davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1938-07-24

mountains high, and so covered with
debris and driftwood that persons
who went fishing at the Little Falls
in the month Of May or June could
always find lump OF ice to put into
q bucket of water"
A GAIN, he writes Of The winter of
- 1881, saying: "On coming home to
spend the Christmas holidays we
crossed the river at the ferry near
the Aqueduct and saw on the ice at
the time wagon loaded with wood,
being drawn by four horses"
But, according to Mr.. Jackson. the
winter of 1888 must have been hum
dinger, for according to him it was
the coldest ever experienced In this
latitude. We had some weeks a thaw.
and then the weather would turn
extremely cold. The mercury indi-
Gated in January l6 degrees below
zero. We had three severe cold
spells of weather during that year.
one Of which was in March. On the
Sd Of that month skated on the
Potomac, playing handy and pris-
oner's base"
Regarding the winter Of 1S39-40 and
subsequent years. the same chronicler
makes this comment: The winter Of
1s40-1 was long and cold, though the
degree of cold was not as great as
some previous winters The 18th
of February, l84l, was the coolest day
during the season, and it is we'll re-
membered by the inhabitants of this
town as the day that Gen. Harrison
paid Georgetown a visit just before
his Inauguration as President Of the
United States. We all remember the
winters of 1855. 1856 and 1857; the
SHOWS were deep and the cold was
severe. During the winter of 1857
sleighing was enjoyed by our inhabi-
tants. Fleet horses were brought on
from other cities to race on Pennsyl-
vania avenue, and when the drivers
would be arrested for driving at an
improper speed they would pay the
fine. crack the whip over the head
OF justice and 60 it again. This was
the winter that a locomotive was run
on the ice across the river, from
Maryland to Alexandria,: also, sleep
ers and rails were laid upon the ice
at Havre de Grace, across the Sus-
quehanna River, and trains of cars
crossed over for more than a month";"
TO RETURN to the ice houses along
the river front, where the Maine
ice was stored. They were very large
affairs, and a note on the one belong
ing to Abram Rich IL Co. says that
this firm. which had its storehouse
at the Eighth Street wharf, could
draw on supply of 10000 tons
The Independent Co. had its wharves
at Georgetown. and its main office
at Twelfth street and Pennsylvania
avenue, where is now the old Post
Once Building. Its president. in 1885.
was c. B. Church. and superintendent
William H. Yerkes.
Other dealers in ice mentioned
that same year were: Thomas Athey,
John Drilling, Great Falls Ice Co,
William B. King, NJ Kinslow e. Son.
John w. Mccoy, Luther Mangum and
George w. Van Syckel BY 1899 the
number of dealers had increased to
"a, and some had a great number
Of wagons on the street to supply
their retail customers
The manufacturing of ice in the
Evening star., 1938-07-24

a stones throw away is the desk out
fit on which Thomas Jefferson wrote
still another statement of freedom;
namely, the Declaration Of 1nde-
pendence.
Everybody knows that Paul Revere
made a famous and momentous ride
through Middlesex. village, and farm,
but most folks won't know until they
step into Uncle Sans attic by the
Potomac that Mr.. Revere was an emil
nent silversmith. Several beautiful
pieces, which testify eloquently to his
craftsmanship, are on display.
And speaking of little known voca-
tions or avocations Of noted men, proof
also is available in the Smithsonian
that. in addition to all his other ac-
complishments. Benjamin Franklin
was q mighty fine cabinet maker.
Speaking Of Ldndberg-'s plane re-
Evening star., 1938-07-24

acre OF freezing surface, or equal to
a pond Of one-half acre, upon which
ice is being formed every day in the
year, from l to 2 inches thick, and
from which ice is being taken every
day, from 10 to IA inches thick, free
from all foreign matter and chemically
pure. That this enterprise has passed
beyond its experimental stage and the
large support Of a large and continued
abundant proof of the popularity Of
this new process and reliable COM
pany."
EIFTY-SEVEN years have passed
since Mr.. Smith began manufactur-
ing ice in Washington. which was then
considered a marvellous accomplish
ment Today, however, considerable
number OF families of this city have
their own refrigeration plants. and
make their own ice, and the Smith
system of 1881 Is out OF date.
But, after all. this is certainly not
new idea. though the Smith method
and formula may be entirely different
from That called for in the patent is
sued to John w. Bronaugh and Jesse
Talbot in 1913 for refrigerator
just how their contraption was con-
structed or what it consisted of, the
writer does not know, but 1t was evi-
dently not complete success.
Back in the Sos celebrated crank"
known as Col. Maurice Pinchover,
whose particular form Of insanity had
to do with railroads and patents. got
q bill introduced in Congress to grant
him some sort of relief. He was a
periodical conner to Washington and
the victim OF all kinds of jokes For
several years he carried around with
him-we are told-a model OF an in
vention which he said would electrify
the world. 1t consisted Of combined
stove and refrigerator. The refriger-
ator was arranged on the top of the
stove" 1t was said, and sit was anus
ing to hear the colonel explain how
the hot air from the stove would pass
out in a tube and not melt the ice in
the refrigerator.
His latest patent is almost as good"
continues the story and yesterday an
application was received at the Patent
Evening star., 1938-07-24

District Of Columbia began in George
town, June l, 1881. when David Smith
established his Transparent Ice Man.
ufacturing Co. One account states:
Capt David Smith, a native of
Massachusetts,, a man of much travel
and observation, seeing the high prices
OF ice in tropical countries. was led to
study the theory of ice making and
refrigeration. and while in California
and at the Hawaiian Islands invented
his present system, and put it into
practical operation In both places with
satisfactory results.
WITH view of enlarging his bus
mess, he has greatly improved
his apparatus and associated with
himself men of large capital and
formed a co-partnership under the
name Of Linde. Smith g. Co., with
headquarters in New York, and factory
in Philadelphia. where they are build
ing machines of all sizes, and putting
them up in different sections OF the
country, but making a specially OF
putting in large machines in large
cities. and, refrigerating large buildings
for cold storage. The business of the
Transparent Ice Co. was established
here in 1881. occupying a building
fronting rs feet on Water or K street,
Nos. 1927, 1929 and 1891, where they
receive water power from the Chesa-
peake & Ohio Canal The power is
used to drive proper compression
pumps which compress ammoniacal gas
into several large coils of iron pipe
which are sprayed with water to carry
off the heat of compression. until the
gas is converted into liquid. then the
liquid ammonia runs into an iron re-
ceiver for use; from the receiver a
small stream is let run into the con-
gealing coils Of iron pipe, which are
inclosed in large and deep. but narrow
iron boxes, which are set in a tank
filled with pure. fresh, hydrant water
filtered through series of filters: here
the liquid ammonia is allowed to be
expanded into gas again. by its own
volatility, and in so doing absorb the
heat from the water to be frozen. until
1t is converted into ice. In their fac
tory they have 80 of these boxes, each
having one square rod of freezing sur
face, the whole making Just one-half
Evening star., 1938-07-24

WHERE many people now have their
recreation rooms in their base
ments, in the early days they had just
plain cellar dug out of the earth,
- with only dirt floor. Here was kept
leftover cabbage and potatoes and
other perishable articles to keep them
from spelling. Sometimes shallow
wells were dug in the cellars, and
there victuals were often placed to
keep them from souring. Those who
had the old oaken- bucket style of well
saved many items of food by lower
Ing them deep into the ground where
1t was quite cool. The family of the late
Henry E. Davis. who resided on Ninth
street between E and F. streets, had a
dry we'll In front of the house which
they used in lieu of refrigerator.
1t would be quite difficult to tell how
many wells there were in the city so
or more years ago, since there were
probably as many private wells as
0Rllblic ones. Even the White House
~pended for many years on pumps
for its water. and the public buildings
for their daily needs and in case of
fire. Public city pumps were first
provided for in 1912, during the ad-
n1inistration of Mayor Rapine.
At all times the city had its pump
borers and its pump doctors" and
everybody primed his own pump, and
sometimes found the trouble to be
that the sucker was on the wrong
end" according to the old saying.
Generally, in the dead of winter,
the principal trouble with this i'm
portant utility was that it frequently
Agot frozen up, when 1t became neces-
sary to pour salt down the hole of
the bored log. and if this did not suf-
flee, boiling hot water wss poured
down the pump from the old, black,
iron teakettle, which Is rarely seen
nowadays.
Evening star., 1938-07-24

confidence Of the parishioners. thank
fully, never once was disturbed
A NY grandmother, old style, will tell
you that the making of spreads,
coverlets, and a host of other items
Of needlework was definite part of
the picture of home. life in America.
So the Smithsonian has gathered, from
the four corners Of the land, q collec-
ton of such things that will hold the
interest even of the most modern young
lady.
And while the ladies are looking
over the needleWork-and the uniquely
complete collection of spinning wheels
father and the boys will be in
terested in seeing one of Edison's first
commercial dynamos, the originals Of
Berliner's loose contact telephone
transmitter and gramophone, the first
typewriters. hand and horse drawn fire
engines, and a host Of other famous
firsts which have made industrial his
tory for America and the world.
1t may seem strange to some, but a
great many persons have never even
seen a handsome cab There's one at
the Smithsonian: q beauty. too, COM
plete even to top hated driver. Next
to it stands the very last horse drawn
vehicle bought for the White House,
used by Presidents Roosevelt, Taft and
Wilson, and latterly, they say, employed
by the Wilson housekeeper to buy
White House provisions at Center Mar
ket.
Here, too are automobiles from the
beginning, including the 1892 Haynes
Red Devil racers that were the very
last word in 1912 and an assortment
Of ancient bicycles to make an old
wheelman's mouth water.
IN ONE cabinet, regally alone, is q
high-wheel bicycle which looks
beautifully new. And thereby hangs =
tale. Some time ago Smithsonian
ofiiciah received word from q gen.
tleman who made and raced fine
wheels In the 90s. He said that he
had been no end annoyed In the past
by observing that all high wheel
bikes on display anywhere nowadays
were rusty, broken down, decrepit
monstrosities which gave the public Of
today no real idea what smart turn
outs the old high-wheel racers really
were. So, he went on. he was going
to make one for presentation to the
Smithsonian, using the frame Of IN
old bike in his possession. Which he
did. and the result certainly is .
Evening star., 1938-07-24

Judge Robert E. Mattingly, Is the old
frame icehouses of the Home, In
dependent and Great Falls companies.
The Judge was an old Island" or South
Washington, boy, and once in speak
ing of his early days said: 80
But do you recall the river when
frozen 3 or 4 feet thick and teams
OF horses walking on the ice pulling
saws or machines cutting said ice into
3-by-6-foot blocks, to be hauled to
and slid on high slides into said ice
houSes?"
Richard p jackson, whose Chron-
icles of Georgetown are always worth
quoting, in speaking Of the severity
of the winter of 1892, says: The
chronicler remembers seeing the fats,
lying between the tow path of the
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal and the
river, being banked up with ice,
Evening star., 1938-07-24

NEARBY are other attic treasures
from which Uncle Sans browsing
nieces and nephews have a hard time
tearing themselves away. There is
the long black coat and ready-tied
cravat worn by Abraham Lincoln just
before he died. Look, too at the
casts of his slim, strong hands and
the life mask Of his careworn face.
Attaches say that men and women
gaze at these relics by the hour. Some,
particularly those upon whom the
weight Of years rests reavily, are seen
to weep silently. To most visitors
Lincoln Is history; to them 1t Is
memory fresh and green.
Close at hand is the fringed buck
skin coat worn by Gen. George A.
Custer during the disastrous Little
Big Horn campaign, lent added in
terest these days by the renewal Of
the bitter controversy which always
has ragged about his colorful figure
Remember Admiral Winfield Scott
Schley's triumphal journey to South
America? Well, gathered here are
any number of mementoes Of that
generation-ago event, medals, swords
and huge Alver-crested album,
smaller editions of which were to be
found on every "parlor' table in those
comfortable and less complex days
when attics and overpowering Sunday
dinners were still in vogue.
Perhaps the most famous Of all
Smithsonian collections is that COM
posed of the gowns worn by mis-
tresses of the White House. Every
administration Is represented in the
figures which are lined up in large
cabinets in one of the wings OF the
old building. The gowns all were
actually worn and are complete, even
to jewelry. This exhibit shows re-
markably well the development of cos
tune In this country.
incidentally, it is interesting to note
that all the figures bear exactly the
same facial features, although the
hair is dressed differently. There
has been no effort to make them
look like the persons they are sup
posed to represent. (Uncle Sam is
not running competition to Nine.
Tussaud's wax worksD
THOSE interested in the lifelong
effort Of Susan B. Anthony to
win suffrage for women will find here
a very complete collection bearing on
her amazingly full career. And not
Evening star., 1938-07-24
WHEN ICE CAME TO WASHINGTON
Slabs Were Cut From Lakes and Ponds During Winter
for Preserving Food in Summer-Public Pumps Used
Be Poor Mans Friend During Hot Weather.

ITO MANY the public pump was q
godSend, but to those who lived
near it 1t was great nuisance, for
it could be used at any time of the
day or night. The soundest sleeper was
often awakened when some cele-
brator wanted to quench his thirst
about 2 am. and started In to bang
the pump handle, which no one ever
thought of greasing.
BY the time of the Civil War at
least, and probably many years be-
fore this period, so-called pure ice
began to arrive in large quantities
from the Kennebec River and other
places in Maine in large three and
four masted schooners to supply the
Washington market. The number of
icehouses began to increase along the
river front. Indeed, one of the fond.
est recollections of nv good friend.
Evening star., 1938-07-24
UNCLE SANS ATTIC HOLDS NATIONAL RELICS OF AMERICA
Stories of Industry
Told in Museum
Exhibits.

handsome machine. For the informa-
ton of beardless youngsters. it may
be pointed out that such an outfit
cost about SITS when father and
mother were courting.
Crowded into the middle of the
floor is John Bull. the oldest COM
plete locomotive in America, made
by the famous Stephenson and op-
Grated in this country in 1880. Yes, it
still runs and without q great deal
of wheeling, either.
Just across the hall stands typical
Western stage coach, circa 1850. 1t Is
in excellent condition. Added interest
is lent by the fact that the coach
was presented to the Smithsonian by
those lovable cronies, Will Rogers and
Fred Stone. Smithsonian officials
weren't very clear as to how Messrs.
Rogers and Stone happened to have a
stage coach. but they did allow that
they were mighty glad to get it.
Sources Of never-ending wonder
ment are rusty and shell-encrusted
relics from the Inflated battleship
Maine, and probably the most mag
nificent example of ship model build
ing extant. The latter is a yards
long. completely handmade model Of
the Leviathan. A treasure of a Ger
man steamship firm in New York, 1t
had been seized by the alien property
custodian when the United States en-
tered the World War, in 1917. Smith
sonian officials estimate that this
model cost the German company at
least $4,000 to make.
MEMORIES Of the brave and
Ava spacious days of Americas mari
time supremacy are revived by a
beautiful model Of a clipper ship, the
noted America. which beat its way
around the Horn In time which still
looks mighty good today. If one looks
sharply. too, he will find an original
drawing by Robert Fulton Of his
epoch h-making vessel, the Clermont.
And of special interest now is model
OF the Orleaps. first steamboat on the
Mississippi, owned and built by Nicho-
las Roosevelt, mutual ancestor of both
President and Mrs. Franklin D.
Roosevelt.
But trying to tell about all the
fascinating things one Is likely to find
in this tremendous national attic is
a hopeless job, Of course. Something
like trying to catalogue the contents
of ones own family garret. cellar,
closets, bureau drawers and those top
shelves which one always forgets to
ransack.
However, before leaving the prowler
to his own devices, he should be
warned not to overlook that 1880
vintage mail box, which, believe 1t
or not, the curator had to have
sealed up because folks insisted on
dropping letters into It! Nor the hum
dreds of daguerreotypes. ambrotypes,
tintypes and other Photographic types
which stand in bearded and crino-
lined array way up under the caves
Why, they've even got Sheridan's
horse, stuffed but contented-looking
and resting in deserved quiet. COM
fort and honored dignity after that
historic ride down the Shenandoah
Valley to Winchester.
A great place. the Smithsonian,
probably the worlds oldest museum
1t Is great, however, because it
actually isn't q museum at all. but q
living, human pageant Of America
and its people.
Evening star., 1938-07-24

riding in his four-horse barouche, he
is obliged to shamble along in the
guise of pauper"
Many people have an idea that ice
cream is refreshment of more or
less recent manufacture. but such is
not the case. for We do know that it
was sold in this city as early as July 3.
1o4l; for We find in the National
1ntelligencer of that date a poem
entitled. Mrs. Knots Ice Cream"
and signed by Oliver Goldsmith
Evening star., 1938-07-24
Builders of Country
Are Recalled by
HeirloOms.
BY Mary Jane Moore.

Dp WI JuVH WI OOTe.
~ NE Of life's more fascinating
| adventures, in the days before
~ apartment dwellings dotted
the American landscape, was
to poke about in the capacious attic
of the old family homestead. There,
no matter how often it was explored,
one always came upon new crop OF
interesting, historic, memory-provok-
ing souvenirs Of bygone years.
While that delightful rainy day
avocation now may be denied to many
of us, Uncle Sam, that most benefi-
cent and understanding of gentlemen.
has provided in Washington national
attic wonderfully well suited to prowl-
ing purposes.
The ancient. faded brick walls of the
Smithsonian Institution house the
worlds most amazing collection OF
national relics. It's a museum, OF
course, but once inside the visitor
forgets that and cannot help but imag-
inc himself to be in grandfather
garret trunk room.
The resemblance proves to be more
accurate than most folks realize. for,
the curators confide, many of the ex-
hibits were presented by Americans
in whose families they had been heir
looms-and sometimes neglected ones,
attic bound, at that. And the BARN
like old Smithsonian Building easily
aids the attic illusion.
The exhibits present a unique pa
geant of America, historically and in
dustrially.
HERE, for example, Is the original
Star Spangled Banner, the very
same flag that few over Fort McHenry
during the War OF 1912 and inspired
Francis Scott Key to write the song
that has become our national anthem.
It's large flag, and threadbare, but
who shall gainsay that it is the Ma
tion's most precious emblem? 1t occu-
pies glass-inclosed wall cabinet in
Uncle Sans attic, and is discovered
excitedly every day by hundreds of
Americans who invariably are amazed
that the real Star Spangled Banner
still lives.
Over in another corner stands some
personal belongings Of George WASH
ington, things that most of us believed
had long since mouldered into dust.
But they had been kept in somebody's
attic, and finally passed into Uncle
Sans. where they now may be seen.
Such things as Washington's mess kit,
which looks very much like a modern
automobile picnic outfit, and his field
tent, complete even to the tent pegs.
Also his shaving set and writing case,
and any amount of lovely china and
glassware. And an old chest of draw
ers for which devotees Of early Amer
ican furniture would give their eye
teeth If 1t didn't possess the added
glamour of having belonged to Martha
Washington.
Right in the middle Of all this, and
suspended from the ceiling, is Col.
Lindbergh's Spirit Of st. Louis, the
now historic New York -to-Paris plane.
On the floor below, in neat cabinet
for ell to see, are all the articles the
intrepid pilot carried along with him
on that epochal journey. including
even his wrist watch, boots. pocket
knife. Everything but the sandwiches!
Evening star., 1938-05-08
AUTOMOBILES FOR SALE.

1s1 si,.k sss msae lsaS ' ssRsas
satsssh%SsfL %LLishs ias 'tl'is ssAkSR c ssfS
NJ ST. NV. ----
FONT q epe: rem. IL nrev,ssaT. vsa. srssen. sen
$s1!s Ssasa SEE fs,i SS:5 7fISs
spsfial tSdsy. s, sy NV sSs7' Lee D. 0u''f me-
POINT. 8 cpe.: 1895; orig; blk; I'M! m: shoT- ,a.cs
sSs sSas s@SSth sS Lee g. bnte4 11c
PONTIAC 1881 coach; was, sll5: NOW,
sos. will give many thousands OF miies as;,en o.
seT4;ss i4ss iryina s 0
PONTIAC 1885 dc luxe - A-door sedan tS:
aition. ss,r'.s equipped % " with % radio and heater
over $500 selected from our large used
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road sss seaass servss .nd .d
Take. adyantage of this exceptional offer
Moore str. kosslyn, Hc' Va. walnut sS:a sSos
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the price Of Just S395 and then hurry
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