Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1873-05-07
LOC A l. N II w =.

W. n ". IL. ~, pou tlc auJuuIuulcul
oftbe meeting of the Commercial Exchange and
Exchange Building Companies this morning,
,Lc members remained in the room to hear
s,mc remarks which it was reported would DO
"aJr Nv MIR. Lewis Mckenzie, and that gen.
,'nman being present, upon invitation, took
tho stand and said he did not come there to
bny wheat or corn, but to say few words IN
boI,If Of the extension of the Washington and
nhio Railroad That road was already graded
tram Hamilton, its present terminus. to turccll-
vine. 81 miles, and was only waiting or the iron
~ LEI the cars run to that point FROM fur,
c,lvillc to Round Hill was 3 miles; from Hound
IIiI ~ SnickcrSville and the base of the Blue
i n;I,s was / miles and from thence to the ore
i I'J IN the Shenandoah was twelve miles aud a
l.lf c,id not expect pccuniary aid to any great
n.,., from the individual members of the Com
.'r..;al Exchange or from that Association col
irtvry but he did ask that they would speak
t;ul word about the per cent gold bonds
;s'nnj hr his Company upon which the interest
w,s ALWAYS paid puucualy. He was we'll
an..rc th,t enough foreign railroad securities
h,I hecn sold by the banks aud brokers Of this
c;tv within the last year or two to have built
ivy W & o. X. r. to the banks Of the
Shor,na,,h in which banks lay thous-
ands mon thousands of the richest iron
"ra n his connection he thought it I'M
,nrt,nt for the people of Alexandria to consider
, ry soon whether it would not be to their ad-
r,n,,rr to erect iron furnaces here, for there
was IRON ore ON both the roads leading into the
,tv and coal in protusion is brought here by
the canal. He doubted whether Alexandria
could be sustained by the mere agricultural pro-
ductions received here. Cooperation would
filled the furnaces if properly managed The
sight of furnaces in active operation to
pcoplc coming up the river or those pass
i,r through the town at night would make
them think We were live community His
read had never asked the town as cor
poraion for dollar because 1t was already too
heavily 10 debt The city hid been exceeding
" iberai she had subscribed largely to the
other roads, to gas works and to other public
improvements. Iu lS47 just, before Rcsrnccs-
sion the debt Of the town was $574000, which
on a population at that time of 500 was $40
per head on every man, woman and child, black
and white IN the town, or an annual interest VI
81 90 per head After Rctroccssion the State
took $572 900 Of the Alexandria canal stock
which the Corporation exchanged tor their
own bonds thus reducing the town debt to
100000 or $37 50 upon each lnhabltant or
81 % annual interest per head. You all Know
what the debt is noW-ncarly million, nobody
can say therefore that We have not been gcncr-
Gus us il Corporation. y few people of the city
securities and he apprchended that others
who had invested in other bonds at higher
rates than the bonds Of the W. 4 0. would be
very glad to swap. Among those of our clti
zcus who had bought the bonds of his road were
Nicssrs. C. L. Lee, j. It. Evans, &. 2. Shaw,
!. +. Carn, Smoot & Perry, W. A. Moore,
Henry Strauss, Rev. j. T.. Johnston, Capt. J.
C. Graham, Dr. French, Wash. Blythe and
others. Large quantities ofiron are now going
through here by Mr.. Reeds line of steamers
to b. worked up in Pennsylvania. The profits
on one iron furnace would be more than upon
al the couptry produce that now comes here.
H. concluded by hoping that Mr. Agnew, who
mad been la, gely and for a long tune engaged
in the iron trade would address the meeting.
llr. J. 7. Agncw then rose and said that
furnace of the best class could be erected here
Tor Sl25, 900; a fair one for $4,000. No To-
vc<tmcnt would pay better. Mr.. Barbour had
informed him that his road and its friends
would contribute to such an enterprise. He
supposed Mr. Mckenzie S road would do the
same with this aid and that Of our clti-
zens the SUCCESS of the undertaking would
be assured aud he was certain that the profits
would be such as to induce multiplication of
furnaces. lie had lately visited the iron beds
along both the lines of roads leading to this
city and had found that the ore was equal to
that Of Lake Superior. With such rich ore,
and with the co ,vcnirnccs OF fuel aud transport
tlton afforded by Alexandria furnace here
would certainly pay handsomely and so sure of
1t was he that he would contribute to the es-
adjustment Of one here at once.
lIYDRAU1IoN STEAM FIRE ENGINE Con-
rANY.-rhc regular monthly meeting of this
company was held last evening in the hall, the
alterations in which have just been completed.
Vice President Carne presided and VIM. ii.
Griffith acted as Secretary. Joseph II. Young,
from the Building Committee, reported pro-
uress and stated that collections had been
made, so far, to sufficient amount to- cover
the expenses except four dollars. The hall has
bonn entirely remodcllcd a new ceiling having
been nut up and bunk room cut off from the
cast end by half partition occupying the space
the stand and closets used to DO. while a neat
stand has been erected at the west end. Elc-
CANT gas fixtures have been put up and two
coats of white paint given to Alc woodwork,
which is, hereafter, to be grained SO that only
acarpct and curtains are now needed to make
the room very handsome one.
In consequence Of the absence of the books,
the minutes were not read. The chair laid be-
oic lic meeting inc rcSlEnaIou vi AlIliul ";
Nell as Secretary, which was accepted, and
Henry &. Clark was unanimously elected to hli
the vacancy.
Two candidates for membership were pro-
r!osssand II. }. Ncvctt, |. Bcrlincr and A. }.
Ne" ell were appointed the Eecting Committee;
The resignation Of Thomas Beach, caused
~ his engagement on railroad, was received,
n .N la'd on the table and he was suspended un-
WY ,l ne might desire reinstatement. A member
t Gru naa been under suspension for not uni
r,n,Es, III i'nc, was rcinstated, he having
'', m' with the law on the subject.
r,o wa mJ'lon OH; II. Young, the officers were
rany by a festival >' " "''''' '''' WV
0'RoNER INQUEST -Cousidcrab excite
i"cn' was created in the ncighborhood of the
n ""' o. Queen street this morning by the dis
Every OF newly born infant. dead though