The Washington herald., 1915-09-20
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Walks About Washington.

Under the inviting title. Walks About
Washington" Francis +. Leupp. former
Washington newspaper correspondent
and Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and
Lester q. Hornby illustrator. have put
together in new work from the press OF
Little. Brown & Co. as delightful tour
through the economic. political and OFF,
ciaI-social history of the National Capital
as one could find in long days journey
through history.
Mr.. l.eupp appears as co-author with
the illustrator. Mr. Hornby. of whom he
says in the preface. Mr.. Hornby, sketch
book in hand. will accompany us. to give
ipermanence To our impressions here and
! there" IN a stroll about Washington. The
results of Mr.. Hornbys company are seen
in thirty-one beautiful pen and ink
ttChings OF buildings. scenes and vistas
of interest to a lover either of the Ma
tional Capital or his countrys history.
, For p very real connection is establish
/ ed throughout the work between the Cap
ital and the nation. a connection brought
out clearly in a brief sketch of the his
! tory of the Capital from its struggling
/ beginnings to the point where. an inter.
est awakened throughout the country in
the scene of business SO tremendously
important to the nation. resulted in a
termina ton of the neglect with which
i W ashington had been treated for more
/ than half a century.
But, as Mr. Leupp says, the work is not
I a guide book nor an encyclopedia
! Neither is it a preachment about the
! duty of Congress to the District. 1t Is
I a stroll. not so much through the streets
! of Washington, as through the soft twi-
light of its history, a stroll in the course
! of which the reader is introduced to IA
nous men and women. soldiers and
statesmen and inducted into an intimacy
! which anecdote alone makes possible
with the great. And Mr.. Leupp is a past
master at anecdote: his latest work was
I not necessary to establish that. In this
however, he has utilized in a historical
narrative a most delightful collection. the
cream of a large repertoire gathered
| through years of association with private
and public sides of Washington life, and
! for the earlier periods, from an intimate
| acQuaintanccship with the works and
, writings of the times. OF the stories
woven in his work Mr.. Leupp falls back
he says. on the plea of the Last Min
strel:
Il cannot tell how the truth NAV be:
/ say the tale twas aid 10 me.
Commencing with the story of "A Cap
ital Made to Order" Mr. Leurp describes
the ludicrous situation which a new gov
ernment found itself in when suddenly
! taken up from its comfortable quarters
in Philadelphia and set down in a towr
of 800 swamp dwellers. OF whom one
member, OF Congress wrote bitterly
THE people are poor. and. as far as
can Judge live like fishes, by eating one
another The disappointment OF the
newcomers and the contrast between
what they expected to find. from th'
glowing reports of real estate specula
. / ~ IIy- uroafed their vi
sion, NJ. Leupp leaves to Tom Moore
| satire:
| This famed METROPOLIS whCrr Fanny sees
Squares in moras'r>. obelisSs in trees;
Which second sighted seeIs. ev n now, adorn
With sirnes unbuilt and heroes yet unborn.
For the transformation which came
over the Capital after the civil war. Mr.
Leupp gives full credit to two men. Pres
ident Grant and Alexander r. Shepherd
OF the latter, he says:
NO man of his day. unless II wer'
Grant himself. endured more whoiesal'
denunciation or found more defender
than he. Like Grant. who believed II
him thoroughly. he had an iron VII
which treated all obstacles as neeiioi'
when he had set himself to accomplish
| certain end 80
"Wh,, be had to face in his effort &
launch the city afresh can hardly be con
ceiyed by an observer Of today. h
crowded into three years what misn
well have consumed twenty. To saw
fine and cut red tape he awarded con
tracts To friends whom he believed to b
as much in earnest as he was an
his expenditures reached figures whicl
surprised even him when he found leis
ure to foot up his debit page. But h
, shirked nothing because Of the danger Q
trouble Il might involve for himself, an
lhis opponents had to lie awake nights q
outwit him.
"The sodden soil plowed up ny snep
herd was gradually narrowed ana seeoeo
watched and watered. TIL
forth : new city. which under later ad
| m,n,.,ra tions. in spite Of many vicfssl
tudes, has prospered in the main
The wider reading Mr.. Leupp's 300
receives, the better for Washington.