Newspaper Page Text

Star Files for 1853 Give Rambler

Some Entertaining Bits of History

Advertisements of “New and Popular Music’’ Mention Songs Which Lack

Cheerfulness of Those of Present Day—Slavery in Maryland.

A FEW Sundays ago the Ram

bier told you the contents of

the first issue of The Star,

anil republished many adver

tisements and news bits of

1532. Tn spite, or because, of its lit

erary defects and lack of originality

it was a successful story in that sev

eral old Washingtonians read it. and

it is the old Washingtonian at whom

the Rambler aims liis stories. If an

old Washingtonian applauds him or

writes a letter to the editor that he

ought not to be fired, the Rambler

eats with content his midday slice of

pie and goes to bed with peaceful

thoughts.

Os course, the Rambler tries also

to please Washingtonians who are

not old, even though they have lived

here 70 years, and for that purpose

he writes some jazzy lines and toots

the saxophone for a paragraph or so.

The Rambler writes to eat. and should

his fond readers turn him down he

would have to go to work.

The ramble from the early Star

was so poor from a literary point of

view that many persons thought it

good, and the Rambler is emboldened

to try another story in the same key.

He will not leave the file room of

The Star without bringing out for

your benefit some of the things he

found there.

You remember, unless you are

strangely forgetful, that he wrote a

series of stories about ancient busi

ness firms in Washington, and he

took the liberty, or exercised the

tight, to define an ancient business

firm as one that was 50 years old.

Some of his friends in the history de

partment of the Washington univer

sities and in the Geological- Society

may protest that the word •‘ancient"

was treated too lightly, but as they

have not agreed as to what year sep

arates ancient and modern, the Ram

bler has felt free to give the word

his own interpretation. He fears—

or, at least, he does not fear—that

great scholars will differ with him,

but they differed with him on so

many other things that he no longer

lies awake o' nights lamenting the

errors into which great scholars fall.

The file room is one of the im

portant places in the world. There

is no other library of Washington j

history so large and varied. It is

also a library of American and world

history. It approaches as near ac

curacy as history ever does, and near

er than history usually does. It

holds the record of millions of events

for 70-odd years, and the record of

those events was made when the

events befell. There are divergent

accounts of the same event, but the

files set down, not one side of a mat

ter. but as many sides as there are.

Years after an event the files follow

it and give place to memoirs of actors

in it, recollections of men who had

direct knowledge of it, and interpre

tations put upon the event liy men

who had only a reading knowledge

of it.

The files tell the history of times

before them. They carry the narra

tives and the biographies of men who

were old when the first tile was a

bundle of fresh newspapers. They j

tell what many men carried in mem

ory of the Washington from 1701 to

the beginning of the files. They tell

what thousands of men have been

able to collect fxom all sources, re

lating to this part of the country,

trom the coming of European settlers.

The files are the history of *he

American Capital, the progress of the

sciences -and the course of man. This

store of knowledge is not codified and

indexed so as to be ready to the

band of any man, and such arrange

ment of It would be a stupendous

job, but it is one of those stupendous

jobs which must in time be done.

** * *

'I'HE patient and industrious man

with a special technique uses the

flies for his own and public advantage.

I'rom the old files he may write

theses on many subjects, and the files,

if they do not supply all the ma

terial for a thesis, make valuable

contribution to it. Many a man has

got his reputation for wisdom or

learning front the files, but rarely

does one make public acknowledgment

of his debt. "By painstaking research

I have prepared this contribution to

knowledge,” he says, and his hearers

clap their hands. He takes all the

credit. Not once does he say, "The

old files gave me this information."

The Rambler takes off his hat to

the flies and salutes them. If you

think the "rambles” good reading,

their writer asks you to praise, not

only him, but the files.

-The old files do not live in luxury.

They are not even embalmed in lux

ury. A new subeditor often has a

better room than the old files. But

The Star treats its files pretty well.

It gives them steel shelves, off which

they come, perhaps, to look at men

they never saw before. If an old file

could speak the language of Its print,

it might say: "My type was set before

you were born. Hold me at the win

dow. The Avenue is not so grand as

1 thought it would become. Rather

shabby. So many changes in the city

I could not find my way around. All

my printers, editors and subscribers

are gone. Put me back on the shelf

among my friends. Gently, please;

don't break my binding.”

Books of 40,000 words, many of

them ill-used and with only three

facts, all of which are wrong, are

given finer bindings than old files.

The janitor has no reverence for

them. The library assistants, when

they think of them, think of them as

heavy and hard to handle, and won-

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iii

ONE OP’ THE FILES OF THE EVENING STAR. SHOWING A COPY OF THE PAPER FOR MONDAY, SEP

TEMBER 26, 1853.

der why in thunder the man who

takes down December, 1853, or Oc

tober, IS6I, “doesn't put ’em back

where he pot ’em.” The young re

porter or the copyreader pulls down,

when he old file with some

thing other than a tender and caress

ing hand, yet these old files are the

work of generations of reporters, edi

tors and printers.

Heading the file of 1853 for old-firm

matter, the Rambler saw advertise

ments of “new and popular” music

for sale at the music stores of John

F. Kills, the Avenue between Ninth

and Tenth, and Mrs. Wimer's, on

Sixth near Louisiana avenue. The

titles are not so cheerful as song

titles today. Here are the names of

popular songs in 1853: “Lament of

the Blind Orphan Girl," “The Old

Churchyard,” “Honest Hearts and

"Willing Hands,” “I’ll Pray for Thee,”

"Happy Birdlings,” “Sister's Wed

ding,” “Thou Art Gone Prom My

Gaze,” “Willie. My Brave.” “Whistle,

and I’ll Come to You, My Lad,” "Days

of Childhood,” “The Flowers Are

Sleeping,” "Old Bob Ridley,” "Poor

Sister Sue,’ 1 "I’m Not Angry,” “Lightly

We Sail,” "Bunker Hill Quickstep,”

"Sweet Mississippi,.” “The Old Banjo,”

"Lilly Dale,” “Mary Yale,” “Etty

Way,” “Maggie by My Side” and

“What Are the Wild Waves Saying.”

** * *

/“VNE of the "leading citizens" of

early Washington was Capt. Wil

liam Easbv. Several years ago—

perhaps lfr—the Rambler wrote of

this man and his family. If the

Rambler's memory is in tune, Capt.

Easby was a marine architect and

shipbuilder at the navy yard and

also opened and long conducted a

ship-building yard on Windmill Point,

which came to be known as Easby’s

Point. The Rambler cannot take

time to refer to those ancient stories,

but ho believes he placed the Easby

ship yard where the warehouse and

yards of Littlefield, Alvord & Co. are

at Twenty-sixth street and the Po

tomac, not far from the northwest

corner of Potomac Park. The Easby

home was in the square bounded by-

Pennsylvania avenue, E street,

Eighth and Ninth streets southeast.

The Rambler’s recollection is that

the big brick house had been one of

Tennecliff’s taverns and that there

“refreshment for man and beast” was

being served in 1796 and maybe two

or three years before.

Capt. Easby Improved the house

and made the square in which it

stood a garden. He named the prop

erty “Warwick." Part of the house

is standing. Before the automobile

age it was a lager beer and other

kinds of a saloon and in fair, warm

weather Washington people would

sit on benches near the saloon and

in the shade of trees of the Warwick

garden. The last time I passed the

place it bore signs of oil and gasoline.

The house of Warwick is now a gas

station and auto repair shop. In The

Star of September 17, 1853, the

Rambler read this public notice:

“Twenty dollars reward will be

paid to any person who may give in

formation that will enable me to con

vict the villain or villains who ma

liciously broke off the heads of two

of my maple trees on the west side

of square 925 on the night of the

16th instant. WILLIAM EASBY.

“N. B. I have prepared a few pills

of lead which will not be exhibited

in homeopathio doses. It is supposed

that these pills when administered in

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON', D, C, 'APRIL' 5, 1925-PATfT 5.

accordance with the Canon law to

those who may be detected in the in

dulgence of a too common disease,

Populabundus, will cause a radical

cure.”

The District plat book shows

square 925 to be bounded by the

Avenue, E, Ninth and Tenth streets

southeast, and Harper's dic

tionary shows populabundus an ad

jective meaning “laying waste, de

vastating."

Tiney Point as a Summer resort

was a going concern in the slang

but not literal sense in 1553. The fol

lowing “ad" was in The Star in July

1853: “Piney Point Pavilion, run by-

William W. Dix, formerly proprie

tor of the Fountain Inn, Baltimore.

This agreeable bathing place and

quiet retreat for those in search of

health and rational pleasure, having

been leased by- the undersigned, with

a view to the purchase of it, if suc

cessful in his efforts to accommodate

the public, was opened for the season

on Wednesday, June 15. A seine will

be daily drawn for the accommoda

tion of the place and the amusement

of visitors.” The advertisement gives

the schedule of the steamboats stop

ing there, the Powhattan running

between Washington and Potomac

landings, Osceola between 'Washing

ton and Norfolk, and Columbia be

tween Washington and Baltimore.

** * *

|N the Fall of 1553 Little Falls

bridge was being rebuilt. References

in acts of the legislatures of Vir

ginia and Maryland and other papers

show that where two spans of Chain

bridge cross the river there was a

ferry as early as 1750. Then a wood

bridge was built. A road passed over

the rocky flats now crossed by sev

eral spans of Chain bridge. The wood

bridge was broken down by flood and

ferry- service was renewed until

another wood bridge was built. There

was a succession of short wood

bridges and ferries and in the 40’s

(consult the Rambler index for the

date), the Chain bridge was built.

The narraw part of the river was

spanned by a suspension bridge, the

wood floor and rails being suspended

on four chains instead of wire cables,

which later came into use. The Chain

bridge was wrecked by flood and the

road from the north end of it across

the flats was often under water. The

short bridge and ferry systems al

ternated until the building of a wood

bridge on stone piers from the canal

to the south bank.

In the late 70's the stone piers

were built higher and the iron su

perstructure you know was built. In

former “rambles” on District bridges

will be found much matter with the

dates concerning early bridges and

ferries preceding the Chain bridge,

the Chain bridge itself and its suc

cessors, none of w-hich was a chain

bridge, but each of which was called

“the Chain bridge.”, The Rambler be

lieves that the following advertise

ment in The Star during September,

1853, refers to the building of the

first bridge from the canal to the

Virginia shore:

“Wanted Immediately at the Little

Palls bridge three miles above George

town 25 good stone cutters. Wages

$2.30, $2.40 and $2.50 per day. Also

25 good laborers, wages $1.25 per day.

George Thom, Captain Topographical

Engineers in charge of construction.

Little Falls bridge."

The Rambler has written much of

slavery in the Potomac Valley and

has told you how slavery in Mary

land was being softened long before

the Civil War and was passing as it

had passed in States north of Mary

land. Before the Civil War some of

the "best families," there being more

than one "best" family, and many

other kinds of family would not sell

a slave, would not separate a slave

family, would not sell a slave to be

taken out of the State. People were

freeing slaves by their "last will and

testament," and writing in their wills

that "my brown boy Charles” or "my

black woman Tilly" should be set free

"on reaching the age of 30 years” or

"three years after my demise."

Sentiment against "the institution"

was growing. In the tobacco counties

of Maryland where slaves were nu

merous there was a sentiment against

selling a slave "off the place" and

some plantations were hard txut to

feed and clothe the master's family

and his slaves. With many families

slaves were a liability. After eman

cipation many negroes stayed on the

place and continued to live in their

"quarters.” the chief change in re

lations between them and their for

mer owners being that the ex-slaves

"worked a pa cel o' groun’ ” on shares

and generally the shares didn’t amount

to much. The negro trader was a

lawful business man but his social

status was low. The change in senti

ment was not brought on by abolition

propaganda in the North. Catholic

priests and Protestant ministers in

fluenced their congregations toward

kindness for slaves.

** * *

\ FEW ministers were free-spoken

against slavery but their In

fluence was not extensive. There

was no doubt of the legality of

slavery. It had Scriptural warrant,

the Constitution recognized it, the

State law sustained it and it was

part of the practice of the people.

Most persons held there was no

wrong In owning a man or woman

but they came to feel that it was

wrong to ill-use that man or woman.

The Rambler never heard of a slave

owner in Maryland who believed that

a negro was not a human being.

Read the following advertisement in

The Star of September 17, 1853:

"Five thousand negroes wanted. I

will pay the highest prices in cash

for 6 000 negroes with good titles,

slaves for life or for a term of years,

in large or small families, or single

neg Toes. I will also purchase negroes

restricted to remain In the State that

sustain good character. Families

never separated. Persons having

slaves for sale will please call and

see me, as I am always In the market

with the cash.

"JOHN M. HENNING,

"No. 18 South Frederick street, be

tween Baltimore and Second, Balti

more. Md. (Trees in front of the

door.)”

Tou see. even this hard-boiled negro

trader in 1863 advertised "Families

never separated." You also catch the

notes, “Negroes restricted to remain

In the State” and "slaves • • •

for a term of years." The point

which the Rambler makes is that

slavery was waning in Maryland when

the war of 1861-65 came on.

Before writing the Lansburgh story

the Rambler went through The Stax

files for about 20 years, beginning in

1860, and among advertisements in

that year were those of Mrs. Wins

low’s soothing syrup; Edward Hall

pure old rye for $2 a gallon at 40

Louisiana avenue; C. Gautier’s saloon,

Avenue between Twelfth and Thir

teenth; H. O. Hood, jewelry, 33S Ave

nue; T. J. and W. M. Galt, wood, coal,

ranges and latrobes, northwest cor

ner Twelfth and C; l>r. H. Peradeau,

professor of musric; Hrs. Loomis and

Hills, dentists; William R. Riley &

Bro., dry goods. Market Space; T. Po

tentinl, confectioner, Avenue between

Tenth and Eleventh; James S. Top

ham Southern Trunk Manufactory; J.

Rosenthal, "ladies’ homemade shoes,”

Market Space: Joseph T. K. Plant &

Co., paperhangers and upholsterers,

350 H; Mr. Sands, ambrotypes; Steam

boat James Guy, Lucien Page, pro

prietor; T. H. Spiers, pianos, Elev

enth, south of Avenue, “next door

to the Theater"; Andrew J. Joyce, car

riages, Fourteenth and E; J. C. Mc-

Guire & Co., auctioneers; Ernest

Loeffler, "lager beer brewer,” New

York avenue between First and Sec

ond; Mrs. Heller, bonnets. Market

Space; Noerr’s bakery, Eleventh and

E; M. W. Galt & Bro., jewelry. Ave

nue, four doors west of Brown’s Ho

tel; Taylor & Maury bookstore. Ave

nue between Ninth and Tenth; Shil

llngton’s bookstore, Odeon Building;

J. Cookman Adams, professor of mu

sic; W. G. Metzerott. music store; C.

Snyder, stoves, "FTiilhaxmonic Hall,

south side Avenue, next door to Star

Office"; Taylor & Hutchinson, dry

goods, Ixmisiana avenue, opposite

Market Space; K. O. Woodley, ambro

types; the Herndon House, F and

Ninth. P. G. Murray, proprietor; Jesse

B. Wilson, groceries. Avenue be

tween Sixth and Seventh; Perry &

Bro., dry goods, Perry Building; B. H.

Stinemetz, furs. Avenue between

Twelfth and Thirteenth; W. M.

Shuster A Co., dry goods. Market

Space; Clagett & May. dry goods.

Avenue between Ninth and Tenth, and

James* Y. Ha vis, "late oC Todd. & CoJ.\

n o mlt'iinarliha - )

r~~V<

Jewish Community Center Here

Culmination of Years of Effort

Half-Million-Dollar Structure on Sixteenth Street Will Have the Character of a

National Institution Although Intended to Serve the Local Community.

THE ha If-million-dollar struc

ture rapidly growing up on

the corner of Sixteenth and

Q streets, to be known as the

Jewish Community Center,

will be the culmination of years

of Jewish endeavor In Washington,

the final step in the evolution of so

cial service throughout the United

States and a contribution to the

welfare of the entire community.

As the ultimate development of

that basement congregation of a

dozen eager-eyed Jews and Jewesses

In 1911, and as the realization of a

dream which, despite financial diffi

culties, flagging interest, and even

opposition, persisted in the minds of

its sponsors, the Jewish Community

Center is indeed the culmination of

Jewish ideals and enterprise in

Washington.

As the particular protege of a body

of social service experts and con

sultants for all Jewish social organi

zations in the country, namely, the

Jewish Welfare Board, the Jewish

Community Center is verily the re

sult of years of national social serv

ice experiment. j

As an institution whose essential

purpose is to promote American cul

ture and ideals among all who wish

to imbibe them, the Jewish Commu

nity Center is truly of civic impor

tance and service.

Fourteen years ago when 12 young

men and women flocked to the base

ment of the home of Sarah Roberts,

now vice president of the Young

Women's Hebrew Association, with

ideas and suggestions for forming a

“Y,” they had no conception of the

large proportions their nucleus would

take. They were merely a group of

young people whose athletic and so

cial inclinations demanded an outlet.

At that time the only possible satis

faction for them was at the Young

Men’s and Young Women's Christian

Associations, where the limited facil

ities made their welcome a sacrifice for

the others.

They needed their own recreational

center, but. unfortunately, financial

incumbrances wrecked all their at

tempts to maintain one. The less

than 1,000 Jews in the community

had not yet discovered the need for

such a project, and until 1917 all the

ardent juniors could afford was three

hours in Flynn’s Hall, an old con

verted residence on K and Eighth

streets, every other Sunday after

noon.

•At these sessions they planned

minstrel shows, encouraged athletics

and arranged for intercity debates,

which were judged by members of

Congress. These debates were evi

dently not futile, for the five original

incorporators of the Young Men's

Hebrew Association, David Wiener,

Frederick M. Pelzman, Joseph Stein,

Joseph L Tcpper and Louis E.

Spiegler, are now local attorneys.

** * *

T TNTIL 1917, the problem of these

' young men and women had been

to provide themselves with enter

tainment. Then came the war. It

transformed a purely personal move

ment into an altruistic one.

The problem now became: "Who is

to afford recreation to the hundreds

of Jewish men and women in the

service of the Government? Where

will the homesick, unacquainted

young men and women spend their

evenings?"

The "Y” had to answer. The com

munity had to be talked to. With

the help of a few local merchants,

the first real headquarters was pro

cured at 1349 Pennsylvania avenue,

now a chop suey restaurant. It was

maintained, lamely to be sure, with

the co-operation of the B’nai B rith,

a Jewish independent order; the

Jewish Welfare Board and the newly

born Jewish clubs, which rented the

"Y" space, but never had the funds

to pay for It.

The Influx of Jews and the meager

ness of these quarters made a change

imperative. Milton Strasberger, then

judge of the Municipal Court,

and David Wiener, president of the

"Y,” obtained a two-year lease at

their present headquarters. Eleventh

street and Pennsylvania avenue, at

a reasonable rate, because their work

dealt with ex-service men.

But In 1920 the Jewish Welfare

Board, devoting Itself exclusively to

the wounded war veterans, ceased its

aid, leaving the “Y” supporters

dispirited and disarmed. They sur

veyed their dull, drab dwelling place

where two dozen Jewish organiza

tions ha/d to conduct their business

amid the tramp of the Boy Scouts

and the jazz emanations from the

social hall; they observed their well

chosen books buried under a layer of

dust because of the conglomeration

of activities in the so-called reading

room; they saw their inkless stands

and waterless sponges—and were

disheartened.

And so Jewish activities In Wash

ington might have died out or drag

ged on had not the idea of a Jewish

Community Center germinated—an

institution which would offer Jewish

organiaztions a home; which would

alleviate their conflict and rivalry;

which would bring together Ortho

dox and reformed, Zionist and anti-

Zionist; whloh would express the

totality of Jewish life, not a cross

section of it; which would establish

unity In community.

These are the ideals with which the

bricks of the magnificent building

are being laid.

** * *

NOW that we have traversed the

path from basement to mansion,

let us see why this center has been

built on the highest rung of the social

service ladder.

When the idea of a Jewish Com

munity Center was born no local at

tempt was made to make it feasible.

In 1922 the Jewish Welfare Board

was invited by the “Y” to make a

survey of the needs and facilities for

such an organization. With 80 social

service Institutions of experience be

hind them, the Jewish Welfare Board

studied the community. They saw

that the need was appalling; that the

facilities could be made. So they

started the job of rousing approxi

mately 14,000 Jews from their inertia,

of educating them to the desirability

of the munificent project; with the re

sult that by November of 1923 $238,-

000 was pledged by the community

for this enterprise, making it the

most successful institutional cam

paign of this city.

Then the Jewish Welfare Board did

what it had never done before. It

supplemented its efforts with a $50,-

000 pledge to characterize this, not

as a local organization but as a ra

tional Jewish center —an institution

not designed primarily to lodge the

stranger or house the overnight

hiker, such as a "T”; nor for the

poorer classes, who need the educa

tion and uplift supplied by the rich,

such as an educational alliance, but

a self-supporting institution for all —

the solicitous parent, anxious that his

children learn the history of their

forefathers; the tired business man,

who needs some gentle exercise after

the office routine; his good wife, who

must enlist the aid of Indian clubs

and trapeze bars in her war against

flesh and middle age; the ambitious

youtn, who must get his education

by extension courses in the evening;

his gay sister, who requires whole

some social influences for her leisure;

the harassed housewife, who escapes

from her pot* for a. genial hour at

4*9 Mtt teHttMUPM

ARCHITECT’S DRAWING OF THE NEW JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER.

father, who finds here a haven for

himself and his cohorts.

Such is the all-embracing social

service experiment to be conducted

here. To carry it through, a most

representative board was chosen for

the Jewish Community Center; also

an executive director who had helped

to erect local Jewish institutions in

Trenton and Baltimore was drafted

for the project. Formerly on the fac

ulty of New Y’ork University, Maurice

Bisgyer has gained a reputation

for his knowledge of institutional

finances.

In their diversity, the board mem

bers are representative of every type

of Jewish citizenry: Harry King,

president, of civic prominence; Miss

Aline E. Solomons, of the oldest and

most aristocratic Jewry In Washing

ton; Rabbi Abram Simon, first vice

president, of the American Reformed

■ ■■ : J-

SECTION OF BALLROOM OF THE NEW JEWISH COMMUNITY

CENTER.

Jew; Rabbi J. T. Loeb, of orthodox

Jewry; Rabbi Louis J. Schwefel, of

the conservative Jewish group;

Charles A. Goldsmith, treasurer, of

the successful business men; Morris

Garfinkle and Jacob Heckman, of the

nationalistic Jew, zealous of Zionism

and Jewish welfare; Joseph A. Wil

ner and Mortimer King, of the liaison

between the aristocrats and the

masses, and Morris Cafritz, of the

young men whose initiative brought

recognition.

** * *

\ BOVE all, the Jewish Commu

nlty Center will be of civic im

portance because Its physical, men-

religious and moral training will

b<? given with one purpose—to pro

mote true Americanism and good citi

zenship among the Jews of Washing

ton.

Moreover, the privileges of the In

stitution will be open to all. Though

>..- 33ffiNJNG 2H& FIRST SHOVEL-QE

\ I

it is a Jewish community center, the

Use of its gymnasium, for example,

will be offered to the Board of Educa

tion, so that the boys who are crowd

ed at school may have the advantage

of the unlimited athletic facilities

here. Though the doctors and nurses

of its clinic will be Jewish, their ail

ing babies may be complainants in

the Irish or other brogues, as well as

the Yiddish dialect.

The institution whose parent re

sorted to an Irish hall, and whose

chosen neighbor is the Scottish Rite

Temple, will not be bounded or sec

tarian in any respect. In fact, a man

of Irish descent was employed to ex

tract the pecuniary pledges from the

reputed affluent race. Frank Hogan

was the chairman of the campaign

dinner at which $125,400, more than

half of,the total subscription, was

pledged. Along with Mr. Hogan are

the Boyle Robertson Construction Co.,

B. Stanley Simmons, the architect,

and R. D. Thomas, publicity man.

Os the 2,600 subscribers, with be

quests ranging from 50 cents to

$5,000, not a few were non-Jewish.

The following letter, which accom

panied a donation from a local com

pany, is an example:

“I have the pleasure to inclose here

with a check for $250 from the

as a subscription to the

building fund of the Jewish Commu

nity Center.

“I have many times noticed when

ever a subscription list goes around

to promote some meritorious public

enterprise or to finance a charitable

undertaking that Jewish contribu

tors generally head the lists both in

number of subscribers and in the

amounts subscribed. It seems to

make no difference to the Jewish peo

ple what the enterprise is, so long as

the results promise some kind of good

or help to some one.

"I have so often been struck with

the marked kindliness of the Jew

ish people that it gives me great

pleasure to subscribe, as a testi

monial, to the building fund of the

Jewish Community Center.

"Wishing for you all success in

your building effort and in the work

that you shall carry on through it, f

am cordially yours, ”

Another letter worth quoting Is

from Mina C- Van Winkle, chief of

Washington's policewomen, who says:

"Herewith is my pledge toward the

fund that will achieve a need for this

city. I wish it were more, but the

little It Is is given with much pleas

ure and in full sympathy with the

movement.”

The last letter comes from the

youngest and smallest subscriber. It

proves conclusively that the Jewish

Community Center is a civic utility:

"Inclosed you will find 50 cents for

the new building with a swimming

pool. Bast Summer it was very hot.

and, after playing in the streets, us

kids sure wanted a cold duck, but

there was none. I am so glad .here

will be one, and so are my friendc 1

earned the money on going on airing

for my mother. I am 10 years 010

Tours truly, •

** * *

r J'HE building itself has been desig

nated by B. Stanley Simmons,

winner of the competition held by

the building committee and designer

of some of the finest local edificies.

It is strictly classic in design, of

limestone and granite, in keeping

with the neighboring monumental

buildings, the Scottish Rite Temple

and the Carnegie Institute. With a

frontage of 75 feet on Sixteenth

street and a depth of 124 feet on U

street. It rises four stories above

the street. Its main floor is ap

proached from Sixteenth street by a

series of granite steps 30 feet wide,

from which springs a limestone

balustrade running along the outer

edges of the building.

The main lobby, two stories in

height, with floor and walls of black

and gold marble, leads directly into

the auditorium, 22 feet high, treated

in the Adams period, and seating

1,100 people. As a ballroom this spa

cious auditorium will afford ample ex

pansion to the cramped patronizers

of the •TT’s” social hall.

The large stage with a proscenium

opening of 30 feet, flanked on the

north and south by dressing room and

emergency stairs, will be a joy to the

dramatic performers whose efforts at

the “Y” were disparaged by the lack

of a curtain, entrances or exits, light

ing effects and scenery. A joy also to

the audience.

Balconies or promenades overlook

the auditorium. The mezzanine con

tains a large lounge, a meeting room,

a library and a coffee house, treated

in Dutch colonial style. The walls

of this rendezvous will ring ever>

evening after 9 o'clock with important

questions of the hour. One intellec

tual organization of the Jewish elite,

the '‘Elis,” and their “Elijahs,” fami

nine counterparts, await the comple

tion of this portion of the building in

breathlessness.

On the floor above the auditorium

will be a series of class and club

rooms; a lodgeroom for men and

women, a hand ball court, and an

approach to the roof garden of red

tile, with a balustrade, yet not ex

posed to the street.

Below the main floor is a fully

equipped gymnasium, a billiard room

with six tables, four bowling alleys,

a men's lounging room with a red

quarry fireplace, and severel game

rooms. Below these, in the basement

are the men’s and women’s lockers

and showers, basket storage rooms,

and a 60x20-foot swimming pool, steri!

ized with ultra-violet ray equipment.

3