Washington sentinel., 1853-11-11
6sneral SnttIligtnff.
The washington Aqueduct.

Iuesuay iast was rendered memorable IN ths
annals OF this city and district by the commence
ment of the great aqueduct which is TO bring into
the city the waters of the Potomac The appro-
val Of the President of the United States having
given the requisite official sanction 10 the largest
of the plans reported by Captain M G. Meigs,
the engineer entrusted with this important and
difficult undertaking, Tuesday was set apart
for its Inauguration by the personal attendance and
participation of the President and portion OF
his cabinet, accompanied by the municipal au-
thorties of Washington and Georgetown. Pas
sage boats having been provided, the party en-
barked at the usual landing place near the market
house in Georgetown, and proceeded, one by
steam and the other by track-horsey up the Chesa-
/ peake and Ohio canal to Crommelin, near the
/ Great Falls of the Potomac, in the vicinity oi
which the aqueduct takes It's commencement
The day, though at first overclouded, proved pro-
| pitious and the boats reached their destination
| about 12A o'clock
| The spot having been designated by flag erect
and soon surrounded by a concourse Of citizens
assembled 10 witness the ceremony of the naug-
/ uration.
i The exercises were introduced with solemn
| prayer by the Rev. DIR. Pyne rector of ST. Johns
/ Episcopal Church, of Washington.
/ Captain Meigs then addressed the company as
4 follows 4
aMr. President and gentlemen, we have invited
you TO meet here to-day TO inaugurate the Wash
| ington Aqueduct. II is a time-honored custom,
L
/ undertaken, to make, as is now proposed, formal
commencement and where shall we find work
| more worthy of such solemnity than this which we
| begin this day. OF all the works which cvliza-
| tion and science enable man to construct, perhaps
an aqueduct IS the most useful the most enduring.
| The channels constructed by Pagan emperors
before the Christian era, still continue pour their
healthful waters into decaying Rome. What other
structure OF those early days now continues fulfill
its original purpose? The antiquary with painful la
i hnr1 1acinharo m nScrin which half veal
half conceal the name OF the hero OF funeral pyra-
mid or triumphal arch; while the aqueduct, em-
balming in the gratitude of the people the name of
| its founder, still supplies health and life, and per-
peuates his name after the lapse OF eighteen hun
/ dred years. fsl
ave think then, Mr.. President, that this is an oc-
casion worthy of your presence, and we ask you,
to whom Congress entrusted the decision upon the
plan to strike the first spade into the ground, and
| begin the Washington Aqueduct, q work which, if
completed upon the scale you have ordered, will
! be worthy monument to the Father Of his Coun-
i try, whose name il bears, and which will cause
| your administration TO be long and gratefully re-
membered by the citizens Of the metropolis, which
| he laid out on SO great plan-a plan which shows
that he looked far into futurty and with faith
| the onward and upward course of people gov
erned upon free principles and by rulers Of their
i own choice"
The President being then presented with the
necessary implement for commencing the ex-
cavation, made brief preliminary address, in
which he observed that the part he had been
called upon to take in relation to this work had
been confined to decision on the best plan OF
| conducting il ; and that, upon the statement OF
priety of its adoption, considering the magnitude
OF the enterprise its duration, and its great impor-
tance all parts of the District did not admit of
doubt The duty assigned TO him on the present
occasion to break the first ground in prosecu-
ton Of the plan: this he should now with great
satisfaction, proceed TO do, leaving the rest TO
Il others
He then took the spade. amidst the cheers OF
/ the spectators, and turned the first sod
j The Hon. Jefferson Davis Secretary Of War,
followed next in order. He addressed the com
pany in short but impressive speech, in which
he congratulated them as assembled TO witness
the commencement of a work in the highest de-
gree useful and honorable TO our own generation,
/ and whose benefits were to descend to thousands
yet TO come.
This undertaking (he saitD had been crticisedin
no friendly manner, as an attempt intended by its
magnitude and expense to emulate the regal splen-
dor OF the works Of the old world but in his opin,
ion, no public work could be too high or too grand
10 be undertaken by free people, especially when
il was to benefit city bearing the name of Wash
ington CHEERS y a work destined TO cause refresh
ing streams to flow through metropolis honored
by that name which would ever remain fresh anC
green in the memory and the affections of every
true American; name consecrated alike TO the
patriots and the soldiers fame, whose genius con
trolled both the armies and the councils Of hi.
country.
The honorable secretary paid merited tribute
10 the talent and learning Of the engineer under
] whose management tins great design had been Sc
properly placed, expressing his afectionate good
will to the city and all its interests and again in.
sisting that, great and magnificent as that design
was, il did not exceed the destiny reserved for
such city, into which it would eventually pour a
tide of prosperity and greatness that would lift the
the mind far above all consideration ofthe amount
appropriated for so great public benefit He con-
cluded by observing that he had been iii the habit
Of listening TO the engineer for all that related to
this undertaking, and TO him he would refer in
quirers for the details connected with its accom-
plishment.
The secretary then followed his chief and turn
i ed over the second sod.
The honorable Senator Douglas, of Illinois, said
that the magnitude Of the contemplated work, so
far from presenting to his mind any objection to
its inception was, on the contrary, strong argu-
ment in its favor, provided its usefulness in
| proportion to its dimensions. We in America
| were accustomed TO spend money for works Of
utility, not in those of mere ornament pomp, and
show. None that contemplated the present de-
| sign could doubt for moment its great utility
and as this was the only District under the direct
! municipal protection of the general government,
the government owed 10 the citizens of Washing
/ ton in which the Congress assembled, TO present
il with a work worthy of the nation and ofthe man
whose name it bore. In token then ofthe good will
/ ne DOTc u uli STcdl WOThS ioF titC
| good, provided their accomplishment was sane
toned by the Constitution, it was with great plea
| sure that he should now lift spadeful of earth
toward the completion of so noble an undertaking.
The next sod was raised by the Hon. John w.
1 Maury, mayor Of Washington, who observed that
| he had not come there TO make speech, but 10
| participate in ceremony which was the fore
| runner of beneit so vast and inestnlable 10
| metropolis dear TO oil Americans, and the begin
| ming of work 10 prove an enduring blessing to
tnha fhs nf
through present and future generations.
W. w. Seaton, late mayor Of Washington, re-
marked, as he took hold of the spade that although
he was now free from the labors and responsible
ties of the mayoralty, he still permitted to
share in some of its privileges and enjoyments, one
of which was the pleasure extended TO him of
uniting in this interesting ceremony. twas with
pride that he should remove a sod in honor and
approval Of the benefcent work which he had long
contemplated with deep solicitude, and had lived
TO see happily begun.
Mr.. John T. Towers, President of the Board OF
Alderman. Nicholas Callon oft the, RnarJ