WASHINGTON, D. C., THE NATION'S CAPITAL
CHAPTER XXI.
Washington, D. C., the Nation's Capital.
The wealth and love of the American people contribute to the increasing glory of the Queenly Washington, such a visit as mine sets the heart on fire with greater devotion, broadens the conception of our country's greatness and quickens into action our lofty patriotism.
One pleasant afternoon I enjoyed a delightful tour of the city on the "Seeing Washington Car," and heard explained a thousand points of interest during my twenty-five miles of sightseeing. This car affords visitors a luxurious and quick way of seeing Washington, and viewing from comfortable, restful environments the public buildings, the grand boulevards, the residences of noble men of the past and of the present, the beautiful parks, the magnificent monuments, the picturesque Potomac river, the quaint negro scenes on market days, the historic spots and the twentieth century business sections of the city.
I visited all the principal public buildings and saw the beautiful architectural designs of the Congressional Library in the evening, the Capitol Building, the White House, Treasury Department, War, State and Navy Buildings, Pension, Patent and Government Printing Office, and viewed the Monument and Statue of General Washington, Lafayette Statue and Square, Farragut Statue and Square, Peace Monument, Jackson Statue, Garfield Statue, Monument of Lincoln, Slave Statue, the park where annually Emancipation Day is observed, and all those numerous monuments and statues erected to the memory of noble heroes. I was at the Baltimore and Potomac Depot and viewed the room where President Garfield was shot, looking through the window to the street from which Guiteau watched for the approach of the President. The spot used to be marked by a large silver star, but it had to be removed on account of the throngs of people continually around it.
I was at Ford's Theatre, now being used as a museum, where President Lincoln was assassinated. The house across the street has its flag still waving from the window of the room in which the president died.
The Smithsonian Institute and National Museum were also very interesting. While here I visited a number of the near-by places of interest. My first trip was across the Potomac river to the Arlington cemetery, State of Virginia. On leaving the street car and the massive iron gates, which swung ajar as I passed through, I stood in wonderment, gazing as far as the eye could reach over one continuous mass of little headstones, I should judge about two feet high, relieved here and there by an immense monument that friends of the departed had placed to their memory. I passed on down the broad walk, stopping to talk with several gravediggers, who were busily employed preparing the narrow resting places for more of those noble boys who had given their lives for their country. I was told by the attendants that there were nineteen thousand reposing within this block of ground, who at one time had defended the nation.
The manager and wife having a mutual friend of mine in Butte, and having previously been in Montana, made many inquiries about the west, and did everything in their power to make it pleasant for me, not only showing me everything connected with the cemetery but also the entire grounds and the buildings that were formerly occupied by General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate army. And while we were chatting, Major Drum drew my attention to the fact that this was the room, and pointed to the spot where the general stood when he was married. On leaving the premises, the major and wife accompanied me to the car line, pointing out the graves of noted men. One of these coming to my mind, I asked to be shown the resting place of that brave General Lawton, for I was deeply interested and much concerned on reading the account of his death. I do not know why, but seemingly I always had a desire to see the grave of him who gave his life so fearlessly, and was dealt with so treacherously by the Filipinos.
I may say that the officials at our nation's capital were cordial and attentive, doing everything possible to make it pleasant and to show me all that might interest me.
At Mt. Vernon is the burial place of our first president and general, George Washington.
Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, on Chesapeake Bay, has the United States Naval Academy.
Baltimore is the metropolis, seaport and principal manufacturing center of the State of Maryland.
I crossed the Susquehanna river, at the head of Chesapeake Bay, on the Delaware river, to Wilmington, the largest city of the State of Delaware, having an excellent harbor. The noted Dupont gunpowder works are near by.
Up the Delaware river is Philadelphia, the largest city of the State of Pennsylvania and the third city in the United States in population and manufactures, the center of foreign, domestic and coast trade.
I then crossed over to Trenton, the capital of New Jersey, and through the town of New Brunswick, in the central portion of the state, to Newark, the largest city, and on to Jersey City, the terminus of railway and steamship lines, to that largest city on the western hemisphere and the second in the world, Greater New York.