The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-10-17

There was little business transacted, as
nobody appeared anxious to do any BUSH
ness. The political atmosphere was al
ready surcharged with the electricity OF
the coming storm of war. The city was
divided into two hostile political camps,
one supporting President Buchanan and
the other hurrahing for Douglas, the Lit
tie Giant.
''OnIy two streets of the city had any
sort of paved sidewalks, and in them 1t
was only on one side. The north side OF
Pennsylvania avenue was paved with
brick. but every foot or two there were
gaps which made walking anything but
pleasant. On the west side of Seventh
street from Pennsylvania avenue to about
| street was also brick sidewalk. The
south side of the avenue had plank
walk, the planks laid lengthwise and most
of them were either broken or had the
nails in the ends drawn so that the ends
ourled m. The streets themselves were
without improvement 1t was not uncom-
mon to see teams mired in the mud on b
street, and such sights were frequently
seen on the Avenue itself. Tiber creek,
one of the ugliest and flthiest streams
possible to imagine ran right across the
city, and It was often in flood. There
was no sewerage system of any kind.
For a long time the only street car sys-
tenn, introduced about 1862, was line
running from Georgetown to the Navy
yard. The cars were small and drawn
by one horse II there happened to be q
hard rain the passengers had to wade
In water shoe-mouth deep from the cars
to the sidewalk. 1t Is no wonder that
every stranger who came to the city
went away Disguised, and then abused
the city and the people.
There was little or no demand for
real estate and lots now worth thousands
could have been purchased for few
dollars. The war came and gave the city,
In one sense, a business boom. The city
was filled with soldiers and money flowed
liked water and still no one appeared
to be very disirous of investing in prop
erty Before the war there were no stores,
as we call stores in these days; they
were shops, where small stock Of dry
goods was kept, and few notions. The
war changed this, too, in some respects,
but 1t was not until 1870 that we began
to have real stores. For the four years
of the war there was a continued danger
of the city being captured by the Con-
federates, and 1t need not be disguised
that there was a majority of the citizens
who hoped 1t would be. In fact, 1t was
such a foriorn imitation Of a city that
except for the moral effect 1t would have
upon the country at large and upon Eu-
ropean nations, the northerners here
would not have seriously objected to hav-
ing It captured.
During the war all kinds of business
fourished as never before known, because
OF the great influx of strangers and the
presence of q large army of soldiers, but
for all that no one thought of ever MAX
ing of washington anything more than
an overgrown village At that time one
OF the most unsightly places In the city
was the east front OF the Capitol. 1t was
a great stone yard where the stone was
dressed for the building Of the two new
wings, which were not completed until
about the close Of the war, but the un-
used stone and the debris from the build
ing remained on the plaza for many
months after the buildings were COM
pleted.
S"At that time the National, the Metro
politan and WIZARDS hotels were the
great rallying points and their Hobbies
were nightly filled with army and navy
officers in gittering uniforms, and loud
swearing and hard drinking were the
rule. But a change was coming. The
people had had taste of prosperity, and
some new blood had come In, and so
many people from the north had visited
the city during tho continuance Of the
war and SO much had been said about
the neglect of the Capital City Of the ma
ton by the representatives of the nation
that Congress began to awaken to the
fact that It had duty to perform, and
a greater liberality in dealing with the
district was observable soon after the
war ended.
'~rhe project OF securing a change in
the form of the government OF the city
began to be agftated, and after a year
or two 1t evolved a committee Of the cit
izens to devise a new form and to push
through Congress the necessary legisla-
tion. A territorial form was agreed upon,
with a governor and a board of public
works. 1t took two years of persistent
lobbying upon the part of the committee
to get this measure through Congress
but II, January, 1871 the feat was accom-
plished, and Congress agreed to pay its
FAIR share of the expenses of the CITY,
lust what ought to have been done from
the beginning.
But now came the fight in real earn
est. The new government believed in the
future Of the city, and believed that to
have a future the city would have to be
practically made over, and that would IN
volve an unheard of expenditure Of
money. In every city or community there
are always to be found those who oppose
every Improvement, especially II 1t costs
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