davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1913-04-06
Sparrows and Eagles.

THE sparrow has a nerve that would
insure him success in any line OF
business he might elect to follow. The
sparrow has been accused of bullying
gentle members Of the American thrush
family and of picking on birds smaller in
numbers than himself or herself. This
may be true. but the sparrow either has
no sense of proportion or he considers
himself a much bigger bird than to men
he seems to be. If sparrow had a lit
tie more weight he could probably make
a name for himself as game chicken.
A sparrow has no more respect for an
American eagle or any bird of prey than
a battle-scarred alley tomcat has for
lady's pet poodle.
At the Zoo there is big barred house.
an aviary, where dwell and roost and
strut and flap and hutter bald eagles.
griffin vultures, golden eagles, turkey
vultures and the lammergeyer. fierce
bird, inha abiting the mountain regions
from Portugal to the borders of China
a bird that. though preferring carrion,
will compromise on living prey.
When feeding time comes around one of
the Zoo caterers will spread out on a
large wooden square in the giant birdcage
big pieces of raw beef. red and appar-
emily tough. The chunks are larger than
a housewife would think of putting In a
stew.
The eagles gather round. the vultures
gather round. and even the griffin vul-
lures and the awful lammergeyer draw
close to the festal board. With their
strong talons they clutch aspiece Of the
red meat. hold it close to the ground and
tear at it. and tear 1t. with their beaks
The sparrows are on hand. They enter
the cage where these big birds make
their home. Fitting insolently here and
there a sparrow will peck at piece of
meat which a terrible eagle clutches in
his talons and will try to drag 1T away.
eagle and all. little hen sparrow. busy
and hungry. will elbow her way into the
flock of terrible birds and i'm her actions
she seems to say: II can lick cage full
of eagles. and where any eating's going
on you have got to count me in.
The eagles and the vultures apparently
do not seem to consider the sparrows
intruders 1t may be that they know
better than to start a quarrel with a
sparrow. At any rate you can see spar
rows dining with eagles and vultures.
AS birds of a feather flock together. il
may be that Washingtonians have not
heretofore appreciated the terrific char
acter of the sparrow.
Evening star., 1913-04-06

District line crosses the River road
there Is low short ridge marked by q
cluster of frame houses and groves of
trees. On the highest part of this
ground stood Fort Gaines, one Of the
northern line of the civil war defenses
OF Washington. and the ramparts Of
which were only recently leveled.
After crossing the District line the
road becomes poor, even bad. accord
ing to the weather. But 1t is typical
Of many old rural ways in this region.
The roadbed has been worn down by
long use and washing, and the banks
between which It passes are grown
with braTf1b1es and some trees. The
wheel track does not go straight, but
sWays from side to side of the right
Of way. Where repairs to the rOadbed
have been made the work has been
done by laying down large pieces Of
gneiss and quartz, and these, washed
by rain, make rough going. Then, 1t
is down grade to a stream. At this
season the stream has nothing like
the volume of Rock creek. Perhaps 1t
has half the volume of Piney branch
1t has worn for itself a course through
the fields down to the basic rock, and
1T pours along over gray powders. You
can follow its course for a long way
trees that grow on it's banks. This is
Little Falls branch.
Crossing 1T, you pass up steep hill,
clay and rock. and on the right is "a
large and very old house heavily screened
with silver poplars all tangled with hon
eysuckle. This is the home of L. c. Sol
yom. The family cemetery with a num-
Der of white marble tombs rests on the
crest of gentle hill that rises above
the branch. This is a farming country
and you seem far from the city. Some of
the farmers living in the neighborhood
are J. H. Loughborough e. C. Reynolds.
William Shoemaker. Benjamin Perry.
Boyd Perry and John Willet. Further on
just about where the river road in it's
westward course is about to cross the
railroad. you come to a settlement of col
ored people. which after some inquiry the
Rambler learned Is called Graysville,
after the pioneer settler there.
II 1t is your inclination, you can follow
Little Falls branch from the crossing of
the river road to the point where it tum-
bles into the deep and yawning shaft
whence by tunnel it passes under Dale
carlia hill at the receiving reservoir and
on and out to the river
In passing west along the Conduit road
you come at point near the District
Evening star., 1913-04-06

142.3O4,JGO gallons without reducing the
head below 40 feet, and in case of emer-
gency, supposing the surface lowered to
131 feet above tide, they will yield 2J0,-
piled during this time by the flow of Lit
tie Falls branch
All this had to do with the project for
bringing the water from Great Falls.
This was the most elaborate and the
most costly plan proposed. and 1t was
favored only by the farthest-sighted men
of that period. A popular plan was that
which proposed to pump the water from
the river at Little Falls into reservoirs
high enough that gravity might carry the
water to Washington. The Little Fails
branch was one of the dih1cuities IN the
way of the consummation of this pan
which induced it's abandonment. Under
the head of the Little Falls project, Lieut..
Meigs wrote:
The crossing of the stream known as Little
Falls branch presents serious obstacle. Tt
rhe foods which here rise to a height OF six
feet above the surface Of the water in the
canal Thence may result T fee an IN p@igb tendne
TO burst up the culvert The flood. too: may
come time when the Chesapeake and OhtG
canal is empty. and the upward pressure viii
then be that of column of water twelve feet
high. The branch is too large to be passed Il
iron pipes and a cuvert of masonry Will be
needed. The river might be shut ont Of this
culvert by sluice gates, but If the brook should
happen to be swollen at the same time as the
river it would then overflow into the canal and
might do serious damage
In 1859, or six years after the beginning
of the construction of the Washington
aoueduct the water from the Little Falls
branch was turned into the conduit and
supplied, or helped supply. Washington
with water until, on the completion OF the
entire Great Falls conduit, the main sup
ply came down from the Great Falls in
December. 1863
In the SOS Washington was becoming
extremely sensitive and suspicious, and
properly so, Of the quality of its drink
ing water. There had been marked
growth of population to the northwest of
the city around Tenleytown. Bethesda
and along the Rockville road, and to
some extent along the River road. A good
many people We're settling in the coun-
try that was drained by Little Falls
branch and several other little brooks
that empty into it at various points
along it's course. The stream, still flow
ing into the receiving reservoir and min
Cling its water with that which came
down from Great Falls. was polluted.
The demand that it be diverted from the
Evening star., 1913-04-06
Washington's Flood Marks.

Washlngton's Flood Marks.
THE Washington flood marks on the
brick pillar and park police watch
house at the northwest corner of 18th
and B streets northwest took on new
interest for several hundred persons while
the Ohio valley floods were at their
height. The brick pillar at the south
east corner of the White Lot served as a
years inclosed those grounds. About four
and half feet above the blue-gray flags
of the sidewalk and chise1ed deep into
the hard mortar with which the pillar is
faced is this: High Water Mark, June
2, 1885," On the south wall of the park
police station are two deep cuts to which
arrows point, and above the inches are
the inscriptions High Water Mark. Feb
ruary IL, 1881" and High Water Mark.
November 26. 1871
The flood mark of 1889 is considerably
higher than that of 1881. which is higher
than the mark which registers the height
of the water in 1877 The Johnstown flood
catastrophe was Friday May 81, 1889.
The Potomac and all the creeks empty
ing into 1t were dangerously swollen be-
cause of the heavy rains. Saturday, June
1, the low-lying parts Of Georgetown and
Washington were flooded, though the
crest of the. flood was not reached until
Sunday. June 2. The Saturday Star car
ried these headlines: Flood in the Po-
tomac-Rock Creek and Other Streams
Out of Their Banks-Losses Along the
River Front and on Rock Creek-the Har-
Dor Improvement Work Injured-the Long
Bridge Threatened-the River Still Ris-
ing" The first paragraph of The Star S
news story was: Water, water every
where; muddy water raging, boiling, rae
ing, whirling past the city to the sea,
creeping up inch by inch, foot by foot.
the turbid, angry flood showing its teeth
and growing in its fury. All along the
Evening star., 1913-04-06

follow with your eye the road you are to
travel till 1t becomes a thin, yellow line,
which leads up and disappears over the
crest of the ridge which Barnaby
house stands out. After gaining the bot
tom lands you cross Barnaby run on
little wooden bridge. The road is bordered
with rail fences, some panels Well pre-
served but most of them dliapldated,
and You have now passed out, of the land
of telephone and telegraph into one of
the quietest rural regions around wash
ington. When you emerge from the Barn
ably valley. and gain the upland on which
Barnaby house stands you find yourself
on a plateau commanding to the north,
south and west one of the most extensive
and impressive vistas to be had within a
wide radius of the capital.
Here your road bends to the left, 1t
enters woods and pines, and with every
hundred yards seems less and less trav-
eled. Passing for a long way through
these woods, you come to a fork In the
road. here not much more than wood
land trace. and nailed to an oak tree is
little weatherbeaten scroll. which
reads, ITO the Rectory" You should know
then that turning to the left along this
forest way will bring you to the rectory,
and also to the Church of st. Barnabas.
an old church and early mission of
Broad Creek Church. But not travelling
that way. you hold to the right hand
through the woods. and in about a mile
emerge into a we'll beaten yellow road,
the road which leads from Oxon Hill to
Silver HILL AT this point you are free
to choose your way, and. turning to the
right will carry you by Grimes store to
Oxon Hill and off to the left among the
trees you'll catch sight of st. Ignatius
Catholic Church Turning to the left. on
leaving the woods, and you would soon
enter the state road" which was the
7. B. road at point close to Silver Hill.
1t is an interesting bit of country you
have travelled through, and you have had
an enjoyable time; that is. if yoL like to
ramble in the country.
Evening star., 1913-04-06
UnimaginabIe.
T ORD ExMoUTH was praising N,

7 ORD EXMoUTH was praising New
- York.
But" he said. gravely, "New York is
the most expensive city in the world.
Why, ii is more expensive than Monte
Carlo. Ciro's is cheap beside your smart
New York restaurants. where you can't
get a good meal under eight or nine dol
lars, and the Hotel de Paris is cheap be-
side your New York hotels, where you
can't get a good room under six or sew
en- dollars.
ION the voyage over a German said to
me:
The last time / visited New York
there were card sharps on the boat and
/ was cleaned out Of $1,000 in a crooked
poker game
Indeed. 1 said. / was very much
interested. And was this / asked, on
the voyage to or from New York?
'The German gave me that look of
scorn which we always give greenhorns.n
The voyage to New York, of course
he sneered. Imagine any visitor leav-
ing New York with money to lose"
Evening star., 1913-04-06

unsafe as 1t was, and chiefly responsible
for the flood, held a large crowd Of peo-
pie, fascinated by the angry river. The
wharves of the George Leary, the Mat
tano and the w. w. Corcoran were knee
deep under water. The high mark of
the food of 1877 had been passed.
All Saturday night and Sunday morn
ing the flood grew. Long bridge was
weighted down by long trains of loaded
cars.
merged and the wooden fence that sep
arated the tracks from the wagon road
was washed down the river. A scow was
swept against the draw of the bridge and
the draw went out of commission. Later
the schooner Fannie struck the bridge
and her crew Of five were rescued by the
tugboat Hanson Keys. The Eastern
branch was over the flooring of the Ana
costa bridge and the heavy planking was
ripped up. The arsenal grounds. the larg-
er part Of the navy yard and the garden
ing section of the city down South Capt.
tol street were under water. Row boats
were plying OF Pennsylvania avenue be-
tween the Peace Monument and the
OF the horse cars. which, however, con-
tinued to run, the station platforms in
the Baltimore and Potomac depot were
afloat trunks were bobbing around in the
water and in the waiting rooms people
Travelled in boats.
AT a-H1 June 3, one OF the main cHan-
mel spans of the long bridge broke loose
and traffic there was interrupted for sew
eral days passengers being sent over the
Anacostia branch of the B. and o. to
Shepherds and ferried across to Alex
andria.
Potomac floods have been numerous
There is a tradition that the winter Of
1779-17SO was especially severe and that
on the breaking up of the ice trees and
rocks we're swept down the river from
h. I&Arr IN~l r
Falls. forming gorge at Georgetown.
which caused the cutting of new chan
Evening star., 1913-04-06

Georgetown river front yesterday folk
looked at the clouds and then out at the
driving rain and shook their heads. The
stiff southeast gale held the tides back
and slowly the water began to rise dur
ing the afternoon. AS time went on the
winds blew harder and the rain pelted
faster and merchants began to grow
alarmed"
The Aqueduct bridge was lined with
people watching the yellow flood bearing
debris of many kinds rush by. The trees
that grew on the Three Sisters islets
were submerged. The Georgetown
wharves and the waterfront street went
under water. Thousands of tons Of coal
were swept from the coal landings. Rock
creek was higher by four feet than it
had ever risen before SO, far as mems
memories and records went The Star
said that great masses of timbers from
shattered structures up the creek came
piers, smashing into walls and burying
from its moorings, struck the K Street
bridge, lnjuring 1t and nearly wreckins
1t. Water had risen in the cellars along
Louisiana avenue and on Pennsylvania
avenue. The cellars of the Howard
House, the American House. the St.
James, the Marble Saloon and the Rich
mond and Danville railroad building had
from two to four feet of water in them.
Railroad travel south of Alexandria was
abandoned. A train leaving Washington
for the south got no farther than Alex
andria and came back. Telegraph lines
to the south were out Of commission.
The Baltimore and Ohio and the Balti-
more and Potomac railroad stations were
crowded with marooned travellers. The
Long bridge causeway was nearly under
water and the Long bridge, rickety and
Evening star., 1913-04-06

reservoir was insistent and this was
done, or. at least, the water that came
down from Great Falls was diverted.
passing around the receiving reservoir.
and that reservoir was thrown out of
commission for several years until Little
Falls branch and the other streams could
be attended to-
\
The permanent work for excluding the
water of Little Falls branch from the
water supply of Washington was COM
pleted in 1895 In that year Col. George
HI. Elliott, U. S. A, retired, reported to
Brig. Gen. William p. Craighill, Corps
of Engineers, U. S. A, on the operations
for the Improvement of the Dalecarlia
receiving reservoir. which he describes
"as partly in the District of Columbia and
partly in Montgomery county. Nd. and
about 17O,OOO,OOO gallons Col. Elliott
recites that:
The object Of the improvement was to divert
from the reservoir the water flowing from Its
watershed which has an area of about 1000
When ts so
for the storage and settling Of Potomac water
from Great Falls, the land comprising Its water
shed being then sparse,y settled and largely Oc-
cupied by woods, and its cultivated land being
mainly used for grazing purposes, the water from
II was not excluded from the reservoir. ana,
mixed with Potomac water, it entered the reser-
voir through the north connection, and 1t was
used in the Washington water supply for twenty
five years. In time, however, as the country sur
rounding the reservoir became more populated,
the water flowing from it into the reservoir be-
came more and more contaminated. and frequent
complaint by the citizens and in the press led 70
the reservoir being thrown out Of service about
seven years ago.
The water entering the receiving reser-
voir came from Mill creek, which drained
about 800 acres, and East creek, which
drained something over 200 acres, as
we'll as from Little Falls branch. The
plan for the improvement of the reser-
voir, which may be found in the report
of the chief of engineers, L. s. A.. for
1893, provided for the construction of a
dam across the valley of all these
streams just above their mouths. The
combined waters were then collected and
turned into a shaft excavated in the val
ley of Little Falls branch, and from the
bottom of this shaft a tunnel 1000 feet
long was excavated under Dalecarlia hill
and under the Washington aqueduct, and
this tunnel carried the water to a natural
watercourse below the reservoir and
thence into the Potomac river. There
were some unavoidable delays in the
work, but the digging of the shaft and
Evening star., 1913-04-06

line to a road which leads to the right. up
hill and by the girls reform school. and
a lane that leads to the left to the cleo
trio railway station marked District
Line" The gray conduit road points
ahead. On the right rises a green HILL IN
part terraced and dotted with tall cedars,
while on the top Is cottage that Is
mainly mansard roof. and which Is the
home OF Supt. Ferguson. in charge Of the
receiving reservoir. The Conduit road
along this part of its way Is bordered not
only by the familiar low white fence. but
by privet hedge BY the roadside. near
machinery by which the flow Of water
between the receiving reservoir and the
distributing reservoir may be turned on
or on, a gate opens leading to walk
which descends by means of wooden steps
to the southwest end Of the reservoir.
+
With the reservoir and it's muddy wa
ter on the right. the land on the left
drops quickly down in ravine and your
way is but little below the tops Of the
trees that grow down there. The Ram
bier was told that this ravine was the
original valley of Little Falls branch.
across which the dam was built at the
time of the construction of the receiving
reservoir. From here on the road bends
right and then again 1t swings to the left
as 1t makes the ascent OF Dalecarlia hill.
On the left, just before reaching the
crest, you can look down into another
picturesque ravine, culvert conveying
the spillway water Of the reservoir down
this valley. The little stream has made
a remarkably deep and narrow gorge
through this wild and tangled vale. An
old roadway may be traced in this place
and a rotted timber bridge crosses. or
once did cross. the gulch worn by the
stream. In this valley and close by the
Conduit road IL a hillside which has been
cut into. exposing masses of Potomac
bluestone. This seems to have been an
old quarry and perhaps the rubble of the
sides of the reservoir was blasted out
here.
To explore this deep glen means hard
climb in and out of it. but perhaps some
persons would enjoy the exertion and the
experience. Passing the crest of the hill
you get an excellent view of the peculiar
ly irregular reservoir and the grassy
slopes and the wooded and pine-erown
hilltops and hillsides. 1t is beyond this
point and toward the river that you will
find the combined and imprisoned flow of
Little Falls branch, Mill creek and East
creek.
Evening star., 1913-04-06

by Duvivier, the most skilled engraver in
France during Washington's period.
The bust of Washington on one side of
the three-inch disc of bronze shows the
first President facing the right with his
long flowing hair gracefully caught up
with broad ribbon. 1t bears the inscrip-
tion-'George Washington, President of
the United States, 1880" On the reverse
side are two clasped hands. the naked
arm of the Indian and the buttoned sleeve
of a colonial officer. crossed toma-
hawk and calumet of peace and the in
scription Peace and Friendship"
-.edals of John Adams, Thomas Jeffer-
son, James Madison, James Monroe. An
drew Jackson and succeeding Presidents
follow the same general design. In some
instances the figure faces the right. In
others the left. In all appear the clasped
hands of the army officer and the In
dian, the Indian war and peace emblems
and the inscription Peace and Friend
ship"
Experts agree that the medal Oh Presi-
Evening star., 1913-04-06

fence OF the Botanical Garden and there
are two OF them on the west lawns or
the Library of Congress. one on each side
of the staircase.
A conspicuous example of the species
grows in the garden of the Webster-Cor-
coran house against the brick wall on the
Connecticut avenue side. and good
many specimens may be seen in the gar
dens along the older part OF 10th street
and on Connecticut avenue, Columbia
road. Mount Pleasant street and various
cross streets.
Charles Sprague Sargent. director of the
Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.
In his Sylvia Of North AmcctDi has a
chapter on magnolias and reference TO
these far. eastern nlagnolias. OF the
magnolia 1t said that the fiower-buds are
inclosed in a stipular caducous spathe
that the flowers perfect. solitary and
terminal: that the sepals are three. the
petals six to twelve I'm series OF threes :.
that the anthers are introrse; the pistils
indefinite. imbricated on an elongated re-
ceptacle: that the carpets are drupaceous.
baccate. persistent, opening on the back
at maturity, and that the seeds are dru-
paceous.
The twenty known species of magnolia
are confined to eastern North America.
southern Mexico and to eastern and
southern Asia. though the time was when
this tree was much more widely distribut-
ed. Its fossil remains being found on the
great plains OF the United States In the
arctic circle, in Greenland and in central
Europe. While there are six North
American species having their center OF
distribution In the southern Allegheny
mountain region there are ten eastern
Asiatic species and an untold number or
hybrids OF these The magnolia hypoleuca.
OF the mountain forests OF northern ia
pan and the magnolia conspicua and the
magnolia obovata Of China are the prin-
cipal oriental species and most OF the
snowy varieties In Washington are hy-
brids of these.
The genus magnolia was established by
Plumier I'm 1903 and the name magnolia"
commentaries Pierre Magnol, who was
born in 1853 and died In Ills. who was
professor Of botany at Montpelier and
who was the first to indicate the natural
families OF plants.
Evening star., 1913-04-06
The Early Blooming Magnolias.

w ASHINGTON has been gladdened by
7" many trees which, though leafiess.
have been clothed in gorgeous bloom.
pink, white and purple. They are magno-
lias, but they have not the fragrance
which distinguishes the magnolia flower
native to this region. They have pre-
cocious" fiowers-that is. flowers that
bloom before the leaf-buds unfold. These
trees grow In public and private grounds
in Washington. though they are not so
common as to escape the attention which
is their due.
A cluster of fine specimens Of this tree
were in full flower last week in the west
ern part of the Agricultural grounds.
Several specimens were in bloom In the
White House grounds and in Lafayette
Square, while the earliest spring shrub
berry there was but family touched with
green. Franklin Park has few Of these
trees, Mcpherson Square has two or three,
and a feeble specimen blossomed in Du-
pont Circle. About a dozen OF these
snowy trees are scattered along the west