Evening star., 1928-04-01
RY THOMAS r. HENRY.

n Government uirt IN the SprtnE
Of 1872.
So he quit his Job In the Treasury
moved TO New York State, and adver.
tised the house, with an acre oi
ground around It." for sale.
The house. then out in the country
but not inconvenient to reach by horst
cars was sold sometime during the
year. No great attention was paid tc
the incident then-nor has there been
since. But it marked the end of q
chapter in the history of Washington
which may be remembered when al
most everything else that ever hap
pened here has been forgotten For
art is long-and wars. Statecraft and
laws in comparison are cphemeral
things. Ten thousand years from now,
when archeologiSts are eXcavating the
ruins of an obscure and vanished civili-
sation, IL is not unlikely that tho
learned men will pass casually over tho
foundations OF the White House and
Capitol to concentrate on a little pile
Of buried bricks at 1882 Y street,
They may search for other spots in
the same connection. but they will have
a terrible time finding them, for these
already have passed beyond all recog-
nitioE
The brick house at 1882 V street,
now the home of Howard Wood colored
and his wife, was built in 1868 by a
Treasury clerk named Burroughs, who
used to write for the papers in his spare
time He only occupied half of it. The
other half was rented to MFR. and Mrs
William D O'Connor. Mr.. O'Connor
was assistant chief of the Bureau of
Lighthouses. Burroughs and O'Connor
each had vegetable and flower gardens
in the rear, The former had a poultry
coop with three hens.
Walter Whitman, an odd character
about town. clerk in the controller
generals office. and scribbler Of
Questionable verses. for which he had
been properly reprimanded by a vir-
tuous Interior Secretary. was an inti-
mate friend of both families and passed
most of his time out of working hours
at the house
Another scribbler named John T.
Trowbridge was there often. So were
Frank Baker later superintendent of
the National Geological Park; Spencer
T. Baird. secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution; John Tyndall. an Irish
physicist. Sojourning in Washington.
whose agnostic views horrified pious
persons: Peter Doyle horse car con-
ductor on the Fourteenth street line:
Charles Sumner. member of the
Senate from Massachusetts,; a friend of
Summers from Boston, an old gentle
man named Emerson. who was very
forgetful and fast losing his mind: and
various other Government officials,
scientists, idle persons. artists and
writer's.
The only significance about the pres
ent Wood home is that it represents the
intellectual high-water mark in the his
nf acH sx,
history of the United StateS-eXceeding
n importance even the long g-demoiished
mansion Of Kalorama, few blocks to
the northwest, where joel Barlow. Rob
ert Fulton and Thomas Jefferson used
% wax eloquent over their rum and the
social problems OF the day.
THIS house seems to be the only
= building which can be identified
with the life OF Walt Whitman during
his 10 years IN Washington-the most
productive period Of his life. The
euthor of Leaves Of Grass" was a
shiftleSs and i1appy-go-lucky bachelor.
who seems TO have moved from cne
attic room 70 another as his finances
permitted During the last year of the
Civil War, when he was a volunteer
nurse in the Army hospitals here. he
lived with his friend o'Connor at 394 L
street, which is described as near
Fourteenth" There Is no such house
today. and apparently no means of
identifying buildings with the old street
numbers G -
Then he moved into the garret at
456 Sixth street northwest. There Is
nc such number today. Tired of this
lodging, he shifted 70 a house which
Il may be possible TO identify, at
Twelfth and II streets. Newspaper clip
pings on file At the Public Library give
his last address here as 235 Pennsyl-
vsnia avenue. now the Brunswick
Hotel. a lodging house for colored pa
irons.
When Whitman first became an inti-
mate In the household OF John Bur-
foughs, the poet-naturaliSt was living
In "a small brick house on Capitol Hi
near the present site Of the Senate Of
nce Building" There seems no way TO
identify it more definitely. II had
small backyard garden with some fruit
trees. There also was an attic 70 which
O'CcnnoT used 70 60, 10 work on MS
novel, away from the distraction of his
cwn house. Sometimes he worked all
night there. and Burroughs. afraid that
his friend was killing himself with labor
--wf1ich he was--llsed 10 huTl ripe p.unS
et him through the open window before
going to work In the morning.
In this house vas established The first
whitman circle" In Washington. The
young Treasury clerk. Burroughs. who
had Just brought his bride TO the Capt.
tai and vas struggling along on a small
salary out Of which he was able 70 lay
By $50 q month toward permanent
home, was attracted strongly TO the
vagabond poet Whitman, on the other
hand, rot only liked the enthusiastic
companionship Of the younger man but
welcomed the opportunity 10 borrow
from his slender savings and 70 eat
frequent breakfasts Of aTiddle cakes and
maple syrup from the AdiTondacks pre-
pared by Mrs. Burroughs. He had
standing invitation 10 breakfast every
Sunday morning, but came much
oftener. He brought his ragged clothes
te be n1endeo. and the young wife dic
the pest she c0uld.
Finally. Mrs. Burroughs and Mrs.
O'COnnoF agreed on division OF labor
The former was 10 keep the poets shirts
in repair and the latter his SOCKS. Once
or twice year he would come to Mrs.
O'Conn0T with his pockets stuffed with
dirty. tatteFeo. minated socks ano pile
them at her feet Some time later, after
ne had qusrreleo with OConnor. TO
whom ne owed more than 10 any otner
person IN tbs world, he used 10 watch
the mouse unlI his former friend had
eff and then bring In Dis socks 70 be
Toendeo
Whitman frequently has been de-
scr1bed as a DFsTded infant. He needed
lots Of "no,hering and the two young
women whose husbands were iaik entnu-
Iisstic oiscipies evidently supplied the
need i;ngrudglngiy Between 'hem they
furnished 9 great nUHb"r ot h dsals
II - ON est3c se .sis loT the goDo gray
Pc nch,Sing DIs 1tltul mugs % beer
we're paid fo' eY tfsii husbands 81 safl-
O.. Avenue saIaOnf : % festauTtns ne.
Al ifs "ar,-a ma ..'GsA Ob Cspitol