Evening star., 1914-11-22
FIFTY YEARS AGO
IN THE STAR

Washington has always suffered more
or less from the vandalism OF relic
seeking tourists. 1t
Vandalism at is evident from the
vr1h;4. w. following paragraph
Willie mouse. in The Star of No
vember 10. 1864, that a veritahle cpl
demic of this form Of thfevery pre-
vailed here half a century ago:
Persons of both sexes have been
guilty of clipping pieces from the win
dow curtains. sofa, lounge and chair
covers at the Presidents mansion. They
even go so far as to pull the papertng
from the walls and even to steal heavy
brackets from the windows and tas-
sells from the curtains. The curtains
IN the east and green rooms are very
badly cut up and nineteen out OF
twenty brackets stolen from the win
dows of the east room alone. This
practice is INDUCED with view to Sc
cure relics of visits to the Presidents
mansion and ladies and gentlemen of
high standing have been detected In IT.
Three ladies, whose names are not
made known, have been caught in the
act within a few days. one OF whom
tainted when discovered. The annoy
dASe HAS grown SO great tudl pTOpcE
measures have been taken to prevent
a repetition of the offenses.
Bounty jumping was a profitable IN
dustry in this country half a century
ago, though the
Bounty Jumpers risks were heavy.
Captured. 'rsra aer ~ ,,s ov.a ws,ch
continually for offenders of this char
acter and many of them were caught.
In The Star of November II, 1864, Is
the following news account:
yesterday detachment of the 45th
Kentucky Mounted Infantry under the
command of Lieut.. Calvin S. Vaughn,
arrived here. having in charge seven
ty-one bounty jumpers and outlaws,
who were heavily ironed. These men
are composed principally of foreigners.
who Joined our army for the bounty.
but on being sent to the front took the
first opportunity to desert and went
over to the enemy. At Richmond, these
fellows, finding times rather hard. the
rebel authorities, being anxious to get
rid of them. furnished them with
transportation to such points in the
Confederacy as they desired. where
shortly afterward they joined guerrilla
bands composed of criminals of every
depredations upon friend and foe. The
country getting rather hot for them.
they sought to play the role Of rebel
deserters and made their way to Lex
they. with some 1.400 others. were
captured by our troops. These prisoners.
who arrived here last night, are but
the first installment of the large num-
ber captured by our troop forces. While
on the way to this city, and when near
New creek, on the B. & O. railroad. six
of the prisoners leaped from the train
while it was going at great speed. The
train stopped at the next station and
the officer in charge communicated
a guard was sent on the back track,
who discovered one man dead"
In The Star of November II. 1864. is
the first statement of a case which at
tracted general local at
Justices Are tention fifty years ago.
A,or,.l involving as 1t did the
a'euSe"' official integrity of two
members of the minor judiciary Of the
District:
Rules have been laid upon N. H.
Miller and v. S. Kinsey. two justices Of
the peace, to show cause before the
District Supreme Court why they
should not be removed from Office The
first named is charged with having. on
the 5th of November. made certifl-
cate that Sahag Kalousd and Sahag
Hanemain, two natives of Egypt, had
been residents of the United States for
two years and had declared their in
tention to become citizens. which are
false and fraudulent, and also that on
the 10th instant one of the parties and
W. c. Zantzinger. on whose oath the
rule was issued, called upon Miller for
the private papers of the parties
(neither Of whom is able to speak
English), which he refused to return
unless they paid him $40.
"In the case of Justice Kinsey. George
F. Huguely makes the affidavit, setting
forth that boy was arrested for the
larceny Of a pistol and was taken be-
fore Justice Kinsey, who committed
quently dismissed him on account Of
his tender age. The pistol was re-
tained by Kinsey. who promised to re-
turn it to the colored man from whom
piled for it he refused to give it up un-
til he proved how he got 1t. The coll
ored man proposed to sell 1t and Mr..
Reynolds bought it. deponent advanc-
ing the money and receiving an order
on Mr. Kinsey for the pistol. Mr.. K.
still refused to give 1t up. alleging
that he was going to buy it himself.
and subsequently he said that he had
lost it."
= <
Speculation as to Gen. Sherman's plan
in his movement from Atlanta gave
rise to the ad-
A Guess as to Gen, vancing Of many
theories at this
oneA An"A Asoo'e' time fifty years
ago. The Star had previously urged
that his probable destination was the
gulf, but, according to a news article
in The Star of November is, 1864. this
paper later more correctly gauged the
situation, in the light of a suggestion
afforded by the narrative of member
of the 1st District Cavalry. who had
just returned after escaping from a
Confederate prison. The Star says:
"Onderkirk states that Savannah was
very weakly defended The country.
too. travelled by Onderkirk by foot from
Savannah to Atlanta, presented no seri-
Gus obstacles to a military movement.
being level and the streams shallow,