Evening star., 1944-12-17
Fifty Years Ago

name of the capital
'oPs OF nome of the modern king
on the Tiher dom of Italy. The
Star for December 3,
1894, discussed District of Columbia
maps and in the course of the said
discussion set forth that one Francis
Pope, gentleman, on June S, 1863 "layd
out parcel of land called
Rome, laying on the Anacostia
River and running north i. to
q bounded oak standing at the mouth
OF bay or inlet called Tiber" fed by
river by the same designation. Old
timers, be it mentioned in this connec-
tion, believe that the lost stream SUBJ
terraneously flows under the National
Gallery of Art. Their opinion is SUD-
ported by the fact that there is a pump
IN the basement of the beautiful Georgia
marble building on Constitution avenue
ready to go into action automatically
in the event of high water"
"The alleged ingratitude of re-
publics," declared The Star for No.
vember 20, 1894, finds
Neglected good Illustration in the
Inventor case of Wilhelm Tegeth-
of, the inventor of the
shell extractor on the old Springfield
rifle, who died at his home in Spring.
field on November 18. This man had
been of great service to his country, CIV
ing it the benefit of his brain and
muscle for many years without hope of
reward and finally lost his eyesight in
its service, with the result that he was
turned on to die without any means of
earning livelihood. In his humble ca
pacity as mechanic in the Government
Armory at Springfield during the (CiyiD
war, he invented several articles of
great value to the Government. for
which, however, he never received the
slightest compensation. On the con-
trary. he was discharged as soon as
he became of no further use on account
of blindness and was thrown out upon
the cold charity of his neighbors. His
is pathetic case, even as told in the
cold, formal narrative of the Govern
ment records" Repeated appeals to
Congress. it was affirmed, had been
made in his behalf by Army officers and
others acquainted with his merits but
the petitions were "pigeon-holed in
some committee room" at the Capitol
until 1t was too late.
~
Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, engineer
of the Suez Canal, is dead" So said The
Star for December Z,
ConoI Engineer 1894. The enterprise
D.,.r.. with which his name
is most notably con-
nected is the waterway which makes
possible voyage from England or
France to India without going around
the entire Continent of Africa. He be-
gan that work in 1860 after six years
of preliminary effort The canal was
opened to traffic in 1869 and has been
operated-except during seasons of inter-
national strife-ever since that date. A
similar plan to shorten the distance
between Europe and America and the
Orient by cutting through the Isthmus
of Panama failed-until the United
States assumed responsibility for its
success De Lesseps, more sinned
against than SHINING" came to the end
of his career under cloud which was
not lifted until comparatively recently.
The Bard of Avon always has had a
following in the Nations Capital. On
December, g. 1894,
Shakespeare Club The Star reported:
corr;es On "The Cosmopolitan
Shakespeare Club
gave delightful reception at the home
of Miss Anna Weiss on East Capitol
street on Monday evening last. The
meeting was called to order by the pres
ident, Mrs. Jessie l.. Engle, who an
nounced the following entertaining pro-
gram: instrumental duet, Mrs. William
Armstrong and Miss Anna Weiss; vocal
duet, Mrs. A. H. Thompson and Mrs.
Calvin Nelson; recitation by Mrs. Jessie
Pierson with facial expression and ees-
lures by Mrs. Jessie Engle; reading, Josie
Patten; instrumental solo, Mrs. Arm
strong: reading. Miss Grace Patten:
driftwood.. Mrs. Engle; quotations from
(