The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-05-02
tuesday, May 2, 1905
QUIZ CITY AND SUBURBS.

OAEI Tic
and through the suburbs--the truck
farms in East Wilmington.
Some people think newspaper men
should know everything. and we must
confess that there are some newspaper
men who try to help along this falsa
impression. We are not of this class,
though. and will admit in the outset
that until this ride owe the city yes
terday we had no idea of what had
been lone of late in the way of prog
ress in building and street Improvement
We are sure there is not another city in
the state which has as large a percent
age of it's streets laid with hard, smooth
paving as has Wilmington. Block
after block of III streets-those run"
ming both ways, eastward from the
river and the cross streets-have been
macadamiZed and show a broad,
smooth pavement with accurately
graded cutters fianked by granite curb
ing and underground piping with in
takes at frequent intervals for carry
ing off the surface water.
We venture to say that few of our
citizens know of the great progress our
city has made in the last few years in
the way of betterment of our streets.
Those citizens whose business does no
take them Over the city frequently
cannot know of the steady progress
that is going on in this line all the.
time.
We have some as beautiful streets
stance Fifth street, with it's properly
established grades, it's macadamized
roadway from the southern section Of
the city clear across to the northern
most cross street, with its substantial
steel bridge and the beautifully grad
ed and paced approach thereto and it's
several rows of beautiful water oaks
along the sidewalks and in the street
center. Where can you find a prettier
StIOCI. LIE 10 Olly III VI thC 1ldAy
streets of our city which have been
improved and beautified. Where a few
years ago were streets formed of deep
sandbeds, cut up into ruts over which
hauling was done with difficulty and
pleasure driving was out Of the ques-
ton, we now have broad, smooth road
ways over which heavy loads can be
drawn without strain on teams and
which offer miles of pleasant driving
to those who seek recreation of this
kind. -
T Another pleasing feature of this
street improvement which struck us
most fOrcibly was the fact that most
of the new residences we saw were
located on the streets which had been
recently reclaimed and urned from
deep sandbeds to hard, even macad-
am roadways. The laying of these
streets has enhanced the value of con
tiguous real estate and has made il
possible for those persons owning va.
ant lots or one occupied by mere
shacks to build nice comfortable homes
for themselves or houses of the better
class for renting.
While this street Improvement work
was begun several years ago, the
greatest progress along this line has
been made during the present admins.
tration which goes out of office Tues.
Gay night. There can be 40 denia
that the present mayor and board O.
aldermen have lone a great work fol
u city. During their term great ad
vancement has been made in the mat
ter of city improvement, which ha.
not only added to the appearance O
the city, but increased the taxabl,
value of the property in many sections
But to get back to our outing
After leaving the city we took a driv,
through the trucking section of "Eas
Wilmington where we saw acre attic,
acre of land which a few years az,
was considered almost worthless, bu
is now under high cultivation, nettin;
their owners hundreds of dollars pc
acre in vegetables. Many of thes,
farms have a dark, rich loomy sol
with a clay subsoil from twelve TO if
teen inches beneath the surface. W,
saw fine crops of lettuce, spinach, Irisl
potatoes, beans, peas, capbages, beet;
and most any other kind of yegeta
BILE you can name. Some of this lant
as soon as the present crops are gath