Evening star., 1924-08-07
THIS AND THAT
BY G. E. THACEwELL.

Familiarity brseds contempt" said
Thomas Aquinas.
So 1t is with our washingto
streets and street corners. Thorough
fares we tread daily. corners we pass,
become to us who live here things
of no consequence whatever. except
as public utilities.
Yet there is distinctly another side
to the streets of the National Capital.
and it is the side the tourist sees.
Washingtonians. In their hours of
ease, needs must envy the sightseers; /;
they see so much more of our own
city than we do.
The latter get a great deal more
out of this city than we who live here.
to whom custom has made stale its
buildings. streets, trees and other
points of interest.
The man from Podunk sees Wash
ington with fresh eyes. Did we go
TO Podunk we might see beauties he
does not know exist there, too.
The thing for Washingtonians to
do, however. Is not so much visit
Podunk. that charming village on
Sugar Creek, but better see Washing
ton on the Potomac.
Instead of burying ones nose In
his newspaper In the morning on the
way down town, sit up and look
about.
Washington on a hot summer morn
ing has much to offer him-or her
VINO Will make a slight effort to see
VI course, there are some who do
not care for this, thing of seeing
the familiar, and with them there is
ana perfectly proper for one to ride
down town without once glancing up
except when some lady steps on your
toes.
But to the other % per cent of the
populace, those who like to find
amusement on a street corner they
thought barren of such entertainment,
the habit of really looking at things
is commended
1t Is possible, for instance, to pass
the Treasury as II 1t were a mere
PIE OF stones, heaped one upon the
other on the other hand, as. the
preacher says, that classic structure
may be given a glance or two by any
one, even he who passes il daily.
know a government employe who
ln mas been walking in and out the
treasury building for 30 years, who
tells me that never once has he eone
out or in without finding some thing
new to admire.
* X
A man does not wonder at what
ne sees frequently" Cicero said.
There is no particular occasion for
wonder, however. Interest is the
main thing. Let man have interest
in anything and all the rest shall be
added Without interest enthusiasm
dies. or never is born, and work and
become
Ihis is why Washingtoniaas- more
tnan visitors, need TO hold fast 70
their ability to really see men and
places here. 1t will not do to let the
to us merely places to be passed
The man who has come to the point
where that tremendous engineering
teat. the Washington Monument, is
tnereiy Trick structure for the edi-
hcation of visitors, is in imn,inen,
danger of losing his enthusiasm for
everything else, stalled by freouence.
shrunk by usage into commones
commonplace"
Take certain street corner" for
an example.
thousands of persons pass it daily.
upon business and pleasure, vet how
many look at it close enough to roo
osnlze 1t If 1t were described to them?
u is Just an average Washington
IKE many others, yet with dis
tlnctlve features of its own
Nothing worth describing? True
there are no monuments. no great
SSuIIoiHgs, no magni1cence of shrub
oery-Tnere is great naregvso
Grated with it, either living or dead
yet men work here every day. Here
eIageoy- and comedy have their pIay-
s,ouno, as on every other corner
Hhefe men and women pass and con.
nerS. u cur
Ihls corner has the usual n.vad
streets, curbstones, sewers On ~.
northeast corner of this intersection
stands an automobile filling station
lhere is small red topped house
atter the fashion common to S,,,h
stations 1t is made of gravstone
"iTh There d cihlnkiy n XXI red tile roof
,romnd rs an IRON rail and stone wall
aiouilo Two sides, while next door ;s
three- story red building, bevon6
that the towering steel skeIeton nf y y
Ths IN process of CONSTRUCTION
wo or Uncle Sans mail boxes +.
sized 9ne - hof parcels and the normal
n,Hea one Tor letters, stand sIiebtIv
up street, alongside thS fiIling ntay nta
ton ton On the Other side 'as is a smsll S;dl
tiea. pant ed through the. min istra-
IONS or that foster father Of on
ensss I'M Lanham. 1t is carefully
suapoed 1n oy little picket fence.
on the northeast corner Of This
intersection. just, across the sIopins is
of da STANDS four-story building
=, is uark yellow brick. A restaurant
Is on the first floor q IL
On the southeast corner is an
oyster house. in a four-story red
nrn oaiek building. The southwest cor
r r occupied by another restau-
rant, while Immediately next door is
trash box. 10 d'so
Looking up and down the streets
one sees other structures. three and
TOUR stories high. with the execution
OF two large buildings-
can you guess the corner --------
---+---- y *-R - 80
The description is accurate. so
tnat any one of the thousands who
pass here daily ought to be able to
place this corner.
me point Is, of course that ,,ost