The Washington herald., 1915-08-28

II is impossible to live In
WASHINGTON and not be struck by some
peculiar features and some peculiar
beauties which your city possesses. In
IN. ars. Mace its site has a great deal
that is admirable and charming. There
is rising ground inclosing on all sides
level space, and so making a beau'ilui
amphitheater, between hills that are rich
with woods, which in many places,
thanks to the hard ancient rocks OF 'his
region. show bold faces and give much
more striking effects than we can nave
in the soft. chalky or sandy hills "hich
surround London. Underneath these hills
and running like a silver thread through
the middle of the valley is your admir-
.b,s river The Potomac has two kinds
of beauty-the beauty Of the upper
stream. murmuring over a rocky bed De-
tween bold heights crowned with wooo'
and the beauty of the wide expanse'
snread ort like a lake below the city into
a vast sheet of silver
Besides all this, you have behind
WASHINGTON a charming country. l am
sometimes surprised that SO few OF your
residents explore that country on foot
It is only on foot that you can appreci-
ate its beauties, for some of the most at
tractive paths are too narrow and tan
gled for riding. On the north, east ana
west sides of Washington, and to some
extent on the south. or Virginia side
also. although there the difficulties OF
locomotion are greater on account OF the
heavy mud in the roads, the country ID
singularly charming, quite as beautiful
as that which adjoins any Of the great
capital cities of Europe, except, OF
course. Constantinople, with its beautiful
Bosphorus-'
No European city has SO noble cat
aract in its vicinity as the Great Falls
of the Potomac, a magnificent piece Of
scenery which you WILL Of course, always
preserve"
Vienna has some picturesque country,
hills and woods and rocks, within a dis
lance of twenty-five or thirty miles
London also has some very pleasing
landscapes of softer type within about
that distance; but I know Of no great
CITY in Europe except ConstantinopleJ
that has quite close, in its very environs,
such beautiful scenery as has Washing
ton in Rock Creek Park and in many of
the woods that stretch along the Poto-
mac on the north and also on the south
side, with the broad river in the center
and richly wooded slopes descending
boldly to it on each side. One may wan
der day after day in new walks all
through these woods to the northwest
and west of the city. One need never
take the same walk twice, for there is !
an endless variety of foot paths. each
with its own yistas of woodland beauty
Nor is Washington less charming in
respect to its interior. l know Of no city |
where the trees seem to be so much a
part of the city as Washington. Nothing !;
can be more delightful than the views
I'D and down the wider streets and ave-
nues, especially those that look toward
the setting sun or catch some glow of
the evening light. -
Paris, again, has some agreeable land
scapes within reach. but nothing at all
lines of its scenery as the hills that en-
close the valley in which Washington
lies. and no such charm of a still wild
forest as Washington affords. The Seine,
two, is a stream not to be compared to |
your Potomac. ="
Then there is our English London.
which stands in a rather tame country.
1t is true there are some charming bits
OF quiet and pretty rural scenery in Sur
rey and Sussex. within distance of
from twenty TO thirty miles, and there
are pleasing beech woods covering the
chalky hills of Bucks. Yet nature naJ
done nothing for London comparable to
what she has done for Washington. The
Thames. although it fills up pretty well
at high tide. is nowise comparable for
volume or beauty of surroundings to
your own Potomac. 80
Mr. Henry James, in one of his inter-
esting and subtle studies of modern
American life. called Washington the
City of Conversation. That is a happy
characterization. having regard not only
to Congress and politics, but also to all
the interesting talk that goes on here
about science in the Cosmos Club. and
elsewhere about many things that are
neither scientific nor concerned with
,.,.a