Evening star., 1944-12-31
Fifty Years Ago

AIity L CdIS ago
An editorial In The Star for December
Is, 1894, indicted nearby resort in
these stern words: 1T
Soo is not at all surprising
keiohhoys that the Christmas eve
celebration at Jackson
City included among its many dis
reputable features an utterly inexcusable
murder" A local sheriff, allegedly, was
to blame for the scandal. But The Star
continued: The people of Virginia must
not fall into the error Of imagining that
the District Of Columbia is desirous of
reforming Alexandria County for the
sake of reform. = Washington wants
alexandria County to be purified be-
cause with things as they now are there
is contamination in proximity to jackson
City and to the officials who find it to
their liking to have all sorts of mis-
conduct proceed under their very noses
without let or hindrance"
A dispatch from San Francisco to The
Star for December 26, 1894. convened
-r.,, intelligence of the burn
~"'' 'ouse ing of the famous Cliff
Burns House and a statement
to the effect that "a mil
lion dollar structure of steel and stone
Will be erected" In its place Adolph
Sutro, the owner of the property, wished
1t to be remembered that Presidents
Grant, Hayes and Harrison had watched
the seals sport on the rocks and each
of them spent many hours on the bal
comics that have disappeared with the
names.' Also, he desired the general
public to bear in mind his intention to
have an elevator in opera ton between
the beach and the new hostelrv and
casino above.
The Star of December %. 1894, an
nounced that: AN opera house is to
be erected upon the
be|osco Theoter site of the Blaine
Protected residence on Lafay-
cite Square" Wood
& Lavelle of Chicago, a firm of archi-
tects and theater builders, it was ex-
planned, had arranged to lease the
ground for 100 years. The new build
ing would be fireproof, seat 1900, cost
$250000. 1T Is said that the opera
house will be the most beautiful in
the world when completed in point of
finish, furnishing and modern equip
ment." Paul D. Connor was the actual
designer. His work occupied not only
the site of the Blaine mansion. 1t re-
placed the house in which Secretary
Of State William H. Seward was stabbed
by Lewis Payne on the night of April
IA, 1865. The opera house became the
Belasco Theater in 1905 and many
famous stars, including Sarah Bern
hardt, played there during the next
quarter century.
From 1872 until 1884, the government
Of China sent to the United States a
number Of students
Chinese whose education here
Students was supervised by Yung
Wing, graduate of
Yale. The Star of December 20, 1894,
reported that four of the scholars had
been Recommended for distinction" by
Ii Hung Chang, celebrated minister of
state at Peking. In the list were: Wo
Win Fo, Tsoa Kan Chiong, Tsu Chung
Tong and Shun So Quan, all of whom
were honored for their services in the
battle of the Yalu River. Two other
Chinese students who had studied in
America gave their lives in the same
confiict-Chin Fin Quai and Shun Sow
Cheong. What memorial, If any, exists
to these human ties between America
and the old China which has merged
into the new?
John Burns, the English labor leader,
was In Washington on December 29
1894, and The Star for
John Burns the last day of the year
Speech reported at considerable
length an address which
he delivered at Convention Hall before
IAN audience of men," According to
the visitors view, "the conditions which
afflicted the Old World were likewise
felt in the new. What was chronic in
the old was acute in the new. :"
1t was proposition on which all must
agree, that q man, able and willing
to work, was entitled to live Yet there
was starvation among industrious men.
In the United States he saw the signs
Of industrial anarchy and political dis
integration. America was full Of cruel.
biting and nunting, ostentatiotB wealth.
Crime and al ths other evils Of poverty
were upon u.s."
RI