The sun., 1915-10-03
Gen. Washingtons headquarters in Georgetown

office. which he consented to do. I
accordingly wrapped them in sheet
OF paper to protect them from the
wet. and threw them out Of the cham
Der window to him"
And matters did not improve much
as time went on. by 1860" Mr.. Leupp
records. washington had reached the
middle OF It's Slough OF Despond. Not
IA street paved except for a patch here
and there. and Pennsylvania avenue
was the only one lighted after night
fall. Pigs roamed through the less
preten,ious highways as freely as dogs,
There was not a sewer anywhere. a
shallow. uncovered stream carrying off
the common refuse 10 the Potomac,
which was held In its channel only by
raw earthen bluffs.
Wells and springs furnished all the
water. and the police and fire depart.
ments were those Of Village. The
open squares. intended for beauty
spots, were densely overGrown with
weeds. Except for an omnibus line 10
GEORGETOWN not a public conveyance
was running. Such permanent de-
partment buildings as had been start
ed. though ambitious in design and
suggesting by their outlines a desire
for something better than had yet been
accomplished. had not reached a hab-
liable state.
The Capitol was in disorder. 'and
still oVerrun with workmen who had
! been employed in constructing the
! new wings and were preparing Il
raise the dome: the White House had
I scarcely filter look. with its environ
ment ot stables and shambling fences
and it's unkempt grounds"
Then the civil war came and after
/ that Washington made its real star,
master figure. Alexander II. Shep
herd. Says Mr.. Leupp:
/ no man OF his day, unless it were
Grant himself, endured more whole
some denuncation or found more
valiant defenders than he. Like
Grant. vino believed in him thor'
I oughly. he had an iron will which
treated all obstacles as negligible
when he had set himself to accomplish
a certain end AS plumber by trade
and very competent one, he had ac'
/ Early in his business career he hat
made up his mind that Washington
failure To fulil L'Enfant's ideal of ;
/ beautiful capital was due Ia the slug
gishness which pervaded It, and thi.
ne resolved to dispel Grant listene,
to his projects and encouraged them
The first step was TO abolish the eX
isting form of municipal government
and to substitute a territorial form
with Governor and Board Of Pub
lie Works. Shepherd was made vice
president of the board and virtual,
its dictator.
Because Shepherd foresaw the hos
tiity he would excite by his pro
Gramme OF reforms. and that what h.
did must therefore be done quickly, h,
crowded into three years what nigh
we'll have consumed twenty. To sav,
time and cut red tape. he awarde,
contracts to friends whom he believe,
to he as much in earnest as he was
q practice which of course laid hin
open to accusations Of favoritism; h
experimental with novel materials an,
methods. many of which proved II
|
lures reached figures which surprised
even him when he found leisure I,
foot up his debit page. But IN
shirked nothing because of the dan
ger or trouble it might involve 70
himself. and his. opponents had to lii
awake nights to outwit him.
For instance. there stood on th
present site of the Public Library il
Mount Vernon square n ramshackl
old market building. the owners o
which had cOntrved so to intrencl
themselves behind legal technical
ties that they could not be ouste,
by any ordinary process. One even
ms after the courts We're closed
platoon of hrawny laborers wa
marched NJ to the building. arme,
with batterng rams, axes and sledge
hammers. and before propriet0rs o
tenants could hunt up judge T.