The critic., 1891-02-24
Ar rnE nrsfRi6r dArrroLa
Notes OF Interest from the Commits
sioners' once.

sioners' once.
FIREMAN NEwNAN's SuccEssoR.-On
Chief Paris recommendation the Com
missioners have appointed William Il.
Hornback private in the Fire Depart
ment to fill the vacancy caused by the
death Of Thomas r. Newman.
Rock CREEK PARK. The following or
der has been issued by the Commissioners
relative TO Rock Creek Park. THAT the
Inspector of Buildings detail from his Of
flee two competent men to inspect and fur
nish to the Engineer Commissioner valu-
ations for the buildings and improvements
in the Rock Creek Park. The men de-
tailed to get the position and number of
buildings and improvements from the
officer In charge OF the survey of Rock
Creek Park"
CAN SuBpIvIDr PLEASANT STREET
Some time ago Captain Strong, who owns
divide one of his lots. by doing so he
took in portion of Pleasant street,
which brought forth protests from anum-
ber of residents in the vicinity. Captain
Rossell refused to cOuntenance the pro-
posed encroachment Captain Strong
then addressed letter to the Commits
sioners in which he claimed perfect
| right to proceed with his subdivision and
| the matter was referred to Attorney
| Thomas who renders the following i'm
| portant opinion bearing out Strong's
| claims:
~ return you Captain r. P. Strong's
| correspondence In regard to the legality
| Of Pleasant street in $. p. Browns subdi-
vision called Mount Pleasant. According
| to the records,in the office of the Surveyor,
plat of the subdivision of Mount Pleas.
| ant was filed in October, 1865. On this
| plat, prepared by u. ID. Carpenter, no such
name as Pleasant street appears. In
January, 1872, 1t seems another
| plat of Mount Pleasant, made by
| Du Bois, was recorded. On this plat
| Pleasant street appears for the first time,
but as s. T.. Brown had on the 10Th of
June, 1870, conveyed away lots and 5, as
shown ON the plat of 1866 with other
lots), to ID. l.. Eaton in trust to secure O
debt, and there being sale under this
trust on the 10Th of October, 1872, to
| Francis II. Smith, 1t results that ut the
| time the second plat was filed Mr. Brown
| had no power to dedicate any parts of lots
| and S-for q roadway. He had no legal
title to the land he assumed to give
away, and the public, therefore, ac-
| quired no right to the alleged street
A valid dedication of land FOR public
| uses can only be made by the owner. IL
| Mr.. Brown, subsequently to making and
| recording his second plat, had acquired
| the legal title to lots I and 8, then the
dedication of parts of those lots MS road
way might have operated against him;
but, as appears by All examination of the
title to those lots, he never acquired such
title, it follows he was not authorized to
lay out Pleasant street.
For these reasons see no objections to
the approval OF subdivision by the
owners of the lots in question, which will
include parts of the street in dispute by
such an act you waive no right of the
| District, il in my opinion never having
acquired title to the land within the lines
of the so-called street,
PROTESTING AGAINST PRoPosED BRIDGE
George w. King of Georgetown has writ
ten the Commissioners requesting their
opposition to the building of any bridge
over the Potomac at Analostan Island
as proposed by the Chesapeake and Ohio
| Railroad Company, and reported favora
bly, by the Senate committee. The Letter
was referred to Captain Rossell, who
recommended that the matter be referred
to Colonel Hains, the United States oiiicia
in charge of the river improvements.
TIE NUMBER or PERSONS KILLED ny
TRAINS WTnIH THE LIMITS OF THE Cry
Some time ago Representative Atkinson
wrote the Commissioners requesting tn,
number of persons, not employees, KILLED
and injured on the two railroads in
Washington since their completion
Major Moore furnished the information
which was that on the Baltimore and
Potomac since 1871 twenty-five persons
had been killed and seventy injured
On the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
since 1868 twenty-one were killed and
seventy injured. Representative Atkinson
then sent a second letter asking for Tho
name Of each person killed and the tim,
and place that the accident occurred
| Major Moore this morning furnished th,
desired information, and remarked: II
will be observed that the list of names il
short in the number of persons killed by
the two railroads of the first repor
furnished, for the reason that the ex
aminer at that time included deaths du,
to runaways caused by railroad trains o.
locomotives"