The sun., 1915-10-03

Interfere the party had reduced the
market to kindling wood and pre-
pared the ground for conversion into
a public park.
Again. when the time came TO i'm
prove the lower end OF Pennsylvania
avenue railroad crossing stood in
the way. II had been laid during
the war. with no legal warrant hut
as temporary military necessity.
and the company had repeatedly re-
fused to remove it. So at | o'clock
one Sunday morning when iniunc-
tions were out of the question. Shep-
herd brought down gang of trusty
men and proceeded to tear up the
, rails. which could never thereafter be
| replaced.
The boldness OF this Performance
so stirred the admiration of John W.
Garrett, one of the most powerful
railway magnates OF the day. that he
offered Shepherd a vice presidency
of the baltimore and ono company.
But Shepherd was not To he lured
away. He was promoted hy Grant
from the vice presidency of the Board
| of Public Works to the GovernOrship
of the District. move which, though
| fattering. made him all the more
shining mark for attack; and
group of large landowners, shudder-
ing at the prospect Of further in
creases in taxation, induced Congress
to reorganize the local government.
wiping out entirely the territorial
| system and popular suffrage and put
ting the administration of affairs into
the hands of three commissioners to
be appointed for limited terms 10y the
| President. This plan has remained
substantially unchanged for M re than
| forty years. to the satisfaction of the
citizens who have most at stake in the
| welfare of the city.
| Having entered office rich at the
age of 30, Shepherd quilted it al 33
So poor that he had to begin life
anew in the Mexican mining. coun-
try. He left as his monument Il rec
ord expenditure of twenty-siN million
dollars, about half that amount re-
manning as Il bonded debt; many
miles of newly opened or extended
streets: splendid achievement in
shade tree installation ana parking
.l |
tation and lighting plants, and.
above all an awakened popular spirit
as To civic advancement.
True to his human type, Shepherd
was an odd mixture of inCOngruities.
He poured out public funds like water,
yet profited never "A cent himself In
his own fashion he was pious, Vet
he could swear like Il trooper when
aroused, and once halted in the midst
! o. family prayers to order servant
to drive that damned COW ont of
the rose bushes He was overheard,
after hurting imprccations at some
contractor who had mishandled a job,
murmuring IA prayer to the Almighty
to forgive and forget his momontary
loss of temper
"A lady who once engaged him as
"A plumber to hang chandelier in
her parlor noticed that ii SWaNed
under her touch and sent for him
again to make sure that II would not
fan upon the heads of her guests
Ills answer was to mount chail
ON one side of the room, pull the
chandelier toward him till he could
prasp it with both hands, jump off
and swing his whole weight of two
hundred and twenty-five pounds
across to "A chair ON the opposite side
This exhibition of his con'idenc" IN
his work completely restored hers
Recent administrations have each
contributed something to the deNtl-
opment of the capital till Washing
ton became the beautiful city it Is
to-day.
The Capitol supplies Mr., Lenpp with
a mass of interesting material. Oh
the Supreme Court he says:
IAN the Justices wear gowns ol
black silk. John Jay, The ifst Chief
Justice relieved the sOmhre monotonS
of his 10y adding a collar bound will
scarlet, but the precedent was not fol-
; lowed. The court has sometimes beer
} ! styled the most dignihed judicial tri