Evening star., 1925-09-16

Eyes of city and park planners of
the metropolitan district of Washing
ton are beginning to turn Virginia
ward to pick out parkways of historic
interest. Some of the spots are on
heights that give commanding views
of the city of Washington and its
environs, and are sites selected years
ago by Union generals to command
the approaches to the then small
| Capital City. Though funds yet are
not available to warrant going out
side the District of Columbia, yet
| those charged with the duty of max
ing great metropolitan area are
looking ahead that they may point out
and select parkways before the actual
advance Of the population and com
merce which might wipe out beautiful
parkways or hold them at prohibitive
prtces-a situation that has hampered
| park purchases to some extent in the
Capital City.
Maj. Carey Brown, assistant di
rector Of the office Of public build
ings and public parks of the National
Capital, and chairman of the city and
park planning committee Of the Ma
tfonal Capital Park Commission, which
committee is to form the nucleus OF
regional committee with represent
atives of the Federal, District, Mary
land and Virginia governments on it;
Representative r. Walton Moore of
Virginia, strong supporter of the
regional development, and a repre-.
sentative Of The Star yesterday made
a tour Of a number of the Civil War
forts in the Old Dominion State ir
the chain Of defenses laid down tc
prevent a Confederate invasion Of the
Capital City.
Many Remarkably Preserved.
They found in the course of the in
spection tour that despite the fact that
in most instances no effort had been
made to preserve these defenses, which
showed the engineering methods of
the early armies of the United States,
many of them are in a remarkable
state of preservation. In fact, officers
Of the Army attending the Engineers
School at Fort Humphreys. Va, make
regular tours of these forts for study
ing them in connection with present.
4 day field engineering problems.
All Of the forts visited yesterday
can be reached now by hard surfaced
roads, except one, Fort Lyon, which
commands Little Hunting Creek and
Cameron Run below Alexandria, as
well as the Potomac River to the bluff
on the Maryland shore, but this road
WOulu De SOOO III QTy WedIner.
Taking the Highway Bridge, the
party went first to Arlington Gene
terry, where, overlooking the section
where the World War dead are buried
Is Fort Mcpherson. The parapets and
gun depressions are being preserved
| there, and they show clearly the ideas
| of the Union engineers and strategists
in building zig-Zag construction sc
that each breatwork commanded the
approach to its adjoining one. Prac.
| tically all of the breastworks between
here and below Alexandria command.
ed the Potomac and the valleys, Civ.
| ing the Union forces the dominating
! points over an approaching offensive
force, and were along what is known
as the Arlington ridge.
! Following the road along the ridge
and what Is destined to be some day
| the grand boulevard from the Me
| mortal Bridge to Mount Vernon, the
| party passed Fort Ellsworth, or
| Shooters Hill, but the breastworks
there have been to some extent de
stroyed by the construction Of the
handsome Masonic Memorial which