Evening star., 1950-07-30
Swampood|e Days
By John CIoqett Proctor

BY John Clc
It would be unfair to Swami
poodle to say that there were no
nice people in this section of the
city from its early settlement, for
we know there were, but many still
believe that the good ones for
many years were outnumbered by
the bad and rough ones. An early
item found in The Star, back in
1859, will give some idea of the
rural conditions of the section at
that time. The item follows:
How Some of the Boys Spend
Sunday.-The portion of the city
called Swampoodle is that extend
ed along Capitol Branch to Logan's
Mill and upon each side. the
ground is low or but a few feet
above the level of the branch. The
ground is selected by the boys for
their Sabbath amusement, and
not few grown men also en-
gage in their sports there. A
bowling alley has been erected,
and there members resort. The
streets and open fields are the
grounds for the boys games OF
'bandy,' 'crack-and-crack-about
and prisoners base The adults
are no more choice in their Ian
guage than the minors, and are
as careless of the safety of per-
sons and property.
For two years the people have
been trying to break up these
gangs, but they have been unsuc-
cessful as yet. Recent complaints
Of property owners in the immedi-
ate neighborhood will probably
excite officers to renewed efforts,
but they, without the aid of the
citizens, can do nothing compare
lively. The parties cannot be
taken in the act by the officers,
who are more closely watched
than the offenders, who, knowing
the officers at a great distance,
Immediately suspend their games
and scatter. The only way is to
ascertain who are in the parties
and to arrest them afterward,
and this must be done by those
who are annoyed by them"
Trouble at the Well
In an issue or two later, the
writer came across another item
which, although it showed how
mean and contemplate some peo-
pie can be. still refers to condi-
ton before alluded to. when the
early Washingtonian-be he from
Swampoodle or whatever part Of
the city-relied largely upon
pumps for drinking water.
Under the head Of "An Out
rage" The Star said:
Yesterday afternoon a rumor
was af1oat that a woman had been
killed in Swampoodle by three
men. 1t grew out of an assault
and battery made by a man named
Thomas Honan, who halls from
Philadelphia. Honan, with two
other young men, named John
McDevitt and R. Offutt, were in
toxicated. passing a pump where
woman named Mary A. Kennedy
was getting water. having two
buckets sitting by her. Honan
threw a stone at her, and then
went up and kicked one of the
buckets over. The woman told
him to go away or she would throw
water on him. Honan took the
other bucket and struck her upon
the head, infiicting an ugly flesh
wound and knocking her senseless
for a time.
THE party ran, pursued by the
police and others. with the hue
and cry, and all were captured
after long chase and carried to
the Office Of Justice Dom. The
woman, having recovered. ap-
peared as a witness with another
woman who saw the transaction.
1t was an outrageous act and re-
suited in the commitment of
Honan as the principal, and also
the others, his companions.
X X X X
It is interesting to talk with
one who can give first-hand in
formation about the city and its
people of years ago, especially
where the party revealing the past
has an alert mind. 1t was just
such a person that the writer
found Mrs. Alice Gray Flowers
to be, and even more, for no one
would ever suspect at the time
that this good woman was any,
where near the age she must have
been to recall events as far back
as the early '70s.
Her first husband, Harry Sykes,
was the son of James Sykes of
the firm of Sykes. Chadwick &
Co., proprietors of the Willard
Hotel for a few years from about
1865 on. She made her home there
until the partnership was dis
solved and her father r-in-law.
James Sykes, took over the Jenness
House about 1871, when he re-
christened it the Imperial. 1t later