Evening star., 1948-10-24
Fifty Years Ago

NeportS from fior1da, Louisiana and MiSsis-
sippi, printed in The Star on October 1s, 1898,
gave an overall picture Of wide
Yellow Fever spread incidence Of yellow fever
Ro9inq Travellers were being detaind In
quarantine. baggage was being
olsln1ected, whole areas were being cor
doned against the disease. Some towns were
being abandoned by their white population,
while hundreds Of colored people, UNEMPLOYED
because Of the epidemic, were being fed BY
charity-or starving. No relief was in sight
until we are blessed with frost" Meanwhile,
the mosquito Aedes aegypti was carrying the
plague all unnoticed and DR.. Walter Reed had
not yet been called to apply to the problem the
principle OF organized common sense" which
eventually was to prove its solution.
The Star for October II, 1898 featured de-
clsion "of the highest importance and interest
to the people Of the Dis
TroeeweII on trict of Columbia,"
Phone Compony handed down by r. J.
Tracewell, Controller Of
the Treasury, in which it was affirmed that the
Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. is "a
creature Of the law, Is protected by the
law and must obey the law" All Govern
ment departments using telephone facilities
were directed to conform to the ruling. The
decision" 1t was explained, "cuts by about
two-thirds the amount which the telephone
company has been receiving from the Govern
ment." Mr.. Tracewel as it happened, was
not merely skilled in the law. He personally
has considerable knowledge of the telephone
business" In answer to the question: What
would be done should the telephone company
refuse to serve the Government at the price
nxed by the decision?" it was declared: "The
Attorney General would inaugurate injunction
proceedings without loss Of time"
What will probably turn out to be another
gambling den," wrote the Alexandra corre-
spondent Of The Star on Oc-
Combine tober II, 1898, "is in readiness
On the River to be opened, and this time
1t is almost within the sub
urbs of the city. scheme, bold, novel and
attractive, has been employed in order to estab-
lish this joint, the credit for which undertaking
belongs to the well-known sporting man, Holtz-
man. !" Under his hands the old steamer
Mary Washington has added a new chapter
to her long and curious history. With much
laborious effort, Hoffman and colored assist
ant dragged the old hulk Of the steamer from
the entrance of Four Mile Run to the railroad,
embankment, where she Is lashed to the shore
and fitted up for conducting liquor and
gambling hole in full blast. = " A gangway
Is in process of construction and even now
customers are assisted on board. . In reply
to questions Hoffman stated that he had
simply brought in his craft to get her out Of
the ice this winter and that 1t was his inten-
ton to entertain his friends on board In q
social way during the winter evenings and
especially on Sundays"
The earliest contributor toward the building
of Washington Cathedral. according to The
Star Of October 10, 1898, was
First Cathedral Miss Mary E. Mann, formerly
Gift Of Saratoga. N. Y, who. in
the spring Of 1891 made Q
deed Of property, valued, 1t is estimated, at
$4,000, to be the nucleus Of the future endow-
ment OF the cathedral foundation. Bishop
Paret entered heartily into the spirit of this
undertaking. On the 9th day Of December,
1891, . meeting was called. This meeting was
held at the residence of Charles G. Glover.
Bishop Paret was present and among others
who were there were: J. c. Bancroft Davis,
Gen. John A. Kasson, Francis g. Newlands,
George Truesdell, B. H. Warner, Gen. John G.
Parke Col A. T. Britton, Charles M Matthews,
John r. Arms, Thomas Hyde, Lewis j. Davis,
Henry e. Davis, A. G. Barney, Gen. s. v. Benet,
william G. Hill, Edward ]. Stellwagen, Charles
J. Bell, H. K. viele and r. H. Goldsborough."
Miss Mann, 1t seems, did not attend the initial