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TiaiEl 
 
 GREAT FALLS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 POTOMAC RIVER OF VIRGINIA, 
 
 WITH ITS 
 
 RESOURCES AND OUTLETS 
 
 AS THE 
 
 ^•'^'^'^'jEmyFfiiiiifEiisu,.. 
 
 ^ 
 
 AJv^DREW J. ROGERS, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 WASHINGTON. D. C : 
 
 CHRONICLE PUBLISHING COMPANY, •"jII NINTH STREET. 
 187.*]. 
 
'^1 F?] 
 
T H E 
 
 GREAT FALLS OP THE POTOMAC RIVER 
 
 AS A 
 
 MANUFACTURING CENTER. 
 
 It is generall}' conceded that the Great Falls of the 
 Potomac river is the greatest available water power in 
 the United States; and the abundant mineral, agricultural, 
 commercial, and other natural and artificial resources 
 necessary to manufacturing purposes, renders it a most 
 desirable base for the great manufacturing centre of our 
 country. It is situated fourteen miles above the city of 
 Washington, and elevated about 158 feet above the height 
 of the inflowing tide at Georgetown. And in this con- 
 tinued declivity there can be secured, at the several avail- 
 able points, ample power for the most extensive manufac- 
 tories. But the greatest amount of this power is concen- 
 trated at the Great Falls where the river is nearly half a 
 mile wide, and is divid-ed by a chain of islands located 
 near its centre, thereby giving tw^o currents, respectively 
 known as the Virginia and Maryland channels — the Vir- 
 ginia being now the main stream. At this point, within 
 the limits of the property owned by the "Great Falls Manu- 
 facturing Company of Virginia," we have about 85 feet 
 available fall with a flow of 2,100 cubic feet per second. 
 
which, uninteiTupted, is equal to 13,000 horse power, and 
 sufficient to run 20,000 looms, aggregating 900,000 spin- 
 dles, together with the necessary machinery for divers 
 other branches of manufactures which can be carried on 
 by the conjointed use of the same power without impair- 
 ing the force requisite to cotton spinning and the like. But 
 in order to supply the cities of Georgetown and Washingtongi^ 
 with water, the United States has constructed 'a dam so 
 penetrating the Maryland channel as to turn about one- 
 eighteenth part of this tlow through the conduit for that 
 purpose. This calculation is based upon the flow during 
 the dry season, which never exceeds three months in the 
 year, and applies especially to the volume of water flowing 
 at the Great Falls, and shows what amount of power may 
 be safely relied on thereat for cotton spining and the like, 
 which usually requires power every day alike throughout 
 the year. From the 1st of September to the 1st of June the 
 flow is thought incalculable, and is so confined within the 
 banks of the river as to furnish an inexhaustible power ; 
 and our climate is such that we can continue operations 
 throughout the entire year. 
 
 So abundant is our supply of granite and other im- 
 perishable building stone that the scientific enterprising 
 engineer, who shall be provided with the necessary capital, 
 will find little difficulty in constructing imperishable wa- 
 ter l)asins, channels and races adequate to the perpetual 
 conversion of this entire power to use at command. And 
 as there is a continuous declivity of over 250 feet from 
 Harper's Ferry down to the Great Falls, it is possible, and 
 will doubtless prove profitable to fit up one or more im- 
 mense basins or reservoirs in some one or more of the val- 
 leys above, wherein a sufficiency of the surplus flow dur- 
 ing the more aquarius seasons may be turned and so con- 
 verted as to double the power throughout the dry seasons. 
 
thereby perpetuating all necessary power the year round 
 for all time. 
 
 As we improve this water power and begin concentrat- 
 ing manufactories thereat, steam power will, of course, 
 be brought to cooperate in more general productions. 
 The manufacture of pig-iron, as well as steam-carriage 
 rails, machinery, fire-arms, and all kinds of metal instrji- 
 ments, must necessarily follow the adequate dev^elopment 
 of the Great Falls, since it is in the midst of, and in 
 communication with, inexhaustible fields of superior (piali- 
 ties of ore, and a superabundance of the best qualities of 
 smelting coal — all easy of access. 
 
 In the increasing demand for better railway tracks the 
 observant mind cannot fail to see a very large, important, 
 and lucrative business in the manufacture of a continuous 
 rail, comparatively without joints, by virtue of its tubulous 
 intersections, which secures to the traveler and live stock 
 in transitu^ not only ease, comfort, and safety, but double 
 the speed afforded by the present system of rails, from 
 which, it is safe to state, tliat seven-tenths of the railroad 
 accidents occur. And surrounded as we are by iron and 
 coal, and open to, and in communication, either by water 
 or rail, with the divers railroad lines, throughout the coun- 
 tr}^ we feel safe in predicting that an extensive 
 Itranch of this manufacture will, at no distant day, 
 be established at the Great Falls. But the chief sta- 
 ples for manufactures at this point is cotton, wool, 
 and wood. And, as will be seen within the following 
 pages, we have the most direct and unbroken lines of 
 easy and cheap transportation, both by water and rail, 
 from the vast cotton fields of the South, whereby the raw 
 material can be placed at our factories at much less cost 
 than at any other important manufacturing poirit, and in 
 fact, about as cheap as it can be placed at New Orleans. 
 
With regard to wool it may be correctly stated tliat 
 both the Virginias are most admirabl^y naturally adopted 
 to the growing of this very indispensible article. Intact, 
 it is conceded l)y all who are well informed on the subject, 
 that for wool-growing the Virginias are equal to, if they 
 do not excel, all other sections within our reach. And 
 there is no portion of these States more suitable for sheep- 
 raising than that surrounding the Great Falls. Nature 
 supplies the forage in the wild uncultivated state, leaving 
 the shepherd only to guard his flocks and gather in his 
 w.ool at comparatively little cost. Wool-growing is daily 
 becoming more important, and hence, rapidly increasing 
 in the Virginias. 
 
 Ample quantities of wood for cabinet and all kinds of 
 manufacture from this material abound at and about this 
 point, and convenieutlj' along the several lines of trans- 
 portation. So, also, heavier timber, not only for home con- 
 sumption, but for abutidantly supplying foreign markets. 
 Though there is now hut little production of hemp, flax, 
 &c., there is no reason wh}- it should not become an 
 important stapk^ of manufacture at this point. 
 
 AVheat, as a matter of course, is to become one of our 
 great staples of manufacture from the fact that we are 
 surrounded by some of the most fertile wheat-growing 
 sections, and by railway's directly in communication with 
 others equally productive. 
 
 On the Virginia side of the Potomac, adjacent to the 
 Great Falls, we have one of the most picturesque sites, 
 with all necessary conveniances for founding, and material 
 for building, a large and prosperous city. And as every 
 water-power developed and practically emploj-ed in manu- 
 facturing necessarily founds, builds, and populates a 
 city adjacent thereto, we may safely assert that a 
 flourishing city will speedily follow the ade(j[uate develop- 
 
ment of this great and advantageously-located water 
 power. In fact, it has been laid down as a safe propo- 
 sition that a population of 1,0 00. will accrue to every 166 
 horse-power actually employed in textile or equivalent 
 manufactures. 
 
 The Merimac Falls, at Lowell, Mass., has about 9,000 
 horse-power ; and by its development we find 40,928 
 population, annually yielding a value of $21,000,000 in 
 manufactures ; and this population, with its enterprises, 
 increasing at about the rate of ten per centum per 
 annum. Lawrence, much younger than Lowell, and with 
 less power, has already a population of 30,000, with a 
 corresponding annual valuation. Fall River, with only 
 1,600 horse-power, and which, in 1860, had only a popu- 
 lation of 11:,026, numbered at the last canvass 26,766, 
 with an annual valuation of $17,000,000. Within the 
 last few years steam-power has been brought into coo[)er- 
 ative use at this place, which, of course, gives a greater 
 impetus to the growth of this thriving locality. 
 
 The Androscoggin Mills at Lewiston, Me., which com- 
 menced operations in 1860 with $1,000,000 capital stock, 
 under the management of Amos D. Lockwood, Esq., 
 having 800 horse-power, running two mills with five 
 (Turbine) water wheels, 1,100 looms, aggregating 50,000 
 spindles, employs, in nianufacturing cotton, 788 ft,i, ales 
 and 312 males; and, though more or less impeded through 
 the dry and frozen seasons, annaally produces 6,500,000 
 yards of cloth and 1,800,000 grain bags, besides other pro- 
 ductions. 
 
 The Great Falls Manufacturing Company of Virginia, 
 which organization exists by virtue of valid charters 
 from both the States of Virginia and Maryland, now 
 own the Great Falls water-power of the Potomac. And, 
 in addition to this power, the company owns about 900 
 
acres of land adjoining thereto on the Virginia side, 
 together with the islands between the channels, and the 
 land privileges along the waters' edge on the Maryland 
 side of the river. The charters provide that, for city and 
 other purposes, the company have the i-ight to acquire, 
 own, and control 2,000 acres more on the Maryland side, 
 and 3,000 acres more on the Virginia side of the Poto- 
 mac, adjoining their present propert}^ And the charters 
 also provide for developing the water-powers for manu- 
 facturing purposes, the founding and building the city, 
 and l;)ridging the Potomac thereat. 
 
 There is also a canal (belonging to the company) over 
 one mile in length, leading out of, and along the line of 
 the river, through the lands of the company, and em[)ty- 
 ing back into the river below the Great Falls, which was 
 dug out and built up years ago, and, with repairs, Avill 
 prove valuable for milling purposes. 
 
 The 900 acres now owned by the company, as well as 
 that adjoining and to be acquired, lies well for the base 
 of a city. And after appropriating about 200 acres there- 
 of, along the line of the river, as will best suit for mill 
 purposes, we propose laying out the remaining 700 acres 
 with such other as may be found necessary, and proceed 
 to build a city upon the most improved plan, guaranteeing 
 health, convenience and beauty. And to this end it is 
 suggested that the streets shall square Avith the four points 
 of the compass. Those running east and west to be 
 100 feet wide, reserving twenty feet on either side for 
 parking in front of the houses, and leaving ten feet for 
 sidewalk and forty feet for roadway. The cross streets 
 running north and south to be sixty feet wide, reserving 
 ten feet on either side for sidewalks, and forty feet for 
 roadway. .Each square fronting 600 feet on the streets run- 
 ning east and west, and about 300 feet on the cross streets, 
 
reserving fifteen feet for alleys through the centre of each 
 square, from east to west and north to south. The lots 
 fronting on the east and west streets to be 25 by 135 feet, 
 exclusive of the reservation for parks in front ; and the 
 owners of each lot to keep their respective park-front set 
 in green turf, growing shrubbery, &c. 
 
 By some such plan the 700 acres alone will furnish 
 about 125 squares of 48 lots each, aggregating about 600 
 building lots, (making due allowance for waste ground,) 
 which, at $100 per lot, would give us $600,000. This will 
 suffice to show what may be realized by a judicious dis- 
 position of the ground, whatever may be the plan adopted. 
 
 In regard to building and other material, ample supplies 
 of superb marble and granite, and choice seneca or sand, 
 blue, and other l)uilding and pavino- stone, as well as brick 
 and tire-clay and cement abound at and within the 
 vicinity of the Great Falls. And, as has been previously 
 remarked, at and around the Great Falls, and along the 
 lines of the canal and converging railways there is no lack 
 of choice wood and timber of various kinds, not only for 
 all needful purposes in home consumption, but for other 
 American as well as foreign markets. Gold has been 
 discovered to exist at this point, but, as yet, not suffi- 
 cient to authorize working some of the veins. The soil, 
 not only around this point but more or less throughout 
 the^ States of Virginia and Maryland, abound in mica, 
 silica, alumni, "terra cotta," concrete, soap-stone, blue and 
 potter's clay, and divers elements of earthenware and 
 glass, and other productions necessary to private and 
 public improvements. 
 
 There will be no lack of skilled and unskilled labor for 
 ever}^ grade and class of work to be performed, save in 
 regard to cotton-s} tinning, weaving, &c. This, however, 
 can be easily supplied by emigrating a few skilled hands 
 
10 
 
 from jSTew England or Great Britain, from whom onr 
 people can soon acquire the requisite skill. And it is 
 certain that when the present, or any, other company, 
 composed of people capacitated, and who Avill manifest 
 an earnest determination to develo[)e and convert this 
 power to manufacturing, their capital stock will be most 
 liberally taken. In fact, the combined good will and 
 zealous cooperation of this entire section will be most 
 substantially given. 
 
 THE REASON WHY 
 
 this great water-power has so long remained undeveloped 
 has been mainly owing to the adverse influences of the 
 institution of slaver}-. The p(?ople of the slave States, 
 owing to their [)eculiar callings and business and social 
 education, lacked the requisite practical genius to such 
 development ; and as they found it ditiicult to procure 
 it, save in the brain of the Abolitionist — the avowed 
 vigilent foe of chattel slavery — they preferred to let their 
 water-powers run waste and ship their cotton and wool to 
 ISTew England and Great Britain for manufacture. 
 
 Years ago, prior to the development of the falls of the 
 Merrimac river, from which grew up the city of Lowell, 
 the same parties who inaugurated that enterprise offered 
 $300,000 for the Great Falls water-power of the Potomac, 
 but the owners refused to sell at any price. These owners 
 eventually died, and the property changed hands, and was 
 finally offered for improvement; whereupon, just prior to 
 the late war, a company was duly organized, but failed to 
 get under way before the war frustrated their plans. 
 
 The adverse effects of slavery has gone with the ill-fated 
 institution, never more to disturb the march of industrial 
 and intellectual progress. And now this invaluable prop, 
 crty is again offered, with largely increased advantages, 
 for development and practical use. 
 
11 
 
 In regard to 
 
 EMIGRATION, 
 
 this vicinity, and, in fact, more or less of the entire 
 States of the Virginias and Maryland are open to, and 
 anxious for, industrial emigrants from any and all portions 
 of the civilized world. Fertile lands can be secured very 
 cheap and on the most favorable terms, and in (juantities 
 to suit almost any class of emigrants. 
 
 The old prejudices growing out of the elements of 
 slavery, and which more bitterly operated immediately 
 after the war, having irrecoverably lost their animosit^^are 
 necessarily giving place to the reciprocal relations which 
 tend to the recognition of the common brotherhood of 
 man. This is not only natural in the order of intellectual 
 progress, but the legitimate work of self-interest, which 
 is ever the prime actuator of mankind in the correspond- 
 ing relations of society. While we sustained and cherished 
 slavery it was to our interest to shut out any and all 
 influences likely to impair our legal rights therein. But 
 now that this institution is forever happily gone from 
 our country, and its hitherto retarding influences are fast 
 dying out, we find it absolutely to our interest to court 
 the emigration of the enterprising industrial classes from 
 any and all sections. 
 
 With regard to the city of Washington, which must 
 always sustain a very important relation to our new rival 
 city soon to loom up at the Great Falls, the " Report of 
 the Joint Committee on Manufactures of the Legislative 
 Assembly of the District of Columbia," published June 
 11, 1872, from wliich we quote freely, calls attention to 
 the well-known fact that Washington and her adjoining 
 sister city, Georgetown, are situated at the head of ship 
 navigation on tlie Potomac, only eighty miles from Ches- 
 apeake bay, and but one hundred and forty-five miles from 
 the Atlantic, by a channel open at all seasons of the 
 
12 
 
 year, tlirougli which ships of at least nineteen feet draught 
 of water can come to the whai'ves at Washington, and 
 those of the laro-est tonnaij-e to the wliarves at Alexandria, 
 only four miles away from our docks, and adds, that slight 
 dredging of the channel betsveen Georgetown, Washing- 
 ton, and Alexandria would afford a depth of water easily 
 and cheaply maintained for all vessels that might, by any 
 possibility, be needed for our commerce or other purposes. 
 During the late war, fleets of vessels of the largest size lay 
 in the secure anchorage of the Alexandria portion of our 
 harbor, and, in fact, at the wharves. Vessels of war of 
 more than 2,000 tons now pass to tlie navy -yard adjoining 
 the city of Washington. So that a very inconsiderable 
 expense would bring like-sized vessels to our wharves 
 along our Washington river front. 
 
 It is thus evident that by our merely natural facilities 
 we are at once in easy and immediate communication with 
 every seaport town along our wide-extended coast, and 
 can readily enter upon any scheme of commerce that the 
 woi-ld may offer. Our ships and steamers cjin pass as 
 swiftly and safely from this port as from Philadelphia or 
 Baltimore, and both of these great connnercial marts have 
 in other days had a commerce that extended to the Indies 
 and China, and "the uttermost parts of the earth." And 
 though our harbor is one of the best on the Atlantic slope 
 there are measures now on foot, with the appropriations, 
 for making it commensurate with the most extensive 
 shipping and general commercial interest. 
 
 But however admissable the port and its ready facilities 
 for maritime commerce, it is quite certain that this alone 
 will not build up a great city. It is an important element 
 in our success as affording an easy and available water-car- 
 riage to the world — ^always the cheapest method of trans- 
 portation. But let us also consider the artificial means, 
 
13 
 
 such as canals and railroads, for commerce and manufac- 
 turing industry. Among the first is the 
 
 CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CANAL, 
 
 which runs ?;fff the Great Falls. Beyond all advantage 
 there is to commerce and trade in this water-way, it has 
 a peculiar interest in this, that it was the legitimate out- 
 growth of the efforts and work of Washington, From 
 earliest manhood, in 1753, he was impressed with the ne- 
 cessity of water communication between the tide water 
 of the Potomac and the great western rivers, and later in 
 life he urged the development of plans having this end in 
 view, as a matter of national concern, being deeply im- 
 pressed with the wisdom of the policy of connecting the 
 East with the West by a public highway, of which this 
 water communication "was to be the introduction. His 
 plan contemplated the improvement of the Potomac nav- 
 igation to Fort Cumberland, or the highest practicable 
 point, thence to reach, by portage or roadway, the nearest 
 tributaries of the Ohio. This grand plan was afterwards 
 brought more fully to realization in this canal, which was 
 begun in 1828, under and by virtue of statutory enact- 
 ments in Virginia, Maryland and the Congress of the 
 United States. Though it has opened up the way of 
 traffic and trade from a portion of Virginia and Maryland, 
 and is the graat course for bringing the vast quantities of 
 coal from the Cumberland mines, it is not yet the advan- 
 tage to our cit}' that it will be when the new plans we 
 hope to see adopted are in full vigor of prosecution. 
 After the comjjletion of this canal to Cumberland, the 
 Baltimore and Ohio railroad was opened to the towns of 
 the Ohio river. It was thought then that there would be 
 no need of extending the canal further. But experience 
 has proved that water-carriage for long distances is 
 
14 
 
 cheapest, whether on rivers, as the Mississippi or the 
 Ohio, or on canals, as the Erie in New York. 
 
 As now bnilt and used the Chesapeake and Ohio canal 
 from Georgetown to OumberLand, Marykmd, is 184| miles 
 in length, width fifty feet, depth six feet, with a total fall 
 of 606 feet, and has cost $10,506,309. But the day of 
 canals, in its true meaning, is to come again, anil all that 
 Washington hoped, prophesied, or worked for, is yet to 
 come true, because the inevitable law of demand will 
 render a wide, safe, and clieap water-way to the great 
 rivers of the ^ est absolutely necessary. J)evelopment of 
 the adjoining States has scarcely begun, while the far 
 West, with their great products, must also join in the 
 demand for easy, cheap, and direct communication with 
 the Atlantic coast. The commerce of West Virginia and 
 Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee absolutely languishes for 
 this very lack of facility to place their products in market. 
 Our railroads answer all these purposes very well, but, in 
 the nature of things, they cannot supersede the canal. 
 We, therefore, call the public attention to the ojd argu- 
 ments, so often urged in 1784, and thence forward, as 
 being vastly more important now than then. We call 
 attention to the great Erie canal, with all the disadvan- 
 tages of months of stoppage every winter on account of 
 ice, a deadlock that would hardly interrupt the continual 
 use of a water-way in this latitude. And, eventually, the 
 Chesapeake and Ohio canal will be extended to the navi- 
 gable waters of the Ohio river. 
 
 From a condensed statement, now l)efore us, showing 
 the increasing business ahi financial condition of the 
 Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, it appears that the 
 net revenue for 1871 exceeded that of the preceding sea- 
 son $197,186 54. 
 
 The expenses of 1871, as compared with 1870, show a 
 decrease of $47,134 45. 
 
15 
 
 Though we have not the exact figures for 1872 before 
 us, we are enabled to state that the net revenue shows a 
 prosperous increase, witli a corresponding decrease of the 
 expenses. In fact the business of this canal has so largely 
 increased that the companj' is adopting every means for 
 equally increasing its facilities; and when the Great Falls 
 shall have been developed, which it is now manifestly 
 clear will be done at no distant day, this water-route will 
 be deepened and widened commensurate with the demands 
 for transportation between Washington and this inevita- 
 bly-to-be manufacturing center. 
 
 STEAM-PACKET LINES, ETC. 
 
 Our several steam-packet lines, and other water crafts, 
 which relatively appl}^ the same to the Great Falls as 
 they do to Washington, furnishes safe, accommodating and 
 cheap transportation between this point and Boston, New 
 York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and ISTorfolk, and via 
 Norfolk and Acquia Creek (and thence via rail) with Rich- 
 mond and other points along the Atlantic coast. 
 
 The principal article of export by steam-packets and 
 other water craft is Hour, of which as much as 98,638 barrels 
 have been shipj^ed in one year. In 1871-'72 a new and 
 increasing article of commerce (sumac) has been largely 
 shipped by this line from Virginia — in fact as much as 
 eight}^ tons per annum having been forwarded within the 
 past two years. With the increase of domestic enterprise 
 ther§ is every reason to believe that these exportations 
 will be enormously increased. 
 
 We may remark here that the value of the flour pro- 
 duction of the District for 1871 amounted to $2,000,000, 
 and the amount of wheat represented in this supply was 
 about 787,000 bushels. In 1872 the value of the exporta- 
 tion of this product was aboi^t $3,000,000. It may also be 
 
16 
 
 stated that the lumber traflic is by no means inconsiderable. 
 During the years 1871 and 1872 over 25,620,000 feet were 
 brought hither in schooners. The value of this trade for 
 those years was over $700,000, and this year a very large 
 increase is anticipated. This fact of itself shows how 
 great a field is open for the manufacture of lumber in the 
 forests available in our more immediate neighborhood. 
 
 RAILROADS. 
 
 Until lately our railroad system has been somewhat 
 inefficient, there being but one, and that a branch line, 
 via Baltimore, by which we could claim a connection with 
 the JSTorth and East, and, indirectlj', with the West; and 
 only one line, the Orange and Alexandria, connecting us 
 with the South. But now several new roads have con- 
 verged, and are still converging at and passing tln-ough, 
 and others starting from Washington, rapidly putlflig us 
 in direct and easy communication with all the agricul- 
 tural, mineral, and commercial sections. 
 
 By way of the Washington and Alexandria branch 
 road, which connects us with the Orange and Alexandria 
 railway, we are connected with the Alexandria and Ma- 
 nassas Gap, and the Loudon and Hampshire roads, both 
 of which extend through richly fertile sections of. the 
 Old Dominion. 
 
 The Baltimore and Potomac liailroad Company has 
 constructed a line of railway, under charter granted by 
 the State of Maryland and the Congress of the United 
 States, extending from the line of the Northern Central 
 railway, on the east side of the city of Baltimore, to the 
 city of Washington and across the Potomac river to the 
 Virginia shore ; also to a point twenty-four miles south 
 of Baltimore, through the lower counties of Maryland to 
 the Potomac river, at the mouth of Pope's Creek. The line 
 
17 
 
 secures a direct railroad connection for ruilwa}' carriages 
 through tlie Northern Central railway, with the vast 
 system of roads west, northwest, and to the I'acific, con- 
 trolled by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and by 
 its I^orthern Central connections with the great coal, iron, 
 and lumber regions of Pennsylvania, the western sections 
 of Xew York, and the lakes, and the dominion of Canada ; 
 also by the Union Railroad of Baltimore an uninterrupted 
 connection for locomotive engines, with the system of 
 roads to Philadelphia, New York, and the whole eastern 
 section of our country. 
 
 By the reconstruction of the Long bridge across the 
 Potomac for railway purposes at Washington, and the 
 construction of the Alexandria and Fredericksburg rail- 
 road to a connection with the Richmond, Fredeiicksbnrg, 
 and Potomac railroad, an uninterrupted connection is 
 secured'with the system of Southern railroads converging 
 at R.ichmond, Virginia. Washington, by way of the Bal- 
 timore and Potomac, secures a competing line to all sec- 
 tions of our vast countrj-, and this, with unbroken con- 
 nections, upon which [laSsengers and freight can be moved 
 by steiftii without transfer or break of bulk, to all other 
 sections of the countr\\ And especially by this line, with 
 its divers tributaries convei'<jjino- at Richmond, together 
 with the Orange and Alexandria railway, which is con- 
 nected, via railway from Cliarlottesville to Lynchlmrg, 
 with the Virginia and Tenu'issee railroad, we have direct 
 and unbroken lines to the vast cotton, rice, sugar, tobacco, 
 and other productive fields of the South and Southwest. 
 
 The line has been built, as we learn, in the best manner 
 and at great cost ; the work in Washington costing about 
 a million of dollars, and the tunnel under Baltimore 
 nearly two millions. 
 
 The projectors of this enterprise expect to draw to it a 
 2 G F 
 
18 
 
 large and growing trade, owing to tlie perfect eonnectioTiB 
 it secures with the great Pennsylvania trunk lines of rail- 
 waj's to all western jioints, b}' the I^s'^rthern Central and 
 Philadelphia and Erie, with ^Buffalo, JSTiagara Falls, the 
 lakes and Canada, and the great coal, iron, and lumber 
 regions of Pennsylvania. By conTieetions with the South- 
 ern sj^stem of roads, south of Richmond, an outlet by rail 
 will.be attbrded for the great staple productions of that 
 section of the country. The amount of coal seeking 
 Washington bj^ this road will reach at least 100,000 tons, 
 and, with the growth of the city, and the improvement of 
 the Great Falls, it will rapidlj^ increase Our people will 
 henceforth be enabled to get this staple article every day 
 in the year, in cars loaded directly at the niines. 
 
 The conr.ections with fast express trains, with palace 
 and sleeping cars, running through to the JSTorth and West 
 and South, with ample accommodations for local traffic, 
 wi-ll doubtless secure to the enterprise a large and increas- 
 ing passenger business. 
 
 There can be no rpiestion of the great importance of this 
 new line to the capital of tlie nation ; it secures uninter- 
 rupted communication with, and facilities to and from, 
 points never heretofore enjoyed by us, and the tendency will 
 inevitably be to draw more attention to Washington and 
 vicinity as the great political, social, and manufacturing 
 center of the country, and its growth must be rapid. With 
 the establishment hereof repair and workshops of this enter- 
 prising compau}^ a large accession of excellent citizens — 
 skilled workmen in wood and metals — will be made. The 
 happiness, securit\-,and comfort of this class of citizens it 
 should bo a prime object of the Legislative Assembly to 
 insn re by wise and careful legislation. 
 
 The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, now completed to 
 ('atletsburg, at the mouth of the Big Sandy river, 150 
 
19 
 
 miles above Cincinnati, and 350 miles below Pittsburg on 
 the Ohio river, is an additional and highl}^ important link 
 in the chain of communication with the far West. 
 
 At present we connect with this road only by way of 
 the Orange and Alexandria railway at Charlottesville ; 
 but ere long we are to 'have a more direct line hy way 
 of the Piedmont and Potomac railwa}', which starts from 
 Washington and, doubtless, ?;«( the line of the Aqueduct 
 road, and crossing the Potomac at the Great Falls, and 
 thence on, via Aldie,,to Staunton, Va., thereby shortening 
 the route to Staunton thirty miles. 
 
 This connection with the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad 
 will o'ive us the shortest communication with the West 
 and Southwest, making the most direct line between St. 
 Louis and New York, the distance saved being estimated 
 at not less than 140 miles. It will also connect us with 
 that great system of railroads reaching the Pacific ocean, 
 of which the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad will be the 
 eastern terminus at Staunton, or rather by the Piedmont 
 and Potomac road, via the Great Falls, at Washington. 
 
 The country with which we shall be brought into com- 
 munication l)y the Piedmont and Potomac railroad is one 
 of surpassing fertility. It is to traverse the counties of 
 Loudon, Fauquier, Iv&,ppahannock, Page, Rockingham, 
 and Augusta, (in Virginia,) all within the rich blue grass 
 rigion of that State. 
 
 On its line are to be found coal in abundance and 
 iron in immense quantities and of rare quality ; marble 
 not more than thirty miles distant from Washington, and 
 within ti^fteen miles of the Great Falls, equal to that im- 
 ported from Italy, at a large profit; while salt, lead, gyp- 
 sum, lime, and petroleum abound on the lines witli which 
 it connects. This, making both the national ca[iital and the 
 Great Falls important points on the shortest line of travel 
 
20 
 
 from Cincinnati and St. Louis to the Xorth, will lead to 
 a large increase of population and wealth at both of these 
 points, which has hitherto avoided us because of the re- 
 puted greater cost of living-^an objection now exploded. 
 
 This company proposes large expenditures in our city, 
 as its workshops, foundry, and car* works are to l)e located 
 here, and it is, in short, to be a Washington institution. 
 
 The Alexandria and Fredericksburg railroad will bring 
 to us, as purchasers, the residents of the peninsula south 
 of us in Maryland ; and the Point of Rocks railroad, which 
 will eventually connect hy branch or cross-road with the 
 Great Falls, will open to us for competition with Balti- 
 more the trade of those counties of Maryland nortli of us. 
 
 The Washington and Point Lookout railway opens the 
 whole region of Maryland between the Potomac and 
 Chesapeake Bay to our manufacturers and merchants, and 
 afford us easy connection with one of the most healthful 
 and beautiful regions of the State of Maryland. And by 
 our several lines of railway we directly^ reach the iron 
 supply in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, ' 
 and Maryland, the abundant and fine wood of Virginia, 
 and all the corn and wheat, cattle, and farm produce for 
 home use and for commerce, while, by the deep and Inroad 
 river and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, we may bring 
 to the Great Falls every article of foreign production. 
 
 In addition to these railroads there are divers other 
 lines about to, and, sooner or later, inevitabb' will, be con- 
 structed, which will greatly favor our projected develop- 
 ment of the vast water power of the Potomac, and espe- 
 cially at the Great Falls, where we are determined to 
 found, build, and populate a city commensurate with the 
 spirit of the times. 
 
 It is now understood that the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 
 
21 
 
 road Company arc proceeding to build a railway from 
 Laurel, on the Washington branch of their road, via 
 Rockville, and thence across the Potomac, (and probably,) 
 at the Great Falls, through the Blue Ridge, vi<t Snickers 
 Gap, connecting with their line extending from Harper's 
 Ferry, via Winchester, down the Shenandoah valley. 
 And, in order to compete -with the line of the Piedmont 
 and Potomac and Chesapeake and Ohio railroads, which 
 form the most direct line West yet established, they will 
 doubtless continue the direct line from Laurel, via Snick- 
 er's Gap, on to Grafton or Flemington, or some other atr- 
 line [»oint of the western branch of the Baltimore and 
 Ohio railway, whereby the}' can still shorten the route via 
 Cincinnati to St. I^ouis over 100 miles. 
 
 COAL. 
 
 Coal being one of the chief factors of the manufacturing 
 interest, it is important that we consider the supply in 
 our vicinity and convenient reach. Thus far it is equal 
 to the demand ; .but when new channels shall have been 
 opened for transportation, and larger consumption re- 
 quired, the product may be increased in an immensely 
 enlarged ratio. We give below a table showing the pro- 
 duct for a series of years of the Cumberland coal regioii. 
 This properly belongs to the great Allegheny coal field, 
 and includes the F'rostl)urg basin, about live miles wide 
 and thirty miles long, (giving an area of 150 square 
 miles,) and that lying Itetween the Savage mountain and 
 Negro mountain, containing about 130 square miles, and 
 the trough or basin of the Youghiogheny, between Xegro 
 mountain and Laurel hill, containing about 250 square 
 miles, making a total area of this coal field in Maryland 
 about 550 square miles. The coal of this region is, taken 
 to market, in Washington, by the Chesapeake and Ohio 
 
22 
 
 canal, or to Baltimore by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. 
 The followiuii- is the table referred to : 
 
 Year. 
 
 'I'oiuiai^e by 
 raili-oad. 
 
 Tonnnsi-o by 
 canal. 
 
 Total. 
 
 1S4-2 '. 
 
 1,708 
 
 24.65;^ 
 
 192,806 
 
 478,486 
 
 493,031 
 
 377,684 
 
 500,293 
 
 736,1.53 
 
 735.669 
 
 848,118 
 
 1,230,518 
 
 1,112.938 
 
 1,494,814 
 
 1,866,699 
 
 
 1,708 
 
 184r) 
 
 
 24,6.53 
 
 1850 
 
 ISof) 
 
 3,042 
 183,786 
 283.249 
 260,368 
 340,736 
 344,160 
 458,009 
 484,849 
 661.828 
 606,707 
 850,339 
 1,093,971 
 
 196,848 
 662,272 
 
 1860 
 
 788,909 
 
 1804 
 
 636,236 
 
 1865 ;.. 
 
 903,495 
 
 18(i6 
 
 1867 
 
 1,079,331 
 1,193.822 
 
 1868.. 
 
 1869 
 
 1.330,443 
 
 1.882,669 
 
 1870 
 
 1871 
 
 1,717,075 
 2,345,153 
 
 1872 
 
 2,973,233 
 
 Note. — These amounts liave sometimes included the coal used on or 
 along- the railroad. 
 
 This coal was afforded in our markets, in 1850, at re- 
 tail, for consumption, at $5 per ton, and, in 1871, at $6 
 for the lump. The cost by the quantity, according to the 
 statement of large consumers in our city, iron-founders, 
 machinists, and the like, has averaged, for years to the 
 present time, at the wharf, from $3 50 to $4 25 per ton. 
 At this writing, we are informed, it is about $4 per ton. 
 In addition to all this supply, which is almost at our 
 own hands, the quick communication by railroad, 2;^ Gor- 
 donsville, with the vast coal fields in the xsTew River and 
 Kanawha valleys of West Virginia, will bring to our 
 wharves and workshops any amount of the s[)lint and can- 
 nel coals. It is estimated that the coal territory in these 
 valleys have an extent of over 600 square miles. This is 
 wider than the fields which supply the vast industries 
 and commerce of Great Britain — demands which amount 
 to more than 1 00,000,000 tons annually. The great bitu- 
 minous coal basin of the geologists, extending northward 
 
23 
 
 to the head-waters of the Hockhoeking river, near Co- 
 lumbus, Ohio, southeast to the Peak of Otter, iu V'ir- 
 ffinia, uortheast to the middle of w-estern reiinsylvapia, 
 and southwest to the Muscle Shoal, iu northern Alabama, 
 irregular iu its entire length, 800 miles, and width from 
 30 to 180 miles, covers an art-a of 55,000 s(iuare miles, of 
 which 1,800, contained in A^irginia, hold the great center 
 with respect to quantit}- and quality, whether cannel, 
 splint, or bituminous coaJ. The Kanawha river runs 
 through these beds, and so does the (yet unfinished) 
 Chesapeake and Ohio railroad ; so also, it may be said, 
 does everj' road or stream in West \^irginia. In' one 
 place, we are informed, the Chesapeake and Ohio raih'oad 
 cuts an eleven-foot vein. The Virginia coal used, by esti- 
 mate, would jdeld 45,000 tons per acre, or 28,800,000 tons 
 per square mile. 
 
 It is more easily mined than other coal, because of the 
 prodigious thickness of the veins, (from three to fifteen 
 feet,) their horizontal position, and the comparative ab- 
 sence of noxious gases and volatile fumes. JS"o shaft min- 
 ing, machine lifting, pumping, or the like are necessary in 
 working them. 
 
 With regard to quality the Virginia coal beds are "fat." 
 That they are superior has been demonstrated b}- experi- 
 ence, but more nicely by accurate analysis. One of the 
 results is here noted : Tlie amount of ash residue left upon 
 analysis amounts to but two per cent. The only other 
 coal approaching this was the Snow-shoe coal of Pennsyl- 
 vania, of limited suppl \', whicVi gave 2.07 per cent. Other 
 approved coal showed the true contrast. For example : 
 The Phillipsburg yielded 10 per cent. ; Frostburg, 11 
 per cent. ; and the Maryland Company coal, 15.82 per 
 cent., or nearly eight times that of the Kanawha coal. 
 
 As to uses, tlie splint coal, nowhere so abundant as in 
 Virginia, is known to surpass any other for smelting ores, 
 particularly iron ore. The uses of bituminous coal for 
 
24 
 
 manufacturing gas, driving machinery, and for fuel need 
 no illustration, Cannel coal, besides its other uses, is 
 likelj^ to supplant wells as a source of petroleum. The 
 Kanawha yields sixty-four gallons of crude oil per ton, 
 equal to 1,260,000 gallons per acre. 
 
 The fact is seldom adverted to that, from the deficiency 
 of shorter water transportation, great quantities of the 
 Kanawha coal is boated to New Orleans, and thence tran- 
 shipped by sea all the way to Xew Yoi'k. 
 
 The two great factors in building up a manufacturing 
 town are coal and iron. We have already shown that 
 scarcely a point now known in the world has more admir- 
 able locations relative to a vast supply of coal, easy means 
 of access, and water transportation for commerce, than 
 the city of Washington ; and what is, or can be, said in 
 this resi^ect as to Washington must soon apply to the 
 Great Falls ; and as these different classes of coal are so 
 near at hand, available in such immense quantities, and 
 can be so readily brought to this market, it is evident 
 that, for every purpose of commerce, for manufacturing 
 or domestic use, they can be afforded in more abundant 
 sui)ply and at lower prices than at any place along the 
 coast, or at any other point available for water shipment. 
 
 The supply and consumption of the several kinds of coal 
 
 in the United States and the amount exported therefrom 
 
 annually, sums up per year, for the last two years, about 
 
 as follows: 
 
 AtiMr.-acilc sent to market, (official) 14,065.501 
 
 Coiisninofl in the coal regions (estimated) •2,720,000 
 
 Bituminous sent toward seaboard, iucUuling- 44;>,9.")rj tons 
 
 imported, (official) 4,805,914 
 
 Bituminous mined and consumed in the United States, 
 
 (estimat(d> 11,500,000 
 
 y4,usi,4]r, 
 
 Exported 269,751 
 
 Total supply for United States 33,811,664 
 
25 
 
 This would exhaust one square mile, or, iti other words, 
 one-eighteen-thousandth of the Virginia coal beds per 
 annum. This much foi- quantity. 
 
 IRON, 
 
 This indispensible article lies in considerable quantities 
 at and around the Great Falls, but when you cross the 
 Blue Ridgeand strike the Shenandoah river along through 
 Warren, Page, Rockingham, and other counties, it is to 
 he found in abundance, and of a superior quality; and along 
 parallel 39, the probable route of the next air-line rail- 
 way to St. Louis, it is still more abundant. 
 
 The ISTew river, rising in iSTorth Carolina, becomes the 
 Kanawha after crossing the Alleghenies, and receiving 
 the Greenbrier river in the neighborhood of the White 
 Sulpher. Above that region coal diminishes and iron in- 
 creases. New river might be called an iron-clad stream. 
 Giles, Bland, Pulaski, and Grayson are among the richest 
 iron counties, though crossing to the waters of Tennessee 
 (Clinch and llolston rivers) the mountains are everywhere 
 affluent with ore, not always without coal for utilizing it. 
 As Horace Greeley remarked in an article which ap- 
 peared in The Tribune (October 21, 1871,) on this general 
 subject: "In most counties of either Virginia, excellent 
 coal or ore (often both in close proximity) can now be 
 bought at prices ranging from $5 to $15 per acre. Many 
 of the acres have a rich, deep virgin soil, with a splendid 
 growth of forest trees covering two-thirds to three-fourths 
 of them— lands which, in Pennsylvania, would be deemed 
 dirt-cheap at $1,000 per acre. Who can doubt that free 
 labor with railroads will soon give a hke value to the 
 mineral lands of old and West Virginia ? " And we may 
 here call attention to the fact that the iron ores of Vir- 
 
26 
 
 giiiia and West Virginia are considered among the best 
 in the worhl, and are found in unliniited quantities upon 
 the immediate line of raih'oad communication witn most 
 unusual facilities for. their profitable working. The coal 
 and iron accessible are estimated to exceed in quality and 
 amount those of the whole of Great Britain, and with 
 this special advantage, that, unlike those uf that country, 
 they are found near the surface of the earth and can be 
 readily mined. In our sources of sup[)ly the expense of 
 production is, as near as possible, the minimum, from the 
 very ease from which the material is dug and laid down 
 at the point of shipment. In Grreat Britain it is estimated 
 that there is invested in pits and machinery a capital 
 amounting to upward of $200,000,000, and all practically 
 dead capital. In these mines the laws of gravity furnish 
 easy drainage, ventilation, and carriage. 
 
 By a circular put forth in the Kanawha iron region, 
 which has recently fallen under our notice, we learn that 
 a ton of iron can be there produced for $15. Now, as 
 coal can be laid down here at from $4 to $4 '^O per ton, 
 and the ore at a similar low figure, it is demonstrable that 
 iron can be produced here at from §20 to $25 per ton, and 
 thus laid down, as it were, in a market where it readily 
 brings from $50 to $55 per ton to-day. 
 
 CLIMATICS, ETC. 
 
 As of incalculable importance, in view of building up a 
 manufacturing city, we would call attention to the climate 
 and the circumstances affecting the health of a papulation. 
 With but a single exception it is proven that the country 
 about WaiShington is among the most healthful sections 
 of America, and that exception is malaria, which, along 
 the lower. water of the Potomac, has been somewhat 
 troublesome, but wliich at Washington is no longer prev- 
 
27 
 
 alent, and at the Great Falls almost, and will entirely, 
 disappear Avith the vigorous growth of a well-drained, 
 ventilated city. 
 
 What we quote in this connection, from the report pre- 
 viously referred to, relative to the District of Columbia, 
 has, in every particular, increased advantages when ap- 
 plied to the region of the Great Falls as being more 
 elevated, more undulating, and abundantly supplied with 
 springs of pure, cool water. 
 
 The best test in this regard is that of facts. We pre- 
 sent here a table of the death rate of this city, compared 
 with that of the few cities whence data of any reliabiUty 
 can be procured : 
 
 'I'lie (Icatli rate of Washinston, per 1,000, averao^cs 20 
 
 Philadelphia. " '• 22 
 
 New York, " " , 28 
 
 Bobtoii, • " 23 
 
 '' " St. Louis, " " 27 
 
 '" " Cincinnati. '" "■ 26 
 
 ■? •' < hicaji^o. "■ '' 25 
 
 There is yet another very important fact to which we 
 may quite pertinently refer here, and that is the almost 
 total immunity of Washington from epidemic diseases. 
 Kever but once has it suffered at all, and then (during the 
 cholera visitation of 1832) it is well known that the dis- 
 ease was not only less general, but was much less virulent, 
 than in any other city in the country. 
 
 Not to attempt a scientific dissertation on the probable 
 causes of this immunity and the general healthiness of this 
 city, we will advert to only two of them, namely, the com- 
 plete ventilatio.n by our wide streets and avenues, and the 
 remarkable purity of our water supply. A distinguished 
 writer recently said: "The evil consequences of an im- 
 pure supply " (and we may add, per contra, the blessings of 
 au abundant supply,) " of pure water, is deserving of the 
 
28 
 
 most serioiLS consideration." Scientific investigation lias 
 shown that the health of communities cannot possibly be 
 assared where the water supplied for drinking purposes is 
 impure. So true is this that carefully prepared estimates, 
 made during- the prevalence of an epidemic, show that in 
 the city of London, which is supplied with water procured 
 from different sources, the rate of mortality increased in 
 the different sections of the city in direct ratio to the 
 degree of impurity of the water supplied to them. For 
 instance, in London, in 1854, the water supplied by the 
 Lambeth Company was very free fi'om contamination, 
 while that supplied b3'ithe Southwark Compan}- contained 
 much sewage. Both companies had pipes laid in the same 
 streets, and the water was supplied indiscriminately. 
 Among those who used the Southwark water, the deaths 
 amounted to 130 in 10,000, and 2,500 persons were de- 
 stroyed by it in one season. Among those who used the 
 Lambeth water, the deaths amounted to only 37 in 10,000. 
 
 As to the impurities of which we speak, it should be 
 stated that we refer to the presence of organic matter, 
 and not to the calcium and magnesium salts, for instance, 
 which, within certain limits, are considered innocuous. 
 It has been incontrovertibly afHrmefl, after the most 
 searching investigation, that multitudes of diseases whose 
 causes were long considered occult, owe their origin to tlie 
 presence of impurities in the water used for drinking [air- 
 poses. In view of these facts, then, it can hardly be 
 questioned that we are largely indebted to the very pure 
 water with which we are supplied for the high sanitary 
 condition of the city. 
 
 We give below a tabular statement showing the quality 
 of our own water supply as compared with that of some 
 others. All but the estimate of the Potomac water we 
 copy from Professor C. F. Chandler's lecture c/U water, 
 delivered before the American Institute of New York : 
 
20 
 
 City. 
 
 AViishington 
 
 New'Yoi'k 
 
 New York 
 
 New York 
 
 New York 
 
 Brooklyn 
 
 Boston 
 
 Pliihitklpliia 
 
 Pliiludclphii 
 
 Albany 
 
 Trov 
 
 Utica 
 
 Syracuse . 
 
 ("lcv«^lan(l 
 
 ('liicau'o 
 
 llochfstcr 
 
 Soheneofaily 
 
 Newark I 
 
 Jei-sey City j 
 
 Hobokcn ( 
 
 Hiulsoii City J 
 
 Trenton 
 
 London 
 
 Dublin 
 
 Paris 
 
 Amst^erilam 
 
 Source. 
 
 Organic 
 
 and volatile 
 
 matter. 
 
 Wasihintiton supply 
 
 (/rotonaverajic for thirteen weeks in 1867. 
 ''rotoii averaii'e Tor three months in 1868. 
 Croton avera.<re for six niontlisin ]8r>9... 
 
 \Veli west of' Central Paik .' 
 
 i;i(lgewo(p(l 
 
 Cocliitnate. (E. N. Hoi-sford) 
 
 Fainnount 
 
 Delaware 
 
 llvih-ant.. 
 
 Hydrant 
 
 Hydrant 
 
 New ]-esprvoir 
 
 Lake Erie 
 
 I..ake Micliiiian 
 
 Genesee river 
 
 State street well 
 
 Passaic river, 
 
 Delaware river. 
 
 'I'haiiies 
 
 TjOugh'Vartry 
 
 Seine 
 
 River Vecht.... 
 
 0.54 
 0.66 
 1.14 
 
 0.67 
 4 oo 
 O.oi) 
 0.7! 
 1.20 
 on 
 2.31 
 1.34 
 0.96 
 1.80 
 
 1.06 
 1.23 
 2.33 
 
 2. 86 
 
 0..5u 
 0.83 
 1.34 
 1.00 
 2.13 
 
 NOTK. — The above estimates are calculated for one gallon of 231 
 cubic inches. 
 
 J^ext as to tlie iutluence of temperature upon labor, 
 we give here a table showing the temperature of Wash- 
 ington beside that of other cities, first giving an exhibit, 
 furnished by the courtes}' of the Chief Signal Officer of the 
 Arni\', of the mean temperature of the District of Colum- 
 bia, for winter, spring, summer, and autumn since 1860 : 
 
 Months. 
 
 .1 
 
 Months. 
 
 .1 
 
 3 - 
 
 Months. 
 
 S 'S 
 
 Months. 
 
 
 December... 
 
 .JaiiiNiry 
 
 February .... 
 
 Winter 
 
 35. 4 
 32.8 
 34.7 
 
 .34. 3 
 
 March 
 
 Auril 
 
 41.0 
 52. 1 
 63.4 
 
 52.3 
 
 June 
 
 July 
 
 August 
 
 Summer. . .. 
 
 70.9 
 75. 5 
 74.3 
 
 73.6 
 
 Sep.tvmber.. 
 
 October 
 
 November.. 
 
 Autumn 
 
 68.3 
 55, 6 
 
 May 
 
 Spring 
 
 45.4 
 5G.4 
 
30 
 
 This gives us a mean temperature of 54,15'^, which 
 varies from Blodgett's isothermal charts by only 0.85°. 
 
 iSTow, with reference to extremes of temjjerature, (^f 
 which much has l)een ignorautl}' said to the prejudice of 
 Washington, we collate from Blodgett's work reports of 
 observations, as follows : 
 
 Years. 
 
 New Beilford, from \^V2 to ]>!5G T 44 
 
 New York City, from 1822 to 1S.")4 , 32 
 
 Alliaiiy, Xew York, from 182(i ro 18o4 28 
 
 I'hUaileJphia, from 1798 U> ISod r,S 
 
 \\asliingtoii aiirl Baitimore, from 1817 to 1855 88 
 
 (^iiiciJinati, fnom 1835 to 1854 It) 
 
 St. Lonis, from 1833 to 1855.... 22 
 
 Extremes of temperature. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 e-> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ■=< 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 .S 
 
 P 
 
 5 
 
 n2 
 
 t^ 
 
 C/ 
 
 >. 
 
 6C 
 
 i 
 
 o 
 
 i 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 ■^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 < 
 
 r^ 
 
 ~ 
 
 ■-r 
 
 <?, 
 
 yj 
 
 O 
 
 ^ 
 
 — \ 
 
 New Bedford 
 
 / 4iJ 
 1 7 
 
 49 
 
 oS 
 
 67 
 
 77 
 
 80 
 
 87 
 
 84 
 
 81 
 
 71 
 
 01 
 
 51 
 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 2 b 
 
 37 
 
 46 
 
 i>4 
 
 .i2 
 
 41 
 
 30 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 New York City 
 
 (49 
 
 59 
 
 02 
 
 72 
 
 82 
 
 89 
 
 93 
 
 89 
 
 85 
 
 73 
 
 0'2 
 
 50 
 
 1 7 
 
 9 
 
 18 
 
 31 
 
 41 
 
 52 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 47 
 
 35 
 
 24 
 
 14 
 
 .\lijaiiy, New York... 
 
 f48 
 
 48 
 
 51 
 
 76 
 
 84 
 
 89 
 
 92 
 
 88 
 
 84 
 
 71 
 
 01 
 
 48 
 
 1-s 
 
 -5 
 
 7 
 
 23 
 
 30 
 
 48 
 
 55 
 
 50 
 
 39 
 
 27 
 
 17 
 
 -1 
 
 I'liihuk^uliia 
 
 {1 
 
 55 
 
 (;8 
 
 78 
 
 85 
 
 91 
 
 93 
 (!0 
 
 89 
 
 87 
 
 76 
 
 68 
 
 56 
 
 
 9 
 
 \i 
 
 2S 
 
 44 
 
 .')0 
 
 ;)7 
 
 4.) 
 
 34 
 
 24 
 
 14 
 
 
 / 5(j 
 1 9 
 
 59 
 
 (>9 
 
 79 
 
 S5 
 
 91 
 
 94 
 
 91 
 
 88 
 
 77 
 
 07 
 
 50 
 
 Wash, and HaUimon'. 
 
 12 
 
 20 
 
 32 
 
 43 
 
 53 
 
 01 
 
 .59 
 
 40 
 
 33 
 
 24 
 
 10 
 
 ' 
 
 ( n-> 
 
 H4 
 
 7(i 
 
 87 
 
 90 
 
 94 
 
 95 
 
 93 
 
 9t 
 
 81 
 
 71 
 
 61 
 
 Ciiiciiiiiati 
 
 ( 3 
 
 4 
 
 15 
 
 27 
 
 39 
 
 49 
 
 57 
 
 55 
 
 41 
 
 28 
 
 18 
 
 8 
 
 St. Louis 
 
 fOl 
 
 65 
 
 75 
 
 86 
 
 90 
 
 95 
 
 9 ; 
 
 95 
 
 92 
 
 82 
 
 71 
 
 60 
 
 
 t 4 
 
 4 
 
 16 
 
 31 
 
 41 
 
 .)! 
 
 ;)S 
 
 i>i 
 
 4-) 
 
 2o 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 
 Note. — In tlie above table tlie upper line of tiirures represents the. 
 maximum and tltc lower liie miuimcmi temperature olCaeii eit,y in de- 
 e^rees of Fabreuhcit 
 
 The presentation of this table, the result of many years' 
 
•^1 
 
 careful scientific observation, ought to be enough to satisfy 
 the most skeptical mind. 
 
 A glance at the figures will show that the temperature 
 of Washington and Philadelphia are almost identical, 
 wliile it is interesting to compare their extremes of tem- 
 perature Avith those of St. Louis and Cincinnati. 
 
 The maximum and minimum temperature of the two 
 cities of Philadelphia and Washington differ, as follows : 
 
 • 
 
 
 Ol. 
 
 <r. 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 1^ 
 
 < 
 
 t 
 
 O 
 
 It 
 1- 
 
 > 
 o 
 
 1— 
 
 6 
 
 Maxinumi 
 
 Miiiiiuiim 
 
 ft 
 
 -tt 
 
 :^t 
 
 It 
 
 3t 
 
 It 
 •It 
 
 1— 
 
 3t 
 
 It 
 It 
 
 2t 
 •2t 
 
 It 
 It 
 
 2] 
 
 XOTE. — Here the sign = shows uiieii they are couieident, f when 
 the \Vashin2:ton temperature exceeLls. and — when it is less tiian that 
 ul Philadelphia. 
 
 It will be seen that what little difference there is (though 
 there is practicall}' none) in the matter of extremes, is in 
 favor of Washington — the extremes are less. 
 
 If there is an}^ truth in the statement that Washington 
 is an unfavorable place to live in for manufacturing pur- 
 poses, it must apply with equal force to Philadelphia, and 
 greater to St. Louis and Cincinnati. By far the greater 
 number of our best citizens engaged in mechanical and 
 industrial enterprises have spent much time in the same 
 avocations in Northern cities, and we have their testi- 
 mony, that can be relied on, that Washington is far pref- 
 erable in this respect to many of the Northern cities. 
 
 But to those who deem the ex;treme summer heats of this 
 latitude as unfavoi-able to labor, we would say that the 
 days are few in which men, white and black, may not be 
 found pursuing their avocations, without inconvenience, 
 
32 
 
 in the sun. But the }tolnt is : Tiiat, tukiug the year as a 
 whole, there are more available days here for (iomfortable 
 labor than can be found in any portion of Xew England 
 or Xew York — the great manufacturing hives of the con- 
 tinent. In fact, the months from September to January, 
 and from February to May, a great poi-tion of which are 
 cold, wet, stormy, and uncomfortable in the sections named, 
 are here the most genial and liealthful of the whole year. 
 The testimony of manufacturers and laborers taken be- 
 fore this committee were clear on the point that, taking 
 the year through, a man can labor more days in the year 
 in this latitude than in that of any of the principal towns 
 of New England. 
 
 We have thus, even at the risk of seeming prolix, passed 
 in review the historj- of this locality, with its past and 
 prospective advantages, as bearing on the question before 
 us. 
 
 An invaluable auxiliary to the healthfulness of a grow- 
 ing city, and more especially a manufacturing city, is the 
 quantity, quality, and cost of food, and in this connection 
 we quote from the foregoing mentioned report to show 
 some advantages of this locality. 
 
 The supply of abundant and excellent food for any pop- 
 ulation we may have here for j'ears to come cannot but l)e 
 abundant. Consider this region, of so great an extent, so 
 admirably adapted to agriculture! The farming land 
 within an easj^ day's journey hence, in any direction, has 
 scarcely begun to be developed, so that we sot at rest any 
 speculation or doul)t as to whither will come food for a 
 future population, though largely increased. It is within 
 our memory, that, during tlie troubled times of the war, 
 for many years the rich Shenandoah and Kanawha val- 
 leys were the best sources of supplies of food and cattle 
 
33 
 
 for the Virginia armies. If these hosts could be fed in the 
 turmoil of war and strife, when labor and production were 
 at a standstill, it is easy to see that the inducement of 
 fair compensation would increase the past supply im- 
 mensely. Even before the war these regions were a noted 
 source of su[)ply of line cattle to the markets of Baltimore 
 and Philadelphia. 
 
 In another connection we have spoken of the capacity 
 of this section of country for wool-growing, and here refer 
 to the additional facility for supplying mutton — the most 
 healthful and cheapest article of animal food. But for 
 vegetables, cereals, and fruits, we claim that Virginia 
 cannot be excelled. Apples, pears, and peaches are 
 nowhere more abundant, or of better quality ; and grapes 
 grow wild all over this region in great abundance, and in 
 quality equal to the best varieties in our markets. Thus 
 atibrding at home articles of luxury, as well as staple, for 
 our tables. And while referring to the supply afforded 
 by this section of beef and mutton for the markets, it is 
 not irrelevant .to mention that it is also lamous — especially' 
 the counties of Loudon and Farquier — -for its tine-blooded 
 horses, as well as its tine stock of draught animals — both 
 horses and mules. All these considerations we deem of 
 vital importance as concomitants to the growth and pros- 
 perity of a manufacturing city. 
 
 SCHOOLS IN WASHINGTON. 
 
 We quote in regard to schools to show the spirit which 
 prevails in regard to popular education, the great improve- 
 ments made and the determination of the people to attain 
 lo a system of public schools not inferior to any in the 
 United States ; and to accomplish which, talent, experi- 
 ence, and precedent have been borrowed from every State 
 3 G F 
 
34 
 
 of the Union, and the best results from all have attempted 
 to be copied: 
 
 Tho Avhitv population of Wa,«Iiiii2:foii in 1870 was 73,744 
 
 " colored '• " '" " '' 35,455 
 
 Tohil 109,199 
 
 White cliiJdivn, between G and 17 years of age, in Wasliingtou 
 was ^ 17.403 
 
 Colored children, between Hand 17 years ofaue. in Washington 
 
 was ^ 8,532 
 
 Total 25.935 
 
 From 1802 to 1840 very little was done for public free- 
 schools in Washington. During that period there was 
 never more than tive hundred children received into what 
 was called public schools, and on an average not more 
 than three hundred. All the free-schools were then con- 
 sidered schools for poor children, and were never popular. 
 In 1840 there were but two schools, one in the western 
 the other in the eastern district. The whole number of 
 pupils received into both was four hundred and thirty- 
 two, and the average only two hundred and ninety-six. 
 The whole cost of both schools was but $1,500. 
 
 In 1850 the schools had increased in number to fourteen, 
 which were taught by fourteen principals and live as- 
 sistants. The whole number of pupils received was 1,389, 
 while the cost amounted to $7,685 88. 
 
 At the close of the next decade (i860) the number of 
 schools had increased to fifty with fifty teachers. 
 
 The number of pupils enrolled amounted to 4,296, and 
 the cost was $29,821. At this period there were no pub- 
 lic, and only three or four private schools for colored 
 children in the city. • But mark the change and })rogress 
 in the next ten years. 
 
 In 1870 the number of white schools was one hundred 
 
35 
 
 and seventeen ; principal teachers, one hundred and seven- 
 teen; assistants, six; niasic teachers, two; and German 
 teachers, two ; in ail, one hundred and twenty-seven. 
 The whole numher or pupils enrolled was 10,753, 
 
 The cost for the white seliools, aside iVoiii new builtlinjjs and 
 
 iuiprovementis, was ... $173,250 
 
 New bnildings and improvements^ 73.500 
 
 Givinij. lor white s( iiool.>-. a total expendilni-.- of §240,750 
 
 In 1870 the number of colored schools was fifty-eight, 
 with fifty-eight teachers. 
 
 The number of pupils enrolled was 6,681, which, added 
 to the number of white children, (10,753,) gives a total of 
 17,434 pupils enrolled. 
 
 Tile whole cost of tlie colored school.s. aside fi-om new^ build- 
 ings, &c., amounted to $S3,3(j7 
 
 Add total for wiiite children 240,750 
 
 And we Imve a total expenditure of $330,117 
 
 In Georgetown and the county the change is no less 
 marked. The private and charity schools of Washington 
 received, in 1870, 6,309, and those of Georgetown, 1,000 
 pupils. Thus, 23,743 out of the 25,935 children of school 
 age have been enrolled in public or private schools. The 
 work is still progressing, and larger, more commodious 
 and beautiful school buildings are now being erected than 
 we have seen in any city which it has recently been our 
 good fortune to visit. 
 
 With churches it is the same. More than ninety difier- 
 ent houses dedicated to the worship of God are found in 
 the District, where all may worship, with " none to molest 
 or make afraid." 
 
 Again, there is scarcely a locality where the education 
 of the rising generation is exciting more general interest. 
 The population which we invite nmy count upon every 
 advantage in this respect for their children. 
 
36 
 
 We are indebted to Mr. Z. Richards — so lono- a valu- 
 able teacher in, aud now Auditor of the District — -for the 
 foregoing facts. 
 
 With regard to new private improvements in the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia, there has been $3,421,265 worth erected 
 within the last year, (1872,) nearly all of which are of 
 the most comfortable and substantial dwellings and 
 business edifices, with modern improvements, and adapt- 
 ed to every grade of society. And, happily, our popu- 
 lation is correspondingly increasing. In short, the spirit 
 of improvements is thoroughly at work in this District, 
 and necessarily alive to, and, in self-interest, will most 
 earnestly coo})erate with any corresponding measures for 
 surrounding or neighboring improvements. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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