Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1872-12-04
LOCAL ITEMS.

SrSt"u ny tue recent rCtrOcCSSlun movement
Which is being 81 unnecessarily, and damaging
Is agitatcd. The article can alone, in one
sense, be complimentary to our city, and that
arises from the feeling Of vencration which its
age inspires. However We may be attached to
ii from considerations of this kind, we are 10th
30 acknowledge that in this alone it cxcites the
past pride OF its citizens The first difficulty
encountered by the writer, was TO get from
Washington to Alexandria, and the incidents
on the way were such as an experienced travel
lcr would most likely have escaped. The writer,
Scornlng puDilc conveyaDceS, was bcgulled into
hiring carriage for the journey, at Washing
ton prices Crossing the Long Bridge he con-
graduates himself that he is upon soil belong
ny to the venerable and venerated mother Of
P:cSileuts Of which he is pleased to speak
IN the following terms:
1T is said that IN some remote period 10
pre- historic times, the territory between Wash
lugtou and Alexandria was highly cultivated
but We utterly refuse to believe the story with
out 4 production Of the proof. Certainly there
are TO 81 gns OF such cultivation now, ard II
seems impossible to understand how human
beings could ever have been brought to that
pitch Of desperation which would make thcul
willing to WELD the shovel and the hoe in this
God forSakeu locality. Even the inevitable
negro, with his wonderful faculty Of living on
nothing, has look of inclplcnt starvation in
MS face as he leauS against the corner OF his
tumble down hut, and az!ly contempates the
extraordinary spectacle of a passing vehicle.
The following is the account, III full, OF our
city, and the thoughts on retrocesSlon, which
will doubtless raise the risibilites of many:
But all things must have an end, and so
the overland journey from Washington to Al
cxandria is finally concluded. The city is
reached, and the traveller exercises bis visual
organs with mingled emotions Of awe and
a,lazcment, lie has just left the latter half
of the nineteenth century, and here he is &C
,ually dropped down in the early part OF the
eighteenth. Alexandria was founded long he
fore the beloved father of his country Ratchet
ed the cherry tree, and stopped growing suon
after its foundation. Que feels inclined 10
take off his hat at every house on account OF
its age, and salute the crumbing brick and
mortar as relies of vanished generations
In fact, the only thing which appears to
thrive in Alexandria, is the English ivy
ihat rare old plant whose glossy green
fingers hide the traces of decay and dcs-
citation, and bring quaint and solemn
smile among the features Of irrcvocablc
ruin Rip Van Wrinkle took the trouble
10 go into the kaatskill mountains for his
twenty years nap-he ought to have come to
Alexandria, where he might have been sleep
ing yet An atmosphere of dreamless repose
hrnodS over the place; the men and women
whom one occasionally sees in the streets seem
70 be in i somuambu!istic state, and the scanty
supply of children fit hther aud thither like
diuinutive ghosts. The pavements are worn
into burrows by the tread of bipcds and quad
rupeds who were dead and buried before
Fulton invented the steamboat or Stephenson
the locomotive: the curbStoneS arc III the last
stages Ct rheumatic decrepitude, and their
wrinkled and twisted visages tell of the ante
revolutionary DAYS when Washington's grand
coach used to rub against them on his Sabbath
pilgrimage to Christ church; the small window
nancs and queer carvings around the doors OF
The dwellings exhale an odor OF antiquity which
no modern innovation ever dlsturDs-ior Alex
andria is flushed and fenced IN forever. ;.
But strange to says this American Pompeil
Which has successfully resisted every phase
of modern progress thus far, is now threatened
with Invasion bv that peculiarly modern instl-
tuition, the lobby A ring has been formed 10
and outfde of Alexandria having for It's aVoWed
object the remuneration Of the city to the Dis
trict of Columbia As the telegram informs US
that ''thc Republicans arc managing the mat
ter. there is a cheerful probability OF the en-
tcrprisc being crowned with success, tor the
Renublicans" accomplished about all they un-
dertake ia this blessed era. So VIC may calmly
contemplate the acquisition OF a fosslllzcd mu-
ncipalily which is of no manner of account to
anybody except the persons who own 1t,
and Which will be fruitful bill OF expense
TO the nation from the moment 1t Is lodg--
ed in the federal nest The District OF
Columbia has no more use Tor AleAanor'',
than it has for Thebes or Ialnyra' anu
nathing but an insane philanthropy on
mill Ip1uca an occrpt-
ance of the gift. Yet if the gift must be ac,
ceptca. there is perhaps one way III which 1t
may be utilized 1t is the fashion tor the
government meaning thereby the presl-
dent and cabinet-to take vacation every
summer. Now this vacation Is taken tor
the ostcnsible purpose OF rest; let our tlreo
government hereafter go to Alexandria. Ihe
rest there is abundant and cheap no un-
sremv levitv will disturb the profund med
ita;ions of the chief magistrate and his constr,
tutional advisers: no gayety or dissipation VII!
break in upon their exalted dignity; there VIII
be nothing to modest or make them AFRAID
nothing to do but enjoy a luxurious ldieneSs;;
free from care and sin. As highly, genteel
and entirely urcxceptonablc hospital Tor pres
Dental and ministerial invallds, Alexandra
may be made to pay. Ii 1t Is gooo LOT auy
thing else we fail to see it.
1t Is human nature W "du' W ~ 49,
others say Of US, and though the above Is rather
tough" and the description, abont as cor
rect as Western stories generally, yet we pup
l;,h il to crafty curiosity and let 1t be SEEM
th,t though dead, fenced in, &c, &c. we are
nevertheless worthy of column editorial IN a
a loading Western paper There have been a
rrnnt many complimentary things said OF Alex,
andr;a lately, and many good wishes expressed
i for her prosperity and future growth, aud
therefore we can afford to laugh at the aoo i've
piece of irony, evclcd at US, as we'll as at the ne
Administration, and while we should nave no
Objection 20 the President and Cabinet making H
this place their summer resort-tar oe1eer thau
NEWPORT or Saratoga-and away from the ''aIe,
full Influences of those places-ano near ~ .ne
capital, yet, we fully agree with 'ne "t t1or
for Thebes or Palmyra