Evening star., 1946-10-06
Fifty Years Ago
Nations" declared an editorial In
The Star for September "a, 1896, ARE

Nations" declared an editorial In
The Star for September "A, 1896, "are
economical n y
Scheme for when they have to
Sowing Money be, and this is also
majority of individuals. The hard times
from which SO many Americans have
suffered during the past three years
have taught many lessons of economy,
but we have not yet reached that stage
of development where We are careful as
to the little things. We are wasteful
and the cost of living Is, therefore, much
greater than it really needs to be. The
number of inventions in the United
States Is far in excess Of those in all
other countries, but it does not appear
that any Of the conspicuously ingenious
ones have turned their attention to such
purpose as has an Englishman who Is
utilizing the waste heat from public gas
lamps. A syndicate Is now operating
machines which are connected with the
gas lamps for the purpose of heating
water and supplying the same to the
public at the price of cent per gallon.
When-during the hours of daylight
the gas Is not lighted, there is fash
light which is ignited as soon as the
coin is dropped into the slot; the water
is heated almost instantaneously prac-
tically to boiling point. Some such
scheme as that ought to work satisfac-
torily in the gas-lighted cities of the
United States That it would be appre-
ciated in the thickly populated localities
where the poorer people dwell is certain"
Nothing was added about the possibil-
tiles of teakettles Of proper dimensions
on top of the Senate and House wings
of the Capitol.
Goethe, the great German poet and
philosopher, was an advocate OF q con-
tinental water sys-
Goethes tenn Joining the
Authorizations Rhine with the
Danube. That he
likewise predicted a canal between the
Atlantic and the Pacific is perhaps not
SO well known. But The Star on Septem-
ber %, 1896. printed an excerpt from an
article in the London Spectator indicat-
ing that he argued: so much is certain,
that If cutting be possible of such q
character as would allow ships with any
kind of cargo and of every, even the
greatest, size to pass through such
canal from the Gulf of Mexico - there
would result for the whole of the civilized
world, also for the not civilized part OF
mankind, the most incalculable adj
vantages"
On September Is, 1896, the will of the
late DR.. Joseph M. Toner was filed for
probate, and The
An Interesting Star of the same
Lost Testament date reported its
provisions at
length, explaining that ''the entire es-
tate" was to 60 to a brother OF the
deceased physician in Pennsylvania, but
adding that codicil provided for GER
tain exceptions. His dining table, 1t was
stipulated, was to be given to Justice
Martin F. Morris; his hall clock to the
sisters of st. Joseph's Orphanage; his
books and papers "of every description,
his curios and medals and such things
in the bookcase as John Browns mus
quet, pike and other things to the LII
brary OF Congress. Also, his friends,
S. H. Kaufman, A. r. Spoford ana
Dr.. w. w. Gooding, each were to select
'some article of furniture as remem-
brance of my regard for them person.
ally" Eventually, the residuary Tor
tune of the testator, estimated at nearly
100000, was understood to be pledged
to educational and scientific purposes"
A reader half century later may Won
der where the hall clock and the mus
ouet are today and whether their his
tory is known to their present custo-
dams.
II ~
"A storm that originated in the West
Indies" and swept over Washington at
its height was chron-'
Rio Wind icled in The Star on
On Rompoee September 80, 1886.
Probably no detailed
description OF the damage done to the
city and the surrounding country" 1t
announced, will ever be told, for the
very greatness Of it all. - The ruins
are so numerous that to enumerate
them were an endless task. Nor is 1t
practicable to give in figures the exact
money damage done. The buildings
wrecked and the roofs displaced can,
Of course, be represented in dollars, but
one Of the heaviest losses suffered BY
the city was the destruction OF thou-
sands Of shade trees Of all kinds which
cannot be given money value. The
public parks suffered - never before,