Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-08-16

Somewhere out on Rock orssk, not fsr IRON
the city, there Il . bubbling spfing Mat comes
up from . hole in the ground and nsws over
into the creek. The water 10 NOT very clear
nor sweet, 10 mot particularly palat-
ables and does mot come forth in
any considerable volume. The hole
from which g. IL runs IL wide and
deep and q sounding line goes down, down.
down, . hundred feet or more. The sides are
boarded and planked and there IL evidence
that the hole was built By man. Away down
below the hole divides and spreads
along under the surface in two direc-
tions, its water filled length extending
There is an srchway overhead Of brick, with
| stone sides reaching up couple Of feet, and a
partly rounded brick door. II is no cavern,
there are no winding, bewildering mazes q
the forms that meet the watery eye are
geometric and even. Again there are evidences
OF the hand Of man. It 10 q tunnel
IN PEACEFUL usxLEssNEss.
The tunnel is still under the ground in peace.
| full uselessness flled with water that IL Of no
value, flowing ont at the lowest outlet
Rock creek. II does not let any
| water into the half finished reservoir
on the hills near Howard university, nor does
It take drop from the other reservoir beyond
hole in the ground that leads no where and
does nothing.
And yet, as II extends out in its great length,
nearly four miles Of hole, 1t represents the
labors of hundreds Of men, over dozens Of
months aa,s costing hundreds eds Of ,t
ancient history it was dug and built for the
| purpose Of giving more water 10 the thirsty
people of Washington. II was bored through
the rock many feet below the surface, and then
It was feared that the softening walls would not
hold the water when it was turned on. So wise
heads were put together, and it WINS decided
that the hole should have
ANOTHER HOLE BUILT
| inside of 1t, brick hole extending from end To
end, to keep the water in. TWAS built and in
the dark, dank muggness of the hole the bricks
we're built up around SO 'msny and extensive
cavities" that when at last this was dis
covered and light was turned on in the
hole it was found that the inner hole was but q
shell that would blow out like paper
when Id the ., water came; The The .appinss Of
opened up large tracts Of nothing, and when a
certain man was tried by his superiors for me-
glecting his duty workmen testified that they
bad been told to do their duties as poorly as
Ney cOulQ.
Thus the hole is good for nothing now and
its building has brought not drop more water
| to the thirsty people of Washington than they
had before, while the little stream that flows
out over the edge and into Rock creek IL but
the accumulated moisture of an underground
we'll.
WHAT WILL BE DONE WITH II.
The folk of this vicinity have often asked
themselves and each other II anything is to be
done, can be done, with this great hole, and
many suggestions have been made on the sub.
ject. It has been proposed to turn it into q
pleasure park, where the overheated Washing
| tonians might get breath of the cool, damp
tunnel air; again, seriously enough. some one
which to lay an iron pipe to give diminished
| supply Of water to the city. But at
present there is nothing in the
official mind as q future for the hole. Indeed,
officially, it does not exist, and at the War de-
partment no one will venture an opinion as
to its utility, A STAR reporter the
Ei ss osy rns the f be va Elliott who
necessary by the failure of the tunnel, whether
he had any idea as to what would ultimately be
done with this hole. The colonel said that as
far as be was officially CONCERNED he did not
know there was such a tunnel, and in fact he
had enough to do to carry on his present
project without turning his attention to the
tunnel.
A BIO WHITE ELEPHANT.
1t is, practically speaking, white elephant
of considerable size, and no one knows what to
do with it or what to say about il. It is probable
that at the next session Of Congress there will
be an effort made to utilize the hole, but Just
at present official people are rather shy of
acknowledging its existence.
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