The Washington times., 1920-04-26
Presidents and Pies
n Interesting Account of Washington People or
Yesterday and Today by the Wie of the
WeII-KnOUn DipLomatist

been established where, during those
brilliant days. entertaining was
done with discrimination and taste.
But, nevertheless, the elegance ana
formality OF foreign capitals as
well as the gayety OF restaurant hfe'
have always been lacking.
Washington. Is, of course, the
most beautiful OF American cities.
Our first President himself chose
the site here on the Potomac. Ho
was one OF the few who realized
the possibilities OF the location,
which most people derisively term
cd "A mud hole II was only when
L'Enfant, the young French officer,
had laid out It's great avenues, and
the town began TO take form and
substance, that its beauty became
apparent. -"
One day as we were entering the
Senate we saw so many policemen
that 1 inquired what the trouble
was. "Oh, they've just dug up a
man who had been dead eighty
years" some one said. II proved TO
be the body of L'Enfant. The Gov
ernment wished to erect a monu-
ment over his grave, but the people
on whose land he had been buried
would not consent for fear they
would be annoyed by sightscers.
So after a fitting ceremony and
speeches at tho Capitol by the Vice
President and the French ambassa-
dor his body was removed, first
to Annapolis and later to Airing
ton.
1t has taken a century for Len
fants vision to become reality,
and now. with its many splended
colonnades, with the beauty OF the
long sweep from the Capitol to the
White House. with tho parks, the
shining river, and the misty hills
beyond, Il is a reality that becomes
q vision. When I close my eyes
see II as a white city which the set
ting sun leaves In, mysterious veil
OF pink mist. Above II all the won
derful shaft OF the Washington
Monument seems to link heaven
and earth In the darkness, to pierce
the sky in the light"
City Of spie,diS vistss.
Like green spokes to . wheel, the
streets during the spring, stretch
out from tho bright towering
circles making cool and shaded
aisies with their nne old trees
whose boughs meet overhead. To
the north one may continue on into
wild Rock Creek Park. riding or
motoring for miles on the hiliy
slopes by the winding broox. be-
meath the pink bud and the starry
dogwood. Japanese cherry trees
bloom along the Speedway by the
broad Potomac and the Basin. and
here one can walk or drive between
fiower-bordered paths in the per
fumed air and listen to the music
OF the Marine Band. Watching q
game of polo or gazing OPP at the
airplanes sltimming about over
head, one thinks of the changes
since the early days when Indians
fought on the surrounding hills.
and frigates bearing colonists
sailed up the river, and log hnts
nestled in the Virginia woods.
Driving along the banks by the
old canal toward Great Falls, pass
ing darky cabins with pickaninnies
playing outside, one comes to where
Defoe's hero, Colonel Jacque, is
supposed to have lived. He was an
English boy, kidnapped, "as was the
fashion in the time OF Queen Anne"
and sold into slavery in Virginia.
His story is typical Of that class OF
men, the white slaves Of the late
seventeenth and early eighteenth
centuries. Driving back again
through the twilight, and into the
town once more, one sees great
houses loom up, with negro cabins
budding close by These cabins, once
so Characteristic of Washington, arc
fast disappearing.
ITO BE Continued Ton0rrow.)