Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-04-28

and sand DarS tnal lie III the Po"OA Va
every riparian city.
A soldier of France. a follower of La
Fayette in the cause of American I'D
erty, drawer of plans for Bunaio, De-
signer of that perfect city plan that
has made Washington good pattern
for all new cities in the making, Major
Pierre Charles L'Enfant died PEN
sioner on the hospitality OF the Carrol
family of Maryland, and was buried IN
the family burying ground on Dlgses
farm nearly a hundred years ago. Ii
was Jefferson who suggested Il En-
fant's services to Washington, and dur
ing a week spent at Mount Vernon,
with maps of many Old World cities
before them, the president and the
French engineer worked out the plan
for Washington, the only time In the
history of the world that the capital
city of any nation has been planned
beforehand and built according to the
plans. ST. Petersburg, it is true, was
named and the site chosen in 1908 with
the view to its being the Russian capt.
tai, but when that city was built In
the marshes it was with the object OF
having a key to the northern seas, and
the idea of beauty was minor con-
sideration.
Washington had seen no European
city. Glenn Brown asserts that II any
American city offered suggestions to
Washington in its plans they may have
been Annapolis and Williamsburg. An
napolis, it Is remembered, was built
somewhat after the plans suggested by
Sir Christopher Wren for the rebuild
ing of London after the fire of 1885, The
two focal points with radial streets be-
ing from Wren's plans, while Williams
burg has a distinctive mall, that may
have suggested to the first president
the mall for his federal city. LEnfant
knew the Old World better. 1t Is said
that the planning of the capitol and the
White House as axes for the many
radiating avenues was suggested to
him by LIE Notre's plans of Versailles.
There was an eye, too, for the possible
invasion of the capital of the new re-
public, and from these two centers
cannon cauld be trained down the vari-
Gus avenue and offer impregnable
fortresses for ruler and congress.
Whatever the origin of the plan, 1t
has proved its beauty and worth. They
drew 1t so that from the intersection of
any two or more streets and avenues
the horizon can always be seen. When
the capital city celebrated its centen-
NAL in 1900 and realized that 1t was not
all that the nations head municipality
should be commission was sent
abroad to study other cities and see
what changes should be made in L En-
fant's plan. The commission reported
that his plan was best of all and that
in so far as 1t had not been per-
manently interfered with in Washing
ton 1t should be followed.
It was possibly the eccentricity of
genius that made the gifted French
man soon antagonistic to the commit
tee under which he was to work, for
shortly after he had drawn his plans,
had engaged the stone from the quar-
ries and started the city's building, he
was removed. Jefferson recommended
that Major L'Enfant be paid for his
services and suggested that 1t be
liberal" 1.-THE president thinks" SO
Jefferson wrote to certain members OF
congress, "s250O or $4,000, but leaves the
determination to you" This was in
1892. In 1910 the engineer was voted
1856. 66, with interest from 1892, in con-
sideration of his great work! Invited
by Mr.. Digges to his farm, he spent the
last quarter century or more of his life
there, refusing an appointment as in
structor at West Point in 1912, and in
the year that Lafayette paid his final
visit to this country the French guest
died at the Maryland farm, and though
| the family budying ground was tenanted
with the dead of the Carroll and
Digges families when he was first
buried there they were later removed,
and for many years his body has lain
there in company only with that of a
mysterious stranger who figured in
some long ago romance and found shell
| ter there in death. Today the nation
honors the dust of the engineer, long
dead, and later it is believed a suit
able memorial will mark his new grave
| in Arlington.
The nation has known few men so
far-seeing as L'Enfant. He planned q
city of sixteen-mile area to accommo4
date a nonl1lation of 100000 when all