Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1900-06-28

WILL THE PROCESSION RETURN p
p.onle whose recol elections Can 20 b iek
80 snte bellum times and who walk
ION, the wnsrves of old Alexandria
,o6sV are doubtless cast iuto reveries
wben they contrast the past with the
nrasent existence OF things both on the
Strand and Union stree. The fact that
b,lfs dozen Wholesale concerns, who
are maxi 2 the city shipping depot,
are doing more business now than
hrmsrly is by DO means an equivalent
in commercial poin; of view for the
man, stores which existed ia the oldeu
tine and which served to spread bust
mass over the entire city. Today all
seems concentrated, and the small
stores which be an almost at Wolfe
street and extended nearly to Fishtown
are 20 more, while the old Strand
along which at one time people
had to pick their way throu gh
drsys and carts and moving throngs is
almost IS sile { at times as deserted
church yard while broken piles and
rlckety whsrves tell a sad story of be.
1T uhNc. hu0 WnCn OnO IcucCtS OIL
the falling away OF one by one of our
indu tries, the query, Is the procession
passing by us-or has 1t already pass
Ell never to return is pertinent. Now
why is all thisY Some will answer.
Adverse fortune; the miscarriage OF
our plans TO connect the Manassas and
the W. < q. roads with the coal fields:
the collapse of the Alexandria canal,
&c But while csc sad mishaps were
sel-DsCks of years ago, haven't we
had time to recuperate? Haven't other
cities suffered in similar ways from ad
verse fortune? Some were almost des
trOyed by the sad fate OF war, fire and
food, &C, but they were resuscitsted
sod in new CARDS have more than equal
led their former glory in commercial
Importance Is there any good reason
why the same could not have been done
with Alexandria? She had as good a
start as either OF her sister cities. In
the days referred to above the hum Of
machinery was heard from the foot of
Franklin street almost TO Point West,
while the whir of her cotton factory
made north Washington street lively.
There were three shipyards, a number
OF saw and planning mills, plaster mills,
a locomotive works, the Pioneer Mills,
tgO breweries and number of smaller
institutions, and the army OF workmen
who answered the calls of the whistles
gave to all portions of the city very
animated appearance. Besides all these
passenger and freight steamers piled
between this port and New York and
three steam packets were on the
Philadelphia line. But what a
metsmorphosis A stroll through the
Strand and Union street now presents
the picture of unoccupied warehouses,
some In decay; rickety and idle sail
ing craft and instead of the busy tbrong
of other days a few punches of Idle
men and boys asl sep in the friendly
shade Of some building long since rele-
gated to the owls and bats, in front Of
which in by-gone days ships, brigs, &C.,
from nearly every quarter OF the globe
were moored, while wharves were
loaded with the products of other
climes and the songs of the stevedores,
and the creaking and rsttling incident
to the weighing and dropping OF an
chors sent thrills of satisfaction into
the soul of every Alexandrian. But
nov, alas, how different! And all this
declension in the face of business mems
leagues, boards of trade. sesqui-centen-
mails. volumes OF talk-idle talk
dreams of new railroad depots, ma
chine shops and the thousand and one
ignis fatnii we have been chasing 80
long and which have led many to the
slough of despond. The time has long
since arrived to cease expatiatiDg on
what should be here" sour natural
'contiguity to Washing
ton" &C., and to go to work with Will
to "strengthen the things that re-
main" While we have been chasing
rainbows and concentrating SO much OF
our attention on local distractions which
profit nothing and spending our
strength for nought on issues which can
In no wise add materially 10 our city's
prosperity and often by listening to Inn.
practicable people damming up streams
which would teId to feed the great
river of prosperity, other places nave
been at work in more profitable occu-
pations, and Alexandria, waiting for
prosperity to come to her by virtue OF
her Antiquity" central situation"
"deep water front" and other things
upon which we have so long banked,
has allowed the procession to pass,
Now, il 1t is not to turn again in this
direction, is there no way by which we
NAV overtske it or head IL otY
Let Ut stop talking, cease being LED by
illusions and go to work with will &c"
ward placing something on foot to take
the places of things we have lost.