Evening star., 1938-10-30

of the East Washington Citizens Asso-
ciation, and as chairman of the exer-
cises at the grandstand he opened the
celebration by introducing the Rev.
Thomas B. Hughes of st. Theresa's
Church, Anacostia. who blessed the
bridge. The Board of Commission
ers at this time was John w. DOUG
lass, Lemon G. Hine and 1t. Col.
Henry M. Robert, and the last two
attended as honored guests. Repre-
sentative Jonathan H. Rowell was the
orator of the day, but since his speech
does not seem to have been reported
we can only assume that it was at
least a pleasing one, for the band fol-
lowed him by playing, For He's a
Jolly Good Fellow"
The poet of the occasion was George
Francis Dawson and the subject of
his lines was The Old Burnt Bridge"
Then came the benediction by Rev.
James w. Clark of st. James Church,
this city, which ended this part of the
program. Then the heavens inter-
rupted the proceedings, with such
copious weeping that even the bass
drums and the tuba BASES Of the
band were completely drowned out.
After the storm had passed over
a vocal concert was given, directed
by j. H. Hunter, and this was followed
by literary exercises, during which an
interesting regatta took place In the
nearby waters, the contestants In the
first race being William Fowler, Will
liam Padgett, E. c. Clark and Herbert
Lewis 1t was race for single skiffS
and was won by Padgett, with Lewis
second.
The next was for double outrigger
working boats. Those taking part
were Herbert NJ Dickinson and John
c. Irwin of the Columbia Athletic
Club and w. C. Bailey and Frank
H. Barber of the Potomacs. The
former crew won by four lengths.
The third event was for four-oared
gigs, the entries being limited to the
Columbia Athletic Club The winning
crew was composed of Eugene w.
johnson, r. D. Simms, Ralph w.
Lee, H. NJ Woodward and George
w. Henderson, coxswain. The losing
crew comprised r. c. Ballantyne,
Frederick Staylor. George S. Brock,
Platter Green and Charles E. Brock.
coxswain.
The fourth and last race was be-
twen two eights from the Potomac
Athletic Club. It was close race
and was won by the crew COM
posed Of Barber. stroke: Mccoy, 7:
Pumphrey, 6: Pierce. S; French. 4:
Green, 3; Hibbs. 2; Warden, bow.
and T. c. Trescott, coxswain. The
others were: Offley. stroke; Bailey, 7:
Selden, g.; Whiting, S; Cilley, 4:
Fruckle, 8; Sheriff, q; johnson, bow.
and j. M. Norr, coxswain.
The chances are that Of those still
living who attended the dedication
Of this bridge 48 years ago none will
forget the interruptions by the heavy
rains upon this occasion, for the ex-
ercises finally came to an end about
pm, when q further downpour
caused those still remaining to seek
whatever shelter they could fnd, and
that was very little.
Before the Civil War there were very
few people residing within the area
from the present Anacostia Bridge to
the Benning road, and between what Is
now Minnesota avenue and the Eastern
Branch. Indeed, in looking at q map
Of 1857, the writer found only the
following named persons then residing
there: A. Garden, T. Talbut, H. Naylor.
J. H. Wilson, D. Hail, s. B. Scaggs and
J. A. Smith.
BY 1878 the list had increased, as
might be expected, and the following
names appeared: DR.. Christy, John
Naylor, John Garden. eight acres: John
Acton, eight acres; Henry King, Mary
johnson, L. Harsman, Thomas Buck
ley. Hy Naylor, Charles Eagon, 8.
Scaggs, Richard Smith, D. Hail, school.
house, Pine Grove Church, scaggs q
Mccormick, Margaret Farr and Elisa-
beth Farr