Evening star., 1941-04-06

and all the way the scenery wa
fascinating and delightful, ever
more so than it is today, for then
from Georgetown, along the river, i
was quite rural, and the old cana
was still in operation.
During the early days OF thi!
canal mules were almost exclusively
used to pull the canal boats from
Washington to Cumberland, ane
from that Maryland town to the Dis
trict, though many of the boats were
driven by steam engines from Civi
War days on, and the writer recalls
having made a voyage" in one oi
these steam-driven boats to Dickey
and Great Falls for one brief days
outing, when he was youngster.
However, the custom of giving ex-
cursions up the canal evidently be-
gan at an early date-perhaps wher
our grandparents or great-grand-
parents were children-for we fine
recorded in the National Intelli.
gencer that line of passenger boats
began running on this canal as fa1
back as 1881, and a special event
heralded by the Metropolitan, took
place on July 4, 1885, when Presi-
dent Jackson and his cabinet, the
foreign ministers and about SO in
vited guests, took an outing in a
canal boat-described as an "all-day
trip"-up to six miles above Great
Falls. The Marine Band was taken
along "to enliven the occasion" and
it is quite likely that Peggy O'Neal
went along, too, to grace the occa-
sion, and that Gen. Eaton assisted
the President in entertaining the
crowd, although their names are not
specifically mentioned.
Report of Excursion.
This event is we'll covered by the
Metropolitan on July u, 1885, in the
following account:
THE President and directors of
the canal company invited the Pres
tdent of the United States and a
number of ladies and gentlemen to
take an excursion up this canal on
Thursday last. The party consisted
of about SO persons, among whom
were the Vice President, members OF
the cabinet. foreign ministers and
other gentlemen of distinction. We
left Georgetown at half-past 8 in
the morning in handsome style, the
excellent Marine Band of music
playing various delightful airs as we
quickly glided along
Our attention was soon at
tracted by the bold enterprise OF
constructing a canal upon the side
of a long range of high, steep cliffs
of rock forming the north of the
Potomac River. The stupendous
stone wall embankment, 40 or SO
feet high, based on the bed of the
rock, occasionally incorporating a
part of the canal, an elbow Of this
river, in its circuitous winding
through the deep-rifted rocks. The
heavy excavations of rock to effect
level embeddings of the canal, the
spacious, constructed locks and
the uncommon capacity of the canal,
altogether are objects of great ad-
miration and extremely creditable
to the enterprising company.
Attractive Scenes.
"As we advanced we were con-
stantly amused with the diversity
of beautiful scenery with which the
Potomac abounds-the incessant
contrasting views of the grand and
picturesque with the pastoral quiet
ness of the gently sloping vale, mod
erately enlivened by the tame rip
ping stream, affording rich treat
to those fond of the sublime. Py-
ramidal remains of the rugged rocks
in scattered positions are seen ma
jestically rearing their heads, sternly
resisting the inroads of the remorse-
less torrent, adding grandeur to
the scene. The Great Falls, ID miles
from Georgetown, presents views OF
magnifcence which may be justly
ranked with the first in this coun-
try. The whole river descends here
from a 70-foot elevation, undergo
ing terrific agitations, awfully
grand.
After passing about miles above
Great Falls, still delighted with
the inexhaustible beauties Of the
Potomac, the party began return
ing"
Naturally, the two principal sites
along the Conduit road in the early
days-and no doubt they still are
Is Cabin John Bridge and Great
Falls. Work on the former gigantic
piece of masonry began early in
1857, under the skillful direction of
Montgomery C. MeigS, then captain,
Corps of Engineers, U. S. A, and
subsequently major general. The
work was pushed rapidly and within
a year and a half from the time
1t was started the arch was keyed
and by July l, 1859, the voussoirs,
or arch stones, as well as a con-
siderable portion of the abutments,
were in position.
Although the water was turned
into the aqueduct on December S,
1868, the bridge itself was not COM
pleted for a year later, and even
then the parapet walls were not
In place and were not added until
during the years 1873 and 1874, and
pedestrians and teams were pro-
tected by a low guard rail of tim
bers or logs.
European Examples.
Writing for the records Of the
Columbia Historical Society, Dr. w.
r. S. Curtis, whose father, Charles
r. Curtis, was selected by Capt.
Meigs, because of his practical ex-
perience in the construction of heavy
masonry, to act as general superin-
tendent and inspector, has this to
say of similar European bridges:
within the last few years several
large masonry bridges have been
constructed in Europe, very similar
In design to that of Cabin John.
The most important of these is the
Jaremcze railway viaduct over the
River Pruth, in Galicia, on the line
OF the Austrian Stanislau- -Woroni-
enka Railroad, having single arch
over the river of 65 meters span
(213K feeN, with rise of So feet.
1t is built of sandstone, with thick
ness of 6 feet 101a inches at the