Evening Star Newspaper, January 9, 1892, Page 10

« @ially novel and instructive. 10 THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON. D.C. SATURDAY. JANU. Pp OF THe Railways ano CONNECTIONS EUROPEAN HINTS| Concerning Matters Wherein Uncle Sam Does Not Beat the World. BERLIN’S ELEVATED RAILWAY Lessons for Washington—No Grade Crossings Model Railroad Terminals and Rapid ‘Transit Facilities—The Effete Old World Railroads Protect Life Better and Build Finer Stations. HE WASHINGTONIAN IN BERLIN, noting municipal features that commend themselves for adoption in his own city, 1 struck by the cleanness both of the broad streets and of the obscure byways, testifying to the excellence of the street-cleaning and garbage systema He isattracted by the ab- sence of overhead wires and towering poles and by the admirable railroad terminal and local rapid transit facilities. Valuable sug- gestions in all these matters may be derived by developing Washington in its struggle for healthful cleanliness, the burial of distiguring wires and adequate railroad terminals. The lesson taught on the last point I found espe- Like London and Paris Berlin has a “ring” railroad, circling the city and furnishing both local rapid transit and city terminalsand a connecting link to the great trunk lines. THE FINEST ELEVATED ROAD IN THE WORLD. It has also, which they have not,a road which follows, though with many deviations from a straight line, the diameter of the sub- urban ring. ‘This road traverses the very heart of the city. At intervals along it are mag- nificent stations, constructed with all the mod- | ern improved devices, including that of abso- | Inte separation of incoming and outgoing | traffic, from which issue trains for St. Peters- | burg or Paris, 2s well as the local rapid| transit trains. This city road or “Stadtbahn’ connects with the ring-road (““Ring-bahn”) at | Stralau-Rummelsburgh on the east and West-! end on the west. It is the most celebrated | elevated railway in Europe. It is 8.8 miles! Jong. and its four tracks. two for distant travel end two for local business, are carried on an arched viaduct of masonry, and on iron bridges | with massive masonry abutments in crossing the streets. It bas in all sixty-six bridges over | streets and water courses. Its general elevation is about twenty feet above that of the street. It is about fifty feet | broad. It is primarily intended to relieve the street traffic, but five stations, structures of impressive size and most admirable arrange- ment, are also used for general traffic. The Friedrichstrasse station has an immense vaulted hall 230 fect wide and 492 feet long. ‘The main line, with its 8.3 miles,hasten stations. ‘The North Ring is 12.56 mileslong, with twelve stations. The South Ring is 16.30 miles long, with nine stations. The local rates of fare are very cheap, the purpose being to encourage the building of suburban residences. Local trains now run about every three minutes. The epeed of trains between stations must not ex- ceed twenty-eight miles an hour, and the run j {fs made at an average speed of about sixteen miles an hour, including the frequent stops, “probably as fast,” says Mr. Osborne Howes of the Boston rapid transit commission, who has recently made an admirable report on the sub- | Ject, “as any similar service in the world.” In no part of the system, of course, is there a street crossed at grade, nor isthere any railway track crossed except at a different elevation. SOME ATTRACTIVE FEATURES OF THE STADTEARN. In examining the Stadtbahn in the vicinity of several of the largest stations I was much impressed with the manner in which the objec- | Berun Municiratcano Junction J) | ing | ing the city and ‘serving only for local rapid “Freight trains are not allowed upon the main line during the day. On the South and North Rings they are permitted, as in this way alone they reach a number of the freight stations. At the prosent time work is going on which, when completed, in four or five years more, will give to both North and South Rings a complete double-track freight service, entirely distinct from the passonger lines. he main line serves to supply the Central Market of Berlin. filled with food sup- Flies. other than live animals, arriving during the day, are kept on side tracks on the Ring lines until midnight, when, with such other provision cars as may have arrived during the evening, they are brought to the side tracks of the market near the center of the city. Here they are immediately unloaded and their contents let down on large hydraulic elevators to the main floor of the market, which is on a level with the sur: face of the ground. The supplies thus received and delivered aggregate from 120 to 160 car- loads each night. The sidetracks of the market will not accommodate more than forty freight cars at a time, hence when unlcaded they are immediately ‘taken away to make room for others. When a few sears ago this market method was introduced to take the place of the general sale of produce from carts it aroused great opposition, which has now, however, wholly died out, from the discovery’ that by the new method the prices of food supplies have been ensibly reduced. The market is owned and stalls leased by the city, but the management of the market traffic, until the produce comes within the walls of the market, rests in the hands of the stato officials. “The same system obtains in the management of the Berlin slaughter houses, which are lo- cated on the North Ring, and at which as many as 49,000 head of animals of all kinds have been landed in a day (the average daily supply is 30,000). Here, too, the service of delivery is largely performed at night, though when the special freight tracks are completed this will not be in the least necessary.” POINTERS FOR THE CAPITAL. The Berlin system commends itself to Wash- ington, in that it provides noiseless rapid transit and permits passenger stations in the heart of the city and ample freight facilities, without a single death-trap grade crossing, | with no obstruction of the streets and no real distigurement of the surface of the city. And : suggests improvements up, stem ina somewhat greater height of the structure, a more extensi’ space under the tracks and the provision of a distinct set of freight tracks. The same end is reached of course by tunneling as in London, where terminals and local rapid transit have been secured by burrowing expensively under- ground. But travel on the London Metropol tan and District roads is a suffocating exper ence to an American. Washington could tun- nel to better advantage than London, where a considerable portion of the line ia built in land reclaimed from the Thames, and the tracks are, at certain stages of the tide, be- low the water level “of the ‘river, compelling the operation of five pump- Pr stations to establish therough drainage. But where circumstances do nct forbid the elevated structure the ronte in the air and light will be approved by most Ameri- cans. The New York elevated roads—tracks MANMATTAN ELEVATED aT 110rH sTRRET. elevated on stilts, obstructing streets, disfigur- transit—are not the alternative from the Lon- don tunnels or the choice would be extremely ditticult. The New York rapid transit commis- sion have, to be sure, selected a tunnel plan for the greater part of that city, but they pre- ferred, as they explicitly state in their report, the above-ground system, and decided against it im part only when, in the light of conditio which do not yet ‘exist in Washington, th found the elevaied structure impracticable in the down-town section of New York, with its heavy population, costly improvenients and PROPOSED NEW correo YORK VIADUCT. tionable features of rapid transit lines and rail- Yond terminals were minimized or avoided sitogether. The road was built on private Property. except for ashort distance on the Fiver bed, at great expense in condemnation of | Jand. No street is, consequently, occupied and | obstructed. Streets are crossed by arch | bridges where their uso is possible; in other eases the bridges are supported by neat iron columns between the sidewalk and the street. ‘The structure throughout is solid, and bas no | disagreeable vibration. It is absolutely water- | tight, and ie so constructed with rails and | rail-carriers bedded in gravel that the Passage of trains is practically noiseless. There are no dropp.ngs from above upon the heads of those who pass under it. ‘The masonry viaduct presents the appearance | of a series of brick arches sustaining the road- | bed. ‘The space underneath is utilized in this Part of the city for various purposes, accord- g to location. Here an attractive store or Festaurant is seen: here a stable, carrisge house or store house. The road 1s built in this thickly settled section so that it occupies the Street edge of the blocks, and the buildings | constructed under it open upon a street on one | sida or the other. The viaduct here looks like row of occupied brick houses with flat roo: and arched fronts, embellished by stone tri mings, cornices and recessing of the masonry, end the effect is not at all displeasing. Lewis M. Haupt in an article on rapid transit in the December Cosmopolitan says: “The serious ob- Jections to rapid surface iravel and the un- sightly appearance of the iron superstractures in vogue have led to various propositions for the Construction of masonry arcades which shall @liminate these defects’ Among the com- pleted lines of this clase may be men- tioned the grand arcades in Paris and Berlin. These, however, are not used exciu- sively for local trafic, but also to counect lines of railways with each other.” It is ouly upon certain portions of the Stadtbabn, ho > that this ‘space under the tracks is thus util- ized. Mr. Osborne Howes, in the re) which I have referred, , Since arches Lave been left ‘A German publication concerning the Stadt- baba transinted and reprinted im the Eegineer ‘tiny Record says of these arches: “The vaults of the viaduct are rented ata that com- ‘Gnest loca. ‘are especially desirable fitted up with the greatest luzury. é tremendous land values. Where the conditions Tmit them in other parts of e city, as, for instance, in the two miles east of Madison avenue, they ropose to use a masonry viaduct resembling lia’ Stadtbahn. The cut of the proposed New York viaduct gives a general idea of the Berlin structure, though the arches of the latter are not so high. and their length —— to height is considerably greater. The Berlin viaduct is afso ornamented in a few places, public. Mr. Samuel Pe Rea, an engineer connected | States, and even to ¢ ¢ reimburse them- with the ims work on | selves for the e: ‘of the improvement “The Railways Terminating = Fenting the arcate space beneath pic ng printed by ineering News, 1n_not- | for stores and other A Berlin yia- ng ints of Europeam superiority | duct down Delaware avenue would not obstruct mays: ways and highways are not| in the least transit between West and East to cross on the same level | Washington, would constitute no inicfeased dis- im cities, or elsewhere much traveled. Some figarement, would be really © a these excellent features are gradually being | provement in the increase of trading facilit adopted by our more advanced companies, | and, utilizingno more than half of this broad notably the tock signal system and the avoid- ance of grade crossings in the cities and im- portant towns of our states. In the matter of City terminal stations, which are # conspicuous rt of every railwa; cemed pory in advance of our railroads,” ‘HINTS FOR UNCLE SAM'S RAILWAYS. In looking down for the first time from 8t Paul’s one foggy morning upon the notable , English roads are unsur- buildings of London the structures which first caught my eye and about which I first in- uit immerse allroad stati ye modern hotels of the first-class. Cannon street, Charing Cross and St. Pancras stations may be specially mentioned. They are referred to by Samuel Rea as Ait ty; of modern city terminal staticns, The street some ninety front of the building for an underground railway station, & sitting-down 2 partially inclose ed out to be some of London's lofty buildings of | owed and imposing architecture, containing rt mentioned station stands back from Cannor feet, leaving @ broad area in irance to the cab stand and latform. This forecourt is with a heavy balustrade, and & fine approach at the west side leads up to the hotel and station The depth through the ticket offices is about ninety feet and the train hall is over 650 feet in length. The Charing Cross station much resembles it. St Pancras isa huge structure, with an imposing facade, | flanked at the eastern corner with a high clock tower. The head honse—a large building—i id imposin, connected with the railroad’s hotel. The station ball has roof trusses of 243 feet span and is 690 feet in length. Some of the stations in Paris are equally im- pressi In Berlin and othér German citios extensive improvements have been made and large sums of money recently expended by the railroad management to bring the cityterminal stations up to an ideal standard. The station at Frankfort-on-the-Main now claims to be the finest in the world. The Enqi- neering Record pronounces the station ““a model structure of its kind combining enormou with a thoroughly well worked out p! the demands of great traffic.” proper, not including the rooms, is about 551 feet wide and 600 feet long. Its total cost was about $8,250,000. ize FRIEDRICH STRASSE STATION AND STADTBAHN. to meet ‘The station hall passenger waiting avenue, could be made so wide as to accommo- freight tacks “improving ‘in tome, respecte tracks, improving in some pb raipmiyegs fi ie enlarge tc freight re to buy ground to. facilities ought to be encouraged in every con- ceivable manner. ‘The acquisition of freight facilities along Potomac in Georgetown re- duces somewhat the need of extensive freight accommodations about its main nger sta- compara- Ey any Shinto Sead epee easy elevated app: this station. > WHAT ANOTHER ROAD MAY DO. The Pennsylvania railroad intimated when it secured from the last Congress certain privil- eges that it would make this year notable im- Provements in its terminals. Senator McMillan referred to these half promises. He said toa Stag reporter that he would go ahead at this session with a measure for relief from grade crossings from 6th street to the Long bridge end improvement of the 6th street conditions. “I will prepare a bill,” he sai hich will have for its object the ‘amelioration of existing conditions, and I know that the railroad com- pany will do everything in its power to aid me in making the bill'a Ix Senator McMillan as chairman of the District committee may be depended upon to make good his own promises and to promptly unde: take the task of causing the road to fulfill its obligations. Maryland and Virginia avenues re broad and, if the railroad continues to in- ist that the tunnel plan west of 6th strect is impracticable notwithstanding the evidence of Engineer Commissioners Twining and Ludlow | and Engineer Dougias of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, it might be required or per- suaded to elevate its tracks upon a viaduct of the Berlin type. This treatment of the tracks woull bring them to the north end of tl present Long bridge in proper relation to th Masonry, viaduet approaches across the re- claimed flats, proposed by Col. Hains, and to the new elevated Long bridge which is to be, Indeed an important part of the Penneylva- nin’s terminal improvement must. be the. de- struction of that great dam, stretching a cause- way and a low structure supported by numer- ous obstructing piers across the Potomac, a The idea of a central union station in W ington, approached by masonry viaduct or tun- nel lines from the different points of the com- pass, cannot now perhaps be realized. The two roads intrenched here have agreed that they do not wantannion station, and appa ently Congress will not force them into unwill- ing partnership. Assuming that they are to be treated independently there is still’ the need and opportunity of applying European teach- ings to the improvement of terminal facilities, both for the passenger and freight service, the betterment of stations and the removal of grade crossings. The present terminal conditionsare injurious and disgraceful to the capital of the American republic. ‘The stations compared with similar structures in Europe are inadequate in size, awkwardly arranged and ugly. However liberal and progressive the roads serving Washington may be in other localities, here they have Leen short-sighted and stingy. For freight purposes instead of purchasing ample ground when they could secure it cheaply they have pre- ferred to do thts business still less expensively, though illegally, on the public streets and reservations, and now they are pitifully cramped. The rush of delayed freight business after a Knights Templar conclave causes a blockade that paralyzes the business com- munity. A like blockade is threatened this winter in handling the naturally growing busi- ness without any cccurrence like the conclave to furnish an excuse. Unless a radical change in’ conditions is ef- fected it is difficult to calculate when Washington will recover from the blockade that must follow the Grand Army encampment next September. The situation in regard to grade crossings is equally discreditable. Both roads sustain a series of death traps at which losses of life and injuries to limb periodically occur, and each one of these crossings is a di- rect business injury and inconvenience and cause of financial loss to the city through the obstruction to traffic and travel which occurs at them. Atasingle one of the Pennsylvania railroad’s crossings last year the delay inci- dent to the lowering and raising of the gates was experienced by the public 116 times within | the daylight hours of a single day, and nearly 5,000 pedestrians and considerably over 2,000 vehicles passed and were exposed to the chance of danger and these delays. ‘Though the use of this part of the road for shifting cars or making up trains js illegal, shifting engines engaged in this illegal work obstructed this crossing fifty- one times on the same day. The Baltimore and Ohio surface tracks isolate East Washing- ton and throttle its prosperity. The Pennsyi- vania railroad tracks perform a similar service for South Washington and the river front. WHAT ONE ROAD WILL Do. The Baltimore and Ohio has shown recen indications of an appreciation of the discredit- able condition of its totminals, and of @ dis- position to make them better. It ig understood that this road proposes to spend soon a large sum of money in terminal improvements if Congress will approve its Plans. It proposed to the last Congress to unite its two lines outs:de of the city and to bring them down Delaware avenue to its resent station site, which it propqed to en- large so as to form within it a track loop. If while the New York structure is plain through out. ‘WHAT L'ENFANT WOULD HAVE DONE. If the founders of Washington who, with prophetic foresight, planned and marked out in the last century the framework of the mag- nificent capital of the next century could now, in the light of the requirements of modern cities, repeat their task, they would provide ample space in the city’s plan for a great cen- tra] railroad station, and would set aside rights of way for lines radiating to the principal oints of thecompass from this station. ‘These ines, which would be both long-distance railroad terminals and local rapid transit roads, building up the suburbs and relieving city congestion, would in their course through the city run, I'think, over masonry viaducts of the Berlin plan, with all the space under the tracks except at the “bridges over streets utilized and ornamented, and with distinct tracks for long-distance travel, short-distance travel and freight service. The station, though in the heart of the city, would have nothi ite ap- Proaches to threaten life and limb, to reduce the value of property or to obstruct street traffic and travel. It would be like the Canuon street and other great stations in London, the impressive railroad structures of Paris,” the Friedrich Strasse and Alexander Platz stations on the Stedtbaba in Berlin, or the wonderful structure at Frankfort-on-the-Main. In con- templating these buildings the Washingtonian feels profoundly ashamed when he thinks of the local stations at home. The foreign citi teach usa lesson both as to the ay. grade crossings and as to the construction and arrangement of stations. ‘WHEREIN WE DO NOT BEAT THE WORLD. The American in Europe, while finding less complete provision , for comfort in long- distance railroad travel than in America, fre- Yacy at the expense of an unsociable ment often irksome, alsogotes the most elab orate nstaking precautions for both of tte traveler'nd of the ‘of the this were permitted it promised to build » | decaying, dangerous nuisance asa bridge, and asadam blocking the commercial prosperity of Georgetown and threatening every spring tc iurn a destructive flood in upon Peunsyl- vania avenue and lower Washington. If Congress insists upon retaining the 6th street station and the disfigurement of the mall, the tracks might be removed from Gth street, opening that thoroughfare, and run, as proposed, on the edge of the mall next to the street, but on an embankment vinduet like the Berlin road in the suburbs, sodded and orna- mented in every tasteful way with arched openings at intervals to permit passage under it. Itisa pity that Representative Springer's Champs Elysées, running through thécries of | parks between the Capitol and the White House or monument,should be brought into proximity to railroad tracks at any point orin any way,but this avenue, or the more graceful and suitable all of its new plant in Jersey City and New York, is estimated at $4,000,000. ee progressive out of Wash- In other cities its policy is to abolish grade crossings. In a formal letter favoring the | baer) bill for Pennsylvania President said: “In pursuance of this policy it Such crossings from iis mnie ine i the iy of 5 : ong A Philadelphia and for a distance of nine miles beyond. It is certainly within your recolleo- tion that in order to reach the present station at Broad street by an elevated roadit expended between four and five millions of dollars and thus secured the removal of all the freight track from Market sreet ‘and the abandonment of the then existing grade crossings between 15th street and the Schuylkill river. The same policy has been pursue’ by the company for many years past on its main line in the city of Pittsburg, with the result that all grade cross- ings of important etreets within its limite are nowavoided. This policy is being steadily pur- suet our lines to New York and Washington also. ° * It bas noteven been pretended that the wholesome provisions of law that require the avoidance of grade crossings by stearc railroads in such cities as London, Liverpool and Berlin have in any manner interfered with their commercial Prosperity, although it is certainly true that y have compelled railroad companies seck- ing admissicn to those cities to expend a larger amount of money than they would have done had grade crossings been permitted. But I think that you will agree with me that the pub- lic safety i# the supreme law in this cese, and that if railroads can reach our large cities with- out sacrificing the lives and limbs of our peo- ple it is their duty to do so. NOW FOR WASHINGTON. It is time for the application of these princi- ples and this practice, by all the roads center- ing here, to the capital of the nation. It is time that Congress, the legislature of this capi- tal, secured from our railroads the same con- sideration in these matters that the municipal councils in other cities demand and obtain. It cannot continue always to be the case that Con- {0 whore guardianship the interests of ity are intrusted, will give to our common iers for the asking whatever they desire, or promptly condone the offense if they have taken without asking, and at the same time turn a deaf ear to the requests of the people for the better protection of life and for the re- moval of impediments to city expansion and development and to business prosperity. When tho local roads have built here ; European stations, covering large sreas of ground, lofty, imposing and ornamental struc- tures, with fine modern hotels in the upper stories, as in London, there might well be con- ucted fn connection with one of them the great convention hall which Washington needs. Such a hall would bring increased business ecially to the road which would convey out- sidere directiy to first-class hotel accommo- dations in the same building with it. The r rond as hall owner would put money into the pockets of the railroad as hotel proprietor, carrier of passengers and promoter of excur- sions, and vice versa. When both roads have abolished their local grade crossing and run rapid, noiseless trai over a Berlin viaduct in their course through the city, and when both cross the Potomac tc southern connections on handsome and sub- stantial bridges, not dams, then Washington will enjoy the ' sare unobjectionable rapid transit facilities for its suburbe that have brought euch prosperity and relief from con- gestion to Berlin. Not only the northeastern and northwestern District, but the Virginiasub- urbs of Washington, will be connected with the growing and progressive capital by bands of steel. With the Berlin rapid transit facili- ties these suburbs, whether in the District, Maryland or Virginia, will feel the impulse of Washington's expansion, will flourish as they have never flourished before and will, in their turn, heap blessings and benefits upon the city to which they bring convenient and healthful homes for the moderately well-to-do, summer breathing places for the rich and a remedy for urban overcrowding with its ugly and threat- ening accompaniments. ‘The railroads as well as the public will profit by this improvement of their service and broadening of their func- tions. Washington will clasp to itself and ab- sorb its suburban extensions in every direction. ‘The city limits will soon be identical with the boundaries of the District, whether the origi- nal dimensions of the ten miles square are re- stored or the District lines remain as at pres- ent, and the capital will stride with quickened steps toward its goal of a million population with all the progress and development and in- creased attractiveness that must accompany its Growth in numbers. Turopore W. Noves. —_———- FIREARMS OF EARLY SETTLERS. curving driveway into which it might be m fied, would clearly be more attractive if it re- tained its level grade and passed through an ornamented arch under a comparatively noise less viaduct instead of climbing over the tracks and engines by a bridge. ‘The purchase of ample freight yards, espe- cially in the section near where the railroad issues from the Navy Yard tunnel and south of its main line, into which it can run surface tracks, ought to be encouraged and promoted. ‘The streets and reservations have served long enough as shifting stations and freight y: When the Baltimore and Ohio get posing and admirably arranged station for which it 1s planning, with ample room ac- quired by purchase for the performance of the fonctions of a great modern railroad, the Pennsylvania will doubtless be stirred by pride and competitive self-interest as well as by the absolute necessities of its steadily growing traffic to enlarge and improve its terminal fa- cilities, including its station. This’ main Washington station of a great railroad system, at which some 2,000,000 of people arrive and depart every year, cannot b> mything but inadequate and antiquated as long as it can be legally approached on 6th street by only two tracks, “to be put as near together in, the middle of the street as possi- | ble” and showing “flat rails like those used by street railways, 80 as to facilitate wagon and carriage travel over the same.” Whatever the railroad has on 6th street more than those two sots of flat rails, ensily crossed by carriages, is illegal. ‘These ‘assurances of a minimum’ of inconvenience to the public are made in the letter of the law and are consequently more binding than the suggestion of Senator Simon Cameron that the 6th street tracks would be withdrawn when the mall came to be needed as ® park, and Senator Frelinghuysen’s assurance that no engine would ever run across the mall to frighten horses as apprekended by a brother Senator. Mr. Frelinghuysen’s suggestion was that the trains would run along 6th street and into the station engineless_ from a momentum acquired on Virginia ave- nue, but he expressed no opinion as to the manner in which the train was to get out of the station and back to Virginia avenue again. The theories and arrangements all Pointed to a temporary makesbitt, with « small usiness in view, and all the conditions are un- suited for the leading passenger station of the capital of the republic in the year 1892. The Pennsylvania road, in order to keep up with the times and with ‘local business competition, The Clumsy Weapon With Which New Eng- landers Defended Themselves, From the Chustauquan. The precise population of New England, either Indian or white, at the time of Philip's war cannot be stated, but for the purpose of war it may be said that the forces on one side and on the other were equal. At that time the Indians were as well used to firearms as the whites, but the firelock of those days was but an inefficient weapon compared with the mus- ket of later times or with tho rifle of today. It seems certain thatin Europe flintlocks had been introduced before this time; but, on the whole, the concurrence of evidence shows that such locks were not used in the civil war in England and that both the king’sparty and the Puritans still relied on the matchlock. The form of this can be readily explained to any | person who has seen the old flintlock of the present century. A hammer—a good deal larger than the hammer which afterward held the flint, but quite like it—had a screw which tightened or loosened the hold which two pieces of iron had upon a match Each soldier was obliged to carry some yards of this match with him, and when the battle began he lighted the piece of this match which was fixed in the hammer of the gun. A pan which held powder, exactly as the pan of a flintlock afterward did, was in front of the hammer, with a cover projecting, from which sort of «horn ran up nearly vertical, to be opened by the hammer when the soldier pulled he trigger. The fire of the match communi- cated with the powder, and the gun went off. ‘This was a sufficiently complicated way in which men should go to battle, perhaps in a wilderness, where even the procuring of fire at that time was attended with some difficulty. ‘The accounts of skirmishes of those times are fuil of occasions when a shower put a stop to the whole battle. This is because the fire of the matchos was extinguished by the rain. To change this rather clumsy lock into a flintlock simply required that flint of suffi- cient size should be screwed into the hammer in the place made for the match. The flint, then striking upon the cover of the pan, made spark, which fell at the mouient the an opened into the powder. Eventually these focks were mude with great precision, so that the gun missed fire very seldom, must, wherever it main station is located, got MAIN ENTRANCE OF FRANKFORT STATION. handsome station and to erect bridges on North Onptzal street, Massachusetts avenue, H street Boundary. Stan commented more ground in connection with tt It avoid the necessity of backi tion. It must secure the pri of the tracks that a first-class road in a first c city uires for ite business. And in return for shelegiaalive concessions which will E it t6 do thin, \d in remembrance of the gift to 18 of treo right-of-way, free station oy bridge, des- from i Ihave no doubt that one and another soldier in Philip's war found for himeelf that» flint Indian arrowhead screwed in the place of hia match could be made to answer the purpose of ing the powder much more readily than the match itself could do, A similar inventio however, as I have said, had already been made in Europe, so that it is thought that fliutlock uns had been found in France as early as 1640. In 1672, however, just before the war with Philip began, the law of Masachusetts and the provision made for her soldiers still required the use of the matchlock. ——____ee__—__—. Written for The Evening Star. A Slumber Song. Sleep, darling, my pretty one, sleep! Mother bends o’er thee, Watching thy slumber, 60 light and so free: Angels their vigils keep, Guarding thy peaceful sleep, ‘Mush-a-by, hush-a-by, Bleep, baby, sleep. ‘Rest sweetly, my own one, O restt ‘Nothing can harm thee; Eaay thy cradie is—while from the lea Softly the zephyrs blow, ‘Ring doves are cooing low; Rock-a-by, Rock-a-by, Sleep, baby, sleep. Dream, precious one, tenderly dream; ‘Moonlight is beaming, Into thine eyes the bright stars are gleaming; —Ls Dus, Love ins Palace, From the New York Weekly. English lord: “I am going out for amo- ment.” cS Pouting Wife: “Never to return, I suppose?” The wife’s words were not heard, as that in- stant the noble lord stumbled over the dog and fell headlong down stairs. os : caren ot area GOSSIP FROM NEW YORK. Happenings During the Week in the Great ‘Metropolis, & WEALTEY WOMAN'S GENEROUS CHARITABLE BEQUESTS—EVERY PRESBYTERIAN BOARD BENE- FITED—INCREASE OF SPEED IX RAILROADIXG— ONE HUNDRED MILES AN HOUR TO BR aT TAINED. ‘Special Correspondence of the Evening Stary New Your, Jan. 7, 1892. DEATH OF MRS. ROBERT L. STUART was anevent which many understood to be full of significance to the cause of charity, especially as administered through the Pres- byterian church. Like her deceased husband, she regarded herself in the strictest sense of the term asa trastce for the care and distribution of the wealth which had come to her by business success and by the various Processes of law and nature For years she has been living a life of soli- tary grandeur in the splendid mansion on 5th’ avenue, attended by a faithful woman secre- tary and by two or three attached domestics. She was the very personification of a reserved and dignified respectability. Old and infirm, she mingled very little in any society, but she drew about her, as befitted ner own views and convenience, a very select coterie, among whom the Presbyteriaf doctor of ‘divinity pisved aconspicuous, and, perhaps, a pre-em- nent part. It was understood that the bulk of her great fortune would be left to the various ranches of the Presbyterian work and it was natural, therefore, that the leaders of that de- romination should cultivate her society and respond to her evident partiality for them. GENEROUS CHARITABLE BEQUESTS. As soon as it wag announced that Mra Stuart had expired every one was on the tiptoe of ex- pectation to learn how her will read, and im- mediately after her burial the document w: published in detail The anticipations of t! public for once were not disappointed. The bequests were on a munificent scale and were distributed among the many objects of benevo- lence in which she bad always taken sc active an interest. ‘The chief single beneficiary is the Lenox Library, which profits by her friendship to the extent of about $650,000. Next to this item come several bequest to the leading chan nele of Presbyterian. energy, 1. ¢., the boards of foreign and home missions, Princeton Theo- logical Seminary, the Presbyterian board of church erection. the Presbyterian Hospital and the American Bible Society. Princeton also gets a cash bequest of $50,000 and some valu- able relics. ‘Mre, Stuart was of the Presbyterians, and was a strong partisan of Princeton, as against Union Seminary and other moce or less liberal institutions. “In her will she gave a last proof of her zeal in this matter: Union is cut off without even a shilling, though | that seminary being the richest theologi inary in the world, and backed by the support of some of the great millionaires of New York, can afford to be indifferent to this omission, After thus disposing of about $2,900,000 out of the $5,000,900 Mrs. Stuart divides most of the remainder among a list of twenty-six char- ities, each of which will receive $50,000 In this list she included all of the boards of the Presbyterian chureh that had not benefited by her larger bequests and almost all of the principal charities of the city, including many that are undenominational. ‘Several orphan asylume are on the list, inc ding the Half’ Or- phan Asylum ou 105th street, which she lately ‘arnisbed with a new site and building at an expense of $300,000. Altogether the bequests exceed in amount anything thus far on record in the same class of benevolence, and muy fitly be linked with the munificent appropriations te colleges made by the late shoo merchant—Mr. Fayerweathe The only item of surprise, and that will prise no one who knew Mra, Stuart, is the re- voking of certain clauses in the will which gave largely to the Museum of Natural History and the ‘Metropolitan Museum of Art, although both of these institutions are under the man- agement verv largely of earnest Presbyterians, Mr. Morris K. Jessup being president of one and Mr. Marquand of the other. Still they have shown a willingness to open on Sunday which was utterly repugnant to Mra. Stuar feelings, and on this account they boti lost their bequests, Mrs. Stuart preferring to con- centrate all her gifts of this general churacter | upon tho Lenox Library. ‘This institution, it | is pretty safe to say, will never be open on Sunday; it is only opened a crack on any other day. THE NEXT EPOCH IN RAILROADING. Railroad kingdoms come not with observa- tion The great transportation companies have © thorough dislike to the brass band theory of campaigns, but they manage to “get there” on time nevertheless. Just now there a tre- mendous amount of energy concentrated on the question of increased speed. We seem to be standing on the brink of a new era in loco- motion. Not many years ago Mr. Thomson of the Thomson-Houston Company made the startling prophecy that passenger trains would soon be propelled at aspeed of 100 miles an hour, and it isa fact that today the great rail- road corporations that set the pace for trans- portation companies in general have fixed their stake at this speed and are meeting the condi- tions which make it possible. We may say that model railroading fills the three sides of a triangle, on which the points are Washington, Chicago and New York, and it is along the lines connecting these three points that the development of new ideasand achieve- ments in speed will be made. Some of your readers will remember that for a time a special mail service was maintained between Washing- ton and New York on the east and Chicago on the west, which called for a speed of cighty miles an hour, but it was found out by experi- ence that the conditions of railroading did not make this speed feasible. You know, too, that the time table on the fastest trains of the B. and O. between Locust Point and Washing- ton called for that run of forty miles to be made in thirty-five minutes, including two stretches where the train had to slow down. This called for a speed varying from sixty- eight to seventy-five miles an hour. At pres- ent the timo between Baltimoreand Washington has been extended ten minutes. Aepeed of sixty miles an hour, or even seventy miles an hour, is, however, reached more or less fre- quently along the lines of the great triangle I have mentioned, and is accomplished without inconvenience or terror to the travelers. GAIN THIRTY MILES AN HOUR. This is thirty miles an hour faster than was considered safe and comfortable » quarter of century ago. Can we now gain another thirty miles an hour and reach the bhundred-mile specd? This is the problem which is bein faced by the vania and the Baltimore agd Ohio, as the three great trunk lines, and the efforts are made with a view to results in time for the great exposi- tion of 1893, when American railroading will be on view before the whole world. You have seen much lately about the marvelous increase of speed on the New York Central and I need not enlarge upon this feature here farther than to say that the new schedules are carried out rictest sect of the f ARY 9, 1892—SIXTEEN PAGES. IN VIRGINIA WILDS. Gov. McKinney Had Some Interesting Ad- ventures in the Border Counties. From the Richmond State. “By the way,” remarked the governor, “T see the papers today publish sensational items about the man ‘Tail’ Hall, who is being carried back to Wise county. J understand that the people there declare they will lynch him. it’s an awfal country down there, and we who live hundrede of miles away can bardly realize its roughness and lawlessness, In the extreme southwestern part of the state is the Pond river, which, though narrow, is unfathomably deep. It twists and tarns, and in one place, after running ten miles, it curves back toa stone's throw of the starting point. “The state of Virginia in the extreme south- western portion is angular shaped and a good jan can shoot from one state into two othere-—Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia coming together there. Like all border coun- try this section is wild and 'awless “I never saw an example of their lawlessness but once. It was while I was electioneering for governor. Mr. Alexander was with me. We spoke in a building that was used for both school and church. There was no pulpit, but a platform with a table on it. While the sp | ing was going on I noticed three men in a cor- ner, each with » Winchester rifle in his hand As ‘the room had four windows on each #de this was the only place where they could not be shot from the outside “Thad finished speaking and Alexander was almost through, when I heard a rapid fusilade outside. ‘The shooting was directly in front of the building, the only place it could not have been seen from the inside. “We started to go out, but the men in the room formed a ring around us and told us not to; that it would be over in a few seconds. little later we went out. Three men were lying on the ground. ‘They man as being the worst wounded of the lot and almost sure to dic. He was shot directly through the body. I weut up to him, and, tak- ing bis hand, which was covered with biood, told him that I was sorry to see him in such a bad fix. He looked up in my face, saying, ‘Oh, thas right, governor The d——d radical doesn’t live who can keep me from voting for you.” This was Saturday, and I understand that he did vote on Tuesday “The men who did the shooting,” continued the governor, “must have been strangers to that section, for they were easilycaught. They started off onarun, bat being hard pressed took to the lowlands without know! it In afew minutes they found the Pond river ina cirele in front of them and their pursuers on the hilltop behind. Being mountain men they could not swim a stroke, and the cance was ou the other side. Acommand to ground their arms was accordingly complied with, and they were taken into custody. “That night we spoke at Wise Court House. The next wiorning the shersff came into my room. He was a tall man, not unbandsome and not unintelligent, ‘Governor,’ he said, ‘I bad to kill another one of them last night.’ “I asked him what he meant He replicd that it was too dark to bring the prisoners to the court house the night before and be had stopped at alog school house with them. In the middle of the night they were awakened by a party of rescuers armed with Winchesters He said he realized that some one was obliged to be killed and quick at that, Pulling his re- volver, he slapped it to the side of the mau nearest to him and killed him. “Lasked him how he knew that he killed him when so many shots were fired. He answered that he felt the man’s heart beating on the pistol when ho pulled the trigger. “While in this couutry,” the governor went on, “I noticed one morning 4 line of smoke curling up from the foot ot the mountain. I thought Iwould walk down and see what it was. There were no paths, and I suppose I had to climb half adozen fences. I never saw s0 many fences in my life. When I got to the bottom { found it was my host firing up his still. Such a location for such a purpose could not be equaled. The stili was located on the bank of the river, upon 4 natural dam A shove of the shoulder would put it in fifty feet of water. On the opposite side was a cliff that &man not used to the mountains could no more climb than you could the Lee monument. Alongside the still lay a canoe with a paddie in it. Such a supply of dogs and horns I never ‘If a revenue man came to the house thedogs or women would seo him. The latter would blow the horns aud the former bark. Even if they did not no mortal man could climb all those fences without being discovered by the Persons running the still. A shove of the shoulder and the still was in the bottom of the river. Into tue canoe, a few strokes of the paddle and the mooushiner would be ow the other side, where no man could follow,” 9 see AN IDOL OF MOUND BUILDERS, ‘The Modest Clay Deity of the Early Ameri- can Heathen. From the Topeka Capital. The State Historical Society was enriched yesterday by an image uf pottery supposed to be anAdol of some prehistoric race, probably the mound builders. The idol was found near Aron, Independence county, Ark., and wasdug froma mound by relic hunters along with a number of decayed human bones,copper arrow heads and broken domestic utensils. It is the property of G.W. Hume of Strasburg, Mo. The idol is seven inches in height by five inches in diameter. It is rudely constructed, baving evidently been formed by hand, or at best very ¢rude tools, from common clay, and afterward hardened by being dried in the sun. The idol represents a human figure in a kneeling posture, the arms extending at the side. The features are rudely formed, yet, notwithstanding this, are not altogether re- puleive, the nose being gracefully aquiline and the lips well formed. The earsare missing, but the remnants show that they were adorned with rings. The body is “squatty,” and might be said to resemble a toad. At the top of the head there is a hole which seems to have served a purpose, probably that of fastening a head dress to the figure. The image would hardly be catalogued with the works of art, but it is, nevertheless, an interesting relic. The race whose deity was represented by this clumsy bit of clay inhabited the Missis- sippi_valley from the Great Lakes to the gulf ata time to which the traditions of man run- neth not. Who they were, where they came from, what their manner of life was, is all a mystery. ‘True, many mounds, excavations and burying grounds of this lost people have been discovered, but so far they have given but little of their history. That they lived and died before the race of American Indians ex- isted is proven by the fact that the traditions New York Central, the Pennsyl4 of the latter race contain no references to this lost people, although their mounds and relics are mentioned. Many mounds of this kind are found in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennes- see, Ohio and Indiana, and a few have been dis- A Severe Mental Strain. From the Detroit Free Press. practically without discomfort or apparent risk,| There were four or five of us together in the though they call frequently for a speed of fully | smoking car, all free to join in the general con- seventy miles an hour where aro favorable to such spurts of speed. The Pennsylvania railroad nas recently ordered 6,000 tons of 100-pound rails, and so far as conditions | yersation. After bita young man who was traveling for Boston houso brought out ® coin, and by laying it on his wrist sible is taking out all curves, with a view of|and snapping his finger he caused it to reducing the scheduled express time from New York to Chicago to twenty-o1 cently ordered forty powerful compound en-| he gines witb a view to accelerating its schedules jump six inches bigh. All of us except a heavy hours. The | old farmer with a clay pipe had seen the exclaimed with ast it: Baltimore and Ohio, as you ae aware, has re- | dona many times, but it was new to vale | - beat “Wall, by thunder! but that ar’ does to keep pace with the plans of its great rivals. | anything in the line of tricks I ever did see!” THE ELECTRIC MoTOR. But, perhaps, the most significant feature which has come to the surface lately is a move- ment on the part of the Pennsylvania railroad to ex] the convenient disguise of a local electric cial between Jersey City and Newar] the meadows, the road will new about ten miles without annoyance, so that it will furnish a good test o} the’ merits of electrio loco- motion on = scale. If it succeeds in a way to meet claims of ite friends we may look for's revolution in Bat w! uch as though . railroads rill | ent with the electric motor. Under | the farmer, considerably excited. actoss | borrowed 10 cents fro1 experiment with the | few passes and ‘and convince itself of the value of | man was almost eleotricity ss a motive power. ‘The road is | hibition ceased and the jong, and can be operated | beckoned me over to him steam is dethroned or not it ects | and Boston man then worked his ears back- ward and forward, and by moving the skin on his forehead he lifted his hat. “By gum! but I've lived to be years old and never saw’ that done befacel” guaped This encouraged the Boston man, and he farmer The lumfounded, and as the ex- Group broke up be andasked: “ls that Joung man related to you?” 0. “No.” Sie . ey pointed out an old | MOTHER BICKERDYKE’S PICKLES. The Perseverance of One of the Most Noted Women of the Civil War. From the New York Sun. To many women and to very many men since the war the name of Mother Bickerdyke has been the name of the modern Madonna, the mother of man, the womén whose breast has pillowed more stricken heeds and closed more dying eyes than any other in all the world. per- haps. When Motuer Bickerdyke reigned her Dig hospital kitchen at Chattanooga she made frequent visits inan army wagon drawn by mules to the country homes and farms across the mountains, terribly rough roads and through deep mud, to gather in rations for “her boys.” During the cold winter ber hospital boys did very well, but in March as #' Arenched over the trees ‘and earth about the camp, they sick- furlonghed belund, mped watew mick. ened and many died Some and sent north, bat many were left Eighty thousand Uhion solders lad over the Tennessee mountains, but remained except the wounded and Mother Bickerdyke took to Hunsville all were left, and # tary hosvital But scurvy f ful privations of winter, « pickle save thea except vegatables, trui * Mrs. Porter took charge of the bows, and th mother started out for supplies. Ske spok public balis and eburches, with appeals “dying boys.” She received guts of fruite in Nashville; the little children sent he barrels of potatoes and the aid societios her jeilies and canned goods. She stopped at capital on ber way north, spending a weok friends and begging vigorously. ‘One day, while Gen. Grant w ton on busin te Pre driving with & both hands and calling “General! I say, general The horees were pulled up suddenly. gentleman who was driving said Lurriediy: “Who in thunder is tha’ But before the words left his lips the gen- eral, with a smile, loaned out, ex 5 erdyke! Hor t you with the army of Te a want/” I repeated the general “Yes, sir, pickles! My boys and your boys are dying for pickles, and you're just the mau I want today! We need 500 Darrels shipped south this minute!” “All right, mothe ponded ickles you shall have an Go back to the boys: they m “Thank you, general. a bl Gen. Grant. right away, too, d you! Ti bethore. Tvehad Fruit, vegetables, and now neral toss of her head, that went through f smile r sick and dying away satistied with “her gene ‘The gentleman from the State Departm who rode beside him that day laughed whole affair Gen. Grant simply seid laughing matter. “It's no When Mother Lick yhe wants anything it has to be found, a too, ina hurry. Sherman and I fail in quick when we hear more to us dow! nurses, or whole sanitary commissions And that hight more than 500 barrels of pickled cucumbers, onions, beans, cabbages and tomatoes were shipped from the capital by order of Gen. U. 8. Grant, commander-in-chicf of the army. able She's worth oficers, The Perfame From the New York Recorder. The delicious perfume of brandy permeated the east side of the orchestra circle of the theater and every man turned around to see who had dropped a flask on the floor. No one looked guilty and the rising of the curtain pre- vented further investigation. As the curtain was rung down again on this act two gentle- men from the suspected portion ef the audi- torium arose to leave. “Going out again?” asked a lady who was with them. “Just a moment,” replied the elderly man. “ long enough to bring more of those" ‘The man smiled and burried ont. Entering acafe near by he called for two cocktails, and while he stood drinking directed the bartender to make tour more plums. The bartender tovk four nice lymps of sugar and laying them im a saucer d Martel brandy on them. ‘The in a piece of waxed pap up, and placed them in a lit ‘The 1 went back into ter, where he quickly distributed among the ladies of his party. They placed them in their handkerchiets and as the curtaia went up again quietly slipped them between their pearly tecth, and the same sceut of brandy was waited turough the auditorium Nice way to take your brandy, isn" The Lobbyist and the Senaton From Puck.