CHAPTER I.

THE CITY OF WASHINGTON-THE AVENUES AND STREETS-THE PARKS, SQUARES,

AND CIRCLES-STATUES-THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT-CHURCHES-SCHOOLS

-GOVERNMENT.

HE City of Washington, the Capital of the United States of America, occupies a portion of the District of Columbia, a territory which is under the immediate control of Congress.

The District of Columbia comprises an area of about sixty-five square miles, and lies on the northern bank of the Potomac, one hundred and sixteen miles above its mouth. The greater part of this area is a plateau rising some four hundred feet above the level of the Potomac, and traversed by two streams, the Anacostia River, or Eastern Branch, and Rock Creek. Above the mouth of the Anacostia, the edge of the plateau recedes from the bank of the Potomac and leaves a comparatively low piece of land, about seven square miles in area. It is on this that the city is built. The suburbs occupy the hills to the north and west, the old city of Georgetown now forming a part of Washington.

The situation is an ideal one for a great city, and the founders were far-sighted men, L'Enfant's plan being adapted to a population of one million. The present number of inhabitants is about two hundred and forty thousand, but people are appreciating its advantages as a place of residence, and the growth is very rapid. Every year it is becoming more and more the centre of the political, literary, and social life of the country, and many people visiting the city become so fascinated by its many attractions that they make their homes there. The other great cities of the country, notwithstanding their many objects of interest, have a distinctly commercial aspect, but Washington shows a gayer spirit and commerce here is of secondary consideration. The Government, backed by the enterprise of private

citizens, spares no pains and expense to make it year by year more worthy of its position as the capital of a proud and prosperous people.

Washington had the advantage, possessed by no other great city of modern times, of being planned entirely in advance by a skilful engineer. Thus the confusion and inconvenience arising from the presence of old buildings and narrow and crooked streets was avoided, nor is it necessary to go to vast expense to make the broad highways required in the great cities of to-day.

The plan of the city is symmetrical. The Capitol and White House are two centres, from each of which radiate broad avenues. The streets are laid out at right angles to each other and corresponding to the cardinal points. Three streets running from the Capitol, known as North, East, and South Capitol Streets, and a broad stretch of public gardens on the west, divide the city into four districts, known as North-East, South-East, South-West, and NorthWest. The streets running north and south are numbered, beginning at the Capitol, and the east and west streets bear the names of the letters of the alphabet, beginning at the same place. This system makes it easy to find any designated locality.

The streets vary in width from eighty to one hundred and twenty feet, and the avenues from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and sixty feet. Advantage has been taken of the intersections of the avenues with the streets to form miniature parks, square or circular in form, liberally planted with trees and flowers and adorned with statues. The same enlightened policy has been followed on the streets and avenues, and there is no city in the world that can compare with Washington in the beauty and convenience of its public highways. The tree-planting, though a detail of the original design, was practically begun in 1872 by the Shepherd Board of Public Works. More than seventy thousand trees have been planted, and the annual increase in the number exceeds three thousand. There are numerous varieties, such as the maple, elm, ash, poplar, buttonwood, tulip, oak, and others. Many of the streets are completely arched by trees throughout their entire length, and from the Capitol or the Monument Washington presents the appearance of a city in the midst of a forest. This liberal use of trees has had an important effect upon the general health of the people, for malaria, once so common, has almost entirely disappeared.

The majority of the streets are paved with asphalt, and there is a notable absence of the rattle and roar of vehicles, so common and annoying elsewhere.

More than one-half the entire area of the city was reserved for public purposes and is now used for the Government buildings and for parks and streets.

The most populous section is the North-West. Before 1870, it was dreary and unhealthy, abounding in swamps and mainly occupied by the tumble-down shanties of negro squatters. But the Board of Public Works, under the leadership of Governor Shepherd, began an extensive system of public improvements; the swamps were drained, streets laid out, and now the quarter is noted for the beauty of its highways and the elegance of its buildings. Here are the White House and the great department buildings, the theatres, the great hotels and stores, and the greatest number of churches and public institutions. In the portion known as the "West End" are the great mansions that have of late years so added to the beauty and fame of the city. The avenues cutting the streets obliquely have made many odd-shaped lots, and architects have taken advantage of the opportunity to make the buildings picturesquely irregular in their lines. There is no tolerance for the long rows of similar structures so common in other cities, and each house in a street seems to have a certain individuality.

The North-East is but slightly developed and has as yet but few inhabitants. As the population grows it will doubtless fill up, as the ground is high and the situation healthy.

The South-East was expected to become the chief quarter of the city, and some large and handsome buildings were erected here at an early date. But the development was retarded by the high prices demanded for land, and the tide of fashion and improvement set in to the North-West. Of late years, however, many fine buildings have been erected, and while it may never rival the West End in the way of fashion, it bids fair to become a beautiful and populous quarter. The South-West is almost wholly given up to business, and is filled with manufacturing establishments, lumber yards, wharves, etc.

The great central thoroughfare is Pennsylvania Avenue. It is nearly five miles long, but is broken in two places by the Capitol and the Treasury. Between the two, its length of a mile and one

half forms the chief highway of the city. Its width is one hundred and sixty feet, and it is paved with asphalt. The smaller buildings are giving way to magnificent modern structures, and in a few years it will become the most splendid avenue in the world. A grand view is obtained by standing on the steps of the Treasury and looking towards the Capitol.

The large area reserved for park purposes forms a very attractive feature of Washington life. West of the Capitol is the broad stretch of lands known as The Mall, extending to the river. The grounds nearest the Capitol form the Botanical Gardens, and contain great conservatories stored with rare plants. There is also a beautiful fountain designed by Bartholdi. To the west of the Botanical Gardens are the grounds of the National Museum and Smithsonian Institution, and of the Department of Agriculture, under whose charge are the great propagating gardens. At the end of The Mall, the Washington Monument rears its gleaming white shaft high towards heaven, and beyond are the grounds reclaimed from the river and laid out in beautiful parks.

On Pennsylvania Avenue, opposite the White House, is Lafayette