Evening Star Newspaper, May 8, 1897, Page 13

, == THE EVENING STAR. poibleentnis ieee PUBLISHED DAILY EXCEPT sUNDAY, AT THE STAR BUILDINGS, 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue, Cor. ne by The Evening Star Ne 8H. KAUPYM press New York Ofice, 49 Potter Building. patina Bcbchosertl The Evening Star ts served to subscribers in the city by carriers, on their own account, at 10 cents ok, : Sta month. Saturday Quintuple Sheet Star, $1 per year, with foretgn postage added, $3. (Entered at th> Post Office at Wasbingtoa, D. C., Part2. Che Ep ening Star. Pages 13-24. as second-class mafl matter.) €7 All mail subscriptions must be paid in advance. Rates of advertising made known on 5 WASHINGTON, D. CC. SATURDAY, MAY 8, 1897-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. ———— | ringers’ In (tBe fittle shoot: master of advertising), saps: If is cLaimed for te Washingfon Stor, and profasfp fruthtuffp cfoim:>, Bat no offer newspaper in f6e counfrp goes info 60 farge Q percenfage: of aff 62 Gouses tiffin a radius of ftwenfp mifes from fhe office of pufificafion, tty Annual Spring Clearance Sale of Ladies’ Suits, Wraps, Waists and Bicycle Suits and Skirts-- == PERRY’S. am On Monday we shall begin our usual Spring Clearance of the Ladies’ Wraps and Suits. Regular patrons of the “Greater Store” know what that means. They are sure to be attendants, promptly. To those of you who are not familiar with this store’s policy it will be a revelation. It is literally a bargain feast. We set out the great values with no regard of the financial consequences. We mark new prices that must appeal to your economical side. You can- not help seeing your way clear to enjoy a buying time that, nothing but grim determination on our part to make short work of the remainder of the season’s stock, could render possible. The profit factor is silenced. Loss begins its reign. What we sacrifice falls into your pockets—or will if you ac- cept the offerings we make. A study of the situation as we outline it will convince you. The Cutting in the Ladies’ Suits means the cutting of those choice effects that have made us so popular this season. regular prices they were very cheap. Of course, at this time the assortment is not complete. bere. At the All sizes of every style are not But with so many effects to tempt your fancy you will not find it a hard matter to be fitted in a suit that Is stylish and becoming. What we lose doesn't interest you—but what you can save must. Box Jackets, trimmed with fancy braid and the entire Suit lined with silk, NOW— $15. Ladies’ Cloth and Cheviot Black and Navy Blue Cheviot with Eton and Box ets, ned with Black taffeta silk; skirts cut in the new style, lined with perealine and bound with velvet. NOW— wer jucket: are peresline lined. DUCED from $1© to $5. Suits, in Gray and New == Blue, with fly-front Jackets, Mixed — English — Tweed lined -all through with col ored taffeta silk. NOW— $18. Handsome Gray and Green Whipeord, with Box Jackets, ‘Iined all through With colored taffeta silk. Skirts cut in the new pattern $ and $ with per-aline, Telveteen bound. NOW— $20 and ae ‘Tailor-made Suits, in Tuns, made with fly-front jacket. REDUCED from $11 to $6. Brown, lue, Green and Plum Cheviot and Hop Sack- ing Suits, with Eton and Box Jackets, trimmed with military braid and lined With taffeta silk; skirts cut in new pattern’ and lined with percaline. NOW— $10. .. Gray and Blue Cheviot Suits, with ton aod Mixed Tweed Suits, Jackets silk lined! REDUCED from $12 to $8. Spring Jackets and Capes. Light with In this fickle climate one needs to have a light-weight wrap at hand. If you are to be a sejourner at mountain or seashore the need magnifies. To you these offerings will appeal iost strongly. In style these Jackets and Capes represent the latest fashion. In value they stand as representatives of the best in the market. In price they speak our sincere desire to make a complete clearance of the season's stock. From every point of view they are attractive. Black taffeta silk; new-stsle sleeves and back.’ NOW— $6.50. ots—-Tan and ade In “he very Box style, buttoniag on fly; half Mned with taffeta silk: pltin and inlaid velvet col- lar. NOW— $3.75. Tan Melton Jackets, made | | ea collar. NOW— ° Navy Blue Boucle Cloth Golf Cap-s, with full sweep, and lined ‘all through with fancy plaid 100d lined ea a as Black Cheviot Box Jack- styles, | lined all with plaid silk. You will ets, buttoning on fy; lin through with fancy taffeta find these Capes serviceaole igh with Black taf- si alt inlaid velvet at the mountains this sum- collar. 3 : With plain a velvet collar, NOW $7.50. | mer. NOW— $10. pecial line of Fancy Jet $10 and $15 Green and New Blue Cloth Cheviot Capes, with full sweep; Lace-Trimmed pes, Box Jack- | trimmed with fancy braid: made in the very newest ish with Imed all through; high slash- style—from $10 up. “s Bicycle Suits. | Ladies who are devotees of the wheel and want a “habit” that is both sensible and stylish will not want to miss this special offering. The variety is made up of a choice collection ef staple and patented novelites—of the latter we are the sole Washington agents. And for them we want to bespeak your favorable consideration. They are designed upon the lines taught by experience as being the most essential to riding comfort and good form. You will find these prices are very close ones, too. ‘The Celebrated Anna Held Cotton ‘ert Cloth Bi- Covert Cloth Bicycle Suits Bicycle Skirt and Leggins, | cycle Sults—skirt, Eton Jack- . ¢t and lezgins—in Grays and —skirt, Eton jacket and leg- Tans only. NOW— gins—the jacketa are lined with silk and triamed with fancy braid; the skirts are ined with perealine. NOW— $20.. $5.50. Covert Cloth Bicycle Suits —skirt, Eton jacket and leg- gins—special value, NOW— $8.50. Silk Waists. We prided ourselves at the outset of the season that we had made an exceptionally good * choice of colors and patterns in Silk Waists. The ready sale they have had only confirms the Judgment. The “now" prices cannot but raise them still higher in your favor. If you Want another—now is your chance to get— £ Sr rsoedendentead deeseeceacresresenseesecseeseeteeteedegecete Avna Held Bicycle Skirt ond Leggirs, made of Black Covert Cloth. NOW. $7. peee Ladies’ Black India Silk Shirt Waists, with tucked fronts and double point yoke wack: Bishop sleeves, with turmback cuffs and ' White linen collara NOW— Navy Blue, Garnet and Plum Changeable Silk Shirt Waists, with Geisha yoke front and back; shirt waist sleeves, with turn-back cuffs and White linen collar. sleeves and White linen col- lars. NOW— ‘$7. ° Now— Silk Shirt Waists, in Ma- ——— Yoon, Green and Navy Blue, Ladies’ Navy Biue, Black 5. with tucked fronts and two- and fed Polka Dot point yoke backs; Bishop Shirt Waists, with Geisha sleeves. with turn-back cuffs and = White NOow— of plain color; Bishop and White linen col- $5. linen collar, $8. Red, Black and White Check and Cerise Taffeta Silk Shirt Waists, made in the new styles, with new shape Shirt Waists. ‘The first and most important thing abost a Shirt Waist is the fit. Ours fit—perfectly. Another strong feature about ours is the entircly original patterns.” You will like them. You will like the styles they are made up in. You will Ike the qualities—the prices—you will like all about them. Ladies’ Lawn Waists, new sbades and patterns, ‘made ie back; Bis levi es Tits ‘Tornnacke Setnciann: | eset “eueshyble colere ; sladieg Yancy LawnWatete, | Hire” Waist “in entry race ated a | EC we ae | Raa aS PERRY’S, _ecue “NINTH AND THE AVENUE.” senshi A BIG SPRING CROP The Supply of Office Seekers Has Come Up Nobly. STEP WITH NATURE'S PROGRESS But the Dews of Favor Are Not Very Heavy. DROUGHT AND FROSTS ee Written for The Evening Star. The long winter has gore. The month of blossoms has returned. Washington is again one great bowl of vivid verdure. Its soft, balmy atmosphere is once more ladened with perfume. Its magnolia and tulip trees are in bloom. Its newly leafed trees again shadow its smooth avenues, and its parks and circles are freshened with roses and beds of rare flowers. All is life and animation. Sparrows twit- ter in the marble plinths of the Corinthian columns adorning the Capitol, and robins dart here and there over the bright green sward below the marble esplanade. The acolian notes of the red-winged blackbird float above the Botanic Garden, and the hoarse cawing of crows is heard as they wing their flight from their feeding grounds along the East Potomac to their roosts in Virginia. Grim beetles, uglier than hel- gramites, fly to the city from neighboring swamps and encircle the electric Hghts at night, casting ominous shadows over the pavements. Nattre’s spring awakening spurs wheel- men to renewed activity. With 300 miles of asphalt and macadamized roads at their command, they shoot over the ground like swallows on the wing. Girls and boys, wo- men and men, they troop around the street corners in platoons and divisions. At night from the plateau at the Capitol their tiny lights gleam in all directions. They sprin- kle Pennsylvania avenue like fire flies. Its sidewalks are carpeted with shadow fret- work by the brilliancy of the electric light; delicate tracery, limning every fresh twig ard leaf in the foliage above. Nor is nature alone animated. Up from the south, east and west springs the oftice seeker. Like the swamp beetle, he has seen the effulgence of electric lights re- flected on the sky, and he is here circling around the flame, singeing his wings. He makes fully as much noise as the crows and blackbirds, and is quite as active as the robin and sparrow in gathering straws to thatch his nest. The office seeker is poor. Fifty cents a night seems to be his limit. A few of the wealthy are quartered at the hotels, which are full to overflowing, but the vast majority are seeking the cheapest lodgings. But Little Left. Mcst of the choice places are already pre-empted, and there appear to be no others. The civil service law stands like a stone wall confronting the army of place hunters. They cannot get over it, under it, or around it. They must drive them- selves against it. In the Treasury Depart- ment the first beneficiary is the Union soi- dier, who was sent to the rear months ago under various guises and pretexts. He is again marching to the front, and resuming his place in line. In the Navy Department Gov. Long of Massachusetts presides with true dignity, attending to the duties devolved upon him, :ndisturbed by the splashing in the pool of pelitics. With the apostle of civil service as his assistant the rules are not apt to be disturbed or the law violated. in the War Department Gov. Alger o1 Michigan receives his friends with urbane smiles. He has a trusty Heutenant in Assistant Secretary George D. Metikeljohn, late a representative from Nebraska. A | pepular man in the House, Meikeljohn is particularly acceptable to members of Con- gress whe have dealings with the War Department. The plums in this department, however, are very few, and are mostly gathered by army officers. The Consular Service. Grim John Sherman, patient, tenacious and brainy, sits upon the tripod in the State Department. The smaller consulates, which were formerly perquisites of the Secretary of State, are now choice tid- bits of civil service reform. Where va- earcies occur, under President Cleveland's order of 1896, they are filled either by pro- motion or transfer. Aside from this, per- sons who have been in the service have preference. New applicants are examined in the State Department with special ref- erence to their fitness for the office. It is under cover of these examinations that the spoilsmen may gather a small harvest. In the Department of Justice spring opens brightly for Mr. Joseph McKenna, the Attorney General. Here the places are very: few indeed. The new Attorney Gen- eral is greeted by scores of his late con- gressional associates, and they always leave him with a cheery feeling. The spoilsmen besiege him night and day, with varying results. Cornelius N. Bliss, with Gladstonian face, occupies a corner the patent office build- ing as Secretary of the Interior. The rush upon him for places has been unprece- dented. Under his predecessors, Georgians had overrun the department, and were in a strong majority. The conditions, it is said, warranted extreme changes. A score of old soldiers have been restored, and the weeding process still continues. Calm and thoughtful, the New York merchant has proved a patient listener, but he seems sadly out of place in the Department of the Interior. The crowd of applicants, however, has: been very importunate, and he has been compelled to close his doors at 2 p.m. Looking for Post Offices. Across the street Postmaster General Gary is enthroned. He is the only cabinet oMicer with four assistants, and he needs them all. This is the bustest of all the de- {paqgtments, Postmasters throughout the country of every grade are being changed quietly and expeditiously, all under the operation of an order made during Mr. Cleveland's first administration. It gives each postmaster a four years’ term, from the lowest to the highest. The ante-room of the Postmaster General is filled with co! nm from the rural districts, all, of course, intensely interested in the suc- cess of his administration. In an adjoin- room will be found their clerks, copy- ing the list df tne postmasters in each dis- trict, paying special attention to the date of their present appointment. The con- gressman thus learns when the term of office of each postmaster in his district ex- pires, and is in shape for a future cam- Last of all, but not the least tance, is the rtment of seeds, and will gladly further the efforts of Congress in this direction, instead of hampering them, as did Secretary Morton. Every seed that is distributed under his direction will be seed worth planting and husbanding. The old soldiers are being gathered urder his wing and rapidly re- stored to their former positions. An Appalling Irruption. ‘The departments are the little eddies in which office seekers congregate. Tne great flood pours toward the White House. The frruption has been simply appalling. The President is the acme of kindness and ur- banity. His bearing is always polite, and no one leaves him without fesling that ne has been treated fairly and considerately. Congressmen and senators are here in great abundance. They are the interme- diaries through whom offices are sought and to whom the President listens. If the hcrde of office seekers themselves were ad- mitted, the President would simply be swept from his feet and unable to do any business whatever. The round of the departments is a weary round for the congressman. It is made all the more weary by the wall of civil service reform. One of the most prominent of New York republicans says that he does not really obtain 1 per cent of the ap- pointments sought by him. This average undoubtedly holds good, except in extreme cases. But there is no end to the tide of applicants. They pour into the city with every train, their faces alight with fond anticipations. The same train bears back scores of men with downcast features—the army of the disappointed. Thus it is that spring opens in Washinz- ton, nature and politics keeping pace in excitement and animation. Over all stands the robust, if not majestic, figure of Thos. B. Reed, resting its hand upon the gavel of the House. He treads the pathway of des- tiny unruffied by the murmurs of his pol!t- ical opponents ard deaf to the plaintive wailings of the few partisans who disagree with hin. He will appoint the committees of the House at his own time and pleasure. When they are appointed and legislation resumes the usual channels. Washington will arise reinvigorated, and the old time: may come again. AMOS J. CUMMINGS. THEY LABOR FOR HOLINESS Interesting Services Inaugurated at the Peo- ple's Tabernacle. New Church Edifice Completed at a Cost of },000—Its Unique Features. A “Holiness Convention,” which is to con- tinue for three weeks, was opened last evening at the People’s Tabernacle, on 11th street between G and I streets southeast, Rev. A. G. Harrison, pastor. The proceedings at the initial meeting consisted ma’nly of the pulpit service, con- ducted by Rev. Dr. Carradine of-St. Louis, and exhortations to thoge present not Chris- tians to become such. The church was filled to overflowing with members and non- communicants, and many of the latter re- sponded to Dr. Carradine’s appeal and pre- sented themselves at the altar, with the request that they be prayed for. The edifice, which has just been com- pleted, will be dedicated tomorrow wilh ap- propriate services. © * : The church cost $25,000, complete, includ- ing the grovnd, and a large portion of the money was given by Mr. W. Livingston Brzen of this city. Every penny was in rand before a spade was struck in the ground, that being Mr. Harrison’s policy in the building of several previous edifices. The building is of red brick, trimmed with brownstone, and stands on the east side of Jith street, with a five-foot alley on each side. It is 100 feet long and 52 feet wide, and is of one story and basement, with two stories in the rear. At the northwest and southwest corners there are towers, the former 81 feet high, terminating in a steeple, and the latter 40 feet high, with a Gcome. The side walls are buttressed, and so strengthened with girders and steel plates that. if the roof were to be blown off, the whole upper portion of the walls would be carried with it. The interior has been plastered, and is to be frescoed, while the wood used is oak, Passing through thé main entrance, one enters the auditorium through a vestibule, which has winding stairways in the north end, formed by the towers. At the extreme right end of the vestibulé there ts a large rcom, intended for an office, and also for the use of Mr. Bruen, when he visits the church. Above this room, on the gallery floor, is the pastor's study, and, correspond- ing to it, at the other side, is the secretary’s room. The principal feature of the auditorium is a large gallery, occupying the entire west end of the church, and which, to- gether with the auditorium, will accommo- date 1,100 people. Small doorways in the northeast and southeast corners of the auditorium lead into the Sunday school room in the rear, which is fifty-two by twenty-four feet in dimensions, the audi- torlum being seventy feet by fifty-two. There is also @ finished basement under the Sunday school section, with two hot air furnaces. Two features of the church are electric lights and a baptistry. In many respects the church work is as unique as is the edifice. In the new church services are to be held every night of the year, and, in addition, Mr. Har- rison will conduct regular service in two other chapels in the city. During the win- ter weather the congregation was in the habit of holding what were called “pound Preyer meetings.” These meetings were held in the homes of the members, and every one attending brought a pound of some food, which, after the meeting was over, was distributed to the poor families of the neighborhood by the donors, who would go out in parties of five or six. Since the old church was torn down, the congregation has been worshiping in Odd Fellows’ Hall, on &th street southeast. The church officers as follows: Sec- Glen secretary “of ‘The @pbbeth school 3 of the’ school, George Wilson; ruperiptendestt of the Sal bath J. W. Wachter, ledder of the choir, W. C. Brittower,-and@ churck coun- cil, tl G.. Harrison, Pec th- “You say you hate tives? Why? Don’t “Oh, yes, they alwi it, not as well off as they.”" et s “Who. is that lank party with the med- als?” asked the druzamer. “That is our town champion,” the. rural grocer “He has explained. cgi ea tte in the pre times fe bebe” ceed —— Transformation of the Klingle Tract Into Building Lots. IN CHARGE OF PIERRE WAGGAMAN Active Operations Near the Ameri- can University. ee PROGRESS IN BUILDING A force of workmen is engaged in lay- ing out the squares and roads of a subdi- vision of the land known as the J. P. Klirgle tract. It contains forty-four acres, and adjoins the Zoo on the north and Rock Creck Park on the west. A short distance to the west is the Hine of the Rock Creck railroad. The work is being done under the direction of Mr. Pierre Waggaman, who also made the subdivision of Cleveland Heights, where the fine roads and the handsome parking are a subject of com- ment among all visitors. The transformation of the Klingle tract into building lots is of general interest, becatse it marks an advance step in the progress which is being made toward charging the suburban acres into city lota. In this pérticular region the Chevy Chase subdivision is farther away from the city, but it was laid out in connection with the building of a railroad. There is considerable activity in the vi- einity of the property of the American University, which seems to be stimulated in some degree by the progress which is being made in the erection of the new buitcirg. 1t is expected that the first buiiding in the group which will adorn the commanding site will be in readiness to be dedicated by the first of the coming yeer. For those who expect to have homes in this vicinity a good deal of ground has already been laid out in building lots. During the past three weeks an addition has been platted to the American Univer- sity Park subdivision, which lies to the northwest of the university grounds. Ercction of Residences. Some nine months ago seventy acres were laid out by D. D. Stone & Co., the agents of the property, and they report now that nearly all the lots have been sold and some seven residences are being erected. The addition just recently placed on the market also contains seventy acres, and Mr. Stone states that contracts have been made for the erection of ten houses. Mas- sachusetts avenue extended will pass throvgh this new subdivision, and it is stated that the right of way fer the open- ing of the aveiue all the way to the uni- versity grounds has been secured. It is also expected, by those who are in- terested in property in this vicinity, that the avenue, from the grounds of the unt- versity to the Tenleytown road, wili be opened in the near future as a public thor- oughfare. West of the university grounds iz the subdivision of University Heights, containing sixty acres, while to the south is Wesley Heights, where a number of houses have been erected. Mention has been made in the news columns -oef the purchase by F. V. Killian from Conrad Becker of the property at 504 13th street, where the laundry managed by Mr. Killian is carried on. Mr. Kiilian in- tends to make no immediate change in the building, but the purchase was made in order that he should be an owner instead of a tenant. The lot on which the building stands is 25 by 60 feet, and as the total price paid was $20,000, the price per foot was a little over $1. As will be noted, the lot is a shallow one, but if it had ‘been of standard size, namely 100 feet deep, the price per foot would have been $8, which is considered to be very good value for property in that lo- cality. Mr. Becker at once invested the money which he received from. this sale, and some in addition, in the purchase of two houses, and 14th street. One house was the property of T. E. Roessle, for which Mr. Becker paid $12,000. The other house be- longed to Dr. Sinclair, who parted with it for the consideration of $11,000. Mr. Becker’s Purpose. It is Mr. Becker's intention to remove one of the houses, and on the site erect an en- tirely new building, which will be fitted up for use as a store and dweiling. The other house will be remodeled, and Mr. Becker will occupy it as his home. As the readers ofThe Star are aware,a good many buildings designed for use as apart- ment houses have been recentiy erected and others are in course of erection. As build- ings of this class are not very numerous in this city, property owners, as well as real estate dealers, are considering the probable effect of this change on the rental market. It seems to be the general opinion that peo- ple will be inclined to leave old houses and rent flats, just as they show a preference for new houses. In fact, the increase in the number of flat buildings, as well as the addition to the number of new houses, has resulted, so it is claimed, in increasing the number of houses in the city which bear the sign of “for rent.” It is also said that the majority of the houses that are now for rent are old houses, and the question that is of consider- able interest just now is what disposition will be made of these old houses. It seems to be the general judgment among those who are familiar with real estate matters that the only remedy will lie in the exercise of greater care by owners in keeping their Property in good condition. It is thought that by the use of paint and by employing paperhangers the interior of an old house may be made almost as at- tractive as that of a new house, and as the impressions which people get on entering a house are apt to be influenced by such con- Gitions, it is believed that the old houses will be as readily taken as the new ones. Extensive Improvements. Louis P. Shoemaker has engaged a land- scape engineer and proposes to make an immediate subdivision of about thirty acres of land on the Broad Branch and Military roads, near the Children’s Coun- try Home, and adjoining the land recently sold by him to Dr. C. F. This tract is within tensive improvements and nd ent % e gardening, with a view to occupying one week. way to peer people of that we claim for it. pleasant one. Wamipole’s to the springs. FREE SAMPLES NEXT WEEK. Beginning Monday, May 10th inst., we will away FREE SAMPLES of Wampole’s ELK LITHIA Spring Water. tribution will continue for To demonstrate the worth of Elk Lithia as a medicine we have decided in this novel to the intelligence of the ashington. We feel that we can convince the most skeptical person that we have beyond a doubt, in nature’s compound, a remedy to be taken in the pleasurable form of a nice clear, sparkling beverage that will do ali We appreciate thoroughly the fact that a pleasant medicine is more easy to take and more sure of being taken than an un- Spring Water Is bottled under water and hermetically sealed. Thisenables you to get it as fresh in the bottles as you would should you go Samples to be had at Mertz’s Modern Pharmacy, 1 ith and F Sts., and W. S. Thompson, Druggist, 703 i5th St. FREE SAMPLES MEXT WEEK. give This dis= eves: an De Ss Kan a Rae Ko Aas Elk Lithia PO ee FOOTE TTA ET Eee eee eee Pee eee A ; ba 4 + ficor arches. week. Two dwellings have been designed by Ed- win H. Fowler, architect, to be erected on 12th street between A and B streets north- east,for 8S. B. Galloway. The structures will each be two storics in height, with base- ment, and have bay windows. They will each be eighteen by sixty feet in dimen- sicrs. Plans have been prepared by Sherman & Sonneman, architects, for a store and dwell- ing to be erected in Georgetown for J. D. Suilivan. The building will be two stories in height, will have a cellar, and the store will be fitted with large plate glass win- dows. A two-story-and-cellar residence will be erected in Chevy Chase subdivision by Jos. Richardson. Eight frame dwellings will be erected at 18th and A streets southeast, from plans prepared by Point & Gladden, architects. The houses will be two stories in height, and will each contain six rooms. Seven two-story dwellings will be erected by John 8. Thompson, at the corner of 3d and I streets southwest. The structures will have press brick fronts, with bay win- dows. Edward Woltz has prepared plans for two stores and Gwellings to be erected by F. A. Tschiffely.at 1207 and 1209 H street northwest. ‘W. B. Wood, architect, has prepared plans for three dwellings to be erected on 18th street in Holmead Manor by John Sher- man. The buildings will be three stories in height and have bey fronts. They will each be eighteen feet in width and fifty- three feet in depth. A residence will be erected at 1429 Rhode Island avenue by John H. Nolan. It will be three stories in height, with basement and attic, and will be constructed of buff brick and Indiana limestone. The front will have a circular bay window. It will be twenty feet in width and sixty-six feet in depth. A three-story-and-basement dwelling will be built by M. H. Meline at 2025 O street. The front will be of Indiana limestone and buff brick, and will have a bay window. ——— eee The work will be begun this EMINENT DOMAIN. The Doctrine Discussed as It Has Been Applied in This District. ‘To the Editor of The Evening Star: The Star recently contained a letter writ- ten by Mr. Louis Shoemaker, relative to the extension of streets and avenues be- yend Boundary street. It is a letter which should receive the careful ccnsideration of every real estate owner, lender on real estate security and those who are to pay taxes in future for the support and main- tenance of the District of Columbia. As I am in full accord with the sentiments ex- pressed therein and the large amount cf money I have invested in this District for The Constitution of .the United States and the several states provide in substance “that private property shall not be taken for public purposes without just compensa- tion.” This is a very beautiful and high ‘sounding declaration, but the property FyLLTEE] Ba Fat : e i i if : of “eminent domain,” it has b common practice throughout the country for the law-making power to direct that one part of a man’s property be taken for a pubiie road or street, and that he -ost of tak- ing the same be charged on the adjoin- ing property, which adjoining property happening to be the remaining part of his land the whole property has thereby been practically confiscated withou tion or nent. True if he fortunate as to have a! taken for public uses » escape this unlimit there would be and he would have the courts for what he could ge the end of ligation perhaps might be willing or induced to appropri money to pay the judgment, but he find also that the gov to enter, take possession land long before he has received a dcllar of payment. In other words, some time in the future the government must pay him. He will also find that there ‘s a big dif- ference between the word “compensation,” as used in the constitutional provision, a the word “payment.” which he expects to receive. He will find that the conseqvential damages incident to a chanze of grade of streets Is not a taking of private property for ; ublic purposes. As illustrating the un- limited power exercised by the general gov- ernment I will remind my readers that while slavery was fully recognized by the Constitution of the United States, yet Con- gress abolished slavery in the loyal war states without compensation and prohibited by constitutional amendments any p ment in the future for the taking of such slave property. I will also refer to the fact that the decisions of the courts and the dedication of Virginia avenue to the Pennsylvania railroad by Congress free of cost established the doctrine that the streets and avenues of this city are the property of the United Sta:es, vet for tle improvement of the United States property aforesaid the property owners of this city and District had charged as liens against their property the payment of nearly forty million dollars and of that sum $85 per head etill remains ag: every man, wo- man and child in this District. In conclu- sion I will respectfully observe that the land owners through whose lands !t is pre- posed to extend the streets and avenues will find that instead of being enriched thereby they will have their property con- fiscated or the District of Columbia tank- rupted to pay them compensation, while the contemplated grade of stree:s and avenues will result in draining all of the District of Columbia land lying north of the Bound- ary and a large part of Maryland into the sewers of Washington. JOHN 8. BLANK “AN, will rnment has (he meat of and use iis Why He Was Anxious. From the Detroit Free Press. There was a sleight-of-hand performance in the opera house that night, and way who sat immediately behind him and had noticed his manner ieaned over and asked him what the trouble was. “Well, you see, Tom,” said the man with the hat, confidentially, “it's this way: I've been in politics now for ten years, and I've been cussed and abused and called all sorts names until I° & e a