Evening star., 1896-02-29
beauty and magniflcence, andof the D

beauty and magnificence. and9of the part
ne had In Its advancement, yet his part
| was passive one, he contends. Two men,
| he declares, are responsible more than all
others for the national capital of today
| Ulysses s. Grant and Alexander r. Shep-
herd
1.-The District" said Mr.. Forsyth, y"neyer
| had better friend than 1t had in Gen.
Grant. He was the one man, perhaps,
who thoroughly understood at the time the
| scope and possibilities Of Gov. Shepherds
plan for the reclamation and transforma-
ton OF this city. Then, too. he had the
| fullest confidence in Gov. Shepherd. and
| when about every other man was AGAINST
| him and opposing his work. President
Grant told the governor to go ahead. OF
course, the work was sometimes done or
| commenced when 1T was not, perhaps. le-
| gally authorized, and often we had to
trust to luck to get the money for 1t. Why,
sir. If they had left Gov. Shepherd alone
IN those days, he would have obtained
from Congress, through the powerful aid
| of President Grant, about every cent needed
for the improvements.
| Two monuments should be erected here
| by the people of Washington city-one to
Grant and the other to Shepherd, and IN
so honoring their efforts in behalf Of the city
our people would no less honor themselves"
His Tribute to Gov. Shepherd.
Mr.. Forsyth. because of his official posi-
ton. intimately knew Gov. Shepherd dur
| ing the years that the latter was engaged
| in converting the city into what it is to-
| day, and, in speaking of Gov. Shepherds
personal character, Mr.. Forsyth said:
Alexander Shepherd is one of the grandest
men ever knew. He is as honest as the
| day is long. and as courageous as q lion.
| If he had not been both honest and cour-
| ageous, Washington would today be as it
| was thirty years ago. There was no nom
sense about the man. and when he made up
| his mind to do anything it had to be done,
and right away, at that. OF course,
sometimes questioned him, and would say,
| But, governor'-when he would say Never
mind; go right ahead And then right
| ahead we would go. He could see further
| ahead than any man I ever knew, and he
always went about things the shortest and
| quickest way.
Il remember that one night he took
| thousand men and pulled up the steam
railroad tracks on Maryland avenue, and
same thing with the old Northern Liberty
/ market house. They tried to enjoin him,
but they do say that he got all the judges
out OF the city before his opponents could
| get the injunction. But, however that may
| be, those two incidents show how Gov.
| Shepherd acted when he felt it to be neces-
sary. A man would go to bed at night,
! and when he woke up the next morning
there would be hundreds of men hard at
work at his very door, and the first thing
he would know grade would be made
of the city, left his house ten. twenty or
more feet above grade. OF course, the man
| would curse. pray or fmplore, but it would
never stop us. and you see today how for
| tunate 1t was we were not"
| Laid Out the First Circle.
Mr.. Forsyth came to Washington in 1851,
| and making this city his home, he engaged
in the practice Of his profession. six years
later being elected city surveyor. Previous
to his election as city surveyor Mr.. For
syth performed much work for the COM
I
engaged he had the distinction Of making
the surveys for the first circle set out in
the city, Washington Circle 23d street and
| Pennsylvania avenue. That was." ex-
Then the place about the circle was noth-
| ing more than a wild waste of vacant
ground, and it was as much as your life was
! worth to go about there after dark. OF
course, in those days we had no street
| cars, but q line of omnibuses ran from the
| Capitol to Georgetown.
Prom the Navy Yard to the Capitol you
had to make your way the best you could.
| Those were the days, too, when cows were
allowed to Craze on the public reservations,
for none of these places were really securely
| fenced in, and no one appeared to think
| but that 1t was all right. Indeed, If re-
| member rightly, and think do. Lafayette
| Square was the first one ever inclosed, and
| that was due to the late w. w. Corcoran.
| or Billy Corcoran, as he was more gem
orally known. The appropriation for the
purpose was insufficient, and Mr.. Corcoran
| advanced 5000 to finish the work Of put
| ting up the fence. That was shortly before
came to Washington, believe"
Primitive Conditions.
Referring to the smooth and level streets
Of Washington today. Mr. Forsyth said their
condition could not well have been pictured
by the widest Imagination in the years of
his first residence here. II remember they
were hauling the stone for the Jackson
statue in 1854 or about then. and Just about
| In front of the Center Market the teams be-
came stalled in the mud. They were there
until an old fellow from Maryland happen
ed along with number Of horses, and.
hitching eighteen to the big wagon, he
swung it across the avenue and soon had the
stone In Lafayette Square.
"Pennaylvana avenue was paved with cob
BILE stone in 1853, but about all Of the other
streets and avenues OF the city were nothing
but clay-dust In the summer and mud In
the winter. As have said, we had no street
railroads then, and think the first one, the
avenue line. was built about 1850. It ran
then. a. It does now. from the Navy Yard
to Georgetown, and was considered @ great
novelty bx ~. The Metropolitan line was