The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-10-30

4 10 handle the raw material produced m
the surrounding territory when one con
siders that II has 30 manufacturing enter
prises Of greater or lesser magnitude
/ The Cockaae City Is noted FOR its pub
lie spirit and municipal pride. In the
last I'VE years 1t mas paid a great deal
OF attention to local improvements. and
striking change has been wrought in the
appearance Of the city. There are now
ten miles of street railways. the tracks
OF the best standard rail. and the equip
ment the best that money ran buy. The
| neWly-built car barn cost 10000. The
street railway company also furnishes
| electric power and lights fo.' the streets
| and houses.
During the last year the city has paved
with asphalt and vitrihed brick about
| two miles OF streets. besides having a
/ mile with cheaper material The side
walks are being relaid with asphalt or
/ granoiithic composition. The city Is also
| building a rev hre-engine house in the
western part of the town. and another
building, which will be used as police
| headquarters. The value of the new build
| ings constructed in the past year by pri-
Vate means amounts to over 500 600.
The city has two PARKS, one filed with
| flowers and beautiful shade trees, and re-
| garded as one of the finest in the United
| States. The other is larger, though less
| ornate, and contains a lake, trottins
| track of half mile, and man. stately
pines. The latter park is at the terminus
| OF the main street car line, and Is con-
verted. in the summer, into a place of
| amusement for the residents of the city.
Here are held open-air concerts fireworks
| displays, and other entertainments near
ly every evening during the warm
| months.
Progressive City Officials.
The legislative body of the city is CON-
posed OF four coIncilmen from each OF
the six wards, mnst of them being young
men with progressive ideas. The COM
| nercial bodies are the Chamber of Com
| merce and the Young Mems Business AS
sociati9n. The Petersburg Club and the
Bicycle Club are among the most promi-
nent of the social organizations, and are
proverbially hosFitable The Appomattox
Boat Club is the oldest organization Of its
kind in the State of Virginia In the
past IL has done more than its share in
carrying off the honors at regattas. 1t
now devotes itself largely to entertain
ment of ladies and visitors. The boat
house is fully equipped with every style
of small craft. from a canoe TO hand
some launch.
Petersburg now has about q 900 inhabi-
tants, an increase of 5000 during the last
decade. For a city of its population, its
educational advantages are exceptional.
The municipality sets aside $4,000 year
for the use of the school board. The pub
lie schools had on their rolls on the open
ing day 1925 pupils The course ranges
from primary work to the classics and
higher mathematics, including a good
grounding in science and a limited course
in modern languages. There is a high
school for the cOlored children, as we'll
as for the white students. Here also are
located a number of public and private
educational institutions. Prominent among
these is the Normal and Collegiate Insti-
tute for the cOlored youth of Virginia,
supported by the State. II now has about
300 pupils of both sexes in attendance.
Several private schools and academies
which prepare young men for college are
highly esteemed for their thoroughness |
and standard of scholarship.
Fine Railway and Water Facilities.
Petersburg is well supplied with railroad
facilities, as it is the junction point of
three great trunk lines-the Seaboard Air
Line. the Atlantic Coast Line. and the
Norfolk and Western The Seaboard Air |
Line since last June began its through
service from New York TO Tampa and Ar
lanta, opening up a system embracing
1000 miles of track and shortening the
distance between the terminal points. The
Atlantic Coast Line connects the Penn
sylvania with the great Plant system
covering the Central South and Southwest |
10 the Mississippi River The Norfolk |
and Western connects Petersburg with
Southwest Virginia, West Virginia. and
Central Ohio II penetrates the rich coal
mineral, and lumber sections OF West Vir-
ginia.
In addition to these unusual transnorta-
ton facilities, Petersburg eniovs a naviga-
bic waterway to the Atlantic by means of |
the Appomattox and James rivers. That |
the city has taken advantage of this out |
let TO the seas is shown by the tonnage |
of the port, which is placed at 100000 tons |
annually. four times as much as II was |
nve years ago. The value of the freight |
is placed at Sl,5o,O0O. The Appomattox Is, |
therefore, practically essential to Peters |
burg's growing commerce and the mu-
inequality has spent hundreds of thou
sands of dollars in dredging the channel !
and maintaining a navigable depth that |
sea going vessels may be able to reach
the city. So far the Appomattox River |
represents an expenditure of about 81. eco
coo for Improvements extending over a /
long period CO years. OF this amount tn, /
city has contributed about 500 900 and the |
government $40 CO..
Plan To Keep Channel Clear.
In spite of the fact that jetties have
huflf al aa
machines have beer almost constantly AT |
work, this great outlay has not been of |
permanent value. Heavy freshets from
time TO time fill the channel with mud
and sard, ard il is practically Impossible
10 Keep the water ar a given depth under
the circumstances. With the trouble from
freshets eliminated, however, II would be
comparatively easy matter 70 maintain
about four fatnoms in the river Below
Point Of Rocks on the Appomattox River.
is always deep enough for practicable
purposes. If the river therefore can he
kept measuraDly clear from Point of
Rocks to Petersburg, first-class navjga-
ton is assurcd.
plan which has been suggested by the
leading citizens of Petersburg and an
proved by the government engineers
seems to be the only practical solution OF
the difficulty. This involves utilizing the
old North Channel as a washway from
above the cut at the head of the Peters
burg harror TO Point OF Rocks, thus car
rying off the fIeshet water with its burden
of sand and mud. It is proposed to build
a dam at Pocahontas Bridge. al the head
OF the harbOr and a canal along the
swamp to the north OF Magazine Eridge.
emptying into the old. unused North Chan
mel. The length of the canal would be
about two miles, and it could be con-
strueted with comparatively little cost on
account o. the nature OF the ground.
The harbOr is reached by the tide. and
there Is no danger OF stagnation. II is
proposed 10 open :he gates Of the dam
whenever the freshet has passed and the
water is settled II is considered that By
this means ii will be a very easy task to
y u - . :.