Topics of the Times

—It is said that ever since the marble tablet and brass star were placed in the Baltimore and Potomac Railway station at Washington to mark the spot on which Garfield fell when assassinated, the company has received frequent complaints from people who disliked to be reminded of the great crime every time they had occasion to take a train or to enter the waiting room. The railroad officials did not see their way clear to removing the memorials, though it is said that they have long regarded them as disadvantageous in a business way. A slight fire which broke out in the station on the evening of March 4, seems to have given the needed excuse. The tablet was somewhat damaged, but the star escaped injury. In the course at making the repairs necessitated by the fire, both were removed and neither has been replaced, The historic spot is now marked only by a piece of red tiling, which will pass unnoticed except to those familiar with the station and the tragedy that took place there.