Evening star., 1898-12-15
Rights Reserved.

so much of the territory was wood land,
that the original proprietors reserved the
ownership of the timber, except such as
might be reserved by the President which
was to be paid for at a just and reason
able valuation Some of the forests cover
ed large areas of land. Many smaller
tracts and spaces were occupied by clus-
ters, groves and clumps of forest trees.
Other larger and smaller areas We're COW
cred with shrub oak, alder and thorn
bushes and grape vines. Mr.. Wells, who
assisted in the original survey of the city,
says that at that time more than half of
the territory included within it's limits was
covered with woods and SwampS.
The swampy loWlands spread out in
MANY acres, south of the + street ridge to
the river shore, along the valleys of St
James creek and the Tiber including u
greater part of the White Lot and the mall
which, for the most part We're covered with
shrubby growths and bramble and wau
kapin bushes. But the largest continuous
area of morass and swamps was the sec
ton known as the SiaShes, lying along the
northern boundary line from the Tlber to
Rock creek, dipping in many places far ~
to the interior of the basin.
Around this great geological basin, with
it's plateaus of moorlands and lowands; its
farm lands and morasses; hills valleys and
raVineS; springs, streams and drainage
courses, there was range of wooded
heights, extending from the Potomac on the
vations varying from 200 TO 42O feet above
the level of the tide, and broken only by
the creeks that penetrated its territory and
the rivers that washed its shore lines to
unite at it's base in one great river that
flowed through the gap to the bay. Along
it's course of irregular elevations, the many
fields of view seem to rival each other in
the grandeur, diversity and eXpanse of
prospect that marked the breadth of the
picture, and the strong colors in the grand
and environing wall of forest heights
which rolled back against the sky, as II to
inclose a noble area of landscape, fit for the
supreme deliberations of a continental ma
uon. a.,
Natural and Typographical Defects.
1t must be clear to every sanitarian that
the contour and physical conditions of the
floor CT the basin were such as to unfit the
site for the location of the capital of Il
great empire, and nothing less than the
genius of LEnfant, evolved under the di-
rec ton and supervision of Washington
could have devised a plan which could
overcome the natural and Typographical OBJ
stacles and defects, and be developed into
a city as grand and beautiful in all of its
appointments now stands upon the site
The reclamation Of Pennsylvania avenue
was the first effort at street improvement,
and perhaps notes the first attempt at sani-
tation When first laid out that part be-
tween 18th street west and the foot of
Capitol Hill was a beggy morass covered
with bramble bushes and subject to tidal
inundatIons and storm water overflow 1t
was the habitation of game, venomous rep
tiles and pestiferous insects, and forbidden
to man and beast. Soon after the begin
ming of the foundation of the Capitol I'm
1893, its improvement was set on foot by
carting earth, gravel and chips of stone,
first to make footways, and then to fill up
ana level the center, until rough roadway
was incompletey prepared This method
of Improvement was continued until by
the act of Congress of April "A. 1901. $40. 600,