TIIK XATIO.VS CATTTAL 



effect will be impressive. Wo must take 

 thought for even the distant future, fur 

 we are trustees in this way for posterity, 

 and we want posterity to think well of 

 us. Perhaps, too, a wild growth of 

 small shrubs and herbaceous wild flowers 

 might be encouraged over parts at least 

 of the space, so as to make it as much as 

 l)Ossible like a great natural park. 



Some of the finest general prospects 

 of Washington are to be had from those 

 hills on the other side of the Anacostia 

 River. Such sites otight to be treated so 

 as to get the greatest effect from them, 

 so that any one looking across from this 

 side will have a pleasing view presented. 

 Small, mean shacks or little groups of 

 hovels ought to be kept off fine sites. 



To care for these things ought not to 

 be set down to personal fastidiousness. 

 We are not to suppose that in thinking 

 of the beauties of the city or country we 

 are thinking of ourselves only, for beauty 

 and ugliness have an effect upon the 

 minds of all classes of residents. There 

 are many places on the outskirts of this 

 city which have become sordid and even 

 hideous, owing to the habit of diuiiping 

 refuse. It ought to be checked. I do 

 not know what the powers of the Dis- 

 trict Commissioners are, but if they have 

 not sufficient power to stop that deface- 

 ment of nature they ought to be given 

 such power. I sui)pose this refuse could 

 be burned, and if so it certainly should 

 be burned, or perhaps buried, so it would 

 not offend those who walk around the 

 city and see the beauties of our environs. 



A reference to the Potomac leads me 

 to speak of the splendid ridge of rocks 

 forming the face of the hills on the \'ir- 

 ginia side. They have been sadly cut into 

 by quarries, spoiling the natural beauty 

 of the rocks : but Xature will one day re- 

 pair those blemishes. Perhajis she will 

 not do so within the lifetime of most of 

 us, but in the course of years, with rain 

 and frost and vegetation, lichens, moss, 

 and grass. Nature will soften the harsh- 

 ness of the rocks where the stone has 

 been taken away, and you will again ha\ e 

 picturesque cliffs along the banks of the 

 Potomac, with the tall trees lifting their 

 plumage into the sky behind. Those are 



very valuable elements in our Washing- 

 ton landscape. 



It is desirable if po^isible to slop any 

 further quarrying on the Potomac cliffs 

 and to preserve the trees on the toj) of 

 those cliffs on the X'irginia side, and to 

 make a good path, a walking path or rid- 

 ing path, or possibly a not too obtrusive 

 driving road, along the top, looking 

 down onto the river, from which you 

 could get fine prospects. The road might 

 be kept a little back, .so as not to be con- 

 spicuous from below. 



TIIK .MOST ni:.\UTlI-lI. VIKW (»!• WASIIIXC*.- 

 T().\ IS THREATENED 



May I mention a point of view that 

 is now threatened and ])erhaps almost 

 gone? Vou all know the spot at which 

 Wisconsin avenue intersects Massachu- 

 setts avenue, which has now been ex- 

 tended beyond that intersection into the 

 country. .\t that point of inter.section, 

 just opposite where the Ri)iscopal Cathe- 

 dral is to stand, there is one spot com- 

 manding what is one of the most beaut i- 

 ftil general views of Washington. \'ou 

 look down upon the city, you see its most 

 striking buildings — the Capitol, the Li- 

 brary, State. War, and Xavy Depart- 

 ment, and the Post-Office and other high 

 buildings along Pennsylvania avenue — 

 and beyond them you see the great sil- 

 very flood of the Potomac and the soft 

 lines fading away in dim outline in the 

 far southeast. It is a delightful and in- 

 spiring view. 



It is a view that reminds one of some 

 of those ample pros])ects over Rome 

 which the traveler is able to obtain from 

 St. Peter Montorio, on the further side 

 of the Tiber, or from Monte Mario. 



.\11 that ])iece of land is being now cut 

 u]). and according to present appearances 

 houses will be l)uilt there immediately, 

 and after two years nobody will ever sec 

 that view again except from the tower 

 of the cathedral when erected. Can it 

 be saved ? 



There may be other views of Wash- 

 ington that are as good, but there is none 

 better. It is a view that speaks not only 

 to the eve. but to the imagination also. 

 The top of the slope ought to have been . 



