Evening star., 1937-10-10
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star

Fifty years ago Alexander r. Shep-
herd, second Governor Of the District of
What Shepherd Did oluilu,a orsa ni7ating natig
for Washington. as Territory. re-
turned to WASH
ington after an extended absence. On
the eve of an enthusiastic reception
given in his honor The Star of October
S, 1887, says:
There are few dissenting voices to
the general acclaim of welcome to Gov
ernor Shepherd but a single discordant
one is heard making the remarkable
assertion that no credit is due Shepherd
for the improvement of Washington;
that he did nothing but lay lot of wood
pavements. which have rotted, and that
all the smooth pavements have been
made since he left Office. A statement
of this sort betrays great want of knowl-
edge or appreciation of the work under
taken and accomplished by Governor
Shepherd. The city then had no es-
tablished grades or system Of sew
erage: the drainage finding its way
to the open canal cesspool by foul
surface cutters along and across the
streets. Against obstacles that only a
power and tenacity of purpose of Alex
ander R. Shepherd could have made
headway, he established uniform grades
for the city the first requisite for
smooth streets-cutting down hills and
filling up valleys on colossal scale in
the work and at the same time he abol-
ished the wretched surface draining,
which barred all possibility Of decent
pavements where it existed. In paving
the streets thus graded a variety of
pavements were experimental with in
order to find the one most suitable for
permanent adoption. Many of them
were laid in wood, which was then the
popular pavement throughout the coun-
try and which was in general request by
citizens here when petitioning to have
their streets paved. Many other streets
were paved with concrete or asphalt and
some with stone. The test of trial ulti-
mately showed that a form of asphalt
calculated to stand the climate of Wash
ington in Winter and Summer was the
best general pavement for the city and
it has been used extensively to replace
the decaying wood pavements. But this
matter of resurfacing the streets, now or
in the future, with asphalt or any other
material, is minor consideration when
estimating the importance of the gigan-
tic work of grading and reclamation
achieved by Shepherd that made it pos
sible to lay smooth pavements at any
time in Washington"
The reception to former Gov. Shep-
herd took place on the evening of Octo-
her 1897 o,,J fbo ,,ovt
neceptloh day The Star said
q Success. The whole city of
Washington seemed to
have turned out last night to do honor
to Alexander R. Shepherd. Not even
on an Inauguration day, when the city
is flooded with visitors from all parts of
the country, have Pennsylvania avenue
and the intersecting streets shown such
solid masses of people. And the parade
and pageant upon the smooth streets of
Shepherds creation was wonderfully
brilliant and effective. In the feeling
and appropriate little speech drawn from
him by the opportunities of the vast
throng that gathered about the review
ing stand at the end of the parade Gov.
Shepherd said that this demonstration
of regard repaid him for all the labor
and trouble he had in helping to rebuild
the city of Washington. This grand
popular tribute might well touch the
sensibilities of man even of the robust
mold of Alexander R. Shepherd. but the
people of Washington and of the whole
country as we'll will never forget or con-
slider paid the debt of gratitude they owe
to the man who lifted the Capital City
from the mire and made 1t the pride of
the Nation