Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-02-24

| to he acted upon. is Senate bill No. ll42 and
i H. X. bill No. 2770. This measure proposes to
| separate the public highway aud the railroad
tracks In the causeway portion of Long bridge
| crossing the reclaimed flats and to give to the
| railroad for its the present highway on
condition that it construct another, fifty feet
| westward, at cost not to exceed SIS. 900.
The law by which the government in 1870
| gave to the Baltimore and Potomac railroad the
| use Of Long bridge requires the railroad to
maintain the bridge in good condition for
ordinary travel, and provides for forfeiture of
the right to use If this requirement is disre-
garded.
The bridge is not now in good condition for
ordinary travel In the preamble of the bill
under consideration, introduced as the propo-
sItlon of the railroad, it is recited and admit
ted that through the increase of railway traffic
over the tracks in close proximity to the high
way said bridge" is rendered unsafe for
ordinary travel" Nor can O shaky, rickety
old structure which is prevented from sweep
ing down the river only by mountains of stone,
piled about its piers at the bottom Of the river
and obstructing the channel. be pronounced in
good repair for ordinary travel, even If the
dangers from proximity Of tracks be entirely
disregarded.
A separation of the highway from the tracks
in crossing the reclaimed flats and q radical
reconstruction of Long bridge are necessary
not only to the public welfare, but on the rail-
roads account, to prevent a forfeiture of its
point
OBJECTIONS TO THE RAILROADS PENDING PRoPo-
sITIoN.
The broad objections to the railroads propo-
sition in tie present bill are: o. 1t ignores
the most serious evils IN the condition of Long
bridge and fails to remedy the worst features
OF the particular evil which it undertakes to
cure. l2l 1t fails to separate the grades of
tracks and highway, leaving horses upon the
latter to be frightened by trains upon in
creased number OF tracks in close proximity,
and tends to strengthen the hold.o the railroad
upon the surface OF the reclaimed flats, the
park that is to be. 60 1t fixes the cost limit
upon the proposed Improvement at only one
third of the amount which Col. Peter C. Hams
reported would be necessary to construct
suitable new highway OF the kind proposed.
a. 1t demands au exorbitant price in the shape
OF the grant to 1t OF the present highway for
imperfectly meeting danger which it admits
TO be of Its own creation, and which, 1t says,
renders unsafe for ordinary travel a structure
which it is under legal obligation to maintain at
| Its own expense In good condition for such ordi-
| nary travel
LONG BRIDGE MUST 60.
The public verdict is that Long bridge must
so, and the community reasonably demands a
| comprehensive plan of removing the whole
| nuisance and obstruction OF the present struc-
| ture at single Legislative stroke.
The railroad project OF acquiring the Long
bridge causeway was presented to the last Com
l gress, was referred to the Secretary of War
Tor opinion and elected a valuable report
J from Col Peter Z. Hams, then in charge of
| river front improvements which 30 fully meets
| the ideas OF Your committee that it il made a
part of this report and attached to it as an
| appendix.
| 1t may be added that the conclusions of Col.
| Hams concerning the Long bridge problem
| have also been heartily Endorsed and recon-
mended to Congress for adoption by the Com
missioners Of tine District in a recent report
upon the present bill forwarded to the Senate
! District committee.
| CoMPREHENsIyE PLAN OF COL. HAMS.
Col. Hains opposed piecemeal treatment Of
the problem The causeway portion OF the
bridge cuts in two the GO acres of new-made
ground which at the expense of over 81. COO, coo
| the government has created out of pestilential
marshes and which it proposes to convert into
| a magnificent park. Col Hams considered 1t
| OF supreme importance that the railroad be re-
/ moved from the grade of this park, and that
| the tracks be carried over il on an elevated
| structure which would allow free communion
| ton beneath them. He proposed that the
| pTLiic highway, separated from the tracks,
| should cross the park on grade. The present
/ low lying structure, about ten feet clear OF
high and thirteen feet clear of low tide, that
| dams the main channel Of the river was to be To-
placed by much higher bridge with few piers
ami so constructed TO offer the least OBJ
struction to the rushing waters in times OF
| freshet.
| THE NUISANCE AND MENACE OF LONG BRIDGE.
| 1t is time that the people Of the capital in
sisted In no uncertain tones upon the abate-
| ment of the nuisance the removal Of the men
ace, Of existing Long bridge, and the substitu-
| ton of a useful and ornamental structure in its
place. Life and millions Of property are pc
riodicaiy threatened by it. Great damage has
| resulted from IL in the past More serious
| losses are threatened in the future. Navigation
Is INSTRUCTED and harbor facilities injured by
| it Georgetown and the whole river front with
reason cry out against it.
With Its solid causeway stretching FOR a Icing
distance across the river; with the great pyrn-
midal piles of stone about the piers that carry
the bridge across the main channel, reducing.
il Is estimated, the available room for the pass
age of water by at least a third; with its low
structure across the channel, which with its mn.
merous piers standing obliquely to the hood
| current and stringers close to the surface stops