Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-11-01

The beauX of the ball wore blue coats
with gilt buttons, and white or buff
waistcoats, white neckties and high
chokers, silk stockings and pumps"
Nearly all the great men In Washing
ton at that time attended this notable
ball and certain Mr.. Agge, whose poetic
mind was thrilled by the pomp and
splendor of the occasion, wrote at the
time the following lines which are well
worth reading:
"Wend you 1Uith the 1Dorld tonight?
BrotDn and fair, and 1Otse and tDttty,
Eyes that float in seas OF light,
Laughing mouths and dimples pretty,
Bellies and nldtrons, maids and n1Gddnes,
All are going to Mrs. Adams.
"Wend you Nth the 1Dorld tonight?
Sirty gray and giddy t1Oenty
Flirts that court and prudes that slight,
State coquettes and sptnsters plenty.
Mrs. SullivGn is there
With all the charms that nature lent
her,
Gay McKin, ,Dith city air
And 1pinning Gales and Vanderuenter,
Forsyth Nth her group OF grdces;
Both the Cro1Unshields in blue,
The Pearces with their heavenly faces
And eyes like suns that dazzle through
Juno in her court presides,
Mirth and melody inDite,
Fashion points and pleasure guides,
Haste aDay, then, seize the hour,
Shun the thorn and pluck the fo,Der,
Youth in all its Springtin1e blooming,
Age, the guise of youth assuming,
Wit through all its circles cleaning,
Gltttering ,Dealth and beauty beani',g.
Bellies and n1atrons, maids and
mdddmes,
Al are gone to Mrs. Adams"
Just below the Ebbitt, on Fourteenth
street, resided B. w. Reed, whose grocery
store was around the corner on F street.
Next to the Reed residence were two
1-story houses belonging to that grocer,
and next came the Farnham House, and
farther down the street was the Occi-
dental, which is likely the site. OF the
Willard Building, now occupied by the
Public Roads Administration.
The Ebbitt House.
But 1t is likely that many Washington
residents will remember the Ebbitt
House, as it was called for so many years,
or until it became the style to add the
word new to every hotel that made the
slightest improvement to its building
For years it was known as the Army and
Navy headquarters, and here stopped
such men as Rogers Farragut, Worden
Candy Thomas, Porter, Winslow, Boggs
Cass and Drayton. President Mckinley
stopped here during his entire service in
Congress, and Speaker Keifer and j.
Proctor Knott kept him company. Mark
Twain, Bill Nye and James Whitcomh
Riley were other guests who made II
their stopping place when they came to
Washington.
The old, oblong crystal room, which
ran lengthwise along Fourteenth street
is known the world over, and many q
banquet took place there which no doubt
the reader will fondly recall. as well a.
the stairway, which led to the basement
where other things beside soda water
were served.
Newspaper Row.
One could not write a story about the
Ebbitt House or the site r-,on which II
stood without referring to Newspaper
Row, where in the days during and fol.
lowing the Civil War so many newspaper
correspondents had their onhces. These
began with the Western Union Building
then at the northeast corner Of -Four.
teenth street and Pennsylvania avenue
and extended north on the block to tn
Ebbitt House. In 1871 there were !!
outside newspapers whose correspondent
had ofices In Newspaper Row. Thes'
included the New York Tribune. repre-
sented BY W. L Whits. Z v. smaile,