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

Star Files for 1853 Give RamblerSome Entertaining Bits of History

Advertisements of “New and Popular Music’’ Mention Songs Which LackCheerfulness of Those of Present Day—Slavery in Maryland.

AFEW Sundays ago the Ram-bier told you the contents ofthe 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 originalityit was a successful story in that sev-eral old Washingtonians read it. andit is the old Washingtonian at whomthe Rambler aims liis stories. If anold Washingtonian applauds him orwrites a letter to the editor that heought not to be fired, the Ramblereats with content his midday slice ofpie and goes to bed with peacefulthoughts.

Os course, the Rambler tries alsoto please Washingtonians who arenot old, even though they have livedhere 70 years, and for that purposehe writes some jazzy lines and tootsthe saxophone for a paragraph or so.The Rambler writes to eat. and shouldhis fond readers turn him down hewould have to go to work.

The ramble from the early Starwas so poor from a literary point ofview that many persons thought itgood, and the Rambler is emboldenedto try another story in the same key.He will not leave the file room ofThe Star without bringing out foryour benefit some of the things hefound there.

You remember, unless you arestrangely forgetful, that he wrote aseries of stories about ancient busi-ness firms in Washington, and hetook the liberty, or exercised thetight, to define an ancient businessfirm 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- Societymay protest that the word •‘ancient"was treated too lightly, but as theyhave not agreed as to what year sep-arates ancient and modern, the Ram-bler has felt free to give the wordhis own interpretation. He fears—-or, at least, he does not fear—thatgreat scholars will differ with him,but they differed with him on somany other things that he no longerlies awake o' nights lamenting theerrors into which great scholars fall.

The file room is one of the im-portant places in the world. Thereis no other library of Washington jhistory so large and varied. It isalso a library of American and worldhistory. It approaches as near ac-curacy as history ever does, and near-er than history usually does. Itholds the record of millions of eventsfor 70-odd years, and the record ofthose events was made when theevents befell. There are divergentaccounts of the same event, but thefiles set down, not one side of a mat-ter. but as many sides as there are.Years after an event the files followit and give place to memoirs of actorsin it, recollections of men who haddirect knowledge of it, and interpre-tations put upon the event liy menwho had only a reading knowledgeof it.

The files tell the history of timesbefore them. They carry the narra-tives and the biographies of men whowere old when the first tile was abundle of fresh newspapers. They jtell what many men carried in mem-ory of the Washington from 1701 tothe beginning of the files. They tellwhat thousands of men have beenable 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 *heAmerican Capital, the progress of thesciences -and the course of man. Thisstore of knowledge is not codified andindexed so as to be ready to theband of any man, and such arrange-ment of It would be a stupendousjob, but it is one of those stupendousjobs which must in time be done.

** * *

'I'HE patient and industrious manwith a special technique uses the

flies for his own and public advantage.I'rom the old files he may writetheses on many subjects, and the files,if they do not supply all the ma-terial for a thesis, make valuablecontribution to it. Many a man hasgot his reputation for wisdom orlearning front the files, but rarelydoes one make public acknowledgmentof his debt. "By painstaking researchI have prepared this contribution toknowledge,” he says, and his hearersclap their hands. He takes all thecredit. Not once does he say, "Theold files gave me this information."The Rambler takes off his hat to

the flies and salutes them. If youthink the "rambles” good reading,their writer asks you to praise, notonly 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 abetter room than the old files. ButThe Star treats its files pretty well.It gives them steel shelves, off whichthey come, perhaps, to look at menthey never saw before. If an old filecould speak the language of Its print,it might say: "My type was set beforeyou were born. Hold me at the win-dow. The Avenue is not so grand as1 thought it would become. Rathershabby. So many changes in the cityI could not find my way around. Allmy printers, editors and subscribersare gone. Put me back on the shelfamong my friends. Gently, please;don't break my binding.”

Books of 40,000 words, many ofthem ill-used and with only threefacts, all of which are wrong, aregiven finer bindings than old files.The janitor has no reverence forthem. The library assistants, whenthey think of them, think of them asheavy and hard to handle, and won-

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 whotakes down December, 1853, or Oc-tober, IS6I, “doesn't put ’em backwhere 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 thework of generations of reporters, edi-tors and printers.

Heading the file of 1853 for old-firmmatter, the Rambler saw advertise-ments of “new and popular” musicfor sale at the music stores of JohnF. Kills, the Avenue between Ninthand Tenth, and Mrs. Wimer's, onSixth near Louisiana avenue. The

titles are not so cheerful as songtitles today. Here are the names ofpopular songs in 1853: “Lament ofthe Blind Orphan Girl," “The OldChurchyard,” “Honest Hearts and"Willing Hands,” “I’llPray for Thee,”"Happy Birdlings,” “Sister's Wed-ding,” “Thou Art Gone Prom MyGaze,” “Willie. My Brave.” “Whistle,and I’ll Come to You, My Lad,” "Daysof Childhood,” “The Flowers AreSleeping,” "Old Bob Ridley,” "PoorSister Sue,’ 1 "I’m Not Angry,” “LightlyWe Sail,” "Bunker Hill Quickstep,”"Sweet Mississippi,.” “The Old Banjo,”"Lilly Dale,” “Mary Yale,” “EttyWay,” “Maggie by My Side” and“What Are the Wild Waves Saying.”

** * *

/“VNE of the "leading citizens" ofearly Washington was Capt. Wil-

liam Easbv. Several years ago—-perhaps lfr—the Rambler wrote ofthis man and his family. If theRambler's memory is in tune, Capt.Easby was a marine architect andshipbuilder at the navy yard andalso opened and long conducted aship-building yard on Windmill Point,which came to be known as Easby’sPoint. The Rambler cannot taketime to refer to those ancient stories,but ho believes he placed the Easbyship yard where the warehouse andyards of Littlefield, Alvord & Co. areat Twenty-sixth street and the Po-tomac, not far from the northwestcorner of Potomac Park. The Easbyhome was in the square bounded by-Pennsylvania avenue, E street,Eighth and Ninth streets southeast.The Rambler’s recollection is thatthe big brick house had been one ofTennecliff’s taverns and that there

“refreshment for man and beast” wasbeing served in 1796 and maybe twoor three years before.

Capt. Easby Improved the houseand made the square in which itstood a garden. He named the prop-erty “Warwick." Part of the houseis standing. Before the automobileage it was a lager beer and otherkinds of a saloon and in fair, warm

weather Washington people wouldsit on benches near the saloon andin the shade of trees of the Warwickgarden. The last time I passed theplace it bore signs of oil and gasoline.

The house of Warwick is now a gasstation and auto repair shop. In TheStar of September 17, 1853, theRambler read this public notice:

“Twenty dollars reward will bepaid 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 twoof my maple trees on the west sideof square 925 on the night of the16th instant. WILLIAM EASBY.

“N. B. I have prepared a few pillsof lead which will not be exhibitedin homeopathio doses. It is supposedthat these pills when administered in

accordance with the Canon law tothose who may be detected in the in-dulgence of a too common disease,Populabundus, will cause a radicalcure.”

The District plat book showssquare 925 to be bounded by theAvenue, E, Ninth and Tenth streetssoutheast, and Harper's dic-tionary shows populabundus an ad-jective meaning “laying waste, de-vastating."

Tiney Point as a Summer resortwas a going concern in the slangbut not literal sense in 1553. The fol-lowing “ad" was in The Star in July1853: “Piney Point Pavilion, run by-

William W. Dix, formerly proprie-tor of the Fountain Inn, Baltimore.This agreeable bathing place andquiet retreat for those in search ofhealth and rational pleasure, havingbeen leased by- the undersigned, witha view to the purchase of it, if suc-

cessful in his efforts to accommodatethe public, was opened for the seasonon Wednesday, June 15. A seine willbe daily drawn for the accommoda-tion of the place and the amusementof visitors.” The advertisement givesthe schedule of the steamboats stop-

ing there, the Powhattan runningbetween Washington and Potomaclandings, Osceola between 'Washing-ton and Norfolk, and Columbia be-tween Washington and Baltimore.

** * *

|N the Fall of 1553 Little Fallsbridge was being rebuilt. References

in acts of the legislatures of Vir-ginia and Maryland and other papersshow that where two spans of Chainbridge cross the river there was aferry as early as 1750. Then a woodbridge was built. A road passed overthe rocky flats now crossed by sev-

eral spans of Chain bridge. The woodbridge was broken down by flood andferry- service was renewed untilanother wood bridge was built. Therewas a succession of short woodbridges and ferries and in the 40’s(consult the Rambler index for thedate), the Chain bridge was built.The narraw part of the river wasspanned by a suspension bridge, the

wood floor and rails being suspendedon four chains instead of wire cables,which later came into use. The Chainbridge was wrecked by flood and theroad from the north end of it acrossthe flats was often under water. Theshort bridge and ferry systems al-ternated until the building of a woodbridge on stone piers from the canalto the south bank.

In the late 70's the stone pierswere built higher and the iron su-perstructure you know was built. Informer “rambles” on District bridgeswill be found much matter with thedates concerning early bridges andferries preceding the Chain bridge,the Chain bridge itself and its suc-cessors, none of w-hich was a chainbridge, 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 thefirst bridge from the canal to theVirginia shore:

“Wanted Immediately at the LittlePalls bridge three miles above George-town 25 good stone cutters. Wages$2.30, $2.40 and $2.50 per day. Also25 good laborers, wages $1.25 per day.George Thom, Captain TopographicalEngineers in charge of construction.Little Falls bridge."

The Rambler has written much ofslavery in the Potomac Valley and

has told you how slavery in Mary-

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THE flifißMAi-fiJE: JH&SIAB*

land was being softened long beforethe Civil War and was passing as ithad passed in States north of Mary-land. Before the Civil War some ofthe "best families," there being morethan one "best" family, and manyother kinds of family would not sella slave, would not separate a slavefamily, would not sell a slave to betaken out of the State. People werefreeing slaves by their "last will andtestament," and writing in their willsthat "my brown boy Charles” or "myblack 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 countiesof Maryland where slaves were nu-merous there was a sentiment againstselling a slave "off the place" andsome plantations were hard txut tofeed and clothe the master's family

and his slaves. With many families

slaves were a liability. After eman-cipation many negroes stayed on theplace 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 amountto 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 abolitionpropaganda in the North. Catholicpriests 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 nowrong 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 cashfor 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 thatsustain good character. Familiesnever separated. Persons having

slaves for sale will please call andsee 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 thedoor.)”

Tou see. even this hard-boiled negro

trader in 1863 advertised "Familiesnever separated." You also catch thenotes, “Negroes restricted to remainIn the State” and "slaves • • •

for a term of years." The point

which the Rambler makes is that

slavery was waning in Maryland whenthe war of 1861-65 came on.

Before writing the Lansburgh storythe Rambler went through The Staxfiles for about 20 years, beginning in1860, and among advertisements in

that year were those of Mrs. Wins-low’s soothing syrup; Edward Hallpure 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 andHills, dentists; William R. Riley &

Bro., dry goods. Market Space; T. Po-tentinl, confectioner, Avenue betweenTenth 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 doorto the Theater"; Andrew J. Joyce, car-riages, Fourteenth and E; J. C. Mc-Guire & Co., auctioneers; ErnestLoeffler, "lager beer brewer,” NewYork avenue between First and Sec-ond; Mrs. Heller, bonnets. MarketSpace; Noerr’s bakery, Eleventh andE; 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 StarOffice"; Taylor & Hutchinson, drygoods, Ixmisiana avenue, oppositeMarket Space; K. O. Woodley, ambro-types; the Herndon House, F andNinth. P. G. Murray, proprietor; JesseB. Wilson, groceries. Avenue be-tween Sixth and Seventh; Perry &

Bro., dry goods, Perry Building; B. H.Stinemetz, furs. Avenue betweenTwelfth and Thirteenth; W. M.Shuster A Co., dry goods. MarketSpace; Clagett & May. dry goods.Avenue between Ninth and Tenth, andJames* Y. Havis, "late oC Todd. & CoJ.\n o mlt'iinarliha - )

r~~V<

Jewish Community Center HereCulmination of Years of Effort

Half-Million-Dollar Structure on Sixteenth Street Will Have the Character of aNational Institution Although Intended to Serve the Local Community.

THEha If-million-dollar struc-

ture rapidly growing up onthe corner of Sixteenth and

Q streets, to be known as theJewish 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 UnitedStates and a contribution to the

welfare of the entire community.

As the ultimate development ofthat basement congregation of adozen eager-eyed Jews and JewessesIn 1911, and as the realization of a

dream which, despite financial diffi-culties, flagging interest, and evenopposition, persisted in the minds ofits sponsors, the Jewish CommunityCenter is indeed the culmination of

Jewish ideals and enterprise inWashington.

As the particular protege of a bodyof social service experts and con-sultants for all Jewish social organi-

zations in the country, namely, the

Jewish Welfare Board, the JewishCommunity Center is verily the re-sult of years of national social serv-

ice experiment. jAs an institution whose essential

purpose is to promote American cul-ture and ideals among all who wishto imbibe them, the Jewish Commu-nity Center is truly of civic impor-tance and service.

Fourteen years ago when 12 youngmen and women flocked to the base-ment of the home of Sarah Roberts,now vice president of the YoungWomen's Hebrew Association, withideas and suggestions for forming a“Y,” they had no conception of thelarge proportions their nucleus wouldtake. They were merely a group ofyoung people whose athletic and so-cial inclinations demanded an outlet.At that time the only possible satis-faction for them was at the YoungMen’s and Young Women's ChristianAssociations, where the limited facil-ities made their welcome a sacrifice forthe others.

They needed their own recreationalcenter, but. unfortunately, financialincumbrances wrecked all their at-

tempts to maintain one. The less

than 1,000 Jews in the communityhad not yet discovered the need forsuch a project, and until 1917 all theardent juniors could afford was threehours in Flynn’s Hall, an old con-verted residence on K and Eighthstreets, every other Sunday after-noon.•At these sessions they planned

minstrel shows, encouraged athleticsand arranged for intercity debates,which were judged by members ofCongress. These debates were evi-dently not futile, for the five originalincorporators of the Young Men'sHebrew 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 beento provide themselves with enter-tainment. Then came the war. Ittransformed a purely personal move-ment into an altruistic one.

The problem now became: "Who isto afford recreation to the hundredsof Jewish men and women in theservice of the Government? Wherewill the homesick, unacquaintedyoung men and women spend theirevenings?"

The "Y” had to answer. The com-munity had to be talked to. Withthe help of a few local merchants,the first real headquarters was pro-cured at 1349 Pennsylvania avenue,now a chop suey restaurant. It wasmaintained, lamely to be sure, withthe co-operation of the B’nai B rith,a Jewish independent order; theJewish Welfare Board and the newlyborn 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 changeimperative. Milton Strasberger, thenjudge of the Municipal Court,and David Wiener, president of the"Y,” obtained a two-year lease attheir present headquarters. Eleventhstreet and Pennsylvania avenue, ata reasonable rate, because their workdealt with ex-service men.

But In 1920 the Jewish WelfareBoard, devoting Itself exclusively tothe wounded war veterans, ceased itsaid, 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 businessamid the tramp of the Boy Scoutsand the jazz emanations from thesocial hall; they observed their wellchosen books buried under a layer ofdust because of the conglomerationof activities in the so-called readingroom; they saw their inkless standsand waterless sponges—and weredisheartened.

And so Jewish activities In Wash-ington might have died out or drag-ged on had not the idea of a JewishCommunity Center germinated—an

institution which would offer Jewishorganiaztions a home; which wouldalleviate their conflict and rivalry;

which would bring together Ortho-dox and reformed, Zionist and anti-Zionist; whloh would express thetotality of Jewish life, not a cross-section of it; which would establishunity In community.

These are the ideals with which thebricks of the magnificent buildingare 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 socialservice 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 Boardwas invited by the “Y” to make asurvey of the needs and facilities for

such an organization. With 80 social

service Institutions of experience be-

hind them, the Jewish Welfare Boardstudied the community. They sawthat the need was appalling; that thefacilities 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 didwhat it had never done before. Itsupplemented its efforts with a $50,-

000 pledge to characterize this, not

as a local organization but as a ra-

tional Jewish center —an institutionnot designed primarily to lodge thestranger or house the overnight

hiker, such as a "T”; nor for thepoorer 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 hischildren learn the history of their

forefathers; the tired business man,who needs some gentle exercise afterthe office routine; his good wife, whomust enlist the aid of Indian clubsand trapeze bars in her war against

flesh and middle age; the ambitiousyoutn, 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 at4*9 Mtt teHttMUPM

ARCHITECT’S DRAWING OF THE NEW JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER.

father, who finds here a haven forhimself and his cohorts.

Such is the all-embracing social-service experiment to be conductedhere. To carry it through, a mostrepresentative board was chosen forthe Jewish Community Center; alsoan executive director who had helpedto erect local Jewish institutions inTrenton and Baltimore was draftedfor the project. Formerly on the fac-ulty of New Y’ork University, MauriceBisgyer has gained a reputationfor his knowledge of institutionalfinances.

In their diversity, the board mem-bers are representative of every typeof Jewish citizenry: Harry King,president, of civic prominence; MissAline E. Solomons, of the oldest andmost aristocratic Jewry In Washing-ton; Rabbi Abram Simon, first vicepresident, of the American Reformed

it is a Jewish community center, theUse 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 advantageof the unlimited athletic facilitieshere. Though the doctors and nursesof its clinic will be Jewish, their ail-ing babies may be complainants inthe Irish or other brogues, as well asthe Yiddish dialect.

The institution whose parent re-sorted to an Irish hall, and whosechosen neighbor is the Scottish RiteTemple, will not be bounded or sec-tarian in any respect. In fact, a manof Irish descent was employed to ex-tract the pecuniary pledges from thereputed affluent race. Frank Hoganwas the chairman of the campaigndinner at which $125,400, more thanhalf of,the total subscription, waspledged. Along with Mr. Hogan are

¦ ¦¦ : J-

SECTION OF BALLROOM OF THE NEW JEWISH COMMUNITYCENTER.

Jew; Rabbi J. T. Loeb, of orthodoxJewry; Rabbi Louis J. Schwefel, ofthe conservative Jewish group;Charles A. Goldsmith, treasurer, ofthe successful business men; Morris

Garfinkle and Jacob Heckman, of thenationalistic Jew, zealous of Zionismand Jewish welfare; Joseph A. Wil-

ner and Mortimer King, of the liaisonbetween the aristocrats and themasses, and Morris Cafritz, of theyoung men whose initiative broughtrecognition.

** * *

\ 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

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 thebuilding fund of the Jewish Commu-nity Center.

“I have many times noticed when-ever a subscription list goes aroundto promote some meritorious publicenterprise or to finance a charitableundertaking that Jewish contribu-tors generally head the lists both innumber of subscribers and in theamounts subscribed. It seems tomake no difference to the Jewish peo-ple what the enterprise is, so long as

the results promise some kind of goodor help to some one.

"I have so often been struck withthe marked kindliness of the Jew-ish people that it gives me greatpleasure to subscribe, as a testi-monial, to the building fund of theJewish Community Center.

"Wishing for you all success inyour building effort and in the workthat you shall carry on through it, fam cordially yours, ”

Another letter worth quoting Isfrom Mina C- Van Winkle, chief ofWashington's policewomen, who says:

"Herewith is my pledge toward thefund that will achieve a need for thiscity. I wish it were more, but thelittle It Is is given with much pleas-ure and in full sympathy with themovement.”

The last letter comes from theyoungest and smallest subscriber. Itproves conclusively that the JewishCommunity Center is a civic utility:

"Inclosed you will find 50 cents forthe new building with a swimmingpool. Bast Summer it was very hot.and, after playing in the streets, uskids sure wanted a cold duck, butthere was none. I am so glad .herewill be one, and so are my friendc 1earned the money on going on airing

for my mother. I am 10 years 010Tours truly, •

** * *

rJ'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 monumentalbuildings, the Scottish Rite Temple

and the Carnegie Institute. With afrontage of 75 feet on Sixteenth

street and a depth of 124 feet on U

street. It rises four stories abovethe street. Its main floor is ap-proached from Sixteenth street by aseries of granite steps 30 feet wide,from which springs a limestonebalustrade running along the outeredges of the building.

The main lobby, two stories inheight, with floor and walls of blackand gold marble, leads directly intothe auditorium, 22 feet high, treatedin the Adams period, and seating1,100 people. As a ballroom this spa-cious auditorium will afford ample ex-pansion to the cramped patronizersof the •TT’s” social hall.

The large stage with a prosceniumopening of 30 feet, flanked on thenorth and south by dressing room andemergency stairs, will be a joy to thedramatic performers whose efforts atthe “Y”were disparaged by the lackof a curtain, entrances or exits, light-ing effects and scenery. A joy also tothe audience.

Balconies or promenades overlookthe auditorium. The mezzanine con-tains a large lounge, a meeting room,

a library and a coffee house, treatedin Dutch colonial style. The wallsof this rendezvous will ring ever>evening after 9 o'clock with importantquestions of the hour. One intellec-tual organization of the Jewish elite,the '‘Elis,” and their “Elijahs,” faminine counterparts, await the comple-tion of this portion of the building inbreathlessness.

On the floor above the auditoriumwill be a series of class and clubrooms; a lodgeroom for men andwomen, a hand ball court, and anapproach to the roof garden of redtile, with a balustrade, yet not ex-posed to the street.

Below the main floor is a fullyequipped gymnasium, a billiard roomwith six tables, four bowling alleys,a men's lounging room with a redquarry fireplace, and severel gamerooms. Below these, in the basementare the men’s and women’s lockersand showers, basket storage rooms,and a 60x20-foot swimming pool, steri!ized with ultra-violet ray equipment.

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

3