Radnor Township.

Waring, the best posted man in the country on sanitary matters. Miles of distribution pipe have been laid by them; a water system that draws its supply from springs at the source of Ithan Creek, and clarifies itself in a reservoir capable of holding two hundred and fifty thousand gallons, at an elevation of four hundred and fifty feet above tide-water, has been put in operation; a nursery has been laid out for young sprigs, which are tenderly cared for in this little patch until they have acquired enough age to be transplanted along the banks of the creek in a pretty park; a new and attractive station has been built by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, new driving roads have been made, and in all there has been an outlay for grounds and improvements of three-quarters of a million dollars towards the establishment of a city on scientific principles, and towards providing homes in the country with all the comforts of the city. Eventually six hundred houses will be built there, and accommodation furnished for a population of three thousand.

"A drive along the Lancaster pike, past Bryn Mawr, Radnor, and other resting-places of wealth and fashion, brings Wayne within an hour and a half of the Public Buildings, at Broad and Market Streets. The distance by rail is fourteen miles, or thirty minutes from Broad Street Station. The pike is owned by a corporation headed by Mr. A. J. Cassatt, who bought the charter of the stretch from Philadelphia to Paoli for seven thousand five hundred dollars, and then improved it at an expense of seventy thousand dollars. Before the building of the Pennsylvania Railroad it was the main avenue from Philadelphia to the West, but after the railroad paralleled it with tracks, up to the time that Mr. Cassatt and his friends acquired possession, it had been very much neglected. To-day there is not in America a driving road of equal length that compares with it. Along this avenue for a stretch of one and a half miles lies the Childs-Drexel tract of seven hundred acres, and facing it on either side are nearly all of the buildings which these gentlemen have put up. A row of eighteen residences set out by pairs, in lots having one hundred and twenty feet front, has just been finished. The new buildings stand forty feet back of the street line. They are of brick, with broad piazzas and sloping lawns surrounding. The interiors are planned with broad open stairways, finished in hard wood. There are tiled fireplaces and handsomely-carved mantels, wide door-ways that give opportunities for luxurious draperies, stained glass windows and numerous gables, spacious bath-rooms, and other conveniences that are seldom looked for outside of large cities. Many of these properties have been sold for five thousand two hundred dollars each, Messrs. Childs and Drexel taking one-third in cash and the balance on easy installments. Contracts have been entered into for a row of eighteen frame cottages, costing three thousand dollars each, north of the railroad. A large building designed for a drug-store and a bakery is rising opposite the town hall, and a livery with accommodations for one hundred and fifty horses has been established.

"It is proposed to utilize the waters of Gulf Creek to supply those properties lying north of the railroad, where there are two hundred acres of the tract, and where extensive improvements are also in contemptation. Three railroad stations dot tile property, - St. David's, Wayne, and Eagle. The last-named place is the site of the old Eagle Hotel, which Mr. Childs bought to stop the sale of liquor near his bailiwick. It has been fitted up nicely, and will be used during the summer as a school for the Indian children of the Lincoln Institution.

"Near St. David's, on the north side, and on part of the original Askin's property, many new residences are going up. Mr. Runk, of Darlington & Runk, has located there. Mr. Robert Stewart, of Stewart, Ralph & Co., is putting up a handsome building to cost fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Thomas Williams, father-in-law of Mr. George B. Roberts, and Mr. Henry Geiss, the wool man, are also building. Mr. Goldsborough has bought six acres adjoining Mr. Runk. Mr. Manley, of Manley & Cooper, purchased the old George House of Mr. Childs, and is fitting it up in complete style. Mr. John M. Kennedy, Jr., has improved his house.

"Real estate men say that the tendency of purchasers of country homes along the Pennsylvania Railroad is beyond Bryn Mawr, and they attribute this to three facts, the lower prices, higher elevation, and the extensive improvements at Wayne and other places near by. In six years the value of real estate fringing the Pennsylvania Railroad from the county-line to a point near Paoli has appreciated nearly $30,000,000. All this started with the purchase of 600 acres near White Hall by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company thirteen years ago. Within three years the advance in prices along the line has been very rapid. Properties that sold in 1880 for $500 an acre have been recently disposed of for $1200, and some pieces of the ground have gone at $4200 an acre."¹

A more particular account of the town of to-day, however, is found in the following article, which was published in the Germantown Telegraph, under date of July 2, 1884:

"A new town, or rather an aggregation of delightful suburban residences, is rapidly springing up within easy traveling distance of the city of Philadelphia, either by rail or pike. It is known as 'Wayne,' Delaware County, Pa., and is situated on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, 14 55/100 miles from the Pennsylvania Railroad Station at Broad and Market Streets, and is also accessible by a pleasant drive over Lancaster Avenue or pike. During the latter part of the year 1880 two prominent and enterprising Philadelphia capitalists, Mr. George W. Childs, proprietor of the Public Ledger, and Mr. Anthony J. Drexel, the well-known banker, conceived the idea of making extensive improvements in Radnor township, near Wayne station, on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In the following spring large tracts of charmingly-situated land were purchased, and the work of building commenced. The first land purchased was a tract of about 500 acres belonging to Mr. J. Henry Askin. Adjoining properties were then secured, until over 600 acres of fine land came into the possession of Messrs. Childs and Drexel, and no time was lost in laying out the most available ground into building-lots. The nucleus of a good-sized and most attractive-looking town soon appeared, and now not less than fifty elegant residences have been completed and occupied, or are being finished with great rapidity, and the gentlemen named have not less than $600,000 invested in the great enterprise. The dwellings erected or under progress are very handsome architecturally, and are built in the most substantial manner, being provided with every modern convenience, and the drainage system, coustructed under the supervision of Col. Waring, is simply perfect.

"The extent of the estate may be judged from the fact that three Pennsylvania Railroad stations are on the property, namely, Wayne Station, St. David's Station, and Eagle Station, and for the purpose of giving the reader a comprehensive idea of the new town of Wayne and its surroundings, the writer proposes to describe a visit he recently made there, and state just what he saw.

"A half-hour's railroad ride from the Broad Street Station brought me to Wayne Station, and emerging from the cars a short walk up Wayne Avenue and past several beautiful cottages on either side brought Wayne Lyceum Hall into view, owned by Messrs. Childs and Drexel. The hall is three stories high, and is built of brick and plastered. It cost about thirty thousand dollars. A large general store and a drug-store are on the first floor, and an audience-room for five hundred persons is on the second and third floors. The hall is forty feet by sixty feet in size; it is situated at the corner of Wayne and Lancaster Avenues, and contains the post-office and the superintendent's business office. Opposite Wayne Lyceum Hall, on Lancaster Avenue, is the cottage of Mr. J. Henry Askin, the former owner of the estate. The cottage is handsomely built of brick, and has a spacious porch and a neat lawn. Close by is the cottage of Mrs. Patterson, a fine brick building, and north of that is the large and substantial cottage of Mr. Israel Solomon, of the Bingham House, who also purchased the adjoining lot. There are other cottages near by belonging to Mr. Childs as yet unsold. A fine cottage adjoining Mr. Askin's is occupied by Mr. William J. Phillips, ex-superintendent of the Police and Fire Alarm Telegraph. The intervening property on Lancaster Avenue between Mr. Phillips' cottage and the Bellevue Mansion, is owned by Mr. William D. Hughes, of the firm of Hughes & Cook. He owns some four or five acres, beautifully laid out. Between Lancaster Avenue and Wayne is a French drain, which completely protects the water used from all impurities. An elegant cottage on Lancaster Avenue opposite the Bellevue Mansion has been sold, although not yet finished. This cottage is one of seven others of similar character. They will contain twelve rooms, open hallways, parlor, dining-room, library, and kitchen on the first floor; four chambers and bath-room on the second floor, and the same on the third floor, and elegant wide porches. The cottages are finished in imitation of hard wood, and built of brick and stone, with slate roofs, have hot and cold water, and are papered in the latest style. The lots are one hundred feet front and three hundred feet deep. Mr. Abbott, of the Pennsylvania Railroad Conipany, is building a fine cottage on the same land, and will spend his honeymoon there.

"We now come to the beautifully-situated Bellevue Mansion on Lancaster Avenue. Tile mansion has been leased by Mr. Childs to Miss Mary Simmons and her sister, and is a charming summer resort. It has one hundred rooms, and each room has a private porch. Four