless there be
grass growing between the rock paving
of some of the hill streets of Georgetown
from Water street north to NJ street,
where the grade is too heavy for general
vehicle traffic and in some cases too
heavy for traffic at all.
But that street or the part of the street
which verdure claims is B street west be
tween 18th and 11th. This broad street.
as every Washing.onian knows. leads
along the north face Of the Agricultural
and Smithsonian grounds. From 18th to
10th streets the broad way passes he
tween the rich, grassy grounds of the
Smithsonian Institution and the bare
plaza, whitened with oyster shells, that IL
called the haymarket, but where coun-
trymen sell from their wagons many
other things than hay. The north half OF
b street is paved with pale, yellowish.
vitrified brick and the south half j.
roughly paved with gneiss rock. not
blocks. but large, irregular pieces of stone
laid something after the fashion of cob
BILE or rubble. 1t is hard and sound
pavement but very uneven to persons
who have the habit of thinking in terms
asphalt 1T is in the interstices of this
rock that the grass grows one is almost
inclined to say luxuriantly grows. Ger
tainly il rankly grows.
The line of big and graceful elms that
stand along the north line of the smith
sonian grounds stretch their sweeping
branches over the tall iron fence that
bounds the park, over the brick sidewalk
and out over the rock-paved street No
farmers wagons occupy that side of y
street, though they do back against the
north curb That is the reason the grass
is growing on the south side. Looked ~
from a little distance that side OF the
street presents a picture of gray ana
green that has become unusual in Wash
ington.
Evening star., 1913-04-20

dentally. for the working women of the
world.
Though few in official life present
more encouraging example of congenial
happiness than Mr.. and Mrs. Mann, never
was the adage that those with dissimilar
tastes agree the best more clearly prov
ed. To his wife and his hosts of friends
the courtly leader of the minority is
known as y. r." and all who know him
thus know also that his Astounding JOY Is
to dig in the earth and to produce stu
pendous crops of growing things.
Mrs. Mann says that she might have
loved flowers and loved to rear them. but
her husband gave SO much attention to
the subject and did the work SO thorough
ly and so successfully that she could not
see the least excuse for taking up
the trowel or the hoe. Mr.. Mann in Chi
cago is identified with a lovely garden
which he has planted on some property
he owns at South Shore a station on the
lake and in the southern part OF the big
city. Here he has planted thousands OF
trees. and in every spot where seed
may lodge he has turned the wilderness
into bloom, giving great space to poppies,
other places to phlox, peonies. holly
hooks and the perennia1s which bloom
luxuriantly throughout the summer.
All this just for the love Of the riotous
color which these flowers present and for
the JOY or seeing bare spots clothed IN
such loVeliness Nothing offers such op-
portunity for pure enjoyment as to dig
and hoe and grub out the weeds. thin the
plants and water them and during the
few months which these unremitting ex-
ira sessions of Congress now allow him
Mr.. Mann spends his leisure at South
Shore. To have admiring friends praise
his flowers and then go home laden with
their beauty is treat he prizes above
all material pleasures. His friends say
that when he has exhausted his physical
strength in the garden, his pleasure is
then to get some light, frothy novel and
stretched in a hammock in full view of
his flowers. to absorb its contents. His
capacity for novels is unlimited and
few of the best sellers escape his vigi-
lance.
Mrs. Mann owns to several genuine fads.
pursuits which give her unbounded pleas
ure, and they are dry in comparison
to Mr. Manns as yellum-bound manu-
scripts must be when considered with the
graceful lilies, radiant poppies and the
Evening star., 1913-04-20

home method very much in vogue
especially among the southern porn.
When she had completed her studles sne
and her sister passed six months study
ing in Paris under the care of a teachef
formerly of Rock Island and well known
to the parents of the young LADIES. BE
fore returning to this country Mrs Mann
and her sister enjoyed extensive traVel
on the continent. This love of foreign
countries. early inculcated, is another Oh
Mrs. Mann's pronounced chafacterlStics.
She has accompanied her husband on sew
eral missions to the canal belt, Porto
Rico, Cuba and adjacent points.
~
Mrs. Mann takes great pride in her
southern ancestry, and is keenly alive to
all that means Misrepresentation of Dixie
land or it's people. Still she is, above all,
an enthusiastic lover of Illinois. and
especially does she glory in the splendid
work by the women of her state ana by
those who compose the Woman's club OF
Chicago. She became a member of that
celebrated club about twenty years ago.
Though she has been absent from Chica-
go for the past sixteen years, she has re-
tanned her active membership. She fol-
lows all the club work with unfiagging
attention and while her name seldom ap-
pears in connection with the splendid
endeavors which have made the club
nationally great, she is none the less
potent force for success. That she has
the welfare Of the club close to heart was
proved when she refused TO take advan-
tage of her absence from Chicago to pay
the lesser dues imposed on out-of-town
members MIR. Mann is also very proud
of the Chicago Womans Club, and he
has followed the work along civic lines
with cordial approval.
In public and private he never fails to
give the members due credit for their
cellent work. Just to recite some of the
names is. in Mr.. Manns opinion, pow
erful argument In favor of such organi-
cations in every great city which has
similar civic and philanthropic problems
to face. There is that well known wom-
an now at the head of the children's bu-
reau, Miss Julia c. Lathrop, who is an
active and most valuable member of the
Chicago Wonan's Club. not to speak of
that wonderful Chicagoan known
throughout the world, Jane Adams.
There is such dignified type of the So
ciety queen famous at home and abroad,
Evening star., 1913-04-20
It's No Use.

MISS INEZ MILHOLLAND. the suf-
lV4 fragist. was arguing with an anti
at dinner at the Colony Club in New
York.
..Oh, you are unfair" she said You
turn even our merits against US. You are
like Rain-in- the-Face.
Chief Rain-in-the-Face was once
escorting woman in a canoe across
Canadian lake which the Indians held in
superstitious dread. believing that If one
spoke while crossing the lake one would
inevitably be destroyed by the Great
Spirit.
well. the woman thought she would
cure the Indians of this silly superstition.
and so. in the middle of the lake, she
sang a song at the top of her voice.
Observation-Disclosures was overcome with
dread and horror. He signed to his pad
ders to paddle faster, and the men
strained every nerve. In silence they
soon landed the canoe on the opposite
bank.
Then the woman said to Rain -in-the-
Face:
There. I hope you're convinced now
that one can talk and sing while crossing
the lake without angering the Great
Spirit?
Huh said Rain-in-t the Face scorn-
fully The Great Spirit is merciful. He
knows woman can't keep still. %
Evening star., 1913-04-20

showed such a disposition TO write that
it was believed that he would win fame
in the world of letters. He has, however,
chosen finance as a career. but has spent
several years travelling in this country
and abroad. before settling down to a
banking desk in Chicago. Young James,
when about twelve years old, took trip
under the ocean in company with one OF
the builders of a submarine torpedo boat
and he gave such a realistic account or
his experience to a home paper that
scientific magazine editor asked him TO
write his impression more fully. This
taste Of literary fame inspired him 10
write frequently. Recently he has been
publishing sketches of his experiences on
ranches In southern Texas, and with
great success.
Representative and Mrs Mann are
members of the Unitarian Church and are
affiliated with the congregation OF All
Souls, with which Mr.. Taft both as Sec
retary of War and as President was con-
Evening star., 1913-04-20

wear When he recently returned from
trip to Panama, and one of his fellow
members in the House asked to look at
the watch, Mr.. Mann laughingly acknowl-
edged that the gift was enthroned in
its case on table at home, where it re-
mains an object of veneration to all
callers. Mrs. Mann rejoices more in
this gift than her husband, IL this could
be possible. This indeed forms the key
note of her character. Her unselfish de-
votion to her husbands career and her
tactfu and sympathetic aid have made
her one of the strong women in the
congressional set and one whose counsel
is frequently sought.
Mrs Mann was one Of the charter men,
bers of the Congressional Club. and has
always been deeply interested in its ac-
tivities
Mr.. Mann came to Congress with the
inauguration of President Mckinley
March 1. 1897. and despite fluctuations in
republican success in the state of Illi-
nois his returns have shown constant
increase. He was one of the few who
survived the democratic landslide in his
state last autumn. He was returned to
Congress with a comfortable majority.
1t is acknowledged to be a COM
monplace thing to say how much public
man owes to his wife. but in Mrs. Mann's
case tnlS ola saying Is cordially accepted.
Not one mistake Is registered against
her either here or In her home city,
Chicago.
Mrs. Mann is a native Of Champaign.
H., and through her immediate ancestry
she presents the charming comminglinE
of southern grace and ease with the
progressive spirit of the middle west.
Her fathers kindred were the Columbia
family originally from Virginia in the
early days OF the settlement of that COM
monwealth- Her father Curtis Fields
Columbia, was born In Kentucky. but he
took his family to Illinois in the child
hood OF Mrs. Mann, and she remembers
no other home than the broad wheat
lands and the splendid rivers and plains
about Champaign, the university seat,
where her father pitched his tent Her
mother was member of the Cox family
of North Carolina, also well known in
early history.
Mrs Mann was the second daughter,
and she and her sister were educated at
Evening star., 1913-04-20
A Leaning Chimney.

DERHAPS you have whirled along CO.
/ lumbia road or 10th street in your
auto so rapidly that you never noticed
1.-THE Leaning Chimney Of the Avenue Of
the Presidents 1t is there.
Facing 10Th street near the intersection
of Columbia road and Mount Plea
street are five small frame houses that
are relics of the old Meridian Hill neigh
borhood, before millonaires, and some
who want to live like millionaires. began
to build white and pearlgray palaces out
that way. They were built even before
the Avenue of the Presidents was known
as 18th street. extended. The march of
has not yet brushed these
little, old houses away and the progress
of residences has not yet quite crushed
these homes. In front of these frames
Evening star., 1913-04-20

ments, yet she IS noted for her domestic
accomplishments as we'll as for her in
tellectual pursuits. She is one who mas
walked the difficult path marked out for
the wife of the successful publicist with
feet that have never stumbled. and who
has filled every obligation quietly and
unobtrusively, and criticised neither for
Iavishness nor for the lack of II.
That Mr.. Mann is held IN affectionate
regard by his colleagues on both sides
OF the political fence was shown in
the closing days OF the Sixty-second
Congress when he was presented with
a magnificent gold watch Not alone
did Mr. Mann prize this gift for its in
trinsic value. for il represents the high
est perfection in matchmaking, but II Is
precious above all his possessions be-
cause OF the circumstances under which
1T was given to him. In fact he thinks
1t too precious to risk for everyday
Evening star., 1913-04-20

used in it's art sense or in the sense of
the drill regulations.
And now. to return to the group of
strangers. one Of whom, as already noted.
has a weather eye. He has observed that
the guidon and the capes of the men are
being whipped by strong wind, and pre-
sumably a cold wind And then he said:
Them fellows is a regular whirlWind.
Anyway, the wind is blowing forty ways
for Sunday YoL see that flag is standing
out from the staff and it takes twenty
mile wind to hold bunting flag straight
out and that wind is blowing forty mile
an hour. And the flag is blowing straight
north. It's hard south wind that's blow
ing. The capes of them men on the front
dash are blowing straight south, lashed
by a bitter wind from the north.
That gun, its cannoneers. its drivers
and the guidon do seem to be passing
through a gale OF wind that is beating
them in more than one direction
Evening star., 1913-04-20
Qui S'Excuse S'ACCuSe.

TNEZ HAINES GILMORE, the writer,
discussing the conditions of immigrant
labor at Little Falls, said:
He who defends these conditions ac-
cuses himself. Qui s'excuse s'accuse,' as
the French say.
Yes. such a defendant is in the posi-
ton of the lady whose husband shouted
to her, reproachfully:
Well miss Carusos aria in the sec
ond act IL you don't hurry little with
your dressing
Ito this the lady shrieked back:
Hurry a little? Why, Henry Har-
rison, aren't YOU ashamed? Here I've
been hurrying as fast as ever l can for
the last three hours and a half
Evening star., 1913-04-20

nected They attend the church OF thelr
faith in Chicago. and this also has the
name familiar in Washington, All
Souls Representative ana Mrs. Mann
have enioyed the friendship of all the
great people of Washington during theiI
residence here and their home rs nlled
with interesting signed photographs. A
warm friendship exists between Mr.. ana
Mrs Mann and Speaker Clark and his
family and the two frequently exchange
private amenities. Mrs. Mann. though
never conspicuous hostess. performs her
whole social duty She Will remain in
Washington as long as Congress sits, for
another of her commendable traits is that
she does not seek a more salubrious eli
mate while her husband has To endure an
ardent Washington summer. But they
manage to pass few months at least
every year in their little home at South
Shore. and Mr.. Mann always shows rest
lessness at being kept in Washington
when the planting season begins.
Evening star., 1913-04-20

maintaining nuisance the va"
would be without defense.
During the summer of 1887 and the VIII
ter of 1SS7-S8 Washington was Wrougn'
to a high pitch of excitement and 1ndle-
nation over a railroad situation, not
that the railroads were more oppressive
than they had been for years, out pc
cause the bitter and effective campaish
of The Evening Star was producing 'he
results intended.
The question of defining railroad routes
in Washington engaged some of the time
of the Senate District committee In the
early part of 1883. February II the COM
mittee. after running debate as TO
whether the Pennsylvania station snoulo
be removed from the Mall, decided by
vote of five to four that 1t should remain
The minority vote was cast by Senator'S
ingalls,, Spooner, Vance and Harris. Ac-
cording to The Star of that date. Sen
ator Vance then moved to permit the
Baltimore and Ohio to reach the southern
section of the city and to erect passen-
ger station on the Mall opposite to or
adjoining the Pennsylvania station. This
was defeated by five to four. The COM
mittee then decided by vote of six to
three to remit the entire subject of steam
routes to the future, and those voting
for indefinite postpOnement We're Chace.
Farwell, Riddleberger, Harris, Daniel and
Faulkner. Those against were ingalls,,
Spooner and Vance.
X X
The Senate District committee May T.,
1898, agreed to report a bill under the
terms of which the Baltimore and Ohio
would cross the city east of the Capitol
by open cut and tunnel to Virginia ave-
nue., thence up 9th street to a depot on
the Mall facing on Missouri avenue. This
was another bill by which public park
given over to railroad corporations. 1t
was drafted by Senator Faulkner. Being
considered especially favorable to the
roads, 1t further increased the ire of the
advocates for justice to Washington. Mr..
Morrill, of Vermont, May 16, 1888, sub
mitted substitute for previous bill by
him to define the routes of steam rail-
roads In the District. A union station was
proposed at the intersection Of Mary
land and Virginia avenue. From South
Capitol street westward the tracks were
to be depressed below grade. and the
then existing depotS were to be aban-
doned.
Senator Morrill, made a memorable
speech in the Senate July . in support
of his bill. He said that the Senate. to
it's great hurt. appeared to have sub,
sidized the most wealthy and powerful
railroad corporation in the country Dy
permitting one of its many feeders or
branches to enter the city of Washing
ton rampant, there to be petted as a
spoiled child with legislative sugar
plums and to strangle with an iron
garrote a public park of much promise
to the city, and to overrun and prac-
tically swallow up other important
reservations. as well as large avenues
and streets which had often been
stained with human blood by numerous
railroad homicides. He said:
mo one appreciates more than | do the
power of the gigantic Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company, or more fully compre-
hends the difficulty that Congress must
meet in doing anything in relation to the
Evening star., 1913-04-20

of the Washington Board of Trade and
Vice President Thompson of the Penn
The Stars report, reached no conclu-
sion Of any kind, and was unsatisfac ctory
from lack of authority on Mr. ThOmp-
sons part to speak for the company In
respect to any matter except of increase
of the railroads facilities. But some
points of interest developed concerning
Mr. Thompson's personal views in the
informal conversation of the greater part
of the conference. No ENCOURAGEMENT to
look for any rearrangement OF tracks
whatsoever was given by Mr.. Thompson
or any reason to expect that single
grade crossing would be removed by the
company a single Objectionable fea-
ture of its occupation remedied, whether
legal or Illegal
The references to this conference, which
may be read in the files Of The Star and
in the report of the Board Of Trade for
1890, are singularly conservative and
merely hint at the arrogant attitude
which Mr.. Thompson assumed toward the
people of Washington. Thompsons 8 atti-
tude added bitterness to the campaign
that was without precedent and strength
ened the determination of the most pow
erful men in Washington to smash the
Pennsylvania's control of the streets or
the capital.
The pro-railroad bill, known as the At
kinson bill. fathered by Representative
Louis f. Atkinson Of Pennsylvania. en-
gagged the fighting power of the advo-
Gates of the rights of Washington. In a
hearing on this bill before the House
District committee March 2S, 1890, Theo-
dore w. NoyeS appeared for the Board OF
Trade. He said that if the Pennsylvania
railroad was to have all it's illegal acts
condoned by Congress and to be granted
the additional facilities desired. condf-
ton should be that concessions should be
granted to the people of the District In
the way of protection to life and prop
erty. The road should be required by the
same act which granted the further con-
cessions they wanted to sink their tracks
and relieve the city OF the dangerous
grade-crosSings If the needs of the rail-
road which induced them to come to Con-
gress for legislation were granted with
out these conditions, the people OF Wash
ington could not hope for any conces-
sons from this corporation. He reviewed
at length the advent into Washington OF
the Baltimore and Potomac railroad be-
cause of the want of progressiveness of
the Baltimore and Ohio and of the great
privileges that had been given it,
The Star never tagged in its attentions
to the Atkinson bill. 1t attacked it in
every issue. The fight proceeded with
fury, yet with deliberation. In those
days it was not so quickly fatal to the
career of a public man to be legisla-
tive representative of railroad as it
is now. Such a situation was not un
usual then. OF course, public life is
purer and more snoW-like now. Such
things only happened in other days. The
Star began its coupon fight against the
Atkinson bill July 90 $780, by printing
on the first page a petition to be clipped
out and turned into The Star to be for
warded to Congress.
The petition protested against the bill