Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-09-15
FIFTY YEARS AGO In THE STAR

In . recent issue Of The Star In this
column was quoted a passage with rel
ence to Walt whitman,
9kekNh ~ the poet, employed -
wh;.. government clerk nifty
"sa' years ago. In The Star
Of September ., 1868. IL . reproduction
Of an article printed in the Raleigh, N.
c., Standard giving sketches Of notablss
among the departmental workers In
Washington. with tho following about
Whitman:
''Walt Whitman, the best abused man
in the country, IL $500 clerk in the
Attorney Generals ONCE. His position
is a responsible one, but he yet finds time
to keep posted on matters in the lite
rary world. He looks more like
thoughtful mechanic Or boatman than
grand poet or capable clerk. He dresses
coarsely; his hair and beard, almost
white. grow wild about his neck and
face, and though his appearance is weird
and unusual he always attracts shy
children and shrinking natures, and to
know him is to love him. He has
wide-brimmed SLOUGH. thrown back on
his head, presenting face 80 large and
sun burned, with yet so much of gentle
ness in it. that It is never forgotten.
In conversation he may be called a lis
tener rather than a talker. You have
an instinct that whatever you say he
will understand you and know your mo-
tives. while he catches your meaning;
and when he looks upon you, with his
calm, lusterless, ordinary eye, you feel
that he is your best friend and that
you can tell him everything. I have
never heard him swear. l have never
seen him angry. 1 have never known
him to take q drink. In his private life
anybody takes Walt Whitman for an
original puritan he is mistaken; he is
not prude. He is always finding out
the good points in a PERSONS character
and always knows the best side Of
man: II he knows the weak points ir
another he does not tell you of them:
He has never been married and I thinl-
he prefers to be alone when not In the
house. I seldom see him in the street
accompanied by friends. but II you go
you may SEQ him standing alone on the
bank, watching the men at work with
his hands in his coat pockets. You ma.
see him on q street car, talking with the
driver in front and Offering him chew
of tobacco-although he eschews thu
weed himself. You will meet him in the
hospital. holding perhaps a child's ham
in his own, or he will be distributing
funny books and papers among tn
patients. He does not carry tracts
warning you to repent and escap
eternal fire. He knows too well tina
such things will not be read by the ma
jority of the patients"
In The Star OF September 9. 1868, i
an account of work done at the homo
of George Washing
Mount Vernon ton by the Mount
Neglected. and 1l a protest st agains,
the fact that a large number Of per-
sons in this city had never made a
pilgrimage to his burial place, continu-
ing:
Does this disregard for spot made
sacred by the holy memories of GU.
baptism as a nation by fire and blood
which cluster around it indicate de-
cline of public patriotism? The home
of Gen. George Washington, the house
in which he lived, the grounds hal
lowed by his footsteps, the room IN
which he died, the vault In which his
remains were deposited, are sadly
neglected, and all because in the coun-
trv which he delivered not enough can
he spared from the vast wealth which