Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1873-07-03
Alexandria, Virginia.

(hcsarcakr Bay, into which it flows, aud two
hundred miles from the Atlantic ocean. 1t is
one othc cIlrI' cities of Virginia, and is one
hundred and nine miles by rail from Richmond,
thu. capital oi the Stale.
Many interesting historical facts in conncc
ton with the American Revolution belong to
Alexandria, Old Christ Church remains the
s,,r.e as when the great Washington worshipcd
.hcrn. Many Of the quaint old residences Of
the arlcicuL time also remain, but improvements
arc rapidly nhIiterat.ng these old landmarks.
The Alexandria of the past Is not the AlrXan.
,rja of to-day. New life and energy is being
infused, and her people are awake To the de~
luanlS oI' the hour. The streets are paved,
we'll graded, and cross each other at right
ANGLES: Il street railroad is now being built
through King street. The city is iSht''t with
gas, and is abundan'y supplied with pure wa
ter. Steam cars and ferry connect it with
Washington, only six miles distant, and cars
and boats run every hour. -
AZ the commencement of the war It's porll.
I,tiun was 10000 In 1870 it had rcachcd
1870, and now there are iully 10000, with i
CROWN. trade; the starting OF manufactures
and other industries is steadily increasing. As
nroucrty is much cheaper here than in WASH
in"iun it will be eventually settled to a great
extent by those who do business at the Capital.
AS a commercial point Alexandria enjoys
great advantages. The Potomac, opposite the
citv, is one milo wide, and from thirty to fifty
feet deep, aud being supplied with large and
,ornluodiu,ls Wharves and extensive warehouses
affords all the lactlcs required for couimGrclM
pur,n,s:s. A branch Of the Chesapeake Canal
Terminates here--.ur more properly the AlcXan-
d,ia Canal and should the project of building
il ,hronuh to the Ohio river succeed, Alcyan-
dria will I've greatly benefited Five lines OF rail
way now concentrate here, and with these,
canal and water communication on the river,
connection with points North and South Is made
easy.
Strange rs it may seem, gentlemen from the
North are arriving here every day. Yesterday,
coming from Washington on the boat, We met
several parties looking for homes in the South
Today a man from near Philadelphia reached
here, who is largely interested in the iron ln-
tcrcsis of Pennsylvania The people arc anxi77
our Tor men to cume, and from all appearances
thcrei isyet room to make profitable investments.
The Mount Vernon Cotton Factory is within
the corporate limits. The building is 1O5x55
and four stories high. One thousand three
hundred bales OF cotton arc. consumed annually.
last year the average production Of each loom
was IS yards. The capacity per day is 5000
yards, number OF spindlcs 4, lOO,. looms, ia,
operatives employed, l25. The goods manu-
iactured are four quarter shcetings, medium, OF
three different grades, measuring respectively
three and quarter, three and q half and four
yards to be pound. These goods bring at
wholesale about eleven cents per yard, The
motive power is furnished by one of the Corliss
variable cutoff enginesot one hundred horse
power 1t requires two and half tons of coal
per day Tor fuel, and that is supplied at a cost
nI four dollars and ninety-onc cents per ton,
laid down ut the factory. For 1873 the eaverage
cost of the raw material was twenty-five cents.
The president of the company is, A. N. Turn
bul, whose offico is No. l3 German street,
Baltimore The superintendent is, MIR. A.
Schocticld, who kindly cosducted us through
the factory, aud gave us the above information.
Besides this there are ia the city two iron
loundries and machine shops; three coach
factories, two steam planning mills and sash fac
tories one extensive tannery-the largest IN
the State, with d branch In Rappafiannock
county at tie foot Of the Blue Ridge. This
tuuncry is owned by 9. G. sluoot u Sons. The
bark used is chestnut and oak, and costs per
cord laid down ut the tannery from twelve to
fourteen dollars. !! Iu the mountains the bark is
hought corded at six dollars per cord; two
steam brcwcrics two brick works, operated by
steam two lime kins one, fattcry /; two su-
luac mills one shipyard one, establishment
ior The manufacture Of mineral waters iour
furniture manufactures, and numerous smaller
branches of industry. 1t has two daily news
papers, several hotels, the largest OF which is
the Mansion House, complete in all of Its ap-
roIntmeuts A number of families arc now
here spending the summer In the winter the
house is filled with inValids from the North.
Adjoining this house is Braddock's hcatlquar-
icrS the ROOMS remaining AS they were during
the revolution. There are many places OF IN
trrcSt easy ol access not far from Alexandria.
Fairfax Court llouse is fourteen mies, Far
lax Seminary three miles, Arlington SIX miles,
and Mount lcrnnn uinc miles.
he public buildings recently erected arc,
models q" architectural skill aud beauty. Tho
WY Hail. containing offices Of the Mayor,
'o'lncIi and hcadq quarters of the various de-
,s'rhcnts, occupies the entire space between
r"rlaX and Royal streets, fronting on Cameron
street 2i6 feet The main building is some six
iest deep, with two wings running back on
'al'!aX and Rnyal streets I72 feet, with a
'pa'nus court yard between This courtyard
.." .,"u ,"c ground floor of the wing on Royal
',''' ,,a,' aud onc-llai of the main building on
rI'oh rI''",'oh street are used for market purposes.
'r,,' I'c'i 10y the fire department and police.
E. WY "llceS are in the second story
,,I: I''c schools have been in existence in Alex
,an i.' ha: ior almost century, George Washing
~ wing established the first one in December,
l,y Us bubble schools now arc not cxcccd
wh, similar institutions in tho country. The
wa. u"ni'cr of graded schools during 1872
nf number OF teachers, sixteen; number
whi iupliS' nmc hundred and eighty-thrce; OF
,n1 1eI II 'here were six hundred and twelve white
f., .'lrer hundred and seventy ono coorcd; to,
'Isa1 H.. I'St OF education nine thousand eight hun
,u, "ua aH1 eighty four dollars and seventy-two
"N w N$9SSi.72). At the same time there
s,, ",'I .hirty two private schools, with one thou
"i'' Two hundred and fifty five pupils in which
tLn u,.e hundred and thiry-threc were white and
c;," c".f hundred and twenty-five colored The
,'! ,;! h's twenty churches Of various denomina-
''o''S' all of which aro generally we'll supported.