Evening star., 1934-08-12

the rendezvous of the statesmen and
literati of Washington. Since then,
however. the city has moved toward
the great Northwest, and now, though
the trade is probably larger from the
immense business all around him,
times have somewhat changed and
his honors are divided with Brentano,
Free and other book sellers farther up
town. Mr.. Shillington himself is
character such as Dickens would
have delighted to describe. OF medium
height with a large rosy face. kind
blue eyes and the funniest little curl
of red hair twisted around to cover
the badness which is creeping back
from his broad forehead, he can tell
stories by the hour about the days
and men of the past, describing them
so wildly that they move before you
and you feel that they actually did
exist.
1t was next door to Shillington's
bookstore that Barnum exhibited his
noted woolly horse many years ago.
Upon my referring to Congressman
Benton's action in connection with
it, the old bookseller said with a
laugh:
"Yes, remember it as though it
were yesterday. Barnum, you know,
was here in Washington sometime
before the event, and was looking
with a friend at a little old horse
which was going along the Avenue.
He said: I will bet you $500 that ]
can take that horse and make a pile
of money out of him. The friend
laughed at the idea and replied: Well,
I'll take that bet Soon after this
there began to appear in the papers
glowing accounts of wonderful horse
captured by Gen. Fremont during his
Western expedition. 1t was said the
horse was covered with long wool and
that his like was not known either
by men or in books. A short time
later it was announced that Barnum,
the great Snowman, had purchased
this wonder and that he would show
him all over the country. Sure
enough, Washington was soon flooded
with bills saying the woolly horse was
to be exhibited here. 1t was shown in
a room just below my shop. A big
sign. relating how it had been cap
tured by Fremont, was plastered up
outside Crowds came to see it. So it
was when Tom Benton passed by on
his way to the Capitol. He was with
some other Congressman when the
show bill caught his eye, and he re-
marked:
Il am going to put an end TO this
internal swindle" Benton was, you
l. L.
two started to 60 in. The ticket-taker
stopped them, asking them for their
money. Benton handed him O quarter.
The ticket-taker barred the way still,
saying that it was not enough, but
Benton pushed him angrily aside
shouting: I have had enough of this
foolishneSs.' Striding past him he
went in and jumped over the rope
which separated the woolly horse from
its audience. With a cut of his
knife he skinned half of the woolly
cover of the animal. showing it to
be the same old bony. bay steed. with
the ordinary hide common to all
horses. The affair was the talk of
Washington for the next nine days.
No. I don't know whether Barnum
won his bet or not"
The Years Achievements.
The last of the year and q day of
retrospection. AS TO Washington it
self it has made rapid strides; hun
dreds of new and elegant mansions
have gone up and real estate in the
Northwest of the city has greatly ad-
vanced; brokers have grown rich of
the increase in property. The public
/ improvements of the Capital have
gone on steadily. The Washington
Monument has jumped upward 10
feet. or Aarly twice as much as in
| 1882. Prof. Henry'S statue has been
added to the Smithsonian grounds.
and Robert Fulton. embodied in
marble, sits in the little Hall of the
Statues of the Capitol. The War and
| Navy Building is nearly completed
| at a cost of over seven millions. and
| the new Pension Building beside the
| City Hall is growing, having feached
the second story. improvements have
been made in the Capitol Grounds
I and the new esplanades on each side
of the building are nearly finished.
In business way stores are rapidly
creeping toward the Northwest F