Evening star., 1924-03-30

While London, city of smoke and
fog, is becoming cleaner every day.
Washington, with it's white buildings,
is falling a prey to CRIME. The old
saying that London climate on
clear day is like looking up a Chin
ney and London climate on a foggy
day is like looking down the chimney
no longer holds true. The famous
London fogs are becoming compare
lively rare.
The British capital awoke some
time ago to a realization that smoke
menaced it's health and civic at
tractiveness. An artist, Sir William
Richmond. started a smoke abate-
ment society. and since then London
factories have been compelled to
consume their own smoke.
This is cited as an indication that
the British capital is alert to making
the most of it's esthetic values. In
Washington, however, the Capitol
dome is periodically scrubbed. the
War Department is sprayed of with
a fire department hose and smoke
regulations are passed, but the gov
ernment's supposedly snowy offices
are more often than not subdued to
a soft, not very pleasing, gray.
A British miniature painter and
his wife, an American novelist, have
been translating the National Capital
into their respective arts, and, Incl
dentally, they have been seeing
Washington" from individual angles.
The painter is Allyn Williams,
founder and president of the Royal
has been responsible for a revival of
the delicate art of painting little
portraits on ivory. He has painted
some of the loveliest women of Brit
ish and American capitals. His wife,
Anna Dorsey Williams, is the author
of a novel of Washington life which
is to appear this spring. She was
born in Washington and lived for
number of years on Capitol Hill and
in old Georgetown.
To these two artists washington
appears as a city beautiful, a city
of Arabian Nights variety, but a city
in considerable danger of being
spoiled.
Thus, Mr. Williams looks up from his
studio window, where he Is painting
fuIl-length miniature of Washington
beauty, and waves paint brush toward
the new headquarters OF the United
States Chamber of Commerce, a white
stone structure very well in keeping
with the colonial and Greek styles of
the older government buildings
A city of white marble against a back
ground of blue sky and green parks and
trees is an inspiring plan\for a nations
Capital, he remarks in British accent,
and the plan is being consistently car
ried out in most of the new public
buildings. But white temple-like struc-
lures swept by smoke are not 50 beauu-
full
MAY BE ConamercAnlineA.
Washington is in grave danger Of
being commercialtzed-the novelist con-
tributes to the conversation. It Ii not
manufacturing city, and probably viii
never be permitted to become one But
the demand for Office space Is resulting
in more and more ten-stofy structures.
which jostle the public buildings and
shut out the vistas and skylines which
make the city a panorama Of restful
beauty.
London and Paris sprang UP without
definite plan for their careers as national
capitals Washington Is more fortunate.
1t has not yet acquired the fascinating
mellowne5s Of the old European cities,
but 1t has always had before it the pros
pect Of becoming the modern Athens.
Now conm0rcializm threatens to dwarf
the pubic buildings by towering of1ceR
Ten stories may not make . siyscraper
in other cities. @ut> As a deYotee Of