Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-05-02
EVENING STAR.
MONDAY, MAY 2, 1853.
GAS IN THE CANAL.

GAS In LIE CANAL.
Having occasion to take an early walk
this morning along the banks of the Canal,
for considerable distance, we could not
fail to notice the offensive odor that is dis
tributed SO freely on its waters by the Gas
Company of this city. What our friends
had informed US of, by means of what they
knew, our own olfactories convinced US was
true We never met more disgusting or
disgraceful thing of the kind, and We mean
henceforth to call to it the attention of the
public until the nuisance is removed.
Along the whole line of the canal from
the Potomac to the Anacostia, the Washing
ton Gas Company is in the constant practice
of emptying its refuse gas. Twice in the
day, and twice during the night, as the tide
of the two rivers rises, falls and flows
through the Canal, this turbid stream of
offal gas rolls along through the very heart
of the city. The higher the tide rises the
more rapidly it passes through the Canal,
the more agitated are the waters there, and
consequently the more offensive the odors
they emit from their surface.
For miles in the direction of the residen-
ces of our city in that vicinity this fetid
gas pours its poisonous torrent, injecting
the surrounding air to the injury of the
health and the property of the citizens
Let any one walk along the Canal, at any
hour in the morning or evening when the
tide is rising or falling, and he will come
away fully satisfied, as We did to-day, with
a firm conviction that this gas abuse has
been borne long enough by our patient COM
munity.
Every one has heard of the quaint remark
of Hon. John NJ. Niles, made at the time he
was Senator in Congress, when asked to
vote an appropriation for the Canal as ':a
matter of taste" The honorable gentleman
said that for his part he did not consider
the Canal 80 much matter of taste as S.
matter Of SMELL" If this was true ten
years ago, it is much more true, vastly
more disgustingly true, now than it was
then. The taste it is just as bad, and the
smell thousand fold worse. To cap the
climax, as the population Of the city in
creases, as the quantity Of gas cons umed
grows larger, this gross abuse in the Canal
becomes more and mere intolerable. It is
emphatically one of those nuisances that
grow by what they feed on. If it is so bad
now, what will it be ten years hence, or
when the city shall have become densely
settled in the vicinity of the Canal?
We learn on good authority that the Gas
Company is exclusively under the control
of the city government. 1t was that gov
eminent which gave it permission to locate
its works in the centre of the metropolis,
almost under the droppings of the caves of
the south wing of the Capital, and where the
people will wish to erect their dwellings
more and more. We think it was mistake
of the municipal authorities to allow such
works to be put up in such place Fur
thermore, we question the right of the cor
poration thus to peril the lives and injure
the property of any of our citizens Who
will want to have his residence, and that of
his family, in the midst of such a nuisance
as this greasy canal? What will property
be worth in that quarter, as this shameful
abuse becomes generally known? And yet
this nuisance, this abuse, exists in the very
heart Of the city. How much longer is it
to be borne? We shall see. At any rate,
the faithful and fearless light of the Erening
Star shall be.made to shine constantly upon
it. If the WSrk of reform is not attended
10 Immediately, we shall feel that we have
done our duty.
More anon.