Evening star., 1938-12-18
By John Clagett Proctor.

BY John CldgeH Proctor.
The large Office building soon to
be erected in square 219, bounded by
Vermont avenue, H, and Fifteenth
streets, will cover much of a block
of ground which was early built upon
and where have resided many we'll
known people.
The Vermont avenue side of this
block seems to have been the first
to be built upon, one lot, in 1900,
having been bought by Francis Mer-
Ger, soon followed by A. Dindo. G..
Andrews and Nicholas King are re-
corded as interested parties. By
1920 lots had passed into the hands
of Col. w. P. Randolph, surgeon
general, and others, and improve
ments had been made by Robert M.
Harrison, a well-known carpenter.
William Denman was assessed about
this time on $500 worth of property,
and Samuel Brerton, grocer, was
assessed $4,000 on property on the
Fifteenth street side of the block,
and j. and L. Slott for lots nearby.
The original lot No. 4, at the north
east corner of H street and Vermont
avenue, was bought by w. w. Cor
coran in the 40s, and here he lived
until he moved to his palatial resi-
dence at the corner of H street and
Connecticut avenue. Nearby on the
Vermont avenue site resided Rev. DR..
Smith Pyne of old st. Johns. Com
modore Charles w. Morris lived at
Fifteenth and I streets, and it was
his daughter Louise, who married
Mr. Corcoran in 1885, after an ami
mated courtship and after all OBJ
jections from the commodore had
been overcome.
Commodore Morris was one of
those intrepid sailors of the early
18OOs and at one time commanded
the Constitution, of which the poet
has so fervently written:
AYE, tear her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon's roar;
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more!"
Indeed, they say she was never
In a fight that she did not emerge
victor, and she is the pride of
generations yet to be. But not even
her battles and her victories
eclipse, if they even equal, her al
most miraculous escape from a Brit
ash squadron composed of ship
OF the line, four frigates and two
other men-of-war. On that occa-
sion Charles Morris was executive
officer of the Constitution, and it
was his matchless seamanship that
enables the grand old frigate to es-
cape that persistent and stubborn
chase Of so consecutive hours.
THE sea was calm, and it was by
combination of towing and kedging
by means of the ships boats and
anchors that the escape was effect
ed and the noble old craft reserved
for SO much history and so much
glory. Even the British commander
and his officers applauded the splen-
did seamanship which robbed them
Of their prize.
Even before the War of 1872
Morris had distinguished himself,
when he fought by the side of De-
catur on the bloody decks of the
frigate Philadelphia in the Harbor
of Tripoli, in the desperate adven-
ture to recapture and destroy that
Inflated craft. He was an enthusiast
tic and accomplished seaman, de-
voted to his profession and though
he was an officer of the Navy, above
81 years, but two years were taken
up with leave record that is
perhaps unequaled in the new Navy,
as 1t certainly was without parallel
in the old"
The Mclean building, northeast
corner of Vermont avenue and H
street, is also noted as the building
in which the Washington City Free
Library, was opened January 6,
1896, its incorporators being A. w.
Greely, A. B. Hagher, Gardiner G..
Hubbard, Joseph K. McCammon,
Francis Cotton, Robert Craig, Will
liam A. De Caindry, Helen L. Mel.
Kimball, S. w. Woodward, A. M.
Lothrop, Josephine A. Clark, Rufus
H. Thayer, c. Hart Merriam, Rob-
ert Reyburn, M. D.; Oliver L. Fas-
sig and E. Francis Riggs.
When the library had its opening
at 1915 H street NV. The Star said:
"The most recent evidence of the
prevalence of the public library
idea in this city is the opening today
to the public of a free library con-
tanning 5000 volumes by the recently
incorporated free library associa-
ton (The Washington City Free
Library. The library is located
in the Mclean Building, corner of
Vermont avenue and H street NV.
1t is the expressed belief of the sub
scribers to the library, especially
Of those who are also members of
the Board of Trade, that the open
ing of this library will help rather
than retard the Board of Trade
movement for the establishment of
a municipality sustained library,
which is generally conceded to be
the goal of public library aspirations.
1t has been intimated that this H.
hrary will merge with the public