Evening Star Newspaper, May 9, 1894, Page 9

THE EVENING STAR penises ate AB, PUBLISHED DAILY EXCEPT SUNDAY. AT THE STAR BUILDINGS, 1101 Penasylrania Avsnus, Cor. Lith Street, by The Evening Star Newspaper Company, 8. H. KAUFFMANN, Pres’t. dain a New York Ofice, 49 Potter Building, pothesis a ‘The Evening Star fs served to subscribers in the ity by carriers, ow their own account, at 10 cente Of 44c. month. Copies at the counter cents each. By mailaaywhere in. the United States or tage pr cents per month. Saturday Quintuple Sheet Star, $1.00 per year; with foreign postage added, $3.00. (Entered at the Post Office at Washingtos, D. C., as -class mail -natter.) [>All mail su)scriptions must be paid fn Rates of advertising made known on application. AMUSEMENTS. Albaugh’s orss‘io OPERA HOUSE, EDw. 8. a, Manager. 25¢., 50C. and 75c. Strakoseh| = OPERA In Lecoq’s Charming Gem, Girofle-Girofla. “GOLDEN GATEWAY.” Reserved Seats................ 25, 50 and TS eta: Books ‘of id best seats, $6.50. Next Week—“Littie ‘Doxes Washington ‘S. Vv: Baltimore. GAMB CALLED 4T 4:30 P.M. it ADMISSION, 25 AND 50c. ACADEM Prices, 25, 50, 7c. and $1. Matinee Saturday—Matinee prices, 25, 50 and T5c. HINRICHS’ GRAND OPERA COMPANY. ‘This (Wednesday) Evening at 8 o'clock, ‘ FOURTH ACT OF RIGOLETTO, WALLERIA RUSTICANA, ‘With the Original Cast, SRONOLD, FLEMING, GUILLE, DEL PUENTE, VIVIANL ‘Bohemian Girl."* -—With ideal es a Nightly. myo r east, OR B. MERRILL HOPKINSON OF BALTIMORE, celebrated will 6 rll sing at the musicale the at and Madison sts.. $i-myd-20° PROF. F. M. 0a Fellows" Hall, 7th FRIDAY rd Chumiley. By Belaseo and» NEXT WEEE: DeWoit Hi in PANJAN myt ANNUAL GBAND CARNIVAL AND MAY Ball, Given _by INNIE AND MAY HAWER, NATIONAL s Doors open at 7 Master_of ereamonies, Prot. Jas, H. Vermilya. ATHLETIC & § SPECIALTY C0. Prof. Jack Lynch, pitti, GEORGE DIXON, Feather-' Pugilist of the World. Next | FIELD and ‘3 Week DRAWING CARDS. myT-6t GENTLEMEN'S §=DRIVIN a Va. PARK, NEAR ST. a Sot ss 11:50 a.m, 1 leave B. Mal me Graduation Commencement Exercises OF MARTYN COLLEGE oF ELOCUTION AND ORATORY. TSE MOS? BEAU THB M ‘TISTIC, THE MOST ENJOYABLE, reats, 25 cta and SO cts., are now sell- ing very raj ‘at a 3, 1110 F st. aw. CALIFORNIA. ? “ALN: { -MNER GIVEN IN ico. Semi-monthly Tourist Parties over the Southern Pacific "s Routes. Cheap rates. Apply to THE S01 iN PACIFIC CO., roadway, N. ¥., 49 & 8d at, Poila.. or 1027-s&ewldse BANJO. BANJO.—A TRIAL LESSON FREE. Banjo quickly and stmplitied + oaks antes to teach the most ry or no i AMUSEMENT HALL. FOR RENT— BIJOU THEATER. ‘Wor aight or afternoon performances ew encements. correctly tanght by note or $7 per quarter. unm I guar- ‘Terms moderate. ‘THOMAS J. FISHER & ©O., _ 1324 B st. tw. NIGHT, WEEK OR mys3t FOR RENT_BY THD D. Odd Fellows’ AX, Bal fairs and enter- taimmeits of all ‘kinds. Parties d jt class, centrally located hall at moderate rental Will find it to thetr advantage to call for terms TER A. BROWN, 1 ave. eduction in rent until’ fall. mb21-3m —oOCoOCOoOCOoOOOOOOOO OCEAN TRAVEL CANNOT LOSE M If you carry CUNARD LINE—IST CL., $50 TO $175; 2D cL. to $45; steerage; $25, bedding ; plans o ‘Yacancl future dat Derehe engaged, CL. DuBOIS, Agent, 631 F nw: Guion Steamship Co.tmitea fortuightly_betwees NEW YORK ASD Li STOWN. @laska, May 12. 11 a.m. | Alaska, June 9, 10 a.m. ‘Arizona, May 28 9:30 a.m. | Arizona, June 23, 8 am. Seco Eleven parties for vist art centers. First t tare By ss 18 14. 2 27 and = Yellowstone Park, &c., 62 days” tour, will leave May 12. ‘Vacstion trips everywhere by all railroad aod Steamebip lines. Estimates furnished for any a4BTHUR W. ROBSON, Cook “& Son, Qs Ue ot. av. Other dates, Partz2. he Evening Shae. reso». EXCURSIONS, &c. MOUNT VERNON, Home and Tomb of Washington, ‘The palatial steamer Charles Macalester WU leave foot of Tth and M aw. daily (except Sunday) at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. ‘etarning reach the city at 2 and 5:30 pm FARE, ROUND TRIP, 60 CENTS. ‘Admission to grounds and mansion, 25 cts, ‘This i@ the only company permitted to sell tickets of admission to the grounds and mansion. Both tickets to be obtaized at wharf, and at the principal betels, be = Pea Mat aidan Marshal! Hall. May Schedule. STR. CHAS. MACALESTER leaves for Marshall Hall at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.; returning, reaches Washington at 2 and 5:30 p.m. STR. RIVER QUEEN leaves for all river land- ings at 9:30 a.m.; returning, reaches Washington tS pm ‘For charters, dinners, &c., apply at ofice, 7th and Ms.w. Telepbone call $25. my2-tt EDUCATIONAL. IN WASHINGTON. FRENCH TAUGHT TO BE SPOKEN AND UNDER- advanced cl and private V. PRUD’. fay1-Lim* NOW and during SU HOMME, 307 D st. ow. 7» from at. st. Bw. Students lal coaching received at pupils bave their_ex- B.S, Head ‘a WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC, 12% 10th st. nw. Twenty-ofth year. ‘orgaa, voice, ‘tate, cornet. Free advaptagus to BULLARD, Director. Any MOU: and 1ith su. and Day School for Young Ladies and Utte Gide, and progressive in meth- ods secondary and colle STITUTE AND ‘and BALCH'S CIVIL SERV o College, 1207 10th n-w. Pupils p successfull civil service, departmen: census ‘czominet Stenography taught. se2-tr iE AND SCHOO! 311 East Capitol ‘ter of both sexes evening WOOD'S COMMERCIAL of Shorthand and Typewriting, st. Young of C sessions. reduced. Call or write for HITTINGHAM INST., TAKOMA PARK, iesaieg and sor some lates sad course in English, 4c. Miss ROSS, Prin. organ apply at dence, 1140 6th st. n.w. ‘apl0-1m* MISS AMY C. LEAVITT. 121 VERMONT A’ We. |ANO AND HARMONY. -tf LESSONS ON THE JANKO KEYBOARD. LANGUAGES. THE BERLITZ SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES, 723 14th st. aw. American ‘summer. Mi RAIL ROUTES TO Long view ‘Arlington, where Og Re Gen. Braddock’ 10, ‘a@mtaston. THEA’ EVERY THE BERKELE. put already finished their course, and succe f ‘Master. p30 OF HIS Lo fie year. Finns, pupils. 0. iNT, aw M THIRD te classes. $ao-tt MISSES 3 : RIFLES’ HALL, VICE IN: FRIDAY Business 2 Admission cents Sey a ‘COLLEG! L my good charact and ‘welcoue'* Wouitions ‘cured. Day a2 D. Full graduating ebildren. roducing—— Janguages, KER thorough instruction tm and. harmon: reat Crampton | 1 VE. N. PL se21 8 and P. and 3 m. 15 minutes to driving park. . — — SP eae APES pal ‘AIN HUNTER, STUDI ‘SD. Pep! Prevost, Ettore Baril, jadame Seiler. CTIFUL, ) ENTERTAINMENT (ost Bx ASHINGTON. FO! Reserved pial CES MARTIN, Principal. ashingt TEXAS, MEX eee and Company's Sunset and Ogden} yy, ©O., 343 B: ‘Toe type ‘200 B. German ‘st., Baltimore. a 1VY¥_ IN: w. ‘cor. Sth and 8. Ww. A.M. method: only IMERCE, usical la. Dertect URNER, A. ‘The leading school of business 7-1 cost. Catalogue. —==—— ————— HARRIS Comm: ©o., month, ra Suitable for 3 lestring firs Wal’ 423 Pa. Great ——————— ‘You 65 Broad $35 free. apeim pon: Rw Reece = oe 2) Ie Breamships sail vERPOOL via Qi ©, $25. Bedding tru all ceaisites furnished free. W. MOSS, 921 or Do ‘iabi7. Europe. ting prinetpal capitals and Teutonic. Mi 30. Caltfornia. fe21-3a* Gunston Institute. Jal6-6mo air. and Mrs. B. R. MASON. HTS EN AND FRENCH WASHINGTON SCHOOL, e py api3sm Mice FRAN 1376. ave.. cor. 19th st. Ni 3 ‘. PRACTICAL EDUCATION. Eighteen years of successful t in Wa ‘on have made the principal well-knowe trusted teacher. 5 or night, $25 Pe writing and shorthand course, $16. Tetter writing. bookkeeping. arithmetic, peaman- ip and all business subjects. ITUTE BUSI- K sts, nw. Prineinel. COLUMBIA COLLEGE OF Cost es bet. 6th and 7th sts. n.w. . K. M., CE.. Pri shorthand. Highest attainable grade of instruction at moder. ate te26 ry Norwood Institute, 14TH STREET AND MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE, | oc80 Mr. and Mrs. W. D. CABELL, Principala, LIKELY TO HAVE TROUBLE. Employers Dismissed Men for Per- forming Militia Duty. Colonel C. L. Kennan of the fifth regi- ment, Ohio National Guard, has been noti- fied that three members of company B have been discharged by their employers for responding to Mayor Blee’s ¢all for militia to suppress the riots on Wednesday last. The Ohio law imposes a fine of $1,000 and six months’ imprisonment for just such attempts to prevent a soldier from respond- ing to a call, and it is altogether probable that the indiscretion of the employers will result uncomfortably for them. ————E— Gen. George A. Sheridan IL. General George A. Sheridan, the well- known orator, is seriously ill at Stamford, Conn., with incipient Bright's disease. His physician pronources his case hopeless, which will be sad news to a large number of friends in every state in the Union. General Sheridan's first political promi- nence was gained in Louisiana at the close of the war, when he joined Henry Clay Warmoth in his successful candidacy for the governorship of that state. After Mr. Warmoth’s election he appointed General Sheridar tax collector of the first district of the city of New Orleans, which con- tained the taxable property (in value) of nearly haif the city, and was worth to the collector, in fees, $200,000 a year. This office General Sheridan held for four years. Since that time he has been more or less identified with national politics. e+ —____ An Army Medtcal Board. An army medical board, consisting of Col. Charles H. Alden, Lieut. Col. Wm. H. For- wood and Major Walter Reed, met at the War Department today for the examination of Captains George H. Torney and Louis W. Crampton, assistant surgeons, to deter- mine their fitness for promotion. .C., A | WASHINGTON, D. 0, WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, Retiring from Business - - Every Article in Our Store Reduced. Note the Discounts. . —— An Open Letter. e. Oftice of ‘CHAS. BAUM, 416 Seventh St. WASHINGTON, D. C., April 14, 1864. HAVING DETERMINED TO RETIRE FROM BUSINESS, I OFFER MY ENTIRE STOOK FOR SALE, EITHER IN BULK OR AT RETAIL. APPLI- CATIONS 4S TO BUYING THE ENTIRE STOCK IN BULK AXD THE RENTING OF MY BUILDINGS CAN BE ADDRESSED TO ME BY MAIL OR L¥ PERSON. TO ANSWER THE MANY INQUIBIES 48 TO THE REASON FOR MY SUDDEN DETERMINATION I WILL STATE THAT I HAVE CONTEM- PLATED GOING OUT OF BUSINESS FOR SOME TIME, 48 I HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY EMPLOYED INDOORS FOR NEARLY THIRTY YEARS AND I REQUIRE A MORS ACTIVE, OUTDOOR LIFES. I ASSURE THE PEOPLE OF WASHINGTON AND ALL THOSE IX- TERESTED THAT UNTIL THE CURTAIN FALLS UPON MY COMMER- CIAL CAREER I SHALL ENDEAVOR TO FULFILL ALL THAT I PROM- ISB. THE DISCOUNTS HEREIN ADVERTISED WILL BE CARRIED OUT 30 THE LETTER. I FIRST CONTEMPLATED CLOSING MY ESTAB- LISHMENT UNTIL ALL GOODS WERE MARKED DOWN, BUT THIS WOULD CONSUMS CONSIDERABLE AND UNNECESSARY DELAY. I WILL PERSONALLY SUPERINTEND THE MARKING DOWN OF ALL GOODS TO CLOSING-OUT PRICES. 1 TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY OF THANKING YOU ALL FOR THE PATRONAGE BESTOWED UPON ME DURING MY BUSINESS CAREER, AND I SINCERELY HOPE AND DESIRE TO MERIT YOUR GOOD WILL AND FRIENDSHIP 48 LONG 48 I MAY LIVE AMONG YOU. VERY RESPECTFULLY yoURS, Chas. Baum. add PER CENT OFF 2072 =" 120 EES 15 bool Gloves. 1 1 PER CENT OFF 9 shea race vencanc< gt” limahamadhaes 5 gd 44 , ‘Parasols. Silks and Velvets.| Domestics. ES pertment._ : PER CENT OFF PER CENT OF7\ ER PER CENT OFF BQ itates'esa oom] Bee's Unlaundered| 15a¢ ther Mew'e (0) Houiers "and Ua- forts. | Shirts. } Furnishings. derwear. Pi Samat | | ota PER CENT OFF, R CENT OFF, Our Sait and jt 2 Dress Trimmings. | 20%. Q PER CENT OFF) t Damen (Bee Nb ‘AN Iatants’ Goolid.| PER CENT OFF IN OUR a RIBBONS. | AUM’ POPULAR SHOPPING PLAGE, 416 7th Street. THE NEW CORCORAN GALLERY. | cial exhibitions, and two fine rooms for the art school, together with larger and better arranged quarters for administration purposes. There will be four noble gal- lery rooms of 28 by 61 feet each, which is quite large enough for the proper display of any painting likely to be acquired. In addi- ton to these there are five other fine rooms of differing dimensions and good propor- tions, suitable for the grouping of large or small canvases, as may be desired, while the side walls of the great interior lobby or court over the statuary hall may also be made available for exhibition purposes when more space is required. There will be a well-lighted, airy base- ment story. This affords the southern side adequate and well adapted living quarters for the janitor; on the New York avenue front several rooms for the art classes, reached by a special doorway entrance, together with ample additional space to be divided into rooms as needed for heating apparatus, fuel, orage, packing, &c. The building as at present projected will cover less than half of the ground owned by the gallery, which constitutes some- thing more than half of the entire. sa marked on the city plats No. If This leaves ample unoccupied space in the rear for future extensions of the gallery as needed, and they can be added from time to time as required without disturbing the harmony of existing arrangements or af- fecting the architectural proportions or ap- Pearance of the buflding as completed ac- cording to the adopted plang, which, as the elevation view shows, contemplate a simple yet dignified, imposing and appropriate ice. The Corner Stone to Be Laid Next Thursday Event: As stated in The Star, the corner stone of the new Corcoran Art Gallery, at 17th street and New York avenue, will be laid tomor- Tow afternoon, at 5 o'clock, with simple cere- menies, Dr. Welling, president of the board of trustees, will deliver an address; Bishop Paret will «onduct the religious exercises, and Mr. Wn:. Corcoran Eustis, grandson of the late W. W. Corcoran, will lay the stone. The new gallery will be, it is be- Meved, one of the best arranged in the world. It will be constructed of light gran- ite. The main or entrance front will be on ith street, fronting the park, which ex- tends from that street eastward to the Capitol. The basement story will be con- structed of light granite, and the external walls and the gallery floor of the es an fron on the three acceete™ will be of wulte marble, The di- mensions of the building will be substan- tially as follows: On 17th street, 250 feet; on New York avenue, 140 feet; on E street, 120 feet; width of rear or west end, 230 feet. The plans as adopted give about double as much floor room for casts, statuery, bronzes, &c., as that in the present butld- ing, while the wall space for pictures is increased by something more than 50 per cent. Ample provision {s made on the ground floor for a handsome, well pro- portioned room for a lecture hall and spe- GEN. LACAYO’S STATEMENT. ST. STEPHEN'S NEW PASTOR. ‘Went to Bluefields Only After Ameri- cans Asked for It. Gen. Lacayo, the commissioner sent by the government of Nicaragua to occupy the Mosquito territory, and whose presence in Bluefields came near precititating an inter- national quarrel, has made public a. state- ment that Americans at Bluefields had asked for Nicaragua to take charge. He said: “The reseration would have been under the Mosquito government today if Nicaragua had not been requested by the Americans to take charge. I have several letters in my possession from prominent “Americans, requesting Nicaragua to tnter- vene between them and the Mosquito gov- ernment, claiming that the Mosquito gov- ernment had not sufficient power to enforce its laws. “These complaints covered considerable time, but I did not care to act until I had sounded all the Americans doing business in the reservation. The feeling among them was unanimous—all professed to feel the need of a stronger government. Various acts of the Mosquito government were com- plained of to me.” —<e0e—_—_— At a recent meeting of the Kindergarten Association of Baltimore fitting resolutions were adopted on the death of Miss Elizabeth | Palmer Peabody, recognized as the apostle of kindergarten in America, and who intro- duced the schools into Washington and Bal- time Rev. John J. Dougherty Comes Here From Calverton, Md. Rev. John J. Dougherty, pastor of St. Ed- ward's Catholic Church, Calverton, Md., was yesterday appointed by Cardinal Gib- bons pastor of St. Stephen's Church, in this city, to succeed Rev. John Gloyd, who was last week transferred to St. Patrick’s Church. Father Dougherty is a native of Washington. After completing hig studies at St. Charles College, Eilicott City, and St. Mary's Seminary he was ordained on Chris! mas day, 1879, and appointed assistant pas- tor at St. Pius Memorial Church, in Balti- more. In October, 1888, he was transferred to his present charge. —_ Germany and the Cotton O11 Duty, The Secretary of State has received a dis- Patch from the United States ambassador at Berlin stating that the bundesrath has recommended that the tariff on imported cotton oil be raised from 4 to 10 marks per 100 kilogrammes, and that the matter is to come before the reichstag, It is said that owing to the fact that the latter body is soon to adjourn the measure will not likely be adopted at the present session. It is learned that by far the greater part of the cotton oj) imported into Germany comes from the United States, 1894—-TWELVE PAGES. THE PEN OF HISTORY The Rich Field for Research Afforded in This City’s Past. MR. SPOFFORD'S SUGGESTIVE ADDRESS Lines of Investigation That Have Heretofore Been Neglected. FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY -An admirable address was delivered by Mr. Ainsworth R. Spofford, Librarian of ‘Congress, before the Columbia Historical Scciety at the first regular meeting at the Fesidence of the president, D. J. M. Toner, 1445 Massachusetts avenue, on Monday evening, His theme was “The Methods and Aims of Historical Inquiry,” and the ad- dress was as follows: “Assembled as we are to initiate a new Society deyoted to historical research, it may be pertinent to bring to your attention some suggestions as to the methods and aims of historical inquiry. To do this with- out trenching upon the ground already so ably covered, at least in part, by our pres- ident, will be briefly attempted. “The present time appears to be an aus- piclous one for entering upon many ne- glected fields. The spirit of the age, while intensely practical, is pre-eminently a spirit of inquiry. Never before has the interest of men in the facts of the past been so widely diffused. The people are eager for information about the discovery, settlement and history of every portion of our widely extended country. Books of local history | come from the press in ever increasing numbers. “The ardent quest for the ge- nealogy of families, largely stimulated by the formation of societies of sons and aughtera of the revolution, has assumed new and heretofore unknown interest. “Many of our states have gathered and Published series of colonial records, pro- ceedings of early legislatures, etc., inval- uable to the historical inquirer. Other states which never before published any- thing concerning their eariy history are preparing by the examination and collection of manuscripts still preserved, both in Eu- Tope end America, to commemorate the men and the events of their past. Several ofthe states embraced in the oid thirteen have within a few years printed rolls their officers and soldiers in . Fevol armies. Many new his- have been founded, until ‘the most recent tabulation of the number of such associations, state and iocal, foots up an aggrégate of no less than two hun- dred and twenty-six, of which number thir- ty-eight are state historical societies. An Improved Method. “At the same time a marked improvement is apparent in the quality and critical value of our historical literature. Not many years since the writers of so-called histories were remarkable chicfly for thelr want of thor- ough information upon the subjects which they assumed to treat, Books were written in which the worthlessness of the matter ‘was only, equaled by the ‘cradity of the: style, “With the exception of a. very ‘few honorable and honored names, the writers of histories struggled after the bombastic,’ the exaggerated and the sensationai. The result was a crop of ephemeral so-called histories, which the world has very willing- ly let die. Now, thanks to the existence of better models, we have fewer ambitious at- tempts to treat great historic themes by utterly unskilled writers and incompetent investigators. It is coming to be recog- nized that the men and the events of his- tory are to be viewed with a broad, liberal and philosophic treatment, and that no man is competent to write a history who can- aot enter into the very temper and spirit he times he would describe, and por- in the true light of their ties and of the environment ded them. ‘The tharked and encouraging growth of the true historical spirit is rurtner evinced by the large number and variety of articles on history and biography whica appear in the periodical press. Not only are the mag- azines and reviews prolific in special studies reviving the events of the past, but the columns of the daily and weexly press are Mberally supplied with such articles, which are welcomed alike by publishers and read- ers. While the numper of exclusively his- torieal magazines is comparatively few, our Mterary periodicals largely supply their place, by devoting much attention to this ‘publivhing trequently illustrated his- torical and phical material of greater Jess: wali PeAnother r¥Athod of diffusing historical information by lectures, increasingly in demand and supply, in which notable char- acters and events are treated often in con- densed and graphic portraiture, contribut- ing to the pleasure and profit of audiences, Our leading universities have now their professorships of history—something al- most unknown thirty years ago in this country, and the contributions of those who fill these chairs to the periodical and per- manent historical literature of the country @fe neither few nor small. Fietd of the Society. “Into this age of eager interest in the men and the events of the past, this new society is born. Its founders need not re- gret that it comes so late upon the stage, since its work will unquestionably be the better performed than if it had started in the cruder ard less critical era which has gone before, ‘The field of its labors is em- phatically @ ‘wide one—although it is in name a local’society. Taking in its range all that centers in our national capital, it embraces the history of the genesis of the republic, the founding of the capital city, ‘the political annals of the country, the bi- ographies of statesmen, whether legislators, eXecutive officers or jurists; the great his- toric debates in the halls of Congress, the founding and the progress of the various departments of the government, the growth of the representative body and the senate, the sociai history of each administration, the formation, growth and decline of par- ties, the characteristics of each notable epoch in our annals, the public buildings or the vernment and their history, the institutions founded by Congress in the Di: trict of Columbia, and the policy and trea’ ment of the federal city by our national legislature. Add to this the varied subjects of interest in our local history and devel- opment already referred to, or which will fFeadily occur to all of you, and a range of @ubjects of investigation opens before us Stich as few of our cities (perhaps, indeed, no other city) can supply. “Thus, for example, a history of the news| rs of this District, daily and weekly, thoroughly prepared, with the leading characteristics of each notable journal, its term of existence, etc., would form a most interesting an in- structive work. While the great field of our local journalism is strewn with many wrecks, it has also had its notable and bril- Mant successes for commemoration, “A systematic history of the various Dis- trict forms of government, municipal, terri- torial and by commission, with chronologi- cal tables of officers, the conditions and re- sults of suffrage and its discontinuance, is greatly needed, and shouid be undertaken by an impariial hand. A full account of the joneers and first settlers of Washington Flas never been attempted with any com- pleteness,and the scattered materials which exist should be brought together and di- ited into a memorial of the men who re the earliest to be identified with the seat of government. A thorough history of the District of Columbia, geographically considered, with a view of all legal ques- tions invoived in boundaries, public reser- vations, riparian rights, tax titles, disputed ownerships, etc., and the changes brought about in the Potomac river and the Eastern branch by time and progress, presents a most fruitful and attractive theme, which there are minds among the members of this society fully qualified to treat. Interesting Themes. “An analogous field of research presents itself in the court records, not only of the District of Columbia proper, but of the ad- jacent counties of Maryland and Virginia, which are said to abound in material scarce- ly known—still less explored—in which names whose owners figured in the early settlement of the capital city are found re- corded, “A systematic account of all the institu- tions of learning in the District was under- taken nearly thirty years ago by the first commissioner of education, but has never been brought down to include the marvel- ous progress in public instruction since the civil war, nor the. history. of. the universi- ties here founded. The numerous scientific, iterary, artistic and musical societies and social clubs of Washington are worthy of Special historic commemoration, which can- not long be wanting, in a more complete and erduring form than the casual notices of the daily press. Ss widely extended char- itable organizations,asylums, hospitals, etc., have each a history, and the numerous churches of Washington present a field for an industrious collection and recording of facts which may well be published in the Kberal spirit of historic inquiry, with the result of contributing to the instruction of all and with offense to none. “Another subject for careful historic re- search would be found in the evolution of the colored race in this District, the story of slavery and emancipation, and the chang- es brought about in their relations to prop- — edueation and socia! conditions gener- ally. “The long and interesting annals of pub- ie improvements in the District of Colum- have treated of a8 yet in the most cursory ahd fragmentary manner. The three-quarters of a century of chronic and systematic neglect, followed by a quarter century of energetic and rapid improve: ment—so rapid and energetic as to be al- most without paraliél in municipal annals— are yet to be adequately described. And the materials for this part of our histery are fortunately abundant, in continuous and voluminous reports, buried from public view for the most part in congressional docu- ments, Which only await the skiliful hand and the organizing mind of the competent writer to render into a clear and connected account of the mafvelsus development of Washington. Incident to this are the an= nals cf the more private building enter- prises of the city, spreading over new re- gions year by year, with the marked and pom nll gi a of architectural taste, with wonderful variety of form and color, in place of the dead monotony and depressing sameness which disfigure the architecture of so many older cities, Material Development. “Nor will the history of suburban tm- provement be overlooked, with its most re< cent triumphs in securing, with timely economy and foresight, the Zoological Park and the Rock Creek National Park of 1,30 acres, Which only requires the hand of taste and skill to develop into a wild garden of beauty for the delight of all residents and visitors at the national capital in the ages that are to follow. The early and the late history of streets and avenues, with their successive openings or extensigns,the names they bear, and the important place they oc- cvpy in the topography of the District, pre- sents @ topic of historic interest. Especial- ly is it true of the various proposed re- forms in our street nomenciature, that such changes should be well and carefully con- sidered, and through special committees or otherwise, reporUing upen rival plans ior an improvement, they are well worthy of the attention of this society, In our earlier his- tory, the Various plans for improved com- munications with other parts of the coun- try, the improvement of the upper Potomac pen ee a of water transit to the Fouad Mt ‘the en' though abortive, en- the Chesapeake end Ohio canal, and the jater railway openings which have formed such all-important links in the chain of i these it most interesting an ructive toples of inquiry, net as yet aGequately treated. ‘Nor should it be forgotten by the his- torlan that the first successful application of that marvelous agent in the modern pro- gress of mankind—eieciricity, to the uses of the magnetic telegraph—was effected in the city of Washington. With this triumph of physical science over all the obstructions of time and space the names of Henry, of Morse and of Vall ere indissolubly associ- ated. Our early history would be incom- plete without commemorating the facts of the commerce and the navigation of the P: tomac river, when, in the early days of A exandria, the water transit thus afforded was the only channel for a large coastwise traffic, es well as for foreign commerce. In- deed, no student of the highly interesting debates in the First Congress upon the choice of a proper place for the permanent seat of government can fail to have noted the extracrdinary stress laid by the speak- ers upon convenient access by tide-water pavigation, in an age before railway transit had been dreamed of. “Among the more salient facts of our re- cent progtese the street railway system and its development out of the old cum- brous and lumbering omnibus lines of thir- ty years ago, affords a not unimportant field for the recorder of local history. A com- parative view of the system as developed in Washington, with that of other cities, tak- ing into account all the elements of public accommodation, rapidity of transit, safety, working economy, terrifory covered and mo- tive power, could not fail to be instructive and vajuable. “SUN another interesting item of local history would be found in commemorating the many books written or published in Washington, and other parts of the District of Columbia, and the authors of greater or less note who have here written works pub- hed elsewhere. Especially noteworthy ae the numerous literary and scientific pro- uctions of those connected with various branches of the government, realizing many hundreds of volumes, many of which are of great and permanent value, Important Lines of Inquiry. “The great preblem of municipal govern- ment, arousing yearly closer public atten- tion and investigation, and coming home, as It does, to the interest and the pocket of every citizen, may well enlist our inquiry. A comparative view of our-‘own city and District administration, under the peculiar and unique form of government provided by Congress, with that of other cities,where universal suffrage divides with legislative control the local government, might elicit facts of great value. As experience has beén styled the mother of all the sciences, and history is but an aggregation of expe- riences, it becomes us to make use of all means of enlightenment at our command, to compare the relative merits of every sys- tem and to suggest possible improvements. “The methods of the historical investigator should involve the highes: intelligence, the most careful and thorough research, the keenest sifting of evidence and authorities, a zeal for information that is limitiess, and @ patience that is inexhaustible. To distrust every statement that is unsupported by col- lateral testimony should be his instinctive and habitual mood ef mind. The method of the careless writer ts to take everything for granted; the method of the true historian is to take nothing for granted. To no man, to no writer, is the calm judicial temper more indispensable than to the historian. To be faithful to his high office he must imdis- pensably diabuse his mind of predilections, Prejudices and the besetting conceit of opin- ion. His: only business is to follow the truth, ne matter where or how far from his preconceived judgments it may iead him. “The absolute importance of close scrutiny of authorities, of distrust of aii sources of information, except original ones, will ws come apparent to any one who will carefully trace any narrative of occurrences in cor mon life from hand to hand, and see bh wofully it becomes distorted in the c: it undergoes. Or let any one com edadicting evidence of eyewitnesses of the same facts in any court of jvstice, where atsolutely opposite and irreconcilable siaie- ments of the same occurrence are made under oath by pecsons of app: i candor and means of informais any one would have an iz jesson upon the art how not jet him read seriatim ail the boo! been written upon Mary, the hapiess © of Scots. There ne will find, de, times in somber and sometimes in and giowing colors, what a rejaned gentle creature, whet 2 coz womaa, What 2 di aa unscrupulous 2 @ pure and angelic sain 2nd bloody-minded devil, what a wronged and blessed martyr, and what a wicled and abandoned reprobate one woman could be. After such an experience of what is often called, as if in irony, ‘the truth of history,” one need not wonder at the somewhat sweeping judgment of the British states- man, who exclaimed, at the circulating library, where, in quest of a new book, he was asked if he would take Froude’s latest ‘No! bring me a good novel; alt histories are les!” Slipshcd Methods. “All the more important is it, im our historical investigations, while allowing for the imperfections and the bias of original observers, to allow also a very Mberal margin of skepticism for the prejudices and the idiosyfcractes of authors. Without this the reader is in perpetual danger of being misled, instead of being informed. He who accepts unquestioned the statements or the beliefs of 2n author is too innocent and un- sophisticated for this world. Even without any conscious attempt to conceal or to ex- aggerate facts or influences, according as they bear favorably or unfavorably upom this, or the other hero of the biography or history, there is the honest and unconscious bias of individual character, investing some persons with an unreal glamor, and others with an undeserved odium. Add to this the constantly besetting temptation to save time and labor by taking reports at second hand, and, when quoting, to abridge or to para- phrase instead of citing the exact language, and what wonder is it that our histories are full of superficial work, and of errors? You may sometimes trace a misquotation through a half dozen different writers, each cop: the errors of his predecessor, without once attempting to look up the original. Con- trast this too #revalent habit of careless writers and superficial students with the scrupulous and painstaking care of some of the great historical scholars of the past. How many modern writers of so-called his- tory and biography have been discredited by the labors of close and critical inquirers? On the other hand, how few errors of judg- ment, of fact, or of citation have been found in the great history of the ‘Fall of the Roman Empire,’ 2s told by Gibbon? And how many among the Greek and Letin writers of history have exhibited a perspi- cacity, an elevation of view, a just-mind- edness and an accuracy of statement, which might put to shame many noted historical writers of later days? If our writers had a proper sense of the responsibility of him who misleads the public, if they would act upon the principle that historical inguiry should never stop short of a conviction of truth; if, in all circumstances where no such conviction can be reached, they wovld simply and truly state the fact—ana hoid their pens—we should then have fewer false- to is easy to dogmatise. It is dogmatism which gives us so von f sciolists, who put forth impressions of demons: Y biographers and historians who print eulogies in place of facts. What is known in art as the impressionist school has invaded the realm of literature, and fancy and imagination too often usurp the place of reason, moderation and exact knowledge. “Why is it that so much of our biograph- ical literature is so overloaded with eulogy, #s to threaten coming generations with an insoluble problem, namely, how to separate history from myth? The biographer who willfully conceals all the faults and errors of his subject, and makes of his book an in- discriminate panegyric, falsifies history, an@ makes biography a farce. Careful Editors. “In another direction, consider the re- sponsibility of those who deal with private papers and public documents. Most of the reproductions of the letters of our early statesmen are not reproductions at all, but travesties, emendations and extracts, in which sentences are wrencheé out of their proper connection, and so ‘=s to convey jess or more tham the meaning of the writer. When Mr. Sparks, careful and industrious scholar as he was, underteok to edit the writings of Washington, he not only altered the orthography of the father of his country, which he had no right to do, but suppressed or amended characteristic passages which appeared to him faulty or inelegant. Thus he gave to his countrymen, not Washington as he was, but Washington as a learned Cambridge professor would have him to be. 1 am happy to be able to add, that through the disinterested labors of a member of this society, the unpub- lished private journals of Washington are to be given to the public with absolute fidelity in every line and letter as originally writ- ten. “In this connection, the admirable aid of the new processes for reproducing manu- 's, developed by photography, should noi be overlooked. By this means, perfect facsimiles of every original document are procured, and already the originals of multi- tudes of papers in our revolutionary an- nals, of priceless historical value, existing vnly in European archives, may be seen in absolute facsimile in the Congressional Library, the Department of State, and in other great collections. “One reason of the many historical errors that abound may be referred to. So great is the lability to error in resetting in type an early book or document, that it is true of the reproduction of the first folio of Shakespeare, 1623, reprinted in London in 1807, that the volume contained no less than. 508 errors, or departures from the original. In the more recent zincographic copies of this precious editio princeps of the immortal bard, an absolutely faithful reproduction has been reached. “In conclusion, while the great theme of the proper methods and aims of historical inquiry has been but lightly and imperfectly touched, enough has, perhaps, here suggested, and in the address which has preceded, to show how inexhaustible a dield opens before us. “Many other subjects of historical investi. gation, or extensions of those referred to, will occur to the fruitful minds here present. Laboring each in his own chosen sphere, we shall none the less work together to- ward one common object—a truthful record of the past. We have for incitements a national career of a century, identified with the city in which we live, a civil and mill- tary history singularly rich in documentary annals, an ample and beautiful metropolis, cradled in the wilderness a hundred years ago, and planned with marvelous prevision as the permanent seat of government for a teeming population, a Capitel whose corner stone was laid by the illustrious Washing- ton, and a heritage of freedom secured by muniments erected by the hands of states- men and baptized in the blood of patriots. Here, in temples consecrated to hunman lb- erty, the sons of our revolutionary sires are to Work out the great problem of free gov- ernment. Be it ours to bear a part, how- ever humble, in perpetuating the memorials of so glorious a past, and proving ourselves worthy of the noblest heritage which the civilization of ages has bestowed upos pom ——— LUTHER DAY, A Grand Reunion to Take Place at Bay Ridge. The second annual reunion of the Luther. ans of Baltimore and W: held at Bay Ridge on Friday, and those who attended last year know what is te be expected this year. It is pro- posed this year to invite the congregations of Martinsburg, W. Va.; Frederick, West- Reading and Philadelph: Washington and Baitin and make it a grand success. beem set apart as Luther day, and the ex- clusive use of the grounds has been secured for that day. Bach church of this city is represented by a Gelegete, and these delegates met with the pidcimore delegates some days ago and outlined the work. A committee, consisting of tbe ché n and secretary of the local comm alessrs. John C. Parker and Cornelius Eckaardt, was ap- and arrange These committees met last ev residence of Mr. Ar. . in B decided on a very sat program, and ed the h Mr. and Mrs. je strawoerry program will equal, that of last year. A few have beea seiecied to eevhes. The Rev. $ . Will preside. care cf by the iwo mineat speak- nake ten-minute 1D D.D., music wili be ities, and, as iast $s from each sin at 3 o'clock. end the commit- c2-ope' te