The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-02
THE NEW WASHINGTON.
And the Tretmeant of the Man Who
 Made It.


 Made It.
 Savoyards Washington Letter to Louis
 vile Evening Post.
 A quarter of a century ago there was no more odious man in the country than Alexander R. Shepherd. He was point ed out as one to be Shunned and hated. He was thought to be in othe class of Boss" Tweed, and was known as Boss Shepherd. The only thing common to the two men was that Tweed ruled the pa- ttonal metropolis and Shepherd ruled the national capital. and both made the cred money for his henchmen; Shepherd was eXtravagant and lavished money on his native city. Tweed died convict, Shepherd died an honored man.
 It was a time for extravaganvs Fru- gality would have been criminal from Shepherds standpoint If the city of Washington was to remain the capital of the United States immense improvement was to be made. That was the problem that confronted Alexander E. Shepherd. and he grappled 1t and conquered 1t like a Napoleon. A man named Revs was cutting capers and shines. He proposed to remove the capital of the country to as long as there was hog wallows on Pennsylvania Avenue, COW pastures on k Street and a cornfield where Dupont cir- cle is now. There was a Congressman from California of the name of Johnson. He proposed to move the capital to Jack ass Gulch. Cal, and made speech on the subject that was a compapion piece of humor to Proctor Knotts Duluth speech. Some mathematical statesman computed that in the course of human events, if the Union endured long enough. the Treasury would save enough in the matter of mileage" a Congressional perquisite. to pay for the buildings re- quired if the seat of government was ip ba h. ematics is a great witness. You can prove by mathematics that had the money with which the Dutch brought Manhat- tan Island from the Indians been put put to interest and diligently compounded It would buy the city of New York.
 Shepherd was born here. He loved the town. There he had tolled at the car penter's bench and earned the bread in the sweat of his face that ne ate. He and prudent investment. He was no or dinary man. He was a born executive. wherever work was to be done he would have made his mark. He would have been a successful railroad president. He could have created a great iron works. He could have built railroad across the continent. He was a man after the or der of c. P. Huntington or Henry Clay Prick.
 Shepherd said that the plan drawn by L'Enfant must be builded upon or Wash ington would cease to be the capital of the United States. He saw that it would take immense sums of money to do the work He. saw that it would be an un- popular fob. Fortunately the President of the United States was his friend. And mankind has yet to produce better friend than Ulysses s. Grant. He be- came Governor of the District of Co., lumbia. The City Council, or whatever they called it, was his. body and boots. It sat but to register and legaliZe his will Whatever he ordered, they did. He set about taking the mudholes out of Pennsylvania Avenue, and made of that street the great and grand thoroughfare it is. and destined to be the first thor oughfare of America >The cattle were taken off k Street; in their stead we have those grand and palatial residences that line that thoroughfare in the north west section. Dupont Circle became the heart of the aristocratic section of the capital. with the finest and handsomest residences south rf the Mason and Dixon line. All that was due to the conception, the energy and the force of character of on m4n-AleXande' R. Shepherd. When l. infants statue Is erected Shepherd l. .. Je ar il.