Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-12-15

TUESDAY, DECEMBER
equipment and the facilities Of the latter q
well as the progress made in the construction
| OF new roads. In the opinion Of the committee
it is highly important that steam railroads be
| compelled to reduce to q minimum tracks on
great thoroughfares and that grade crossings Be
abolished as soon as possible. Some legislation
the report urged should be had a. early - pos
| sibie which will settle the condition Of the
| tracks Of the b and O. in Northeast WASH
ington.
THE LONG BRIDGE.
The feature Of the report Of the committee
on Potomac river improvement, 8. E Wheatley,
chairman, was that devoted to . discussion of
the Long bridge. That structure was charac-
terlzed as a great public nuisance and . stand
ing menace to the business interests Of the
city 1t is an obstacle. the report continues. to
. large extent of the floods which at times de-
vastate the city. The recommendation was
made that some plan be adopted with the view
OF getting Congress to act and abate this nui-
sance The report was adopted.
An interesting report was submitted by the
Church, chairman. which gave a detailed his
tory OF the Improvement OF the river fats. 1t
was recommended that the appropriation asked
Tor to continue this work be granted that
,
OF Long bridge, lessening the number of piers,
and that Congress be asked to continue the APP
preparation for the improvement of the Ana
costa river. A resolution was Incorporated in
the report that arrangements be made with tho
chief signal officer to enable the board of trade
to obtain prompt telegraphic information Of
the passing at Cape Henry Of all vessels bound
for this city. The report was adopted.
During the year q superintendent Of chari-
ties for the District was appointed, and the
an ttAA ah. -,A, 49,
chairman, in the report stated that the COM
mittee thought it proper not to interfere in
any way or to offer suggestions to the super
intendent in his first year of service, and there
fore they had no report to submit.
l. COMMITTEE on INSURANCE..
An important topic was referred to In the re-
port Of the committee on insurance. Simon
Wolf, chairman. During the last session of
Congress, the report stated, efforts had
been made to secure some needed legislation,
but nothing was done. The committee, how.
ever, was Of the opinion that bill ought to be
enacted by Congress for the purpose of making
insurance safe. and to prevent shyster and
| bankrupt companies from filing certificate
! here and doing business ON wind and empty
promises. The report was adopted. having,
however, suggested to B. H. Warner a resO-
| luton which he offered requesting the Commits
| sioners to urge on Congress the enactment OF
\ law to prevent any person or corporation
conducting business in violation of law with
the intent to defraud the citizens Of the Dis
tilct or the citizens Of any state or territory.
In the opinion of Mr.. Warner some officer such
| as commissioner Of corporations ought to be
provided for having power to supervise and
| inspect companies doing business He said
| that insurance companies went into business
without capital and when losses occurred
nothing could be recovered. There we're no
| companies engaged in other business who were
operating In the same line. The resolution
was referred to the insurance committee.
The Mount Vernon avenue enterprise was
| reviewed in report submitted by Frank Hume.
de stated that the appropriation for . survey
OF route for such an avenue had been ex-
pended under the direction Of Col. Hams.
These routes had been surveyed and now Con-
gress would be asked for an appropriation to
open up the avenue.
PUBLIC HEALTH.
With great satisfaction the report Of the COM
mittee on public health, F. L. Moore chairman,
recorded the fact that the law enacted by the
last Congress relative to the prevention of the
spread of scarlet fever and diphtheria was
being carried out with good results. Refer
ence was made to the report on the garbage
question, made by the committee at the request
Of the health officer, and the opinion was ex-
pressed as the result Of their inspection that
this city was the cleanest and healthiess in the
country.
johnson, the chairman of the executive COM
mittee, and Beriah Wilkins, the chairman Of
the finance committe. Az the report Of the
treasurer, B. H. Warner. had inadvertently
been placed in q safe guarded by time lock it
could not be produced From his recoliec-
ton Mr.. Warner said that the balance to the
credit of the board between 81, 800 and
~, 400. This balance, in his opinion, would be
| considerably larger if some of the Delinquent
members were stirred up as suggested by Mr..
Wilkins.
A resolution was offered by E. Kurtz John
son lnstructing the committee on public health
to take the necessary steps TO prevent the sale
OF undrawn fowls in the market. The resolu-
| ton was adopted.
Thos. w. Smith offered 4 resolution, which
was referred to the committee on assessment
and taxation, favoring the passage Of general
license law covering all classes Of trades and
professions and the repeal OF the personal tar
law He said that the personal tax law was
not only Ineffective but unpopular, and that
this contribution to the revenues could be
business and trades.
In the opinion Of Thomas Somerville the
personal tax law ought to be abolished as it
was difficult to enforce it and was very IN
satisfactory in its operation.
DIRECTORS ELECTED.
The following members of the board Of d.
| rectors whose terms had expired, were elected
for term Of three years: B. H. Warner, A. T.
Britton, Thos. Somerville, s. E. Wheatley,
Samuel Ross, +. l.. Moore, J. NJ. Wilson. C. j.
Bell, W. A. Wimsatt and T. w. Noyes.
The board of directors were authorized to
make arrangements for the annual banquet,
which will be held some time next month
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART.
Mr.. Franklin W. Smith was introduced to the
board, and gave an interesting account Of his
scheme for the establishment here of a national
gallery of history and art. The board was so
highly entertained that Mr. Smith was requested
to appoint a time when he could describe his
plans more fully. He will address meeting to
be held Wednesday evening at the Airing ton
The board then adjourned and then the d.
rectors held meeting and elected officers as
follows: NJ M Parker, president; s. W. Wood
ward, first vice president; s. Z. Wheatley Sec
ond vice president; A. T. Britton, general
counsel; b. Fl. Warner, treasurer; A. b. Ander-
son, secretary.
Among those present were Commissioner
Ross, Thomas Somerville, w. G. Dodge, .. W.
Curriden, Mr.. Gray. Beriah Wilkins, Allison
Nailor, ir., s. w. Woodward, George Truesdell,
w. s Roose. H. A. Hail. W, C. Morrison, Thos.
W, Smith, E. Kurtz johnson, H. K Willard.
John II. Magruder, Joseph Paul, G. I. Dunlop.
b. II. Warner. Charles Baum. I. F. Schneider.
ii. A. Griswold, L w. Moves, s. E. Wheatley,
T.. T. Church, Frank H. Smith