Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1874-11-23
Cur Neglected Lands and water
Powers,
HOW THKY CAN BE UTILIZED.

( in nearly every part Of the country. Mechanics
| and laborers have been and are still out OF
| employment. Consequently there have been
| hundreds of esses OF actual suffering for the
necessares of life. This state of affairs has been
! brought about by the money panic of last year.
| Since that time business Of every kind has
| been Almost St a stand-s;ill. This condition OF
affairs Is ielt but very little by the agricultural
| community, tor land has produced ss well, and
there Is as great abundance OF grain and fruits
| OF every kind as we have had tor several vears
| past, and at the same time these pTOtaCts have
not decreased IN price TO such an extent ss TO
materially ahect the agricultural interest.
These f9c,s have prom uted the writer 20 make
! lev suggestiOnS, which he thinks would, If
| adopted, lead TO very advaBta geOus results TO
| the community, as vel as afford very profitable
investment. lt IL str9nge that so IN any thou
san : OF aci es CT lsl should be idle and uncul-
| uvafed within lew mites of the Capital of the
! Nation ,iw here we have population or about
one hundred and tfUy Thousand TO feed, with
comparatively speaking no manufacturing
establishments 10 supp rt it Take from Ne tie
annual appropriations by Congress, and we
would certainly bs in a d5plOrabIe condition.
We all knp" that We are dependent on other
places for nearly all the supplies for the support
OF tlis great population, AM nearly all tue
wares and products OF the mechanical arts are
manufactured elseW here, and after passing
through several hands, each making q small
prott 0Tcr and above the mauGfacturers' prices,
we are compelled 90 pay all Of these profits
before we can possess the articles thus manu-
tactured away from home.
The same is true in regard 70 the products Of
the soil. the greater portion of our e4t80les
grown N other sections OF the country. our
daily vegetables mostly come from Norfolk and
places farther south, and our fruit. such
aIpies, pears, peaches. ounces, grapes, &c,
mostly brought from Eastern Maryland, De'a-
ware, New jersey, Pennsylvania and New
York And our mlllers and feed dealers often
nave 10 purchase their grain from the west and
northwestern states, Or they would not have
enough 30 supply the demand il they hal u
depend GA the neisaborlng counties OF MARY
lard and Virginia.
Look through your markets in the late fall
and winter months, aud you VII, or inquiry,
IND potatoes of every kind, Cranberri-s, cab
page and various other market stuffs have all
besU raised hrndre6s Of miles from here, aud q
pretty rice price we have sometimes to pay for
Them, when we have plenty Of idle lana {aUd,
might say idle hands } wItSin ten miles Of the
aFket, ia different directions, TO raise all the
fruits and vegetables mat would be needed the
year round, and At smaller price, for better
>tuF. because it would ne fresh and wholesome.
But tie most important item of consG nptiou Is
meats. More than nine-tenths of the meat
consumed ii this district are raised more than
one hundred miles from here.
NOW FoR TIE gEMEpT
for sH these deficiencies. ] would first take the
section Of country lying north aud northeast OF
tie District Of Columbia, on and near Rock
creek, where We have nne water power from
Lyons mill above GeCrgetOEu for distance
OF about twenty miles above. There are at
ETefeat some eight OF ten old m is on tDis
to go down for the want OF enterprise On the
part OF the owners, many OF whom wasted their
means AID influence during ''Che late Unpless
antHess." There are good roads running lu
every direction across aud Neal Rock creek to
make any Oh these sites easy OF access, and
there Is Que OF these, the old mill property
more particularly, where the Point OF ROCKS
railroad crosses Rock creek, where a splendid
manufacturing place could be built up If a
company eQUlQ be organized and BUY the land
an6 establish factories. Here ana al others Of
the many fine locations on this sire am factories
and shops for the manufacture OF piOughs, har-
rows, TeapeTs. seed- planters, horse powers AID
tbTesLiEg mac hines and all kinds OF Agricultural
implements, might adyantageousiy be estab-
hshed, and others again for tue manufacture o.
wagons, caTts. dTays, &c, such As We see heEe,
hundreds of them, made IN New York, Phila.
delphi8, Baltimore, Con cord and other parts OF
the country made there and sbi pped here at a
heavy expense, carrying thou ssnds OF dollars
annually out OF this District that colld be kept
near home. There IL the best of timber o.
every kind for wagon and carriage work al
along this stream.
Thep, again, let ne have factories for the
n~aaRufactuflng OF tubs, buckets, washing ma
chimes chuTrs, and wooden ware OF every de
scripton. All We need is the right kiGd OF
spirit of enterprise on the part CT the people Of
this District, aud in few years we can have
all these things established and in successful
operation. They will give profitable employ
meRt to hundreds OF our intelligent and use
full mechanics, who now find 1T difficult TO
make a living almost at anything, and VIII
prove 8 profitable investment to any of our
mOpeyed men who would be wise enough TO
lend their aid and influence to the bulldog OF
such enterprises
CULTIVATE THE LAND.
Next We come to the matter OF the agricultu-
raj pursuits. As we have said that there are
thousands OF acres of land uncultivate within
few miles OF the District, which if properly
managed, will produce all the fruits and Vege-
tables that can possibly he consumed here and
leave a surplus TO ship away to other places, so
| GntlpTg PHn N
As 1t is advisable to organize companies for
6nufacturing purposes, don't know but il
would be as well to follow the same plan in re-
gsrd TO farming operations. II company or
companies would organize and buy some thou
sands Of acres of land, and then divide il up
into small farms of twenty-five, forty, fifty,
| sixty and one hundred scTes, and suo-let tn em
| 10 good, industrious farmers and gardeners for
= term of five or ten years, binding them 30
| farm the lands as directed by the company or
| its agent, and to always have in view the i'm
| pToVement or the lanus, to plant fruit trees.
| graperi6s. &c, in a few years this land, WHICH
| can be bought LOW at q very low price, will lie
| worth three or four times rs much, with very
| little expense TO the purchaser OF the land eX-
| ceptthe first cost. It should Be understood that
| the tenants could buy their farms at any time
| at a reasonable profit on the original cost. We
| have here thousands of loads OF stable manure
| and fertilizers of different kinds, the greater
pNrt Of which are shipped away TO Norfolk and
| other places, where the gardeners bay all thsy
! can get At cost 10 them OF about hfty csass
| Per yard, and they say il pays them we'll. This
land that ia need OF All the fertilizers tn Al we
/ have, without sending any away; and, besides
II II pays them 70 ship that distance, il VII pas
| us better 70 keep 1t for our own lands.
| These lands are as veil adapted for grazing
| and stock raising as any lands / ever saw. With
| the proper cultivation and management. grass
OF every kind takes we'll and It Is a kind of soil
that will stand drought for long time with
| out injury 10 the grass or growing crops.
| AS | proposed, in the first place, 70 make
| some suggestions that would be benefit TO the
! mechanics and iaboTing class who have been
out OF employment, and great many who are
| still unemployed, think / have shown very
! conclusively to the mind Of any one who will
| give the subject due consideration, that if these
| suggestions were adopted and carried out, it
| would be Of incalcUlable advantage 10 the
| classes proposed to be benefited thereby, aud
| at the same time the capitalists who would be
| fortunate enough to invest OF their means in
| some OF these undertakings will be certain to
! realize a large profit On the investment, and
| will have the satisfaction, at the same time, of
knowing that they are beneftting their s~r,ow-
| men. More auvI. SoUTa WisaIserON.
STRIKE AND DISORDERS IN THR SCRANToN
/ COLLIKRIEs.-The men usually employed in the
| FaHhaven colllery, near Scranton, Pa, have
| been on strike for the past four weeks because
| the company refused TO agree that bve carloads