Evening star., 1944-10-22

J0hn n. MGhoney, a lifelong
temperance 1oorker, 1oto died
in 1910 at the age of "a.
eating liquors permitted in the Capitol
Building.
Senate Ban on Liquor
In 1887 the Senate took the matter
up and provided in its standing rules
that no "spirituous liquors should be
offered for sale or exhibited In the
Capitol or in the grounds" At that time.
the House was apparently wetter- minded
than the Senate, for it took seven years
to get its consent to the rule covering
the whole Capitol, although the Senate.
on the surface at least, did make an
effort to enforce it from the time it
passed upon the subject. However.
there must have been some who did not
take kindly to this restriction, for va
are told that when Frederick Marryat.
the English novelist, visited the Capitol
restaurant in 1888, he noted in his diary
that when one asks for pale sherry
they hand you gin; brown sherry, and it
Is brandy; Madeira, whisky"
Judging by the lack of results achieved
by the American Congressional Tenn
perance Society, which sought rather to
limit or curb the liquor traffic than to
prevent its use entirely, further step
was taken in 1S42, resulting in ths
forming of the Congressional Total Alb
stinance Society, and sale of all kinds Of
intoxicating liquor was a little later
prohibited in the Capitol, while the
Treasury clerks even included In their
pledge the total abstinance clause, as
did other formerly partly dry" tenn
perance bodies.
In our own time-around 40 or 20
years ago-it is not difficult to recall
when 1t was not an infrequent occur
renee for members of the Senate when
fatigued from holding the floor for long
hours to have brought to their desk a
cup OF tea which they would sip from
time to time until it was all gone, when
the page would bring in another one.
This tea" according to the knowing
ones-so it was averred at the time
was nothing other than just plain bal
loon juice" But, after all, we must ad-
init that they did make some mighty
good speeches in Congress half a GEN.
tury ago.
Split on Abstinence
Upon the question of partial or total
abstinence, there was early manifested
decided difference of opinion-so much
so, indeed, that in 1841 a split occurred
In the Catholic Total Abstinence Society,
causing George Savage and his followers
to withdraw from that organization and
to form soon afterward the Freemen's
Vigilant Total Abstinence Society. This
demonstrated that 1t sometimes pays to
separate when you canont agree, for We
hnd that both organizations afterward
did so we'll that the older Of the two
soon had a membership of something
like 1000 names on its rolls, while the
new society more than held its own by
securing signers to the pledge to the
extent of 1900
For the better conduct of its affairs
and for the purpose of holding its meet.
ings, the Freemens Society was badly in
need of hall of its own. The cry for
help was not in vain, for it was heard
by Gen. John P. Van Ness, who had
married many years before Marcia, the
heiress and the beautiful daughter of
David Burnes. Gen. Van Ness wife had
died in 1882.
Van Ness had served the city as its
Mayor from 1880 to 1888, and while his
life was nearing its end, yet he still had
keen interest in the welfare of his
adopted city.
Therefore, he conditionally gave to the
society lot on the south side of the
street between Ninth and Tenth streets
NV, with the proviso that the title
would not pass until 1880 had been ex-
pended on the proposed improvements.
The value of the lot at that time was
said to be 81 1,809.16, and its dimensions
40 feet along the front by 1877 feet deep.
That same year, 1843, the cornerstone
OF the building was laid, and four years
later it was ready for use This build
ing, formerly at 914 E street NV. was
notable also as the birthplace of the
knights of Pythias, which organized
there on Friday. February 10, 1864.
The Medical Society of the District
of Columbia held several of its ami
versary meetings in Temperance Hall
during the 70s, and when the National
Rifles was organized, in June, 1880, it
secured the basement floor for its
armory. where it remained until 1888,
when it soon thereafter removed to its
own building at 920 G street NV, since
replaced with large Office building.
To many, Temperance Hall was gen.
orally known as Marinis Hall, where
Prof. L. G. Marini taught dancing as
early as Civil War days. Here many of
our older Washingtonians learned to
trip the light fantastic, including the
polka, Of which we hear much nowadays,
especially over the radio, and which is
likely to be revived again as one Of our
leading dances. Anna Slezak, q farm
servant at Elbsteinetz, near Prague, in
vented the polka about 1880, so we are
told. The room in which she was ac-
customed to dance being of small dimen-
sions, the movements of her feet were
short, so the dance was called the
Pulka dance, that is, the half dance.
During the period Temperance Hall
was occupied by Prof Marini, he re-
modelled the interior into ballroom 40
by $50 feet, in 1875, and the following
year constructed an entire new front to
the building, placing at the top the date
1916" The structure was removed