Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-07-22
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP.

On rHz wNs-ALExANDRrA AS SHE WAS AND
As she Now Looks IRON THE RIvEE-THE
IsLAND-A BEAUTIFUL PASoRANa,6ey II
Editorial Correspondence Of The Star. IL
THURSDAY MORNING, July - ao''' II
. According to arrangement, emu -.
O'Clock this morning upon the r IH~ III a.
ch.. Mitchell. for Old Point Comiors, Win the
80 =. 80 zinc exceedingly cOmfortless there
r. ,,i., twenty -four hours | may be able to
-. ,,somucb as heard, few moments since
81, there are full five hundred guests, from all
on,rters of the country at the Hygea, its only
caravansea However, it Is in good hands, and
peopIe at watering places-and more especially
southern people, (who the class always largely
predominating at Old Point)-planters, merchants,
and public men and their families, residing south |
of Mason and DixUn's line, strive to amuse and |
render each other happy, with good will rarely |
manifested by the b,istling world elsewhere. |
have voyaged much In my time. and sight |
seeing, when voyaging, is a passion with me. j |
love to trace harmony grandeur in nature quite
as much as progress In the world-the gradual
development Of the capacity of everything vouch-
safed to man by Him who holds us all in the hol-
low of His hand. for improving our condition, on
being intelligently and industriously used to that
end The passion with me is not one Of recent
growth, but dates back to my recollection of
Alexandria, (Which am just now passing. on the
almost motionless bosom of the well-named river
OF swans.) when it was the centre Of perhaps
heavier importation commerce than Baltimore,
renowned for its good taste. enterprise, public
spirit. and lavish hospitality; and when chief
feature of the burg was the venerable appearance
of the many relics of revolutionary fame residing
there, who were wont to parade King street in
powdered wig or hair, carefully tended queue.
three-cornered cOcked-hat, waistcoat reaching
well nigh to the knee, encased in brooches and
closely fitted stockings, and carrying elaborate
gold-headed walking-staffs rather than wooden
canes and almost invariably gold or silver snuff
box. .....
Alexandria was then emphatically the seat Of
| the commercial enterprise and progress Of this
| region; she emphatically Is NOT in this era.
Her fair continue to be for the last half century,
renowned for their feminine grace, beauty, and
| really valuable accomplishments, and her men in
active life for integrity and genialty and proper
self-respeck But, alas, her commercial race seems
| to have been fairly run. Baltimore has stripped
| her Of her export trade, and Washington despite
her really greater facilities In bidding fair to strip
her Of her retail trade The loss Of these is being
followed Of course, by the loss Of her former inn
portatiOn trade, out of which the present heavy
wealth Of SO many Of her citizens grew for the
4 hioSt part nc SIdtc vi Ids HiOet llDc1-
ally aided her with Railroads and the Chesapeake
| and Ohio Canal But as her commercial affairs
are now managed, these merely serve avenues
| through which the produce Of what used to be her
back country Is carried through her thorOug hfares
| to the wharves and warehouses of other communi-
| ties, wherein men Of capital employ il in active
business, giving profitable employment to all men
| of brains and snews around them, (but without
capital) willing to strive for eventual In
| the world. This morning, for the first time in
| my life, saw not single ship at her wharves
| when passing them. In that respect, they illus
trate the mutablity Of affairs Of life; for in times
| past, il was common to there from ten to
twenty ships at all seasons, and four or five times
| as many other vessels and small craft.
| As glance back at the houses of the burg to
be seen from the river, the sight tells me that
mutabilty in its appearance is not one Of the in
cdents Of Alexandria; for sees little else than
the same old steeples, and the same quaint and
| antiquated buildings with which have been ia
| miliar for forty years. To be her cnvirons
| are now graced with villas perched OH command
| ing eminences, smiling fields and thrifty farm
| buildings which had no existence then, and now
| form stri king and pleasing contrast with the
4 Ri Van winklish air she (Alexandria) bears
| Yet the involuntary impression such 4 view Of the
| town as | have before makes on the mind is
| that her citizens keep her at stand still by
way Of showing passing strangers a sight hardly
elsewhere to be seen in our country-an entirely
| flashed American city. Such sights though not
! unfamiliar to our countrymen who have been
I abroad. are, rejoice to say. rarely seen here
But for the hustle observable among the craft at
her coal wllarves where Il brisk trade has sprung
up in the last derade there would be naught to
break the Eupropean tone of the picture of Alex
andril as seen from the river.
Baltimore, by her enterprise and her improper
control of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. threat
eos seriously to rob Alexandria of this valuable
co;d trade, which is yet hardly in its infancy
To preserve it against Baltimore's efforts to de-
stroy il, will require, fear. the exercise of
more force of character n class, than the bust
nc ~ men of Alexandria now possess. Complaints
Of the wrong doings of their rivals in trade will
avail them nothing in the struggle. They must
combine every Influence that can possibly lie
brought to bear 20 force the State of MARYLAND to
manage the affairs Of the canal for the benefit of
its the canal's) finances and for that of the
region Of country whose commerce it was de-
signed To accommodate. Retaliatory action Oh
the part Of the Virginia Legislature. stretching
its powers and authority TO that end and fercely
striking back two heavy blows for every one
received, Will soon bring Baltimore and the
Maryland authorities to their senses. Yet we
fear Alexandria is too lethargic and too close
listed to initiate the, to her. vital struggle
How different did w ashington appear as rode
this morning across the Island to the wharf at the
foot Of Sixth street. | remember the city well I'm
the days Of big ships, bustling wharves, knee
breeches and ui-cornered hats in Alexandria The
Island then was half swamp, and nearly half vir-
gin forest, with stunted corn fields interspersed
Now, it is smiling and lively city, as it were, of
some ten thousand souls Its neat and bright hab-
itatons. with hardly an exception, look as though
created within the last week with an eve to the
especial accommodation Of the class Of people
who, If they were duly encouraged in Alexandria
by her capitalists, (whO are vastly more wealthy
in proportion to their number than those of the |
Federal metropolis would speedily eradicate the
grass from her streets, and cause her affairs to
prosper as they cannot SO long her (Alexandria)
favorite Investment is in Northern stocks |
From tue river, too, as the staunch steamer
swept past the neat and picturesque Washington |
Arsenal, the whole city and Georgetown and the |
surrounding heights on both sides presented this
Inn ina