Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-17
RAILWAY PAvEMENrs.
The Attorney for The District Defines the
POWERS Of the Comm. q toner's.

Powers of the Comm.s toner's.
Section S, paragraph II, of the act providing
a permanent. form Of government: for tho Dis
| trict of Collm 1ia gives the kind of paving TO
be used by street railroad companies. and para
graph 10 Of the same act raodifes this at street
intersections. Several days ago Capt Resell
requested the Commissioners to Obtain from
the attorney for the District an opinion ON the
following question:
Under paragraph 12-Can the Commissioners
| require any kind Of pavement instead of edible
stone or Belgian block Can the Commits
sioners require either cobble ston. CT Be,s:sn
block. or does the railroad have the reEl {,
select si,Isr kino, the Commissioners only -
direct az to materials an III snner CT iayirs OF
the kind Of pavement thus stiec,ol 10y ,fo
rfilroad company Can the Commissioners
| order railroad ut any lime TO change from
one kind Of pavement 70 another! When cGn
they order such a charger
Under paragraph 18-What space does this
require to be paved in the sans narner as the
cross streets! Does IL mean the space between
inner or outer rails in the case of q double.
track road? What does it mean in the of
q single-track road2 In the case of the Wash
ington and Georgetown railroad ON Pennsyl-
yania avenue northwest, when it crosses l1th
| street northwest 9th street south Of the
avenue paved with cobble stone, north Of
avenue with asphalt). what should this space
| be paved with? Where the SANE road crosses
Louisiana avenue (paveo with granite blocks)
| what must this space be paved with.
Can the same rules be applied in all cases or
| must each case be taken on its own merits!
The questions submitted by Capt Resell
tween the Commissioners and tho railroad COM
panies, and the matte: was referred to the al
torney for investigation and opinion. To-Day
| he rendered the following:
| l conclude that the power of the Commits
missioners to dictate the kinds of material to
| be used for the purpose OF paving railway
| tracks or spaces between the tracks Ia limited
to cobble stone or Belgian blccAs. and that Con-
grsss left the alternative with them to deter
mine which of these two kinds of paving MA
| roads as a footing for their horses between the
| r.i.s taking In consideration moderate
and heavy grades, as well as levels
| and which is the best to fill
the spaces between the tracks. and at the same
| time taking into consideration the appearance
and condition of the tracks Tor the general
public Use. The power to elect which of the Two
Kinds OF material named in the act shall be
| used is vested in the Commissioners and not
| in the railroads, and is conferred by
| special Language OF the paragraph in question:
but had the words '.ss the Commissioners Nay
direct" been omitted the power would sui
have remained in them under the previous
| law committing the control Ct streets for GER
| tain purposes therein recited TO their special
| charge and care. As an authority directly
| bearing upon this question, / GILL your atten-
ton 10 the case VI the District Oh Columbia
against the Georgetown and Metropolitan rail
road cases, report in the 4th h;cAe:., y. PA.
In answer to your Question, Ian The CON-
missioners order the railways to change al any
time from one kind OF pavement 20 another
and further asking. when can they order such
| q changer" my reply ia that l think this uues-
ton Is best answered by referring the Comuis-
| sloners to tine action Of the Supreme Court OF
the District of Coicmbia in the recent case
| brought by the Washington and Geo1 ge.owu
Railway Company against the District, an equity
No. l2407. j his case was brought to enioin
| the collection of . bill OF sl12.22 assessed
and taxed by the District OF Columbia against
| said company for paving from anu exterior to
the tracks along 18th street opposite tho treas
ury. Judge James held tnis to have been un.
| lawfully charged and assessed by the District
against said company. The railway company
had complied with an order made by the Dis
| trict Officers to put down a certain kind OF
pavement and were afterward ordered to
| take this up and replace it with another kind
which they refused to do, and Judge James
held that such compliance on the Fart of the
| railway company WIGS legal compliance The
Commissioners are familiar with the facts and
| law OF this case, and have u copy Of the decree
therein In the District Offices.
Now ~ the constitution Of paragraph ls,
which In the following language, when said
| runway SrOsS aHy stect OF avenue the pave
| ment between the tracks Of said railway shall
| conform to the pavement used on streets or
| avenues" conclude that the word .'tracks,'
being in the plural number is implied to
designate q double-track railroad 80 that
| the space which the law requires to
be paved in conformity to the pave
, ment Of the intersected street or
| avenue is the space between the interior rails
Of tine double-traek road. The word track" Is
| used by Congress to designate the course or
| way over which the cars move and horses
| travel. The word railway means either a
double or single-trnck road, and a. I'm Piled here
| means adouble-track road. think this pro-
vision imperative In all cases that comes within
this meaning. do not think that q single
track railroad comes within the meaning Of
paragraph IL. and therefore such are not gov.
erned BY its provisions
In the case you put where the intsrsected
| streets or avenues 10 composed Of different
kinds Of pavement and are lacking in the uui-
| formity contemplated BY the statute. Il would
seem that such case would not be reesonsbIv
| regarded - coming within this meaning,
The railroad could not be required to conform
to all those different kinds Of pavements and
| the solution Of such Q condition Of thines
| would seem to fall properly within the exsr.
else Of good sense and sound Judgment by the
proper District oficsss having charge Of such
| matter.
Berry Sinams' Case