Evening star., 1938-07-03
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star

When the Government a little over
fifty years ago undertook the reclamation
r,.:n of the Potomac flats,
o1"A'' " VIC later to become q
Potomac Flats. great public park. 4
claim was asserted to
private ownership of the veritable swamp
land lying across what is now the Wash
ington Channel In The Star of June
25. 1888. is the following item of news
with an interesting bearing upon this
claim:
Saturday there was placed on record
at the courthouse very interesting doc
ument, namely, deed from r. j. Wash
ington of Westmoreland County, Va, at
torney of Frederick Henry Hartford. heir
Of the last lord. proprietor of Maryland.
to Henry NJ Marshall and Is others OF
the family name and conveys all the
interests of the first named for q nomi-
nal sum as heir of Lord Calvert, Baron
of Baltimore. to the Potomac River and
the islands therein. The paper recites
that King Charles of England in the
eighth year of his reign, granted to Ce-
celius Calvert certain territory now
known as the State of Maryland, which
said grant included the Potomac River;
that King Charles II subsequently
granted to Ralph Lord Hopton, Thomas
Lord Culpeper and others what is known
as The Northern Neck, which in express
terms included the Potomac River; that
King James II confirmed this grant and
Thomas Lord Culpeper purchased the
interests of the others. The paper fur
ther recites that from time to time there
have been controversies as to the owner
ship OF the river and the islands and for
the purpose OF settling the claim this in
strument is given whereby the heir of the
Calverts transfers his interest to the
MarshallS who are the heirs of Lord Cul-
peper The power of attorney to Mr..
Washington was executed on the 9th in
slant. and it is thought that the grantees
Will assert their rights by suits in which
the Kidwell Meadows people and the
Government will be parties"
Complaints Of the inaccuracy of Off
cial weather reports were not infreouent
Scolding the sy stsy " years sns age % ,aas ane
Weather Man. says:
There Is some
thing that needs mending in the appa-
ratus of the Signal ONCE. The last cool
"oFS ehlhO NdAlC tllAS way 1OAOWCu ClOSC
on the heels of an announcement from
the Weather Bureau that no relief from
the heat could be promised. On Satur-
day there was another illustration of the
same fatal facility for predicting by op-
poSites. 1t was soberly announced about
noon that there was no probability even
OF local shower. and by dinner time the
streets were flowing like rivers and peo-
hall
level were using tubs and buckets and
pumps as II their lives depended on the
spirited work of one half hour. The Sig
nal Office had device the other day
for testing the fidelity of an thermometer:
1t is pity that something equally prac-
tical could not be found to use as a gov
ernor on the prophecy machine"
X
The following in The Star of June 29
1888, revives memory of the once notori-
s+.v. Gus metropolitan character:
0'e'0 Steve Brodie, the New
Brodie. York newsboy who has
copied, or tried to copy, so
many feats performed by professional
athletes and experimenters, has now
about given up his attempt to beat Paul
Boytons record in floating down the
AAueAcNAA ASiVS1 III q IuUOCI SulL. ne mas
walked in the sawdust ring; he has
jumped from the highest bridges; he has
gone into swimming and diving contests;
all that remains for his roaring soul to
try is an expedition to the North Pole or
a sail through the boundless ether in
balloon. 1t is to be hoped that he will
take one or the other this summer and
give the world rest"