Evening star., 1934-08-12
BY FRANK C. CARPENTER


willard's Hotel, and Joe hates Caleb,
who owns the Ebbitt House.
The Willard brothers are among
the wealthiest of Washington's
wealthy men. They came here when
they were boys and worked at odd
Jobs until they together leased a
tavern which stood where Willard s
Hotel now stands. Here they kept
hotel and made money. After a time
they bought out the proprietor, then
built the Willard Hotel. The war
came on while they were in charge.
They were badly scared and were
ready to sell out. They did not do
so, however, though I believe they
leased the hotel. Well, after the
war, they continued to make money,
They kept on putting 1t into property,
and close economy added to the rise
of property values have made them
millionaires.
Joe Willard Is one of the char
acters of Washington. All sorts of
stories are told about him. and he
is often called a hermit. He lives on
Fourteenth street, near the Ebbitt
House, in great brick of dirty white,
which looks like a tomb with its
tightly closed blinds and its forbid
ding exterior He has a wife. but he
never goes into society and he is
| thought by many to be man-hater.
A Negro servant always answers the
door and it is impossible to gain ad-
mittance.
But I started to write of the past
in Washington. Civilization has made
some strides during the year. The
Civil Service Bureau has been organ
lied and the Government is better
of in that respect than for years.
John Howard Payne's body. after
80 years, has been brought back to
| America, and Washington numbers
another among the great dead. The
new Postmaster General, who sue
ceeded Howe, has proved a great sue
cess, taking rank as the most honest
and most eficient member of the
cabinet. AS to the legislation Of the
year, the Tariff Commission has made
its report and a just law, with very
few exceptions. has been passed. One
of these exceptions has lost the party
Ohio, but the law in the main stands
good The great postage reduction
has been felt by all, and numerous
minor improvements have been made.
The last few months have been full
of history. The late elections and the
attitude of the same old Southern
Bourbon element warn the Repub-
de- .-t of
accomplished, that the free-trade
demonstrations in Congress give them
a fair fighting issue for next year.
Carlisle's election as Speaker, the
throwing of the plums to the South
erners and the stones to the North
in the choice of committees, and the
dangerous Bourbon claims, fore
shadow stormy time in 1884. But
suf1cient unto the day is the evil
thereof.
The Dawn of 1884.
The new year opened at Washing
ton, dark, dreary and disagreeable.
All day long the rain fell upon the
hundreds of cabs driving from one
calling place to another, and more
dress suits and Brussels carpets were
spoiled than Washington cares to
lose. Still the day was generally OBJ
served and this mornings papers are
full of the elegant toilets and the
beautiful decorations shown by various
society lights throughout the city.
Wines and liquors were served almost
everywhere, and today there are more
headaches in the Capital than there
will be in any one month during the
coming year.
The White House was as usual the
chief attraction, but the darkness of
the day compelled the President to
receive by gaslight. Under the
chandeliers, assisted by great num-
Der of the chief court ladies of the
Capital, he greeted first the foreign
diplomats in their many colored coats;
then the cabinet, the Supreme Court,
members of Congress, the Army in
their full-dress uniforms: the heads
of departments, and lastly the citi-
Zens, black and white of all ages,
sexes and sizes, who chose to muddy
the elegant carpets with their dirty
feet.
It was. all in all, q gorgeous scene
and most gorgeously we're most Of its
members attired. Pearls and dia-
monds, velvet and gold shone every
where, and those in fustian wor-
shipped those in silks. To me, how
ever, it looked like great joke. and
I could not help smiling when I
thought what a confusion would oc-
cur If some fairy's wand such as
changed Cinderellas smock into a
court costume should pass over the
sssemblages and clothe each one In
the uniformly light attire Of the In
dian brave. How some of those
spindle -shanked diplomats would look,
and how the muscular porters of some
of the stores would shine beside them!
How far some of those lean, broad
clothed millionaires would fall behind
many q poorer and better shaped
laborer. and how the glorieS Of those
gorgeously dressed ladies in their dia-
monds and silks would dim by COM
parison with many a lassie from the
countryi They tell US clothes do not
make the man. This is not wholly
true. Clothes have q great deal to
do with making either man or woman.
II you doubt 1t, buy suit of Kentucky
jeans and try your chances for a good
room at frst-elsSs hotel. Broad
cloth gets the bridal chamber, the
jeans 50 to the attic.