Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-20
FIFTY YEARS AGO
IN THE STAR

IN ILL NXxxxS
Alexandria was a considerable port half
century ago. and the warehouses now
standing by the river front
Alexandr1a's were then filled with mer-
Commerce. chandise and the wharves
were frequently occupied
by ocean-going ships In The Star of jan
uary 10. 1857 is the following paragraph:
Statistics derived from custom house re-
turns have been furnished the Alexandria
Sentinel by Edward 8. Hough. ESQ.,, the COL
lector of that port. from which we learn
that the amount of breadstuffs shipped
from Alexandria for foreign countries dur
ing the year 1856 sum up 31.639 barrels
-four 200, 4S7 bushels wheat and 113.471
bushels corn. etc. valued in all at $S14. S32
If tobacco and several other miscellaneous
articles were added the above sum would
be much increased. The following amounts
of breadstuffs were also shipped coastwise
during the year: Flour, 7O,S15 barrels;
wheat, 36S031 bushels; corn, 224,711 BUSH
es-valued at 81 1903, 242 To this amount
may be added from 10 to 20 per cent for
sales and shipments for which returns could
not be obtained-thus estimating the total
exports of breadstuffs at $1.5O0, 900, which,
added to foreign shipments from Alexan-
dria last year makes 81, ia S33
There is evidently something wrong with
the money totals. but it is nevertheless
plain that Alexandria's commerce was
heavy and profitable in the ante-bellum
days.
Washington was visited by a snow storm
of exceptional severity at this time In 1857
and the conditions which re-
deavy suited furnished topic of
Snow. absorbing interest to the cap
ital for days. In The Star
of January 10. 1857. appears note to the
effect that the snow was playing havoc with
the newspaper arrangements:
This. take it, will pass for a good
enough winters day for this latitude The
piled-up snow puts a stopper upon all sorts
of locomotion. The malls are cut off; an
embargo is effectually laid upon all sorts
of current news: the editor-in-chief Is
blockaded in the country. and our Office
boy. sent to the post Office for the mails at
8 o'clock this morning, has not been heard
from up to 2 o'c'ock p.m-all Of which must
go to excuse deficiencies In today's ISSUE"
AS an example Of the handicap of blocked
streets in those days the following para
Proceedings" may be cited:
up to the hour Of going to press our re-
port Of today's proceedings had not been
The office boy was found, it may be noted,
in a bank Of snow at the corner Of 7th and
D streets. where an avalanche from the
roof Of the Intelligencer office buried him
his unquestionably veracious account, the
office boy was rescued by a compostor. who
pulled him through second-story window.
Judging by the printed reports, the storm
was one of the worst on record, affecting a
wide area and completely
Buried stopping traffic for some
City. days Washington was for
hours like buried city The
streets were impossible even for sleighs.
In The Star of January 81, 1857, is the fol-
lowing:
"It can hardly be that travelling by rail-
road will be fairly in operation again until
perhaps the beginning of next week Our
fellow-citiZens sitting around the comfort
able coal fires of Washington city, though
aware that Pennsylvania avenue required
on Monday afternoon to be opened to travel
by team of eight strong horses, have little
idea of the drift outside of the limits Of
their own wide thoroughfares. All who at
tend the Washington markets, however, re-
alize something of the existing universal
obstruction to travelling, from the extraor-
binary absence of provisions in them, such
as are brought hither by country people.
Yesterday afternoon at 1 o'clock no one had
passed with a vehicle between this city and
Alexandria since Sunday forenoon last and
then our indefatigable friend. Hugh La
than, of omnibus fame. was at work, with
thirty stawart laborers. endeavoring to
delve out track for his coaches over the
causeway where the snow lay piled up over
the whole width Of the turnpike, varying in
depth from four to ten feet. for a stretch
perhaps a fourth of mile in length. We
were kept away from our post and were the
first to reach Washington In a vehicle from
the vicinity in which we reside since Sunday
forenoon last. In some places In the roads
surrounding this city the snow is piled Gear
across them to a fabulous height. So high
that it may be until near April next before
they can be travelled. unless men turn out
by f1fties. with shovels in hand to open the
way. We worked our way in, with the as
sistance of others. by the use of the axe In
chopping down distractions in the woods.
and here and there fences, and for the most
part avoiding the roads,
Notwithstan ding the bad state of the
roads, Washington had a distinguished Wis
itor a few days after the
buchanan's great snow. For many years
Visit. 1t has been the unbroken Gus
tom for Presidents-elect to
remain away from the capital until just be-
fore March 4. Conditions in the winter Of
1857, however. were so delicate that confer
ences between James Buchanan and the
leaders of his party were urgently neces-
sary and 1t was deemed easier that the
President-elect should come to Washington
than that the men he wished to consult
should attempt the journey to Lancaster.
Pa. The Star Of January % contained an
announcement Of this fact:
Mr. Buchanan is to arrive in this city
Monday next OF course the approach Of
that day will create a great futter in the
democratic political ranks here; for that
party everywhere knows how to honor a
gentleman who has been called on to be-
come the standard bearer Of it's principles.
Besides the ordinary demonstrations which
will be made by those who calculate how
much participation in making a great to-
do over him may be worth to themselves,
he will receive cordial welcome from all
his political friends now in Washington,
for there are none here who do not wish his
administration well. He Is the representa-
tive of the great democratic party of the
whole country, the guardian of the prnci-
pies which it's members hold In common.
They know that the future ascendancy of
those principles In the government depends
on the success of his administration. which
in turn depends on the hearty and frank CO.