Evening star., 1947-03-02
Fifty Years Ago
Either Washington must have been
a very bad sort OF place half century

ago or the local police
A Lot Of we're extraordinarily active
Arrests rounding up offenders and
suspicious persons" The
Star on February Is. 1897, let it be known
that during the "a hours ending at 9
o'clock this morning" no less than "a in
dividuals had been taken in charge by
District cops. A mixture Of alcoholic
beverages and pistols and knives, then
as now, was responsible for consider
able part Of the trouble.
A cable from London to The Star of
February 27, 1897, related: Truth says
that the release of Mrs.
CORRECTING Walter M. Castle has
ShooIifters been followed by an
alarming increase OF
kleptomania in the West End. One lead
ing storekeeper says that he has been
obliged to take the law in his own hands,
recognizing the futility of legal pro-
ceedings and In view Of the fact that the
disgrace of the arrest, ETC., falls upon
innocent members of the families. This
storekeeper says that he watched a
well-to-do lady and caught her stealing
several times. Finally, he took her, he
says, to his private Office and offered
her the choice of arrest or summary
chastisement then and there. She ac-
cepted the latter, and the proprietor
left her with his sister, the manageress
of the store. who then birched the lady
until the latter howled for mercy and
solemnly swore never to do it again."
What appears to be a genuine VOL
cano has burst forth in the Great Salt
Lake." reported The
Disturbance in Star on March /,
lJtoh 1897. The phenome-
non first appeared re-
Gently in the form of a small cloud
lowering over the water about mile and
a quarter from the shore. 1T gradually
increased in dimensions and shot up so
high in the air that it is now visible for
a great distance, and the water In the
immediate vicinity boils and seethes
and the spray is thrown upon the air
for hundreds of feet" BY way OF ex-
planation of the turmoil, it was remem-
bered that several slight earthquake
shocks had been felt during "the last
six months" Perhaps "the fire and
lava which have been confined in the
subterranean depths have found an out
let. = and are spending their force"
Meanwhile, people living nearby were
alarmed.
The most important news Of March
2, 1897, as offered by The Star for that
date, was the arrival in
Mckinley Washington of William Nc
Arrives Kinley, President-elect, ac-
companied by his wife and
his mother and "a distinguished party
of their relatives and friends" Crowds
had begun to assemble at the Pennsyl-
vania Station at 8 o'clock. The train
entered the shed at about II. Police
estimated that by that time probably
5000 persons" were in the nejghborhood
of Sixth and B streets. The engine
which pulled the string of cars from
Canton, Ohio, was No. 224. 1t was de
scribed as "a huge bronze-finished ma
chine that came to stop with series
of short, proud puffs as If it were we'll
satisfied with its long journey and the
safe manner of its accomplishment"
Mr. Mckinley, when first glimpsed by
the cheering crowd, was wearing "a
bunch Of exquisite orchids on the right
lapel Of his coat" Immediately behind
him marched a servant carrying "a
beautiful basket Of ng-stemmed pink
roses" and then came Mrs. Mckinley
and Mr.. McKinley's maternal parent,
escorted by A. r. Britton, Judge John
G. Long, Charles G. Clover and Mrs.
J. Addison Porter. The party was
guarded by .13 detectives, including
several Pinkerton agents.
The long discussion about the ground
ing of the o. s, g. Brooklyn on Schooner
Ledge In the
Brooklyn's Officers Delaware seemed
Exoneroted to have come to
an end at last
when The Star on February 20, 1897.
chronicled the approval of Acting Sec
retary Of the Navy william McAdoo for
the finding Of court Of inquiry. It was
the sense Of the verdict that the acci-
dent was not in any respect due to
fault or negligence on the part Of any
Of the officers or crew of said vessel