Evening star., 1959-12-07
The
Rambler
...... Enjoys
lndiun Summer
BY GEORGE KENNEDY

the breaths Of people waiting
at the bus stops was quite
visible. 1t was cold.
But by midafternoon, the
sun, even at its December
low angle was warming
things up. The temperature
was approaching so. 1t was
almost Indian summer.
There was a suggestion In
the mail that he should
stroll past the corner of
Eighth and E streets NV.
where some buildings are
being torn down for a park
ing lot. This had exposed q
very interesting sign on the
side Of the building on the
north side Of the 800 block
of E street-a building which
is not being torn down.
Curiosity could not be de-
nied-not on c day like FRI
day. The Rambler hied him
self to Market space, which
is the name of the street
which the S. Kann a. Sons
Co. store faces.
He rounded the corner and
started walking north on
Eighth street. Ahead was
the most interesting, yes,
beautiful, prospect in down.
town Washington.
AS you will remember,
Eighth street is blocked of
at F street by the Civil
Service, or old Patent ONCE,
Building. With its Doric
columns it looks like the
postcard view of the Made
leine from the Rue Royale
In Paris. And this Partisan
eject is very much height
ened by the flower and vege-
table market on the east side
OF Eighth street at F, at a
corner Of the old Land Ofice
Building, which is occupied
by the Tariff Commission.
There we encountered
Frank Caruso, who is far
from an old man, but who
has been on that market for
several decades-ever since
he was 8 years old.
There were IL stands then
-pushcarts, that is. Now
there are three-two floral
and one vegetable and fruit.
Decorative colors that will
last seem to be the principal
December item-red swamp
berries, heather-not from
Scotland, from Florida
branches Of tiny leaves
which have been dyed red,
and, Of course, chrysanthe-
mumS Of all sizes.
The sign2
There it was, large and
legible, stretching across the
full width Of the side of a
four-story brick building,
just under the gable.
TIoGA HOUSE
Board and Lodging, 81 a Day
How long ago that must
have been-three squares
and a bed for a dollar!
The Rambler was Specu-
lating on that when an old
family friend came along,
Joe Talbot, chairman of, the
Tariff Commission.
NO." he said, that wasn't
before the Civil War. We
have a young man on our
staff who is very interested
in such things. He checked
it and found that the house
that was torn down, expos
ing that sign, was built in
1885.
But come on in our build
ing with me. I want to show
you something"
We went into the Tariff
Commission Building, which
is one of the oldest Govern
ment Office buildings in
Washington. This and the
Civil Service (or Patent Of
f1ce) Building and the Treas
ury were all under construc-
tion at the same time, long
before the Civil War, in the
late 1830s and '40s. All, un-
!derstandably, followed the
examples set by the neo-
clasSicism of the English
government buildings in
g Whitehall, London.
"AS you KNOW, Joe SAID,
"this building is on the site
Of Blodgett's Hotel, started
in 1895 as the prize in a
lottery to help finance the
construction of Government
buildings in the new CAPITAL.
The lottery was not very
successful. The hotel became
a Government building.
"Blodgett's Hotel was the
only Government building to
escape the British torch in
1814-but it burned down
in 1885. This building was
started in 1882"
BY this time we were going
down several flights Of stairs