The critic. (Washington, D.C.) 1890-1891, 1891-03-17

feHs
Some time ago the Commissioners ap-
pointed General Inspector Beggs, Inspector
Of buildings Entwisle and Secretary Tin
dali board to devise n uniform system
Of naming courts and alleys in the city
and District. They submitted their re-
ports to-day
Inspector Entwislc reports In favor of
the following system; That is to name
the court by the street from which you
enter on the right-hand side. travelling
with the numbers, and in case there is no
entrance from the right-hand side to take
the same course on the left-hand side.
Take, for instance, an alley entering from
TwcDty.iirst street, between l. and NJ
streets, northwest; 1t would be Court q,
l. and M northwest Or alley on ID street.
between Nir.th and Tenth streets, north
west; II would be Court ID, Ninth and Tenth
nc rthwest. Or ID street, between Second
and Third streets, northeast; it would be
Court u, Second and Third northeast, and
| so on in each case.
"The system proposed adds Mr.. En-
twisle, mot only locates tho courts on
and between streets, but IL also locates the
section Of the city in which situated
He also suggests that 15-foot alleys
should he named, as buildings can be
erected thereon by setting the building
back FIVE feet, thus giving the required
twenty feet Of open space.
Messrs. Beggs and Tyndall concurred in
amore elaborate system, rs follows:
l. TO class all subordinate public pas
sageways less than forty feet wide within
squares as courts" and all subordinate
streets similarly. located, forty or more
feet wide, as places
fcl< rte ,,.I T..
series of squares TO have the same generic
.. To subdivide the District of Columbia
into two principal sections. one to en-
brace all that portion north of the east
ana west line intersecting the centre of
tho Capitol, and the other to embrace all
south of that line.
4. Each east and west row of squares to
constitute distinct series.
o. The courts in the squares in the
northern section to be designated by the
given names of men, the courts in the
southern section to be designated by the
given names of women.
O. The order of naming the courts in
each section to commence at the street
parallel TO and nearest the line which
separates the sections, and proceed there
from in alphabetical sequence, according
to the initials of the MINES. The initial
letter of each name to be the letter which
is the name of the street on the south side
Of the series of squares in which the court
is located, except courts in squares border
ing the north side of East Capitol street,
the initial letters of the names of which
shall be ~ All the courts in any one
square to have only one name and TO be
regarded as one court.
z. The courts west of the north aud
south line intersectieg the Capitol shall he
distinguished from those In the same
series east of said line by aliixing the
word west or. for brevity, the letter w.
Those east Of said line to be distinguished
by afhxing the word east or the letter II.
"a system of numbering houses as another
mode of such distinguishment is set forth
in section 12).
s. The courts in the different squares Of
each series to be distinguished from the
courts in other squares Of the same series
by appending to the name of the court,
after the word or letter indicating its east
or west location, the number of the street
on the east front OF the square, except in
the cases Of courts Immediately west of
North Capitol and South Capitol streets,
to which the initials N. G. for North Cap
itol and 8. 9. for South Capitol should be
subjoined.
For an application of this system. take
the square bounded by New Jersey ave-
nue. First b and G streets southeast
Being south Of the east and west cardinal
line, the courts in the square would be
designated. by. a. woman's given name
The street bordering OH the south of the
square being G, the name would begin
with that letter. The square being east
Of the north and south cardinal line the
letter Il would be sufiixed, and the num-
bcred street on the east being Third, the
figure 3 would also be subjoined. The
entire. designation would therefore be
Cecilia Court Il 80
o. When Contiguous irregular-sfaped
blocks or squares, or two portions of q
block or square, are separated by avenues,
they should be regarded as one square
When no lcttercd street abuts the southern
front OF the square, the lettered street of
which the southern AUDITING highway is
the nearest approximate prolongation
shall govern the name Of the court in
such square. An instance of this would
be the square bounded by Pennsylvania
avenue, q, Third and Four-and-a-half
streets northwest. b street north would
be the approximate southern boundary Of
such square under said system.
10. In case 1t be deemed advisable to
distinguish from each other the different
sections or branches of any one court,
especially for official use, 1t might be
effected by suh-systcn Of letters or
numbers; the orderof such naming to be
that in which the openings Of such
branches are met In the course from the
southeast corner Of the square west
The central portions of the courts to be
designated on the same principle.
II. The highways classed as places
should bear the sur-namcs of distin-
guishcd Americans. The, initial letter of
such names should, in each case, be the
letter which is the name Of the street on
the south front Of the square in which the
place is located, except In the case OF
places which may be located in the series
Capitol street, the names Of which should
have the initial letter -. The location
of each of these places with respect to
the respective cardinal sections of the
District to be indicated by adding TO
its mime the initials of the cardi-
nal section in which II Is located--viz,, N.
w. for northwest, :. u. for southeast,
abutting street nearest the cardinal north
and south line, and using cipher instead
of q number for the tier of squares abut-
ting the west side. OF North and South
Capitol streets. Where two or more places
are in one square, they might be dis
tinguished from each other bygiying them
different names, having the same Initial
as the street on the southern boundary
OF the square. Tho order OF tho naming
TO be from the east side OF the square
where the places run north and south and
from the south where they run east and
west. The first name to have for its sec
ond letter the vowel IA and the other, so
far as necessary, to have in corresponding
position the succeeding vowels in their
customary sequence, or when the initial
letter is n vowel the second letter should
be the consonants in like order, Only
three cases of this kind exist and ii is not
probable that others will be made. They
aTesin squares 673, 7i3 and 1925.
-. For general public convenience, and
particularly to facilitate the distribution
Of mail in courts and places, all the
sutiixes to the names of courts and the
subjoined number of the numbered street
in ease of places might be omitted in gem
eral use, and the following house-num-
bering system relied upon to designate
the locality of any court or place with
reference 10 its position in the series of
squares to which 1t belongs, viz; Adopt