National Republican., 1881-11-26

The rCpcr' Of the Health Ohiccr ivery thorough
and complete. giving In minute detail The work
Ing OF III, most important bn,uch Of the puniic
service. Tuc cstl',tiCS aud tuhlcs Afford reliable
evidence ol tlu hcalthiulnvssgt the District, nni
II. freedom ir ~ epidcmc diseases during the
year The Intelligent manner IN whtch tbts dc.
parIncut has been managed gives very general
Satisfaction. Hud II liberal feeling on the part of
Congress VIII make i more efficient The sug.
crsinuS Of the Health Officer should receive care
fuI and thougiulul attention.
WATER pEPAErNENr
Tho report OF tho Water Registrar shows that the
number OF persons using tile Potomac water. for
domestic aud misCcl auCurs purposus on the S0th
Of June, lSsn was lS,3l3 or his number Gfi have
been connected during the y"uf. The receipts ui
the department indgpendcut ol tho Tux for laying
water. MATHS, we're Sll3.$SSl. The expenditures
for all purposes, except for interest and sinking
fund. were sGGGilT. The amount due for interest
and sinking iund iur the ensuing year Is &i2,2D.
owing 10 arrears due to thc sinking fund. the
est and sinking fund was 81 l2'77. The debt OF the
wafer department, which was incurred Tor TIE
pnrnose OF laying tne Thirty isiN.nch mum, Is now
sis9.OOO The stock bears Interest at per cent
aud cannot DO called until maturity October !,
1901, and July !. 1903. For this uniavoraGle
department there appears to be- no Immediate
remedy. Under u laiu decision of thu District
Court the fiscal year of the water department be.
are oi the opinion that IL should be made by law
to conform to the usage Of the other departments
OF the District government. Tie total length OF
water mains IN this DistriCt IL l7hT miles Or this
total III miles, consisting of1l. ~, g. aud inch
innins,wctc laid 10y the Uulcd states. The remain
der including the thirty ix-iuch muiu have been
laid by the corporation of Washington and the Dis.
trlct Of Columbia. There are now In Use III the
District, for the service of the public SIG hydnnts
ana 4Gl wells The water from these wells Is cOli-
stnnily unalyzrd. and when found to be impure
tie wells are condemned and the pumps removed.
While recognizing the necessity for wells IN many
parts Of the city wnerc the watcr.mains have not
yet been extended, and also the f,ct that for the
poorwho cannot afford tue luxury Of Ice, the we'll
water II coo.cr and therefore more agreeable than
that which flows from the public hyduinls, the
Commissioners are ot disposed to extent the sys-
TEN unnecessarily on account of the danger to the
public bcdltu which is liable to result IRON the
contamination of the water by sewage or by sur
face drainage. The Water Registrar earnestly rec
oinmends that immediate steps be taken TO in
crease the water supply; In common with the
greater number of American cities, Washington Is
now suffering from lack of proper pressure 10
deliver water on tho higher levels, and has
reached that point where some decided lcgisla-
ton is necessary. The difficulty can be
reached only Dy Increasing tGo supply or by
regulating and reducing the consumption BY the
USE OF meters. The sentiment in Congress has
heretofore apparently been strongly In favor OF in-
crcasiug the supply, and report By the District
| Committee OF the Senate was made during the last
| session of Ceugrcss, recommending the extension
| Oi tile conduit and the completion OF the dam ut
| the Great Falls. The conclusion OF tile Senate
Committee (scc report No 81. i6ti Congress. I'd sCs
sion) is stated by them in the following language
The Goycrnmen, Of the United states undertook
THIS great work Ofbrtuglng 10 tue cities OF washing
| ton aud Georg town an unlans gnd ahnn'ant sup
ply of good aud whoesomc water u has, al lis own
| ton of the principal mains winch supply tic Two
cllies Hut To complete the work, put II in Comfon
for The Government aud people to reap the full bcne
III OF TINS grc,t work. addlionnl expenditures must
oe hhdf; beieVg mere ahnn,H h 1e mo no HVGd 1wn
should have the complete mud absolute ownership
cpni mains the committee recommends: That the
expense of com plcling the dam. extending the con-
united states aud that the authorities Ofthe District
he permitted rs heretofore 10 lay such pipe nay be
erect such fountains aS VIII supply the necessities of
houses.
The plan approved by the committee will un.
doubleday aflJid a sufficient supply, and will de-
liver the greatest quantity OF water NJ the highest
practicable level. The Commissioners, however
| are of the opinion that thl, Increase of supply
should he accompanied by aCUrrr,p ,puuding increase
in reservoir capacity III order that me wafer may
! he delivered IN reasonable condition OF purity
| for domestic use. AS full information on all sub
jects connected with this question has been fur
nshe to Congress heretofore IL Is not Necessary TO
| enter iuto any detailed discussion OF the question:
In this connection, and as illustrating other meth
| ods than those heretofore proposed, study Of the
Rock Creek valley has been made by Lieutenant
| llOXie, assistant 10 the Engineer Commissioner,
with reference 10 It's availability asa reservoir and
general park While the scheme proposed is in
every way practicable. yet II would prove more ex-
| pensvc than that heretofore recommended by
reason Of the large expense Of land condemnation
and the incidental cost Of proper rOadways bridges
and collectors. The board is therefore OF the
| ouiuon that II should not be allowed 10 Interfere
with the immediate realization OF the plans here
l
prOyol of the committee OF the senate.
| PARKING COMMISSION.
The Parking Commission report that they have
planted during the year l3i trees upon the streets
| In addition TO 536 which have been rcplanted ~
| ill vacancies caused by storms, the rigorous
| weather Of the last winter, accidents and mali
OF ths stent. when viii ultimately Se lined Wit
| handsome shade trees by about five miles. AS the
| trees become larger more expense is required for
Obtained fully vindicato tho methods
| adopted by the commission, and the policy OF
| continuing the present annual expenditure.
| SURVEYORS OFFICE.
| The Surveyor calls attention to the Inadequate
provision for his office, and asks that II be estab
| lished upon more reasonable aud equitable basis
Under existing laws the compensation of the Sur
vcyor Is derived entirely FROM fees The faCt that
the office Is not remunerative ono would seem "a
be established by the resignation Of the last in.
cumbent II Is % the best Interest of the city nj
large, aud Of individual property owners, that the
compensation OF this office should be SO fixed rs
| to secure and retain the services OF competent
man,
PAvENESrs.
The condition of the street pavemcnts on the
first OF July last was as follows: Concrete, IN.
cluding coal TAR and asphalt, ii92 miles; stone
block, 1918 miles; rough stone and cobblc. III
miles rough stone and cObble, III miles; mac.
adam, 7i5 miles; gravel S2-25 miles. wood, 49,
ers have continued the policy heretofore adopted
by them, umd approved by Congress- of replacing
the wooden pavements by asphalt or stone, anC
| during the past year nave renewed OIL miles. Ol
the LIST Of july 1873 there were - miles of wooder
pavement in the city all In more or less decayct
aud dangerous condition. Al the close of the iis
cal year this will have been reduced TO about tel
miles, containing approximately 10000 squar
yards II will therefore require two yeRTs more Il
avenue, The full details of the work performed Nil,
to be done will be found in the report of Lioutenan
Greene Ass istant To- the Engineer Commissioner
The operations OF the year have been impede,
and delayed by the combination of parties inter
cs,ed in the importation of crude asphalt Tn
Commissioners are Of the opinion that no city cal
afford TO place itself In the power of any corpora
ton or combination OF men, by laying upon IL
streets pGvements OF which the materials are no
to be bought in the open market They hny
therefore taken such steps as are necessary to dc
ternnG the facts in relation 10 the importation u
aSphat5 by advertising for 800 tons OF crude us
phalt II this cannot be purchased freely and II
, open market II Is their intention to abandon th
use OF asphaltic pavenents
SIDEWALKS.
As some complaint has been made in regard
) the condition Of the sidewalks of tho city II
proper to state that IN the absence of specific Law
the Commissioners have been at loss us to villa
policy to pursue. There are now about 260 milo
of sidewalks which, under the municipal ordi
nance Of 1883 would be kept In repair by the own
| efs of adjoining property. The board is advise
by the attorney that the ordinance cannot be en-
forced. The most of the pavement Is of brlcl
and one.tenth In bad condition. To assume III
entire expense of the footwalks Of the city woul
5 involve ali expenditure larger than can, at pres
9 ent, be borne by the general fnd, ospeC all
in view of the large areas of rotten WOO
$ aud rough stones in the heart Of th
I city, which are yet TO DO removed
c There are now on file In The COMMISSIONER oifc
T2G petitions for the Improvement Of var stree
! and avenues, covering nearly all OF the cities
1 | Washington and Georgetown. IL Is found on eS
= animation that the cost Of the Improvements
0 petiilOned for. excluding the unsettled porliol
Q east OF Lincoln Park, south OF street south, an
4 between the White Lot and the observlloT
grounds will be a25S 6265. IL is apparent at ont
i that the revenues Of the District are not suicei
70 complete the work for many years All these in
= prOvemGnts have, however, been estimated an
!. scheduled for the information Of Congress.
STEAM RAILWAYS