Evening star., 1933-06-18


her of business houses-but which now is
public park. and incidentally, off the tax books
was yerv interesting block In its time, ana
was surrounded by other squares perhaps OF
even greater historic significance. For instance,
the Willard Hotel and its predecessors, just
across the way, and Lovelrs Hotel, little west
of the Willard and about in the middle OF the
block
Old Newspaper Row, formerly on the east
side of Fourteenth street between E and F
streets, played an important part in the history
Of the country for at least 80 years subsequent
to the beginning of the Civil War, and the
old Ebbitt House, which stood SO many years
where is now the National Press Building, had
its beginning when Washington was more OF
a village than city and when travel by rail
only in its infancy and when at least
few of the old timers wore short pants, as 1t
was customary to do in Colonial and Revolu-
tionary times.
The Apollo Hall, an early landmark on the
hte of what was formerly the Southern Railway
Building, on the south side of street between
Thirteenth and Thirteen-and-a-hal streets,
was there until June 6, 1855, when it was COM
pletey destroyed by fire after having been Sc
verely scorched upon two previous occasions,
although the Franklin fire engine house was
but block away, at the southeast corner Of
Pennsylvania avenue and Fourteenth street
not seem to matter much in the early days for
several other notable fires occurred in this
neighborhood before the paid department came
into existence-the National Theater burned in
1885 and again In 1S45 and 1857. But the
ineflciency of this plan CT protection is best
demonstrated when the Treasury Building was
destroyed by fire about o'clock on the morn
ing of March 80, 1888 just 100 wears ago.
There was evidently depreSSi.n in the coun-
- H. ~s-%
since are told that there but one watch
man on duty In the building at the time, and
even he was allowed to sleep after he had made
a round of the building at 10 o'clock, and must
have been in dreamand when the fire started,
since the discovery of the fire was made by
citizen passing within sight of the building, who
the flames and, being familiar with the
practice of the fire company, went to Fuller's
Hotel (site of the Willard) and got the key
OF the engine house and aroused the volunteer
fire laddies, who were sound asleep. But, like
the suffering boy drawing his first mold in the
blacksmith shop-who did not strike until the
iron cold-so it was with the fire COM
pany, since by the time it arrived at the fire
1t had about burned itself out. However, q
greater fire than this occurred in 1897, when
the power house of the Capital Traction Co.,
where is now the District Building, was COM
pletely destroyed although the city had at that
time what was regarded up-to-d date fire.
lighting force.
One can hardly realize what this neighbor-
hood was century and a quarter ago. David
Burnes stin farming what had previously
been his land and only discontinued doing 50
upon the demand of the commissioners to de-
sist Blackberry bushes we're growing in pro-
fusion along the banks Of the Tiber and it is
even recorded that the berries were gathered
along Pennsylvania avenue several years after
IL laid out. Hines records gathering and
eating some beautiful red berries" near the
avenue and Seventeenth street about 1897
which he said were something Ike cranberries,
but which he never saw In later years.
When the Government moved here, In 1900.
there were many sycamore tress growing along
I1ber Creek, and there were evidences every
where Of the forest primeval. And here again