Evening Star Newspaper, May 21, 1933, Page 69

SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, because it was cast in 1822 in Paul Revere’s foundry. During the many years that this church stood at Sixth and D streets very little im- provement or change seems to have been made In it. Indeed, Sessford in his “Annals“ men- tions it but once, and then in his report for 1857, says: “The Unitarian Church, corner of D and Sixth streets, has been greatly and substantially improved by stone steps, etc.” Bulfinch was born in Boston 1763. He was a graduate of Harvard and designed, among several buildings, the Federal Street Theater, Boston, the first playhouse erected in New England; the new State House in Boston (1795), Suffolk County Court House, Univer- sity Hall in Cambridge, the Connecticut State House, now the City Hall; the Massachusetts General Hospital, and remodeled Feneuil Hall. At the time of his death, it is said, April 15, 1844, “There were standing to his credit as his creations, four court houses, five churches, six banks, four insurance offices, two school buildings, the State House at Boston, several other buildings of a public character devoted to miscellaneous purpcses, and the work upon the Capitol of the United States, a record of achievements of which ady architect might well be proud.” " A NOTHER architect of the Capitol, Benja- min Henry Latrobe, designed St. John's Church, just to the north of the White House; Duddington Manor, no longer in exist- ence; the Van Ness Mansion and the Decatur House. Two out of the four structures are still standing. For his services in drawing the plans for St. John's Church and for superktending its construction, Mr. Latrobe declined to receive any compensation for his valuable services, but the vestry voted him a pew free of rent, in acknowledgment of his generosity. This he declined to accept, we are fold, expressing his preference for some token that he mijht transmit to his children, and the testimonial took the form of a piece of piate. As originally erected, according to the late Hagner, “The aisles were paved ; the pews had high backs and were commodious—some were square, and the four largest, of irregular shape, curved on one . Side, were placed at the extremeties of the principal aisle. John Tayloe, before referred to as the owner of the Octagon, was one of the first vestrymen, and presented the parish with a communion service of silver, purchased by him at a sale of the effects of the Lunen- burg Parish Church in Richmond .County, Va., to prevent its descration for secular use. After the Civil War this communion service was returned by the vestry to the church at Lun- :&Mu.whlchhndbeenrehmtonnsoncmfl THE MAN BY HELEN WELSHIMER. OMAN wrote her declaration of independence on a typewriter. It Christopher Latham Sholes hadn’t invented a “writing con- traption” 60 years ago, 775,000 * women and girls today might be spending their time mending socks and bak- ing cookies instead of taking dictation. They wouldn’'t be running lipsticks over their mouths when the clock struck 5, and meeting their lovers and brothers and fathers—or what- ever they have—at the cormer. They would be watching for them from the window—with one eye on the biscuits or the roast. But Sholes produced a typewriter. Its key- board spelled emancipation for women exactly as he said that he hoped it would. Back in 1873, when the machine was intro- duced in business circles, less than 1 per cent of the women employed in the coutry were clerks, stenographers and saleswomen. Wom- an’s place was in the home for the obvious rea- son that there wasn’t aything for her to do any other place. Today more than 10,000,000 women are hold- ing down outside jobs. This number is approx- imately one-fourth of the working population of the Nation. Typists and stenographers alone number 775,000 RE are hundreds of thousands of women who use typewriters for home-work, too. Lots of those employ&d also use them, although they are not professicnal typists. ‘When Sholes tested his writing machine with Lincoln's famous line, “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party,” he really was thinking about women. He made them what they are today and, out of gratitude, the Young Women's Christian Association has been holding a national celebration in commem- oration of the sixtieth anmiversary of the in- troduction of the typewriter into business. Christopher Latham Sholes never intended to invent a typewriter when he got his first news- paper job at the age of 14. Still, longhand copy took time. Reporters couldn't use too many adjectives. Sholes was born in Columbia County, Pa., in 1819. After his newspaper days he became a State Senator from Wisconsin, and later post- master and collector of customs at Milwaukee. Somehow or other he got an idea for a “writing machine.” He told Carlos Glidden, a Wisconsin attorney, about it. They decided to collaborate. Something should be done about people’s handwriting, they agreed. The two men asked Samuel W. Soule, a printer and inventor, to work with them. James Desmore, an oil man from Meadville, Pa., be- came interested, too. Every one thought he was very foolish when he invested $600 in the venture in return for & fourth interest in the proposed patent. One model after another was completed, criticized, discarded. 1t looked as though copy book pen- manship would always be found on letter heads. PFrom 1866 to 1868 they worked. Then—— One day Sholes decided that & model was worth trying. It worked. Charles E. Weller, & telegraph operator in St. Louis, was sent & model“ln January of 1868. He used it and The Octagon House, New Yotk avenue and Eightoenth street northwest. One of William Thornton’s best works. Among those who were early interested in the erection of this church we find the names of Thomas H. Gilliss, James Davidson, Lund Seaton, John Tayloe, Thomas Munroe, James ‘Thompson, James H, Blake, David Easton, Joseph Gales, jr.; John Davidson and Roger C. Weightman. The church was consecrated on 8t. John's day, December 27, 1816, by Bishop Kemp of Maryland and religious services were con- ducted by the bishop and attendant clergy. Many will recall the Van Ness house, which stood in Mansion Square at Seventeenth street and Constitution avenue. Here at the time of the founding of the city was the humble cottage of David Burnes, one of the original proprietors, whose daughter married the New York Congressman, John P. Van Ness, and who later buitt a magnificent home close to the little cottage in which his wife, Marcia, was born. The Decatur house, the other example of Latrobe’s work, still standing, remains about the same as it was when this patriotic Ameri- can died there in 1820 following his duel with Commodore Barron. If we recall, the brave WHO PUT mtcmtfincdn,hhm‘,mhm E ‘e i aEi‘Eaggfigi i Lillian Sholes, daughter of the inventor, the first typist in all the world. A old photograph showing her with her father’s invention. - didn’t know that he would be remem- as the world’s first typist, a fact that is especially interesting since the triumphant army that is rejoicing over Sholes’ idea is composed of women, for the most part. HOLES was bashful. He wanted his machine on the market, but he had better luck firearms company, signed a contract for the manufacture of typewriters on March 1, 1873, And now we come to woman’s entrance. Lillian sholes_fm a quiet little girl with a nice