Evening star., 1918-02-17
I|FIFTY YEARS AGO In THE STAR

George G. Leach. two well known stxeee
car,conductors. who entered into awAgeP
for considerable figure rs to their
respective skill in the art Of skatinG.
They skated from the Long bridge to
Fort Washington, about sixteen miles,
and. as the contestants are experts In
the art. rapid time was made At start
ing. The disparagement in the size o1
the two 'skatfsts' may be inferred whsn
It Is stated that Mr.. Leach weighs over
200 pounds, while Mr.. Burssy weighs
but little over 100 pounds. Messrs.
James knight and Oliver Dunn, judges.
and Messrs. Thomas Livings of New
York and Mott Dunn and Red. Tucker.
umpires, accompanied the parties in
Capt George Sheckles' newly construct
ed yacht for sailing on the ice. Tho
contestants are expected to return to
Washington tonight"
A careful search of The Star of The
next day and subsequent issues faifs
to disclose any report of this event
leading to the conclusion that the
"skatists'' for some reason or other
gave up the match.
The Star of February II, 1858, called
attention to the danger Of Cuwdfnx
the aisles at
Safety at Places of places of publio
Public Gathering. reference to late
serious accidents, with the following
local application:
"In this city the practice in places OF
amusement Of placing chairs. etc. in
the passageways. in order to seat q
greater number of persons. has grown
to a dangerous extent, and we under
stand that Maj. Richards. superintend
ent of police. has taken the requisite
measures to correct the evil. BY so do
ing, very serious calamities may be
averted.
"As regards facilities for egress, We
believe the public halls Of Washington
are almost all uniformly defective. The
largest and in many respects the most
eligible hall in the city. Carroll Hall.
was shown. by the painful slowness of
exit at the time of the Dickens read
ings. to be quite deficient in this re-
spect- The same is true Of other halls.
but it was the more apparent in this
semblage accommodated within its
ample walls and the length of time re-
quired to enable them to leave the
building through the single mode Of
exit The proprietors of our city halls.
one and all, will do well to take into
consideration the propriety of widening
and increasing the number of exit
passages. In the construction of new
halls now in progress-the Masonic
sociation Hall-we trust that proper
care is taken in the same direction The
late lecture room of the Smithsonian
Institution might serve as a model; It
was not only the best hall we have ever
had in respect to acoustics and ventila-
tion. but it was also the best provided
with means of exit, with no less than
four ample modes of egress."
In view of the present tendency
throughout the United States, owing
to the inter-
Plea for German in national situa-
Public Schools. tho stnav of ~.
German language in the public schools
and other educational institutions. an
item in The Star of February IA, 1865.
is of particular interest. 1t tells of
meeting held the night previous of
leading German citizens and dele
gates from all the German associations
to arrange a mass meeting of those
favorable to the teaching of the rudi-
ments of the German language to such
pupils of the public schools as might
desire it. The resolutions, which were
referred to a committee, recited the
fact that that language was spoken by
$4,000 persons in Washington.