Evening star., 1929-12-01
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star

Inc washington City Post once was
an itinerant tenant for many years, oc-
Another City Rs Buildings, = All m more 0oT oT
Post 0f;ca less inappropriate in
A"S' N0' size and accommoda-
tions. Half a century ago public ex-
pectation was aroused by the engage
ment of new quarters for the mail head
quarters of the Capital, as thus stated
IA The Star of November "a, 1879:
1T is expected that within few
days, possibly by Saturday night, the
city Post once will be located at the
Seaton House, fronting Louisiana ave-
nue. and G street between Sixth and
Seventh. The work Of arranging the
building for the purposes of the ONCE
has been in progress for about six
P. Burnside, superintendent of the Post
the best judges speak of the arrange
mentS as being excellent. The City
Post once will occupy the basement
and the first and second stories, but it
Is likely that some other bureau Of the
Government will be moved to the up
per stories and thereby save the pay
ment of rent elsewhere. The delivery
portion of the ONCE will be on the
Louisiana avenue side, occupying the
entire front. Arches have been cut
and the lobby, 10 feet wide, extended
from one end to the other, 81 feet. The
mails will be received on G street, the
wagons backing up to platform S feet
wide and so feet long. The remainder
of the first story viii be used for as
sorting and making up the mails, and
it is arranged for the greatest conven-
fence to the public and the employees.
From the lobby there are two flights
on the second floor. The postal rail-
making the offices on this floor very
convenient to the public. The post
master, the assistant postmaster, the
money-order and registered letters and
Searchers' departments will be located
on the second floor. The postal rail-
way employees will also have rooms on
this floor. The basement will be de-
voted to the heating apparatus and the
repair shops and to bins for the Stor-
age of pouches, bags, etc. The entire
cost of alterations and repairs will be
about $1,000, which the owners of the
building bear. The lease is for five years
at $5,000."
Recently, during the stock market
collapse, some extraordinarily large buy
Vanderbilt's Big filed fild in Wall street
Sale of Stock. as a means Of sta
S"A0 VI 0'V"N' bilizing the 'list"
and checking the downward movement
of prices. One order in particular was
of sensational moment, being for the
purchase of 100000 shares of United
States Steel at so, q price which was
almost, but not quite, reached, the order
acting as stop or dam against the
ebbing tide of quotations. Half q CEN
tury ago market transactions were in
smaller figures. In The Star of Novem-
ber %, 1879, is the following:
THE sale by w. H. Vanderbilt of
$50 900 shares of New York Central
Railroad stock, involving q payment Of
$50 100000, was one of the largest
perhaps the largest, ever
in this country. Mr. Cy-
rus w. Field, who has had a great deal
Of experience in that line, says it was
the largest transaction I ever heard OF
by any corporation Half the amount,
at least, Is to be paid in United States 4
per cent bonds at par, and some know
ing ones among railroad magnateS and
stock brokers are of the opinion that
Mr.. Vanderbilt has made a big stroke.
Mr.. Vanderbilt retains the MANAGEMENT
Of the line Of railroad, and some of the
Wall Street operators have intimated a
suspicion that he will manage it so as
to be able to buy back the stock he has
sold for much less than the price he gets.
In comparison with this transaction, Jay
Coulds check of $4,000, 900 to Commo-
dore Garrison for the Missouri Pacific
Railroad becomes a picayune affair. Mr..
ostensible reason for relin-
gushing this enormous block of stock
is that he did it in difference to the
popular feeling, which is averSe to his
absolute control of the New York Gen.
trail, but the general impression in New
York City is that other motives infiu-
enced the sale-that for one thing he
wanted the money badly to pay of
heavy Indebtedness and that, further, IL
was necessary for him TO protect the