Evening star., 1932-10-30
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star

Fifty years ago the subject of smoking
on the street cars caused a great deal
Of trouble here and
smoking on elsewhere. The Star
Street Cars. 81 savs. o''00er 'O' 1882
The managers Of the Philadelphia
street cars have issued a peremptory
order against smoking on the cars.
either inside or on the platforms. Why
will not our street car managers earn
the gratitude of the public by issuing
similar order-and enforcing it? Notices
against smoking are posted on some of
the cars. but the conductors and drivers
do not seem TO think the order means
anything as they never enforce it. The
smokers have full liberty to puff the
smoke of the vilest cigars in the faces
of the passengers. They are not only
allowed to occupy the rear platform,
but the front one as well, where the
smoke is drawn through the entire
car. and on at least two of the lines
smoking is permitted inside the cars.
Visitors to Washington say that no.
where else in the country is the street
car smoking nuisance permitted to the
extent it is in this city"
Decision having been reached by the
Secretary Of War to proceed with the
River Reclamation the Potomac ton nc
Work Soon to Start. Rs!t;r, nsTs T1snTne fnr ths
final court ruling on the subject of
title. Maj. Hams, in charge of the work.
was sought by representative of The
Star with reference to the course to be
followed. The result is told in the fol-
lowing in The Star Of October 81, 1882 ::
Maj. Hains stated to Star reporter
today that the contract for dredging
the fats has not been awarded yet.
When asked if Mr. Adams of this city.
who is the lowest bidder. would be
likely to be awarded the work, he re-
piled: I am now taking steps to find
out who Mr.. Adams is and whether he
is able to perform the work in the
manner desired. There are certain in
formalities in his bid which can be
waived. provided he proves to be a re-
sponSible party and can show without
doubt that he can do as he says. Mr..
Adams proposes to commence by the
18th of November. His plan is to re-
move the material taken from the river
above and below Long Bridge upon
floats or mud Scows and then transfer
it to dirt cars running on tracks built
en- piles. The plan of Sanford Ross of
Jersey City the next lowest bidder, is
similar to this
In answer to a question about the
erection wall, Maj. Hains said: The
wall is another thing which has no
connection with the dredging. l didn't
want to make preparations for erecting
it until it was decided just how the
dredging was to be done, for fear that
the work of erecting it might interfere
with the dredging operations. 1 shall
see, though. that the wall is built as
the work of dredging proceeds. There
will be no great hurry about the wall,
for there will be no danger of the
dredged materials sliding back into the
river channel, as the material as it is
removed must be deposited so far back
that the beginning of the slope of the
pile will not be within hundred feet
OF the line Of the proposed wall"
The Star of November l, 1882, notes
the fact that Republican adversaries of
Senator William Window of
Wlnd0m Minnesota were circulating
uous. photographs of his Washing
Aouso' ton houSe-on Scott circle
and were displaying them to defeat his
reelection by showing that, though a
poor man when he entered Office, he
had acquired the wealth to build a
palatial residence Of this style. The
Star goes on to say:
"Mr. Window is out in vigorous
contradiction Of batch Of campaign
ISLANDERS of this sort started against
him. In regard to his Washington
house it Is falsely stated that it is 70
by 80 feet square, when in sober truth
it measures but 40 by SO feet, with an
L II by "a feet-less than half the size
falsely alleged Then its cost is put
at S127,0o0, when in fact it was less
than IS per cent Of that sum. The
house is a good one. he says, but Blaine
built one good deal bigger and costing
twice as much at the same time this
kwas put up, but nobody says q word"