Evening star., 1934-06-10

Y 7 is surprising how little people
know of Washington and its life.
Fifteen thousand strangers come
/ here every Winter and hundreds
of thousands visit the Capital
every year. but as usual, not l man in
10 sees anything. and the great masses
in other parts of the Union know alb
solutely nothing Of the strange sights
and strange people who make up the
200 900 residents of Washington. My
rule in writing is that whatever in
terests me Is certain to interest the
public, or at least that large part Of
the public like me, and I propose to
make during the coming months
series of little stories of Washington
and its life.
Last night, for instance, in stroll
up Pennsylvania avenue, noticed a
couple of Congressman entering a sa-
loon directly opposite the National
Theater. 1t was low wooden build
ing, old and weather worn, and on the
Intel of the door 1 noticed the words
John Hancock, founded 1840." Di-
rectly above the sign. "Old Curiosity
Shop" entered long, narrow room
with ceiling so low that the head
of Lincoln would scrape it. The bar
was fitted out as elegantly as any in
Washington and covered the wall at
the right of the entrance Back of it
hung pictures and relics Of crimes and
honors of the past, and the walls OF
the rest of the room were covered
with articles which would make any
museum rich. The old gray-haired
colored man who tended the bar was
in himself a curiosity. He told me as
he filled my glass that he had been
tending this selfsame bar for IS years,
and that in former times this saloon
was the chief resort Of the statesmen
of the Capital.
Clay, Webster and Calhoun.
"I have often seen Clay, Webster
and Calhoun" he said, drinking here
together. Henry Clay and Daniel
Webster used to be here night after
night. Clay always drank brandy
juleps and his spirits rose rapidly.
Webster drank considerably, but the
only observable change in him was
that his eyes grew brighter and his
talk more measured. Calhoun seldom
drank strong drinks; he usually took
either lemonade or sherry and often
! nothing at all. He would come in to
talk. They were lively in those days
and they liked their fun just as well
as the big men do now. They often
played cards here"
did they gambler" asked.
mo. not for money, but generally
for the drinks. I remember game of
cards Clay and Webster and two other
men played here one rainy night.
They played for drinks or smells >
The men that won drank and those
who were defeated paid for the drinks
and were forced to smell the glasses
of their opponents. They started in
at 10 o'clock and played until 2. Luck
was against Clay and don't think he
won a drink during the whole eve
ming"
I spent a pleasant half hour EXAM
ming the curios hung on the walls
and put up in cases around the room
In one place there was pair OF shoes
worn by Washington, No. los, 1
should say, with broad, fiat soles
and common-sense heels. No ar1sto-
cratic instep had the Father Of His
Country, and this pair looks more
like the slipshod shoes of a cobbler
than those of an F. F. v.
Nearby was the seediest- looking
white plug hat have ever seen. Large,
old, fuzzy, its nap worn off and its
color changed by the dirt of several
decades, It was labeled the Hat Of
Gen. Zach Taylor" and the card
stated that it came from Palo Alto.
An autograph letter of President Lin
coin stood near one of John c. CAL
houn. The relics of the great Union
ist and the great Secessionist almost
kissing each other. A picture Of
Charles Guiteau, the assassin who
killed Garfield, was appropriately
made a companion of one of J. Wilkes
Booth, the slayer Of Lincoln, and on
the other side Of the room was
theater bill, giving the play at Ford's
the night the assassination Of Lin
coin occurred. Bills Offering $780,
900 reward for Booths arrest, the ex-
tras published by the Washington pa
pers the morning after the tragedy
and one containing a special tele-
gram announcing that the assassin
had been shot and calling for rejoic-
ing, made up parts of the collection
showing the last days of the Civil
War. This little saloon is one OF the
curiosities Of the Capital. 1t Is not