Evening star., 1942-09-06
Christian He gears Saturday. September


as selected by the board, accomplished
wonders in pulling Washington out of
the mud, SO to speak, by his dynamic
enterprise.
The population of the District was
then less than one-fifth what it is today,
or about 131,700, and as DR.. William
Tindall says in his History of Washing
tom: Nearly all of the streets were then
dirt roadways. When these were inn
proved they were rudely covered with
gravel, from which, In dry weather.
clouds of dust arose with the breezes or
from the passing vehicles and many of
the streets were almost impossible in
times Of heavy rains. The few that
were improved with a more durable sur
face, excepting the portion Of PennsyI-
vania Avenue, which was paved with
wood, and the square on Vermont avenue
between H and streets, which was
paved by Mayor Bowen with coal tar
concrete, were paved with the roughest
of cobble or other irregularly shaped
stones, destructive alike to the vehicles
which travelled upon them, and to the
nerves of those by whom these vehicles
were occupied. As late as the fall of
1871 fire engine was stalled up to the
hubs in the soft roadway, in an effort to
mount the short rise on Eleventh street,
between E and F streets NV. Fire ap-
paratus was occasionally obliged to travel
on the sidewalk, in responding to alarms
in unusually wet weather The paved
sidewalks were few and confined to the
thickly built sections"
Washington 100 Years AGO
But what if we look back to the Wash
ington of 1842, the year Mr.. Heurich
was born Here, indeed, we would find
a veritable "Serbonian Bog" as John
Randolph once called 1t, with a popu-
lation of about $4,000 persons, including
the city and county of Alexandria, then
a part of the District of Columbia. This
was before there were any gas lights
here and the streets were lighted with
oil lamps. The telegraph had yet to be
tested out. There were no street cars,
and omnibuses were the public convey
ances until 1862, when the street car
service began. 1t was 10 years after
Mr. Heurich was born before The Star
was first published, in 1852, and it was
many years later before the bicycle was
introduced here and upward of a half
century or more before the advent OF
some of the greatest inventions of all
yryhf fol, 10 aft a
how our elders did without them.
However, though Mr.. Heurich does
not recall the Capital prior to his coming
here In 1872, yet he certainly does recall
the growth of the city from that date
to the present time, which has been
vastly greater than were the years this
venerable citizen spent on the other side
of the ocean before coming here and
which must appear rather astounding
to him, as it certainly does to us, and
it can be said for him that no business
man in Washington has kept a closer
pace with the progress of the District
than has this much-beloved centenarian.
Married three times, yes, but never
divorced except through death. To his
pic W11C lIC Wdo llldil1Su Oli y
II, 1899. Before her marriage she was
Amelia Louise Keyser, Of an old Wash
ington family, her grandfather on he,
mothers side, Augustus Muller, having
settled in Washington about 1880. There
were no children through Mr.. Heurich's
other marriages, the present son, Chris.
tian Heurich,' jr., and the two daughters
Anita H. and Karla Louise, and daugh-
ter that died in infancy are issues o.
the present Mrs. Heurich.
Christian Heurich, jr., is a graduate o
the public schools of Washington ant
the University of Pennsylvania. He i
married and has two children. The tw,
daughters likewise graduated from tn,
local public schools and from uniyersi
ties. Anita A. Heurich became the wifi
of Charles E. Eckles and they have on,
son.
If any one were to ask the writer wha
he attributed Mr.. Heurichs longevity t,
he would Immediately say Mrs. Heur
ich," for she Is certainly one Of tn