Evening star. [volume], January 06, 1929, Page 5, Image 79

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Corcoran Name Associated With District’s Financial History
BY JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR.
AS I was leaving the newly made
grave of a friend and neighbor
whose interment recently took
place in Oak Hill Cemetery my
eyes wandered to a nearby oc
tagonal Doric temple of pure white
marble standing upon a conspicuous
eminence surmounting the family vault
of that greatly admired and respected
citizen. Col. William Wilson Corcoran.
In a reminiscent mood, I pointed out
this handsome monument to the gen
tleman nearest me, telling him that it
was the last resting place of that great
philanthropist who was so Justly and
sincerely admired by the people of
Washington in days gone by. and whose
memory is revered even today by those
who are still with us and who knew
him in the flesh. Being a man of only
middle age, it was not surprising to
find that my friend knew little, if any
thing, of Mr. Corcoran, whose death oc
curred nearly 41 years ago, on February
24. 1888.
It was not the time nor the place
nor was the weather sufficiently cheer
ful for one then to go into detail re
garding the life and activities of a man
who. at the time of his death, was
rightfully regarded as our foremost cit
izen, but it did occur to me that, after
all, perhaps there were many thousands
of The Star's readers who would like to
know something of this benefactor who
had done so much and in so many dif
ferent w r ays for the District of Colum
bia, in which he was bom two years
before the seat of government was
moved from Philadelphia, and indeed
to whose thoughtfulness and benevo
lence the very cemetery in which he
lies became the property of the people
for burial purposes.
Thomas Corcoran, the father of W.
W. Corcoran —by which name the lat
ter was always known—was born in
Liminck. Ireland, in 1754. He came to
Baltimore, we are told, in 1783, when
afWi:is~j< ''"\lL OK i
THE OLD CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART.
-29 years old, and entered Into the serv
ice of his uncle, William Wilson, as a
clerk. In 1788 he took as his second
wife Hannah Lemmon, and in the same
year he went from Baltimore, intended
to go to Georgetown and then to Rich
mond, with a view to locating in the
latter city. But on spending a few
days in Georgetown he was so favorably
impressed with the activity and the
business and commercial enterprise of
the place that he determined to remain
there.
Georgetown was then a commercial
city, and what induced him to change
his plans in favor of what the younger
folks now call West Washington was
that upon his arrival there he found
in port 10 square-rigged vessels, which
convinced him of the importance of
the place.
• Thomas Corcoran was fond of relat
ing incidents connected with his early
days in Georgetown, one being the load
ing of a brig from Amsterdam with
tobacco from a warehouse on Rock
Creek, on the point below the P street
bridge, formerly known as the Paper
Mill Bridge. In Georgetown he en
gaged in the shoe and leather business,
and a few years later built for his house
the three-story building, still standing,
at 3119 M street northwest, in which
his son, W. W. Corcoran, was bom and
which is still owned by members of the
family. Os his children those who sur
vived to maturity were:
James Corcoran, bom in 1789.
Eliza Corcoran, bom in 1791.
Thomas Corcoran, born in 1794.
Sarah Corcoran, born in 1797.
William Wilson Corcoran, bom in
1798.
Martha Ellen Corcoran, born in 1807.
** * *
# T'HOMAS CORCORAN, the father of
W. W. Corcoran, became prominent
in Georgetown. In 1791, he was the
spokesman for the mounted delegation
of citizens who met Washington at
Bladensburg and escorted him to
Suter’s Tavern, where he stayed for
two days, arranging with the proprietors
of the land for the City of Washington.
He wras mayor of Georgetown from
1808 to 1810, and again in 1812, and
held other Important positions of honor
and trust in his adopted city. He died
in 1830.
William Wilson Corcoran, of whom
we know most, and who did so much
for his beloved and beautiful capital,
commenced to acquire his education at
the early age of 5, with the Widow
Nicholson, who kept a school for young
children in what was then known as
Beall street. Thomas Kirk, a highly
educated Irish gentleman, took over
his instruction in 1805 and remained
his teacher until 1810. when he was sent
to study languages for a year, after
which he entered Georgetown College,
and received subsequent instruction un
der Addison Belt, a graduate of Prince
ton.
In 1815, he went as a clerk in his
brother's dry goods store, and they soon
afterward established him in his own
separate business under the firm name
of W. W. Corcoran & Co. Prosperity
came the way of the Corcoran brothers,
until the disastrous Spring of 1823,
when they were compelled to suspend,
with liabilities amounting to $31,000,
and of this amount $25,000 worth of
notes went to protest.
After this Mr. Corcoran devoted him
self to the interest and business of his
father, in collecting rents and super
intending his property. His wide
knowldege in banking affairs, which
later permitted him to amass a larger
fortune, commenced in 1828, when he
took charge of the real estate and sus
pended debt of the Bank of the United
States and the Bank of Columbia, with
which he was occupied until 1836. It
was in this year that he married Miss
Louise Amory Morris, daughter of
Commodore Charles Morris, U. S. N.
A real “Romeo and Juliet” love story
Is connected with this marriage, which
took place December 23, 1836, with Mr.
Corcoran as Romeo and Miss Morris as
tfuUeu Jew flag's were acted truer to
Great Philanthropist Was Admired Throughout Wide Circle in Days When He Was Conspicuous Figure in Washington
Affairs—His Judgment Was Influential Abroad in Banking Circles—Made Many Gifts to Institutions.
life, and few terminated so interestingly.
One can almost hear Mr. Corcoran
speaking in the words of Shakespeare:
But, soft, what light through yonder window
breaks!
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!
Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with pries,
That thou her maid art far more fair than
she.
** * *
(COMMODORE MORRIS was a hardy
old martinet and would not be
lieve it possible that his daughter could
care for any one outside “the service."
All appeals to his reason were vain
against the walls of his prejudice, and
the way of this true love was rough in
deed. But Louise Morris had a pretty
fair share of her father’s courage, and
she consented to an elopement. With
her Mr. Corcoran had fallen in love at
sight, and, Just as in the great Shake
spearean tragedy, arrangements were
made to steal the bride. However,
when the night came for the runaway,
and the fair Louise was about ready
to jump from the window into the
sturdy arms of her lover waiting below,
the commodore—being accustomed to
night watches—reached down and
snatched her back into his home.
The commodore was only outwardly
stern, as all his men knew, and when
he realized that his daughter was seri
ously in earnest, and that “love laughs
at locksmiths,” he sent the would-be
bridegroom for the previously engaged
minister and, calling together the rest
of the household, had the marriage
ceremony performed then and there at
midnight.
For a few years happiness followed
the wedding, and three children were
born: Harriet Louise, who lived only
a year; Louise Morris, bom March
20, 1838, died December 4, 1867, and
Charles Morris, who also died within
a year. On November 21, 1840, the
greatest affliction of his life befell him,
when his beloved and devoted wife
passed away, leaving him with only
Louise, the daughter.
From this time on Mr. Corcoran de
voted his life to business and to char
ities. He had commenced the broker
age business in Washington in 1837
in a small store, 10 by 16 feet, on
Pennsylvania avenue near Fifteenth
street, and moved his family to this
side of Rock Creek the same year. In
1840 he took into partnership George
W. Riggs, and we find in the city di
Spy Holes Used to Watch Motor Engines in Action
BY GENE DAY.
PEERING at the “internal work
ings” of a gasoline engine by
means of special quartz glass
windows in its head as it puffs
and purrs rhythmically is the
experience you may have if you visit
the automotive test shops of the Bu
reau of Standards while the new year
still is young.
“There’s nothing darker than the in
side of the automobile engine,” has long
been a popular saying among automo
bile dealers. Since the dawn days of
horseless vehicles operated by gasoline
power certain of the processes in the
combustion chamber and cylinder have
remained unexplained. Even today
guesswork is the only guide in some
phases of engine operation.
The automotive engine has refused to
bare all of its innermost secrets. It
has challenged the best scientific minds
of our billionaire automobile and aero
nautical industries.
Recently Uncle Sam, through his offi
cial testing agency, the Bureau of
Standards, accepted this challenge and
set about to determine new facts about
both old and new automotive engines.
The Government engineers rigged up
two different engines for unique experi
mention. One of these set-ups features
the use of a four-cylinder engine pro
vided with observation windows so that
what happens may be studied. A one
cylinder marine engine, equipped with
similar spyholes, is used in the other
experiment, which is designed to ascer
tain what takes place in the combus
tion chamber after the spark ignites
the charge.
Some time ago the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics requested
the automotive specialists of the Bureau
of Standards to prepare a theoretical
concept of the flame front which de
velops in a gasoline engine when the
charge is ignited, and what happens in
I the engine cylinder during the subse
quent explosion. This was done and,
as nearly as possible, the phenomenon
of combustion was correlated with the
observed performances of actual engines.
“When the intake valve of a gaso
line engine closes,” reports Charles F.
Marvin, jr„ who conducted this scien
tific investigation, “it traps a definite
weight of charge in the engine cylinder.
If leakage by the valves and piston is
neglected, this weight remains constant
until the exhaust valve opens. During
the short interval between these two
events the imprisoned gases undergo ex
tremely rapid chemical and physical
changes, which enable them to do work
on the piston. The amount of this
work can be determined witn fair ac
curacy, although tests demonstrate that
it varies measurably for different en
gine designs and operating conditions.
“The ascertainment of just what oc
curs in the cylinder during the burning
of the charge to cause the observed
variations in engine performance is
rendered very difficult and uncertain
because of life. pg&pjg£jy a&d §j<§ed of
THE SUNDAY ST AD, WASHINGTON, I). C.. JANUARY 6, 1929-PABT 7.
rectory for 1843 the name of “Corcoran
& Riggs, bankers, n side F st.. betw.
14 and 15 W, cor. 15." In 1845 they
purchased the old United States Bank,
corner of Fifteenth street and New
York avenue. Mr. Corcoran, while suc
ceeding in business, had not forgotten
those whom he could not pay when
he failed back in 1823, and, in 1847,
settled in full with all these old cred
itors; the amount disbursed for the
purpose, including interest, being about
$46,000.
* * *, *
AS a financier, Mr. Corcoran was
eminently successful, and his word
and judgment were depended upon
even by foreign bankers. A demon
stration of the faith held in him oc
curred in 1848, when, finding his bank
with about 12 millions of United States
6 per cent bonds on hand, and the
demand for them in this country being
poor, they being at that time 1 per
cent below the price at which Cor
coran & Riggs took them, he deter
mined to try the European markets;
and, after one day’s reflection, em
barked for London, where, on arrival,
he was told by Mr. Bates of the house
of Baring Bros. & Co. and George
Peabody that no sale could be made
of these securities and no money could
be raised by hypothecation thereof.
He was further told that he should
have written to them on the subject
before coming over.
In reply, Mr. Corcoran said he was
not surprised at their views, but that
he had felt confident that he could
convince them of the expediency of
taking an interest in the securities,
and that the very fact that the Lon
don bankers had taken them would
make them successful.
Less than a fortnight after his first
interview, Thomas Baring returned
from the Continent. Mr. Corcoran’s
appeal to him was more successful,
and a transfer of $5,000,000 in bonds
was made to six of the most substan
tial banking houses in London, it being
the first sale of American securities
made in Europe since 1837. In 1854
he withdrew from the firm of Riggs
<fc Co., but always maintained cordial
relations there.
** * ♦
OROBABLY the best known of Mr.
A Corcoran’s benefactions is the gal
lery of art which bears his name and
which has, since 1898. been located
Uncle Sam Spies Out Automobile Secrets —Equips Test Engines With Q uartz
Glass Windows so as to See Them at Work —Variations in Combustion Shown.
the chemical reactions and variations in
fuel conditions, temperature, turbulence
and piston movement.
"Despite the fact that experiments
with simple explosive mixtures under
controlled conditions have yielded im
portant information regarding automo
tive combustion, supplementary data
have long been needed to correlate these
fundamentals with the observed per
formance of actual engines.
“From a theoretical standpoint, from
the analysis of Indicator cards and from
observation of operating engines, it has
been proved that the time required for
complete combustion of the charge
varies markedly with different engine
designs and running conditions. It is
also known that the rates of burning
at any particular instant after Ignition
may differ even in cases where the total
combustion time is the same. Both the
rate of combustion and the time re
quired for complete burning of the
charge exert direct effects on the power
and economy of the engine. The maxi
mum power and economy are, of course,
attained in the theoretical case of in
stantaneous combustion at upper dead
center. The slower combustions ob
tainable in practice may result in con
siderably reduced efficiencies if im
properly timed with respect to piston
position. However, the maximum theo
retical performance may be approached
very closely with a wide range of com
bustion times and rates, provided the
proper spark advance is maintained for
each particular condition.”
** * *
■poß studying the movement of the
1 flame in an actual cylinder, the
scientists have mounted and equipped
a small single-cylinder engine for re
search purposes at the bureau. Thirty
one small quartz glass windows have
been installed symmetrically as scien
tific peepholes in a detachable cylinder
head of special design. Each of these
observation windows*is one-eighth of
an inch in diameter, the glass being
inserted temporarily between special
gaskets mounted in the small aperture
in the head of the engine.
Light from the explosion of the com
bustible charge in the cylinder passes
through these windows to a seven-inch
lens placed just above the engine. The
particular duty of this lens is to bring
the rays of light to a focus at a strobo
scope where they may be viewed by the
observer. A small mirror is employed
to reflect the converging light beams
from the lens to the stroboscope, which
for convenience is placed at one side
rqtfor tfrftn a&yj ewto*.
'J? ■> J^^H^^^V’.yv,
.^■..:.,^.^^?:" l^-<^.—, -. .■ ' -»- ■ ■-■■“ *iife* ■ ■i..i0..-»v;uU.-i : 1 ....v.i
W. W. CORCORAN. PICTURE REPRODUCED FROM AN ENGRAVING.
at New York avenue and Seventeenth
street northwest, in one of the hand
somest buildings in Washington. Orig
inally the nucleus of this collection was
housed in the building at the north
east corner of Pennsylvania avenue and
Seventeenth street, opposite the State,
War and Navy Building. This old
structure, which is now occupied by the
Court of Claims, was begun by Mr.
Corcoran in 1857 and was opened to
the public in 1872, and inaugurated on
Washington’s birthday anniversary by
' ' "
THE SWANN-WEBSTER HOUSE, HOME OF W. W. CORCORAN. THE
SITE IS NOW OCCUPIED BY THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF
THE UNITED STATES. PICTURE REPRODUCED FROM PERLEY’S
“REMINISCENCES.”
.■Hr wGm&Meg s* V W]
THIRTY-ONE QUARTZ WINDOWS SERVE AS ENGINE PEEPHOLES.
A stroboscope is best described as a
device which “slows down” cr even
“stops” the swift motion of speeding
parts. It aids scientific re
search in much the same way that
slow-motion picture* simplify modern
I teaching. Take the case of the foot
m coach* for He qses
a grand ball for the benefit of the
Washington Monument. It was com
pleted and would have been occupied
sooner as an art gallery had it not
been taken over by the Government
during the Civil War and used as the
Quartermaster General’s office.
The building- and the ground cost
the donor $250,000 and the value of
the collection of statues and pictures
with which the gallery was started
cost another SIOO,OOO. Recently two
new wings were added to the new
slow “movies” of complicated foot ball
plays efficiently in schooling his charges
in intricate gridiron maneuvers as well
as in studying the formation of rival
teams.
The special stroboscope used in this
Government engine research consist* of
tm ssMi* » 9 i srj&fr 6a§
building at New York avenue—one for
housing the W. A. Clark collection and
the other for its permanent exhibits.
Perhaps you have seen here the beau
tiful “Greek Slave” by the American
sculptor, Hiram Powers. This work of
art was one of the earliest of its kind
in the old building, and a description
of it printed more than 50 years ago
is indeed interesting and worth repeat
ing here:
“The direct history of this statue by
Powers (or the circumstances attend
ing the modeling) has been written by
a correspondent abroad. It points to
one of our countrymen about 30 years
ago, W'hose domestic sorrows and pov
erty in a ‘strange land’ were relieved
by the faithful love of a daughter, pow
erless to help him otherwise than by
■onsenting to become the model for the
Slave.’ Beauty of form and features
ade Into insignificance compared with
\ filial love that, even surpassing that
f the Roman daughter who nourished
er starving father in prison, felt no
icriflce nor duty too great or painful,
/hy is it that such an incident brings
lore potently than ever to our minds
he truth of the allegory, ‘no cross—no
■rownl’ for certainly to this faithful
hild grief and poverty brought the
burden of a cross that many would
lave sunk under, rather than to have
risen from. But faith was the step
AN OLD ENGRAVING OF THE LOUISE HOME.
ping stone, and duty the goal, and
through her brave struggle for relief
the sorrow of earth made the promise
of heaven the brighter.
“Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz has beau
tifully defined ‘no cross—no crown!’
when she says: ‘lt is the slogan of
life, the victor-anthem of death; the
chorus of eternity; and truly to those
who have borne the one, and shall
claim the ’coronal that endurance
wears,’ the words are singularly adapt
ed. In the ‘Greek Slave’ there is real
poetry of pose, and sweetness of facial
expression. In the beautiful and grace
ful arms there is great symmetry, and
in the no less perfect hand there lies
a world of expression. Altogether the
a small hole near its circumference.
Once during each engine cycle these
holes coincide at the eyepiece of the
instrument, permitting a very brief
glimpse of the engine heads and its ex
perimental windows. This stroboscope
hus enables the watcher who keeps tab
in the activities of the engine’s “in
ernal workings” to study the move
nents over and over again many times
second, but always at the same point
\ the cycle.
If desired the stroboscope may be ad
isted to give the “view” one one
housandth of a second after the spark
ias developed. In such case, only the
.’lndows close to the spark plug will be
illuminated by the flame, the rest of
.he cylinder appearing dark. However,
?s the "view” is timed later and later,
the combustion spreads gradually until
finally the whole of the charge is
aflame. By keeping track of the quartz
windows as they are illuminated in se
quence the progress of the flame may
be charted and the effect of operating
conditions and various fuels on flame
movement and velocity may be studied.
By still further retarding the “view”
it is possible to measure the time re
quired for the flame to disappear in the
cylinder, leaving the combustion cham
ber once again in darkness.
** * *
(~|NE remarkable feature of this re
search is ’the use of a Neon lamp
connected in series with the spark plug,
so that it flashes every time the spark
plug fires. Gauge marks inscribed on
the rapidly rotating flywheel of the test
engine appear stationary when illumi
nated by this curious lamp, and are
used to indicate the amount of spark
advance. The stroboscope is always set
accurately on the beginning of the ex
plosion when the flashes of the Neon
lamp are discernible through its eye
piece.
Both the period of combustion as well
as the interval immediately preceding
combustion, during which the explosive
charge is drawn into the cylinder and
compressed, are of interest in engine
performances.
The second experimental engine used
is a four-cylinder equipment, although
only one of its cylinders is used in the
practical tests to determine what hap
pens before the spark flashes. A pow
erful beam of light from an electric arc
is directed through a quartz window
either into the intake manifold or into
the engine cylinder.
A second quartz window or technical
|£K sole through, which the beam may
extreme purity and chastity would im
press one with the ideal style more
than the natural.”
** * *
r PHE Louise Home, another of the
Corcoran beneficences, and which
perpetuates the name Louise, borne by
both his wife and his daughter, was
erected shortly after the close of the
Civil War. It is situated on the south
side of Massachusetts avenue between
Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets north
west, and the building and grounds cost
$200,000, which the donor endowed
with a further gift of $250,000. The
home is for women of refinement and
culture who have become reduced in
circumstances in their old age. As
stated, it is named after Mr. Corcoran’s
wlfeand daughter, and is a testimo
nial “to their devoted concern for the
poor and unfortunate."
Mr. Corcoran’s daughter Louise
married George Eustis, a Representa
tive in Congress from the State of
Louisiana. They resided for several
years in Paris, whither her father fre
quently went to share in the sweet so
cial atmosphere for which her home
was noted. Representative and Mrs.
Eustis were blessed with three children,
which added to their many joys and
blessings. But the dark days of sick
ness, and finally death, bedimmed the
sunshine of pleasure, and Louise Cor
coran Eustis passed into the great be
yond, at Cannes, in December, 1867.
“It was truly a sorrowful day,” as has
been said, "for the fond father when
so dear a link was severed and so
bright a jewel taken away to add to
the radiance above, but he who had
surrendered many worldly possessions
in acts of Christian charity laid this
best and fondest treasure, with becom
ing submission, at the feet of Him who
shapeth the lily and coloreth the violet
and plucketh them from earth to shed
fragrance in the fair garden of His
keeping.”
Mr. Corcoran’s gifts jfor various ob
jects were varied and many. He pre
sented the Trinidad tract, which is
now nearly all built up with houses,
to the Columbian—now George Wash
ington—University. He gave the Wash
ington City Orphan Asylum the site
recently vacated by it at Fourteenth
be "viewed from an angle’’ is also in
stalled in both manifold and cylinder.
Whenever a gasoline engine is started
a gasoline fog exists in the manifold,
this condition being prevalent irrespec
tive of temperature or season of the
year. A fog in nature is nothing more
than a cloud on the surface of the
earth. The cloud in the engine mani
fold, with its content of particles and
fuel droplets, scatters the light from the
arc and appears luminous in the same
way that moisture particles scatter the
light beams from your automobile head
lamps when you drive into a fog at
night.
When the fog from the manifold is
drawn into the engine on the suction
stroke it mixes with the hot gases left
over from the previous explosion and
comes in contact with the hot walls
of the combustion chamber. This
heating of the charge tends to vapor
ize the fuel, the dry vapor, un
like the liquid, being invisible just
as clear air is invisible in the
rays of your automobile headlights.
By adjusting the stroboscope, which is
mounted on the test engine to give a
"view” into the cylinder at the end of
the suction stroke, the degree of “wet
ness” or “dryness” of the charge which
is about to be compressed can be esti
mated.
Compression by the piston on its up
ward stroke adds more heat to that
which the charge has already absorbed
from the hot walls of the cylinder. The
resultant rise in temperature operates
to increase vaporization. Compression,
simultaneously, however, causes a rise
in pressure which acts in the opposite
direction, tending to condense the fuel.
Automotive research has not as yet
determined which of these opposing ef
fects predominates. A fundamental
purpose of the present Government test
is to determine for varying operating
conditions the physical state of the fuel
at that point in the compression stroke
when the spark occurs. Such deter
minations are difficult, because the vis
ibility through the quartz windows is
decreased as soot is deposited. Further
more, there is the likelihood of con
fusing fuel droplets or fog with minute
particles of water or soot, which have
a similar appearance when illuminated
by the arc.
At present the automobile industry,
as well as our younger motor boat and
aeronautical businesses, are confronted
by baffling puzzles about fuel supply,
which, up to this writing, have evaded
all attempts at solution. This re
search, which fosters the use of spy
holes enabling one to look directly at
the vibrating, pulsating heart of a
motor car will, without question, an
swer some of these riddles.
The potential results of this practi
cal experimentation with automotive
engines will facilitate better and more
economical engine performance and the
more efficient use of available fuel sup
plies.
and S streets northwest, and con
tributed a sufficient amount to build
a medical hall for old Columbian Col
lege. He donated SBO,OOO toward
erecting Ascension Protestant Episco
pal Church, and supplemented this later
with a gift of $20,000.
His gifts were not confined to Wash
inzton but included a number of out
side places.
To Washington and Lee University
he gave a library of five thousand
volumes, and assisted William and Mary
College financially, and generously made
gifts of money to the University of Vir
ginia and to the Virginia Military In
stitute. His enterprises included the
erecting of the Corcoran Building in
1847, and which stood until a few
years ago when it gave way for the
Hotel Washington, at Pennsylvania
avenue and Fifteenth street. It was
erected for Federal departmental use.
but finally gave way for private office
purposes. As a lad the writer recalls
that the Western Union Telegraph of
fice was In this building at the south
west comer of F and Fifteenth street"..
For a number of years, Mr. Corcoran—
who was an early member of the As
sociation of Oldest Inhabitants—gave
this organization permission to occupy
a room here, rent free.
The Arlington Hotel, which occupied
the site of the Veterans’ Bureau, and
which was erected about 1870, was
another of his w’ell-known projects. In
its day this was one of Washington's
famous hostelries, for here stopped
many of the world's most noted people,
such as Don Pedro. President Diaz,
King Kalakana, Li Hung Chang, and
other foreigners equally distinguished.
Some of our own notables who stopped
here were Charles Sumner, William L.
Marcy, Secretary of State; Louis Cass.
Secretary of State; Presidents Bu
chanan and Benjamin Harrison and
Gen. Joseph Wheeler. Prince Albert
of Belgium, who visited this country as
Kmg Albert following the World War,
and who then stopped with Breckin
ridge Long at 2829 Sixteenth street
northwest, was a guest at the Arling
ton in 1898.
** * *
TT was in the square in front of the
Arlington Hotel, in 1870, that the
first asphalt pavement was laid in
Washington, and it is said to have been
the best pavement of its kind ever laid
here. A cube section sawed to about
12 inches is on exhibition in the old
building of the National Museum. In
1879 Vermont avenue was resurfaced,
and the section displayed was taken
from the roadway in 1914. The people
of Washington highly regarded and
respected Mr. Corcoran, and his name
was frequently used with a view to
showing him honor. The steamboat
W. W. Corcoran, which was named for
him, and which for many years plied
the Potomac to Mount Vernon. Mar
shall Hall and other places and resorts,
will be remembered by many, as will
also old Capt. L. L. Blake, its chief
officer, with his picturesque white beard.
The Corcoran Cadets also selected his
name to give that organization a better
standing in the community, and it may
truthfully be said that upon a number
of occasions they reflected credit upon
their home city and upon their sponsor.
The National Chamber of Commerce
at H street and Connecticut avenue now
covers the site of the home of Mr.
Corcoran. This was one of the historic
buildings of Washington, having been
erected by Thomas Swann in 1821. It
was presented to Daniel Web6ter, who
made it his home and who disposed of
it to Mr. Corcoran. During the Civil
War it was occupied by the Marquis de
Montholon, Minister of France. Corcoran
greatly improved the house and made of
it an impressive mansion, and it was
here that the Corcoran Gallery of Art
had its beginning. . ... _
When you again go to Oak Hill Ceme
tery. look up the mausoleum of W. W.
Corcoran, for we cannot and must not
forget a man who has done so much
for humanity.
The Rev. Dr. Elliott, in speaking at
the laying of the comer stone of Ascen
sion Church, has expressed sentiments
regarding this man, which I believe are
voiced by all those who knew him. He
said:
“Look around you! Yonder Is the
seat of letters which only waits until the
gift of one man is matched by the con
fluent gifts of millions to erect its
cloistered pile. Yonder, art has her
costly shrine, and her more costly offer
ings. Yonder, science tells her secrets
to heal and bless mankind. Yonder,
within your sight, is the Louise Home —
" ‘Where grief’s wan check shall wear
a smile at last.
And weary age forget its sorrows past.’
“Yonder and yonder and yonder are
the unknown and unrecorded and un
counted charities: and yonder, he who
helped the living in their strength and
in their weakness, ‘reverently lays the
dead’ beneath the shaded sod.
"Most great philanthropists would
have paused there—paused sooner —
and, pausing, would have been immor
tal. Their hearts were large enough
to take in the whole race of man, but
not large enough to enfold and
man. It is too often so. It is not so
with that untitled citizen whosa hand
adorns this capital; whose heart, ever
fed with the rills of charity, is a foun
tain of refreshment amidst a capital’s
jaded, jostling life. His heart is large
enough to love the race, and the Crea
tor and Savior of the race. He gave
this lot to God. Need I repeat his
name in Washington? Need I -epcat it
in America? Or where the Atlantic
breaks upon another continent? Go
listen to the widow’s prayer, and you
will hear it; and the orphan boy, in
some distant hamlet, will look up from
his book, at the mention of that namet
gnd tell you he has beard it,”
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