The Ely miner., 1930-08-01
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sy ELMO SCOTT WATSON

0 HE United States Supreme
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lHz<zli court is soon to have q
"a new home in the National
Is 81 Capital beftting the dig
IA nifty of that important
IA branch of the federal gov
Ia ernment. but the selection
L. of a site for this temple
of justice has meant the
- passing of one of the
most historic buildings in Washington.
For 10 years there stood at the cor
ner of Maryland avenue and First
street, \. E., in the block adjoining
the Library of Congress, a building,
known as the "Old Brick Capitol" be-
cause at a critical period in our his
tory it housed the government of the
United States. But now it is no more.
1t has been torn down so that upon
its site may be erected the stately new
home of the national judiciary.
The Old Brick Capitol came into be-
ing as the result of one of the great
est catastrophes which ever befell the
republic-the burning of the Capitol
and other government buildings in
Washington by the British during the
War of 1872 As we look back upon
ii now, it seems strange that our gov
ernment should have been so apathetic
and the citizens of Washington so in
different to danger as they were in
August, 1914, when British fleet
sailed into Chesapeake bay and an
chored off Fort McHenry. If they
gave the matter any thought at all. it
was that New York or Baltimore
might be attacked. but it seemed to
occur to no one that the National Cap
ital was in any serious danger.
For one thing. they counted on Fort
McHenry to keep the invaders from
coming up the bay, and if the enemy
should attempt naval attack on
Washington by way of the Potomac
river, they seemed to believe that the
antiquated cannon placed at several
points below the city would hold them
off. 1t was no tribute to the intelli-
gence of the British leaders to believe
this and, as might have been expected,
the enemy did exactly what no one
seems to have thought they would do.
They launched a land attack from the
other direction and so swift were their
movements and so inadequate the
preparations by the Americans for
guarding against such an emergency
that the red coats were almost upon
the city before they were discovered.
Then there was a great scurryfng
around and General Winder hastily
assembled a force of some 5000 men
10 halt the invaders. Five hundred of
his men were sailors but the remain
der were raw and undisciplined mi
litia and it was with this force that he
faced an army of 5000 British, most
ly sailors and marines, under Admiral
Cockburn and General Ross at Bla-
densburg. Americans to this day re-
member with shame the "Bladensburg
races" as the newspapers of the day
called the rout which followed. For
although the 500 American sailors
made a brave stand, the militia ran
and President Madison, who was with
the troops, was swept along with them
in their panicky flight. In the mean
time Dolly Madison, the wife of the
President, was proving herself he
roine. When news of the Bladens-
burg disaster reached Washington,
most of the government officials and
hundreds of citizens fed incontinently
with no thought OF trying to save any,
thing from the invaders. But Dolly
seized the Declaration of Independ-
ence, the Constitution of the United
States and other priceless documents,
loaded them and other valuables of
the government in a farm wagon and
took them across the Potomac into Vir-
ginia, where she was later joined by
the President, who was forced to hide
out in the woods as the enemy
marched into the Capital.
The British made triumphal entry
Of it on August "a. Entering the Ex-
ecutive Mansion, the British officers,
according TO their own account, drank
the British kings health in the Amer
ican Presidents wine and then set fire
TO the building. Next they visited the
Capitol and Admiral Cockburn took his
seat i'm the chair of the speaker Of
the house of representatives. Spring
ing to his feet, he shouted. shall this
harbor of Yankee Democracy be
burned? All for il will say Aye! :"
Shouts of Aye. Aye filled the room
and few minutes later the torch
was applied Next they destroyed the