Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-07-29
THE PUBLIC BATHING HoUsEa
The Engineer Department. Has Taken tn
Mater NJ Their Consfrucfioa In Hand

The Engineer Department. Has Taken the
Matter Of Their Construction In Hand.
The engineer department. Of the District has
taken the matter Of the public bathing beach in
hand and Mr.. Hunt was down there today max
ing survey Of the work 10 End out what the
state Of the case actually is.
Patrick Frowley, the contractor who under
took the task OF grading the beach, sayr that
ne has about completed his work. as well AZ II
can be done. Building Inspector Entwisle. in
whose charge the supervision Of the work was
placed, and Mr.. Stevens. who has in
tereeted himself In the establishment
OF the beach. have taken decidedly opposite
grounds, claiming that Frowiey has been dila-
T1ory ana careless about the work. and Mr..
Entwisie some days ago notified Frow-
ieys bondsmen that the beach must
be finished at once according to the
specincations of the contract Frowley ap-
pealed the matter to Col. Robert with the re-
suit that one Of the District engineers was sent
down today to see whether or not the work has
been done in satisfactory manner.
=, Before the grading was begun the water at
the spot on the river edge Of the Monument lot
selected for tho beach was about eleven
feet In depth, as a large part Of the old
beach had been cut away for the
use Of the tidal reservoir. This ell had to be
hlled In with earth in order TO make il suit
able Tor bathing. This was n good deal of an
undertaking. but Mr.. Entwisle SAYS that the
contractor has been going at the work in q
hai-hearted sort Of way and with an entirely
inadequate force OF men.
According to the contract the beach was to
be graded for q distance OF 500 feet along the
shore and fifty feet out, so that there Should
be regular slope reaching a depth Of
nye feet at point fifty feet from
low water mark. Load after load of earth
has been dumped in, but it was
found to he no easy task to smooth and shape
this assemblage of dumps into hard bottom,
which, covered with sand, was designed TO con-
occurred.
After the grading wss completed Contractor
Campbell was to have covered the whole beach
In with nine inches of sand but so far the
progress OF the work has not justified him in
gong ahead with his part of the contract.
by The the terms of his contract Mr.. Frowley
was to complete the Job by the Is; of August,
put since the contract was signed il has been
found that 1t, contained no provisions for a
forfeit in case the work was not COM
pleted on time. As result there may
possibly be some further DELAY, not il il
can be helped, however, for the Commissioners
are determined to hasten matters as much as
possible. 1t is said that il a sufficient force OF
men were put at work there is no reason why
it might not all be done in four or five DAYS.
Mr.. Entwisle said to STAR reporter today
that in his opinion the work of grading had
been satisfactorily done already out TO a dis
lance OF about twenty-five feet. but that for
the rest OF the way the bottom was a mere sue
cession OF hills and hollows which would make
1t decidedly dangerous as q swimming
place for unwary small boys. This
must all be leveled OF, and it is hy
no means easy to grade and smooth down the
bottom OF a river. In fact. it looks as though
the selection of the site for the beach was not
In every way a wise one. low that il is seen that
SO much OF the old-time swimming shore had
been cut away for other purposes.
While the grading has been in progress the
builders have gone on with their work and the
bath houses on both the white and colored
sides OF the grounds are completed and ready
Tor use as soon as tho water is ready for the
bathers.