Evening star., 1948-07-04

if you will, and see Wash
ington Of 100 years ago-a
- city of unpaved streets, few
sidewalks, transportation al
most exclusively by horses, mules
and "shanks' mare; no Potomac
water, and scarcely any sanitation,
with population Of 10000 all told,
east of Rock Greek, with 1896 per-
sons in Georgetown, and you have
only in slight idea of what Wash
ington was when the cornerstone of
the Washington Monument was laid
July 4, l848.
How really fitting 1t was that the
cornerstone Of this massive and lofty
memorial to our first and foremost
American should have been laid on
this, the 72d anniversary of the
birthday Of our national independ-
ence. But all did not 60 smoothly
with the stone, for less than a month
before it was laid and while 1t was
on its way to the site, the truck
hauling it broke through the bridge
spanning the canal at Fourteenth
street, about where this street now
intersects Constitution avenue.
When news of this near tragedy
became known at the Navy Yard,
workmen waited until the noon hour
and then offered their services to get
the stone out Of its awkward position
and on the truck again. This move,
we are told, was seconded by officers
of the yard and Gen. Archibald
Henderson of the Marine Corps even
detailed field music to accompany
the line of men up Pennsylvania
avenue to Fourteenth street, where
the truck lay in the mud.
List of Samaritans
Some one at the time was thought
full enough to preserve the names OF
the men who performed this worthy
service and the writer is thus able
to pass them along to the reader.
Some, at least, no doubt, were
ancestors of many Of our present
Washingtonians.
They were: William Bland. James
Wilson, James Marceron. Richard
Warner. Robert Pagett, jeremiah
Cross, John Moss. Thomas Mitchell,
w. e. Hutchinson, James Burdine,
Charles Burgess, James Burgess,
Theodore Sniffen. John Cook, STAN
islaus Edelin,. Dennis Callaghan,
John Ober, John H. Peake, James T.
Boiseau, Joseph T. Mitchell. John F.
Tucker. James Kealy, William
Hardy. Walter Hardy. John Pic.
George r. Wilson, Lemuel Gaddis,
Thomas Arnold, Randall Cook. VIII
liam Cook, John Simmons. E. B.
Duvall, William Pagley, j. N. Gales,
Thomas Luxon, Michael Robb, Will
liam Quigley, William Brown, Thom-
as Mackey. Elijah Acton, Alexander
Maddox, Thomas ]. Harrison and
William Young.
As the line moved up the Avenue.
the account states, others joined the
men and when the bridge was
reached there were assembled about
1000 persons, anxious to see the
stone hauled out Of the mud. When
this was accomplished, two long
lines OF rope were attached to the
truck, which was drawn by the con-
struction men to its destination,
stepping to the music of the band.
1t was a proud occasion for the
Navy Yard boys, who decorated the
stone and truck with flags and placed
q live eagle on top Of the stone.
Although it was unanimously re-
solved by the Continental Congress,
in 1888, THAT an equestrian statue
Of General Washington be erected
at the place where the residence of
Congress shall be established" yet
all Of the resolutions and proceed
ings of Congress on this subject
remained unexecuted as late as 1888.
when certain citizens Of Washing
ton took steps to form voluntary
association for erecting "a great
National Monument to the memory
of Washington at the seat Of the
Federal Government" and for this
purpose a meeting was held on the
26th of September of that year, and
the meeting resulted in the organi-
cation of the Washington National
Monument Society, of which Chief
Justice John Marshall was chosen
tine first president. Among its
founders was George Watterston, who
originated the conception of the
enterprise. He was born In New
York on October q. 1888, and came
to this city with his father, and
here he witnessed the laying of the
cornerstone Of the Capitol on Sep
tember 1S, 1893, when he was nearly
10 years Of age.
Monument Group Kept Up
John Marshall died in 1885, and
ex-President James Madison was
II: I'D