Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1902-12-31

to Union street between o anu . cio|h
in the morning and left them there to be
cleared of their country produce. About
four o'clock in the evening it returned
and pulled the empty cars back TO the
depot. Now one fertilizer factory dur
ing the busy season requires about as
much railroad transportation as did all
the business houses Of Union street put
together in ante bellum days, while the
coal dealers, grocers, glass manufacturers
planing mills and other industries use
more rolling stock than all the roads
centering in Alexandria probably owned
before the civil war.
Apart from these facts the lumber
yards, planning mills, ice factories, &c'
now conducting business in the same
neighborhood and employing large num-
bers of workmen were unknown at that
time.
The railroads which run to Alexan-
dria have expanded enormously since the
times dreamed of. One passenger tram
made a round trip to Gordonsyllle IN
those days and the services of but one
small engine were required about two
thirds of the day to do the shifting at
the depot and the work on Union street
1t now takes a dozen locomotives and
they work day and night, while the yard
limits extend mile or more west OF
the city. 1t is true we had more than
one railroad in those days The Alex
andria, Loudoun and Hampshire road
ran mixed train to Leesburg and re-
turn each week day. This required the
services of six men. There are now
morning and evening passenger and
freight trains and the traffic is growing
continuously, requiring the services of a
large number of men in all depart
ments. The railroad from the cor
ner of Princess and St. Asaph streets
to the south end of the Long Bridge
employed three men and ceased running
at shutdown. The contrast between
that and the present electric railway
needs no comment.
The Washington-Southern Railway
now employs between forty and fifty
men in its transportation department IN
this city. This number, added to Sec
ton men, gatekeepers, train crews, &C.,
will probably swell the number to one
hundred.
The Southern Railway has grown
enormously and Alexandria now ranks
second among its many depots. The
force employed in its shops and on its
trains composes a small army.
The establishment several years ago
of depot of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad in this city virtually placed
Alexandria in position to compete with
any city in this section. Much OF the
shipping trade of Alexandria is via this
route and its importance is being realized
moro and more each year
The communication between Alcxan-
dria and Mount Vernon in the olden
time was by Washington ferryboat, the
Thomas Collyer, which made one trip a
week-every Tuesday morning. She
often trailed large seine boat behind
her with which passengers we're landed
when the tide was low. Apart from the
daily trips of a steamer trains run be-
tween this city and Mount Vernon morn
ing and evening at present.
The Portner Brewing Company more
than compensates for the loss of the cot
ton factory, and the Old Dominion Glass
Works over the bed of the Alexandra
Canal and the Dean shipyard at its out
let in measure make up for the loss OF
that waterway. Two other glass factor
ies-the Virginia and Bell Pre-make
the glass industry an important branch
of the city's manufactures.
Apart from shoe factories, the cigar
factories and other industries where
numbers of hands are employed, there
are many less pretentious places in the
shape of offices, stores, &c, where num-
bers find steady work. Besides none
should forget the army Of persons OF al
ages and both sexes who live here anc
have steady work in Washington. PEG
ple live here who are in the employ o
the government, and many of our peo
pie, especially the young, I'll positions
in stores and labor at various Occupa
tons in the capital city.
Alexandria is slowly but surely forging
ahead, and many hope before the cios'
of 1908 to witness still more favorable
conditions. Let all, therefore, worl
cheerfully and with fixed and steady
purpose to take advantage of the rising
tide.
THE Chicago RFCORD-HERA want