Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-24
FIFTY YEARS AGO IN
THE STAR,

news item in The Star Of oc-
tober II. 1870, describing the scene at
the commencement
Avenue Paving Of the work Of
Work Begins. yan,a avenue with
wood blocks illustrates the intense
anxiety OF the people of Washington
for that Improvement:
whats all that" Why. what's
the matter there" Is that fire.?
That must be q tight" oh. no,
they're commencing to lay the wooden
pavement, etc, were expressions of
persons this morning passing by the
corner Of LIST street west and Penn
sylvania avenue from about sunrise
to 10 o'clock. No one could ina CINE
| at first what had collected such
crowd. The Avenue was lined. Men
both white and black. and horses and
! carts. mingled promiscuousiy. while
\ numerous picks and shovels We're seen
| moving about through the fog. indi-
| eating that something was to be IN
| earthed. Our reporter was not lonG
in finding out that the contractor fer
| laying the Miller pavement between
| LIST and 4 II streets west was about 10
commence operations At LIST street
the crowd stretched clear across and
from there to Sd tapered down in
form of a mighty wedge. Our Celtic
population were out in full force. and
no less numerous were the lately
emancipated.' If our reporter made
an INQUIRY he was buzzed at once by
a dozen Say boss. viii you give me
| a job To which, when he replied
that he had nothing to do with it. he
was met with Well. you have in
| fiuence, haven't you" You know who
| is the boss, don't you?' Indeed, sir.
! l was the first man here. etc. \ few
steps farther on and the same IN
treaties in those and other terms Were
| made without avail. About O'Clock
| the contractors agents came along
and began the work of employment
Men were soon at work in spots dig
ging up the cobblestones, and before
long the Avenue west of Tiber creek
presented an appearance as If broken
out with the smallpox The disap-
pointed ones wended their way west
| ward with a view of trying their
| luck on some other section. but these
| being not yet commenced, they recon-
pensed themselves with view OF the
parade of colored Odd Fellows. The
work is now progressing rapidly. the
Icobblestones being carted TO the bank
of the canal between Cd and Az
Streets
| The capital movers fifty years ago
| were not discouraged by the lack OF
sentiment in favor Of
| Canita1 that project. but persist
! ed in their enterprise.
| Hno'ei'' convention had been
called in that interest, and The Star
| in its issue of October IS. 1870, said:
'The approaching capital-movins
convention meets in Cincinnati on
\ the 25th of October. the two papers
| of the country favoring the move
! ment. essayed to back up the con-
vention editorially, but they do it III
spiritless, feeble way, notably in
| contrast with the vim with which
! they agitated the question one year
ago and the amount of space they
! then gave to its discussion. But three
| states, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.
/ have responded to the call for the
convention, and it now looks as il
the country would De even NOR
! meagerly represented than at the
| convention that met year ago at
! St Louis. when it was confessed that
| two-thirds of the delegates from
different states were bogus ones
picked up in St. Louis. The Chicago
Tribune betrays some temper over
the apathy shown for the move
ment' by the different states, and
urges that they shall send delegates
whether they favor the project or
not. Not likely. The people of the
country have no time TO spend IN
furthering the schemes of squad OF
ct. Louis and Chicago real estate
SPECTATORS who own land IN the
vicinity OF the former city.
kk
The Cbrcoran Art Gallery building
At the corner of Pennsylvania ave
nue. and 18th street. was
Corcorap commenced in 1859 and
rooted in the following
0oA4SAy year about the time of
the breaking out of the rebellion.
The government, being in need Of
quarters for its extra war Offices.
took possession of the structure and
used it during the war and for sew
eral years afterward. In The Star of
October 10. 1870, is an article which
tells of the restoration of the build
ing to the trustees of the gallery
named by Mr.. Corcoran, an act of
Incorporation having been passed in
May, 1870. That act also authorized
the Secretaries of War, Treasury and
state to ascertain and settle upon
principles of justice, a fair and just
Compensation for the use of the
grounds while the same were occu-
pied by the United States for the
public service and appropriated the
necessary amount to pay the rent
found due" During the occupancy
by. the government the interior ar
rangement was somewhat changed. In
February. 1870. the building was sur
rendered by the government and the
work was started for its restoration
in accordance with the original de-
sign, this work having cost the donor
more than $50, 900. According to the
article In The Star, the collection of
paintings and sculptures was then
about to be put in place Immediately
upon the completion Of the work.
The Geographic dispatches of The
Star of October 20, 1870. tell of
series of earthquakes
EARTHQUAKES felt in various parts
of New England, New
nePoINu. York, Pennsylvania and
Ohio, and in Canada At Cleveland
the shock caused several Of the larger
buildings to sway. their occupants
fleeing into the streets. great con-
sternation generally prevailing. In
Boston q block Of granite in a large
building was cracked, and another
block was forced outward three or
four inches. According to the dis
patches, little serious damage was
done, but much excitement was caused.
In this connection it was noted that
Boston had suffered several previous
shocks in 1885, and another in 1914,