Evening star., 1949-04-24
By Jessie Font Evons

has vivid memories of early Wash
ington She has seen people cross
Pennsylvania avenue on RATS. She
has seen them stand on the seats
of horse-drawn streetcars when
heavy rains flooded the shallow
banks of Tiber Greek as it mean
dered from the Capitol. separating
Northwest Washington from her
home on The Island" as South
west Washington was known.
Mrs. Steinmetz, a visitor TO the
city Of her birth. Is mere from
Roseland. her colonial home in
Accomac County. Va. built in 1857
She is the granddaughter Of VII
liam Bird of Old Church Road In
Accomac County, who came here
in 1923 and was the contractor
who built the first United States
Naval Observatory. His feat OF
using cannon balls to rotate and
balance the halves Of the observ-
atory dome was much discussed
His son. John H. Bird, Mrs.
Steinmetz' father. became In turn
one Of this city's leading builders
His home at S42 B street S.w
faced the red brick Smithsonian
Building which he built (Schult2
& CluSs, architects). The Pea
body School is his handiwork and
another of his landmarks was the
old Magazine Building, subsequent
ly used as the Fish Museum for
many years.
Born May IL, 1865, not quite a
month after Lincoln had been as
sassinated In Ford's Theater on
April Is, Mrs. Steinmetz says. II
heard so much about the Civil
War as a child, have always had
the feeling I lived through it," She
recalls peeping through the fold
ing doors Of the double parlors in
their B street home at Russell
Taylor. the first Yankee" she had
ever identified as such. Subse-
quently he married Helen Polk
inhorn, her mothers sister, and
became her favorite uncle.
Mischief at the Smithsonian.
A favorite pastime was watch
ing the daughters of DR.. Joseph
Henry. first secretary of the
Smithsonian, play croquet on the
Smithsonian Grounds in long
trained skirts and picture hats.
(He held this Office from l846 to
1879 Less sedate was her par
ticipation with her brothers in
surreptitious rides on. the rope
manipulated dumb waiter which
ran from the basement to one Of
the tallest towers in the brown
stone Smithsonian Building. DIR.
Henry's irate discovery of the
juvenile "joy riders" midway be-
tween floors one day caused gen.
eral fright all the way around. The
amateur rope-pullers let 60 sud-
denly in their CONSERVATION and
landed with resounding shaking
up. The distinguished scientist,
completely out Of breath, was on
hand to fish them out and to see
if they were harmed before they
scurried off. THE episode was
never mentioned to us or our par
ents," Mrs. Steinmetz recollects
with an amused chuckle." but we
gave Dr.. Henry a wide berth for
a long time afterward."
e Nearby neighbors and friends of
her parents on "the island" were
the families Of Crosby S. Noyes of
The Evening Star. John Joy Ed
son. who became president Of the
Washington Loan & Trust Co.;
George White. whose son is DR..
Charles Stanley White. an eminent
DR.. Croggin and DIR. VIII
liam Henry Morgan. One Of this
city's pioneer woman physicians
was DR.. Susan Edison. q jolly. stout
homeopathic practitioner who Wis
tied her patients in capacious'
buggy.
Few Of this city's streets were
paved during her girlhood. Those
that were had an ovelay Of wood
en- blocks held together with tar
with the result that there
was a general buckling Of the sur
face after heavy rains or during
heat.
Carried Grants Roses.
When she was a pupil In the
L. 49, -