Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-01-23

said Secretary Of War, and that the money derived
.ssi be permanent School fund for the uss Of the
District Of Columbia.
Sec: ?: That contracts for the work proposed may
shall De willing TO accept land thus made in lieu Of
Seq g. That any person, natural or artificial, feel.
ing himself injured o. damaged by any taking, use
By the o. Of Wan er
Roses, o. thus mprexsment and in aooordsnce With
taxing any a IN sany s s o
PETITION q right ssain.s the tinted s.asss IN the
forth bis claims to the lsnd &C. in Question; copy
Of Which bill shall Be served upon the Attorney Gen
of sy
s:. s sss 81. ss ns 6 e "a .Fsss
ing, TO the rules OF equity, and the court
S so s
either out Of the sales Of lands aforesaid from
and o To- au Is be
within sixty days after the decree Of the said SUI
SSse he en- Grs #
q the District Of Columbia if appeal be taken
Sec. s. That the sum Of one million of dollars i,
hereby appropriated TO enable the Secretary to begin
this said Improvement.
CAPT. CARLISLE PATTERSON,
chairman Of the board of survey, appeared be-
fore the committee, and answered various inter
rogatoTies by the me mbers of the committee and
others relative to the proposed plan of improve
ment, in relation to draw-bridges, tides, sc. He
saw nothing in the way of the Secretary Of War
going ahead under liberal appropriation of
Congress and making the improvement. AT
least $500 600 would be required to make a be-
ginning.
Mr.. tarkweather.-"Looking at this subject
as matter Of great publs interest would there
terially with the government making the i'm
provement, provided the necessary appropria'
tons are made?'
Capt. P.-.I see no difficulty in the way and
believe the government could do it ecOnomi-
cally."
Mr.. Starkweather.-"which bill do you pre-
fer"
Capt. P.-"The government bill decidedly. -
Mr.. Eldridge inquired as to the character of
the Improvement of the river as made by the
government from time to time.
Capt. Patterson explained that the improves
uent by the government was simply the dredg-
ing of the channel and dumping the mud back
" Analostan island. 1t would be more expen-
sive to dump the IEud on the fats.
THE PLAN OF IMPROVEMENT
proposed by the board of survey is of much
greater magnitude than any Improvement
heretofore made :. by the government since il
ty of land. Capt. Patterson explained his views
mt length by means of typographical and other
maps which he exhibited to the committee.
Mr.. SHEPHERDS REMARKS.
Mr.. A. X. Shepherd was next heard. He said
he had but little to add to what has already
been said in behalf of the plan for the improve
ment Of our river and harbOr. He did desire to
say, however, that the needs of Washington and
Georgetown. in reference to a good harbOr, are
very great, and our helplessness in this matter
is shown by the fact that two steamers plying
between this city and New York, and drawing
river to Georgetown except at high tide He He
then went on to state that owing to lack of
harbOr facilities the commerce of the District is
materially restricted, and that only boats which
draw but little water can navigate the harbOr
He was glad this discussion has arisen, because
it is desirable that opinions on all sides be OBJ
tanned on this important subject. That some
The fats i'm front of the city, are an undoubted
nuisance, and emit an odor and give rise to a
malaria which physicians concur in believing
contemplated should be done. We want to
have the work done, but by whom we care not;
we want il done. 1t would doubtless be best
that the United States should do this work
and give us a fine harbor. AS to the Canal COM
pany, so far as trusting ourselves to the tender
mercies of that corporation, / don't think we
can afford to do 1t, unless the company is bound
to do the work within certain time. Wehave
already had an unpleasant experience with that
corporations for as every one knows, for twenty
years past they have allowed that portion of their
line between 18th street and Rock creek to re-
main shame and a nuisance to the community.
In regard to the claim that is known as the
- Kidwell Meadows" he (Mr. 81 desired to pro-
duce copy OF the records from the general
land Office in relationtO the matter Mr. Shep-
herd read the action of the land office i'm relation
to DIR. Kidwells claim for Al III acres, Of which
the following is an abstract:
September 2, 1sG7.-Kidwell made application
to the United States Treasurer for the purchase
of the Meadows.
September 3, 1S6l.-United States treasurer,
on receipt of $40, issued to Kidwell certificate
for amount. ard gave orders to commissioner
land office for survey of premises.
September II, SG..-COmmiSsiOner land off ce
ssued order for survey.
October 81, 1s67.-SurveyOrs made returns Of
survey as an island, denOminatng it "The Kid
well Meadows" and containing HI acres
February Il, 1s6s.-Examiner inspected sur
vey and found the land under water, with ex-
ceptiOn Of few logs pr0truding above the same.
February %. 1S6S.-The examiner rejected the
survey and reported facts to commissioner of
general land Office, who ordered its cancella-
ton on the records of surveys.
September IL, 1S69.-kidwell. by his attorney
Mr.. Wilson, appealed, and furnished four aft
davits showing the existence of the land, and it
being an island, and requested denomination
of survey.
Octooer II. 1ss9.-Reexamination made by
examiner general, who, finding his first inspec
ton of the survey in the winter season was at
variance with the actual state Of the land in
autumn, rescinded his former conclusions
formed under unfavorable conditions, and re-
ported the facts to the commissioner Of the gen
eral land office, submitting at same time the
question as to the issuance of patents therefor.
eral land Office directed issue of patent, which
was executed i'm favor OF John l.. Kidwell Oh the
9TH day of December, 1869.
Mr.. Shepherd then read an abstract Of the
laws of Maryland and Congress in reference To
lands i'm the county OF Washington, and also the
official record III the case Of kidwilPs applica-
ton for the COO acres heretofore spoken of above
and below the Long bridge. From this record
it appears that Kidwell made his first applica-
ton for this tract June 10, 1861 that the survey
was made and the examiner general inspected
the survey, and finding the tract under water
or rather under ice on February2s, 1863 rejected
it, and commissioner general land Office ordered
20 CONF ..a:iUn, September II, 1869, John Will
son for kdwel1 protested and presented four
affidavits proving existence of the flats or bar
in the river, and asked that 1t be examined
when there was no ice in the river; October "A,
1869, the examiner was directed to examine sur
vey but found land submerged, and again re-
jected the survey November 10, 1867 No patent
has since been issued to kidweil.
Mr.. Shepherd then read letter dated De-
partment Interior, General Land Office. &c.
January %, 1881 from Mr.. Willis Drummond,
Commissioner Of the General Land Office, in
which he saws, referring to a letter addressed
him by Mr.. $. relative to the land patent issued
to Dr. Kidwell:
1T appears from the records that the patent was
issued under the provisions Of the Joint resolution of
Congress, approved February 10, 1859, statutes at
large, vol 5, D. $50 All applications made since
snmed charge of the Land once, in Feb - have
been refused for the following reasons:
]. Because the land subject to every days
overflow by tide water, and therefore not in condi