Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-07-06
Destined to Become an Attractive,
Populous Suburb Of Washington.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS And BEYOND
Causes That Have Acted as Oh
stacIes to Development.
HOPEFUL OPINIONS HELD

| PROBABLY very lew OIL the tHouSeiAuS VIM
have toiled up the heights to Arlington and
| turned to look upon the exquisite piano.
rama unfolded before them have not won
| dered why it was that the many eminences
| had not been long since made the sites CT
| homes For miles above the AIueduct
| bridge, down to Arlington, and then on
again to the Theological Seminary, the
| land rises in a continuation of hills and
| knobs that stretch back from an amphi-
theater in which the Potomac river and the
| national capital present a picture of indie
| scribable loneliness. Further back still is
| a vast plateau, undulating in moderation
and presenting splendid opportunities for
| the establishment of suburban homes by
| those whose business lies in the city in the
| distance. Strangers who have come from
| the enterprlsing communities of the north
| and west have been unable to understand
| why all this territory has not been more
tbickly settled, and have been astonished
at the lack Of progress which allowed such
| remunerative field for investment and i'm
provement to remain untouehed.
| Several years ago there w0s a movement
| on the part Of investors to 6ring the high
| lands of Alexandria county into more init
| mate relationship with the city of Wash
| tngton. and surveyors were busy plating
| many desirable parts of the territory in
| QutSlioI, White An electric railroad was
| constructed from the Aqueduct bridge to
| Fort Myer. The ensuing of depression
| injured this enterprise, 1t did SO many
| Others and since then no important steps
| have been taken to open up the highlands
| anew and equip them with means of COM
| munication Of a character that would at
| tract home-seekers.
| Drawbacks That Have Existed.
That very lack of easy means of commu-
| nication has been most serious drawback
| to the development of what should nat
| urally be popuous suburbs of Washing
ton; and another thing that has deferred
many persons from making themselves
homes across in Virginia has been the
! character of the gateways to Virginia
through which they would be compelled to.
| pass going to and fro from the city.
Rosslyn and Jackson City are not at
tractive entrance avenues to a suburban
| nome after dark, or even in daylight, and
| the continuous lawlessness that existed at
| these places without any apparent attempt
to restrain 1T being made by the authori-
| their wishes and making settlement on the
! Virginia heights and the plateau behind
| them. and sent them in other and perhaps
| less desirable directions.
| There is an awakening at hand in Alex
| andrla county, however, and the good cit
| liens who have suffered so much from poor
| roads and the class of people ever crowded
| about the entrances to their community are
| looking forward to changed conditions.
| Even those who for the sake of keeping on
| the good side of the lawless element, and
| thus saving the possibility of damage TO
| themselves or property, have pretended to
| regard the Indignation of Washingtons cit
| liens at the conditions across the river, in
| furious to the national capital we'll as to
| Virginia, a species OF meddiing, are glad
| In their hearts that the board of trade has
| strengthened Gov. O'Ferralrs hands in the
work of cleansing the community of i'm
| ported lawlessness. They see very plainly
| that good results will issue from the cam
| paign in behalf of law and order. and that
the substantial benefits to their community
| Will be important and lasting.
| At recent election the people of the
Ie9unty decided that their roads should be
4 Improved If invitations were to be extended
\ NJ strangers to settle among them with any
kpossbility of acceptance, and a road tax of
| 5O cents on the 500 was imposed.
Views of the County Treasurer.
| The county treasurer of Alexandria
county Mr.. William c. Wibert. takes a
| lively interest in any work that may pro-
| mote the prosperity of his section. and in
| conversation with a Star reporter he looked
! the future over.
| ut would be only natural for me to say
| that Alexandria county in many of it's por-
| tons presents everything that can be de-
| sired to make a healthy and happy home
| sttainabe," said Mr.. Wibert, but so many
| of those who have come among us as
| strangers say the same thing that l
not be charged with Partially or booming
| 1t is needless to tell Washington people
anything about the innumerable sites for
| residences and homes that rise one above
| the other in the long and beautiful range
| of hills known as Arlington Heights. They
run for several miles, and at no point are
| they distant over three and one-half miles
| from Washington. The air is pure and
| sweet and no purer or better water can
/ be found anywhere.
of course, our section has sadly suf-
| fered from lack of proper means of COM
munication with Washington" continued
Mr.. Wtbert, but that trouble will, 1 am
| confident, soon be removed.
| The Memorial Bridge.
| II am convinced that Congress will very
| shortly provide for the construction of the
| Memorial bridge from the foot of New York
| avenue in Washington to the Arlington
| ervation,' he added with emphasis. Out
| side of its patriotic and proper character
as tribute to the sentiment which is
| growing stronger every hour in the north
and south, the Memorial bridge will be of
| immense practical advantage to the people
on both sides of the river 1t will afford
direct thoroughfare to a section that has
| been formed by nature to be the homo place
| of the multitude which Will one day dis
| tend the boundaries of Washington beyond
| the limits of comfort, and will give to the
| wealthy and luxurious an opportunity to
| have villas and resting places on a plane
| commensurate with their tastes and pock-
| etbooks There will be question about
communication when the bridge is finished,
| for there will be plenty of enterprising
capitalists eager and ready to gridiron the
| heights with electric roads.
| The road tax of 30 cents on the 500
| which has just gone into effect will be Of
| great advantage to u.s. said Mr.. Wibert
| in conclusion, "a considerable fund will be
| realized, and that it will be wisely ex-
| pended under the direction of Judge Grun-
| well and his associates in the board of su-
| pervisors is an assured fact"
| Several other gentlemen who reside or
| are interested in Alexandria county con-
tiguous to Washington looked at the future
| in the same hopeful way and assured The
| Star reporter that enterprises were now be-
| ing contemplated that would be of vast
| advantage to their section In the way of
| opening it up to settlement and invest
| ment.
TWO THOUSAND TI-NNEIS