National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-07-27
LIGHTING DIR STPRETS

Now that Washington has assumed the
proportions and importance of a metropolis,
it is time that steps be taken to throw of
certain regulations that may be proper and
polite in the administration of small town,
but which are disadvantageous to the mate
rial growth Of large and populous city, an
inconvenience to its citizens, and standing
danger to their personal safety and prop
erty. Washington is now city of at least
one hundred and forty thousand inhabit-
ants. the capital city of the nation, point
of cosmopolitan interest, and admittedly
the most beautiful city in America. During
the past five or six years it has burst the
Anticipated thongs that bound it, and under
the direction of men of pluck, sagacity and
enlightened public spirit has become a
worthy seat for the government of great
nation.
While Washington has assumed the full
physical stature of a metropolitan city, there
are some municipal regulations still existing
that belong to the past, and which should
hsve.been left to the past when we started
on our march Of progress and development
Prominent among these is the manner of
lighting our streets at night. Under the
present system our street lamps are lighted
only during portion of the night, the sys-
TEN being based on the moons phases, and
without regard to meteorological changes.
The result is, that the city is frequently left
in a state of darkness; for it makes no diff.
ference 70 the lamplighter what may be the
state of the weather, or how impenetrsble
the dropping clouds that hide the moon, If
the Almanac says moonlight" that public
functionsry, who is guided entirely by his
calendar textbook, moves not on his accus-
toned orbit of artificial light but CON-
placently leaves US to plunge through
fgurative narlight, contrasted with which
the moonshine of Bully Bottom and his
hard handed fellows of Athens was blaz-
ing planet. This is a positive evil in large
city that should not be permitted.
The lighting of the public highways in q
large city is a police regulation that is
effective just in proportion as it is thorough.
Street lamps are a most efficient and neces-
sary auxiliary to the police force, enabling
them to maintain more strict vigilance on
those who love darkness better than light,
and who take advantage of its sable cover
ing to prosecute their wicked and unlawful
purposes. The fact that the most import
ant use of the street lamp is to afford pro-
lection to life and property is entirely
ignored under the present system Of light
ing and the public convenience such light
affords seems to be the only consideration.
But the public convenience is not served
by this system of lighting, because, as every
one knows-and particularly in the winter
months, when cloudy and falling weather
is more frequent-upon the very nights
that the light Of the lamps is most needed,
we are left in a state Of almost Cimmerian
darkness and must grope our way through
the streets, subject to danger from unknown
pitfalls, and exposed to the attacks of that
vicious population that infest all large
cities aud who live by plunderinG their
fellows. Persons living in the suburban
sections of the city, and all whose business
may call them to visit those sections, are
more particularly subjected to such dangers
and inconvenience.
There is only one remedy for this anti
quated method Of lighting the street lamps,
and that is, to throw away the Almanac,
light the lamps every night, and extinguish
them only when the golden blush of the
is seen in the East. This is the
plan followed by all larger cities. We hope
before the close of the next session of Con-
gress to see it adopted in Washington.