Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-10-26
FIFTY YEARS AGO IN THE STAR

Knocking Congress 10 not modern
national entertainment. It has been
in vogue for . long
The Small Sins while. 1t was rrac-
.s r., ticed half a CEN
fury ago. ~ the
following. printed In The Star OF O.
tober 10. 1853:
the Atlantic Monthly for Novem-
Der has for its opening article a con-
trioutfon by James Parton upon The
small Sins of Congress- It is pleas
antiy written. but rather wire drawn.
as Is the case OF most of Parton's
late productions. Among the small
sins OF Congress he indicates the
employment Of doorkeepers to open
doors that shut themselves, and at
the rate Of two men to a door; the
discharge of private obligations by
coneressmen at the expense of the
PUBLIC by procuring appointments of
supernum erartes to ONCE; the i'm
in9 ppe ar use OF public property in CIV
waste or money upon poor works of
ART: the waste Of public money
through the waste Of time in friv-
o!ous debate: the waste of stationery:
the multitude OF petty transgressione
covered by, the words. contingent
expenses: the extravagant prices for
settlng the corpses Of dead mem
oers home from Washington: the Zee
system employed to compensate some
or the omcers Of Congress: the mil
that are never used, etc. etc. Par.
toms remedy for this conversational
PERCUSSION is to abolish fees. nernui-
sites and privileges and accept in
lieu tnereoI proper increase to their
s sa But. lest Congress should
Parton hastens to tell them that they
are not nearly as profuse and cor
rupt as the Wanted governments Of
the old world. On the whole. the
tendency Of Mr.. Parton's article will
be to leave congressman to the COM
Portable conclusion that they are no
worse than other legislative bodies
OF the world. and that in most re-
spects they are good deal better. It
VIII not touch, the consciences of
M'C.s very searchingly."
Food prices after the civil war were
higher than normal. but still were not
as high by long odds
Food Prices as those that prevail
:, 1peo today. Some idea Of
the difference Is to be
obtained from the following Center
Market News" printed in The Star of
October 10. 1863:
line wholesale prices yesterday
were as follows: Apples, eating, $3.50
to IS per barrel: do, cooking. 81 to
% per barrel: cranberries, s12 per bar
rel: grapes. $12 and $19 per hundred
weight; tomatoes, SIPS per bushel:
green corn. Is and 20 cents per dozen:
egg plants, so cents per dozen; pota-
toes, $2:2S per barrel: sweet potatoes,
W and SO per barrel; onions, IS: cab
oages. IS and $40 a hundred; chickens,
S1.5O and Sc dozen: ducks, 81 and IS
a dozen: eggs. % cents dozen; oats, IS
cents per bushel; marrowfat squash,
s2 per hundredweight; pears. 50 and
damsons. Sc a bushel: chestnuts, SIS a
bushel: honey. 20 cents per pound.
This morning the prices at retail
were as follows: Apples. eating, so
cents per peck: do, cooking, 80 and 40
cents per peck; cranberries. 20 cents
pound: tomatoes. so cents per peck !:
green corn. rs cents per dozen; egg
plants. 10 cents each; turnips, SO cents
per peck; cabbages. 10 and %
cents each; potatoes, 80 cents per
peck: sweet, do. 40 cents per peck /:
onions, so cents per peck; eggs. 90
cents per dozen; damsons. $50 per
peck; chestnuts. Is and 20 cents per
quart; chickens. 81 per pair; ducks.
81 per pair: cucumbers. 25 cents per
dozen; country butter, SO cents per
pound; pears. 60 cents per peck; lima
beans, 25 cents per quart; honey, Is
cents per pound
The Washington canal nuisance was
a perennial subject of complaint. not
only on the part
a Scientists View OF the newspa-
of the Canal. ps ana cit'zens
generally, but public officials as we'll
1t even crept into formal official re-
ports. as shown by the following In
The Star of October Fl, 1863:
Prof. Henry, secretary of the Smith.
sonian Institution. in his lust nuh-
lfshed report for 1868, deyotee con.
siderable attention to that most dis
gushing object known as the canal,
He designates 1t as in fact a :stygian
pool. from which are constantly as
cending in bubbles, as from a cauI-
dron, methetic vapors' The only eff
fectual cure Of the evil is in his
opinion to I'LL up the present basin
and construct a covered sewer of suf-
hcient capacity to receive that part of
the drainage from the city which can
mn hA fr,y al In nt1