Evening star., 1947-12-21
Fifty Years AGO

An editorial in The Star OF December IA.
1897 commented on the introduction Of bill
In the Senate calling for the
underoround burying of "all existing over,
Wires head wires within the city
limits" and permitting CON
nections to be made with conduits now laid or
that may hereafter be laid" These two pur-
poses" it was explained, "are essential to the
proper development of the electric system Of
the District" Long the objective of civic
campaign sponsored by The Star, the elinina-
tion of overhead wires seemingly at last was in
sight.
New publications" listed in The Star Of De-
cember 20, 1897 included: "The Life and Times
of Edward Bass, first Bishop
Whot People of Massachusetts," by Dan
Were Reodinq iel Dulaney Addison; The
Decoration Of Houses" by
Edith Wharton and ogden Goldman, jr.;
Spain in the Nineteenth Century" by
Elizabeth Wormley Latimer; portraits and
Silhouettes OF Musicians translated from
the French of Cameille Bellaigne by Ellen
Orr; Victorian Literature: Sixty Years
Of Books and Bookmen," by Clement K. Shorter;
idle Hours in Library" by William Henry
Hudson; Songs of Liberty. and Other POEMS"
by Robert Underwood johnson: "A Hero in
Homespun," by William E. Batton and I'm
Tune With the Infinite" by Ralph Waldo Trine.
The last mentioned of these productions be-
came a durable best seller and still is popular
with multitude of readers.
X = \
An editorial in The Star for December 81,
1897, discussed the current fashions in human
slaughter as follows: "It is
Killers With difficult to supply the de-
Imoojuotion mand among the morbidly
inclined for novelties in the
murder line. Luetgert of Chicago is responsible
for much of that demand this year. He is ac-
cused Of killing his wife and of disposing of her
body by boiling it in caustic potash in q sausage
vat This was horrible enough to have satiated
even the most depraved tastes for long time
to come. But soon came Mrs. Mack and Martin
Thorn with an exqusitely revolving murder,
and the pace was kept up for the time. Before
this case had died out of the public memory to
d wholesome extent, the crimes of ZanOli, the
multiwife murderer, were unearthed. That
should in all conscience have been enough for
the year, but now come revelations that tend to
show that New York bread baker named
Doggett, who was supposed to have been killed
by accident some time ago, was really murdered
by being thrown into a vat, where he was cut,
to pieces by revolving knives The year now
swiftly closing has contributed far more than
its share to the horrors Of crime and accident"
4 ~
IF anybody is at all skeptica that Christmas
is near at hand" said The Star of December
23 1897, "a trip through the mar
hoIidoy kets will prove conclusively that
Fore Santa Claus annual visitation
time is really only day and half
distant. It Is in the markets that the ideal
Christmas spirit prevails It is true, people
find it necessary to eat in all seasons Of the
year. but the housekeeper who intends to keep
Christmas scrupulously does not fail to lay in
a plentiful supply Of provisions for the Christi
mas dinner Christmas and good cheer, both of
heart and stomach, go together, so 1t is not sur
prising that the markets just now present scenes
OF moving spectacles"