Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-04-09
FIFTY YEARS Ago
IN THE STAR

ZION IN washington MY SoaAS dSo' sAiAo
city being visited oc-
Raltimore casionally by squads
of the lawless MEM
oangsters. bers of the neighbor-
ing community. Consequently there
was bad feeling between the local
police and the Baltimoreans Of that
ilk. In Tho Star of April 4. 1856. Is a
news account of the experience of two
Washington detectives. McDevitt and
Clarvoe. in Baltimore. They were re-
turning from testifying in case at
Towsontown, Md. when they were set
upon by two gangsters. On their call
for help a policeman Joined them ana
the two roughs were arrested. The at
tack. 1t was believed. was caused by
resentment against Detective McDevitt
for having arrested one of the mem
hers of the gang in this city for pick
ing a pocket inauguration day.
Immediately after the close OF the
war efforts were made to mark the
Bodies of the graves OF Union SOL
Union Dead. oilers IN .'f nnt "a ana ana
found necessary to remove the remains
in some cases to Arlington. In Tho
Star of April s. 1856. is the following:
"Quartermaster General Meigs Is con-
templating the removal of the remains
Of Union soldiers from the battlefelds
of Bull Run, Kettle Run and other bat
along the line of the Orange and Alex
andria railroad, between Alexandra
and tho Rappahannock crossing. The
remains will be brought to Arlington
cemetery and deposited in stone vaults
underground, over which cairns or
pyramids of stone may be erected. Col.
NJ I. Ludington. chief quartermaster.
Department of Washington. who was
directed to make the necessary pre-
liminary examination, has received
gated the present condition of the Bull
Run battlefield. He states that many
of the bodies there were not properly
buried. In some cases a little earth
fell. The action of tho weather has
removed this scanty covering of loose
soil and the bones of our patriot dead
lie bleaching in the fields Hogs have
rooted out the remains Of many, and
in some cases, It Is said. the bones of
our brave soldiers have been sold to
the bone grinders Where the dead lay
thick upon the field large numbers
were buried together In trenches. and
in some cases the remains have not
it would be hard to distinguish Union
from Rebel bodies. There they lie to-
gether. friend and foe; and a button
or two. or shred of blue or gray
clothing, affords an uncertain index
to the politics Of the wearer"
X
The arsenal at the south end of AZ
street was a source OF great anxiety to
the people of Washing
The Arsenal ton half century ago
~ owing to the numerous ex-
A~onoee. plosions and fires that oc-
CURED there Such a fire broke out dur
ing the night of April 6. 1866. The next
day The Star printed the following:
THE chief of ordnance has this year
again asked an appropriation for maya
zine for his department, to be erected at
thickly populated localities in the Dis
trict. and its necessity is apparent in
view of the immense quantity of pow
der the government usually mas on
hand. At the. Washington arsenal.
where much of the ammunition from
the forts is turned in, it frequently
happens that there is not room in suit
able places for it's storage, although at
present the bombproofs of two or
three of the forts on the Virginia side
of the river are used, and nearly every
week a large quantity is shipped to
the forts on the seacoast- The fire at
the arsenal last night caused quick
ened pulse to all residents in that part
of the city, in view of the fact that an
explosion of the magazine would have
demolished or seriously injured almost
every dwelling house in the neighbor-
hood. Fortunately the fire was at
some distance from the magazine, and
the people were assured that every
precaution is taken by Col. Benton. the
commandant. to guard against acct
dent"
Though automobiles were not dreamed
of at this time fifty years ago, Wash
fngton had its speeding
a Natalie problem as it has today,
and some distinguished
ocoIcheT. people were involved.
In The Star of April 9. 1856, is the fol-
lowing:
FRIDAY afternoon Onicers Crown
and Bailey of the second precinct sta
toned themselves on 14th street TO
prevent fast driving. and arrested quite
a number for driving faster than the
law allows. They stopped Gen. Grant
the fine on the spot. but was informed
that the policemen could not take the
fine. and they informed him that he
should consider himself under arrest
and report himself to the station. The
general questioned the right of the
policemen to arrest him and immedi
ately drove off at fun speed. The Off
GERS have reported the facts to Supt.
Richards. We have here to state that
in 1868 President Lincoln was placed
under arrest by Sergt. johnson and
officer Mulloy for driving on the pave
ment. and he went with them to the
station. where he paid a fine, and at
different times several high officers in
on one or two occasions men,
up for riding faster than the law al
lows within the city limits"
Washington had it's Aqueduct bridge
as the para
Draw Proposed for graph in The
Aqueduct Bridge. 10 1865 mai
Gates. 1t states that Representative |
Ingersoll had introduced a bill author
ing the construction of a draw in the |
Aqueduct. The bill was accompanied |
by a memorial signed by Joshua |
Richie and others setting forth that |
the Aqueduct was an insuperable i'm
pediment to navigation. that. having |
cost the United States several hundred |
thousand dollars, it had proved an |
abortive project. its trade at any time |
scarcely exceeding its expenses: that |
1t was then used as military road |
and could never be restored to its |
original use without a costly outlay of |
money, but that if constructed with a. |