Evening star., 1895-04-11
Major Powell's Definition of the
Term Not Accepted.
TIE MAP ON TEE BOARD-ROOM WALL
Commissioner RosseI Had a Much
Fairer Method.
PERTINENT COMMUNICATIONS

It has been over year and half now
since the engineer department commenced
work upon the preparation of the map for
the extension of the streets in accordance
with the highway act of 1892, yet up to this
time the general public is without official
information as to what has been done by
the authorities. Nearly 100 section maps
have been made from time to time, but it
has been impossible up to this time to get
single for publication. Major Powell
plains the delay, on the part of the Com
missioners in not presenting the whole map
for record to be due to the dilatory meth
DDS of Mr.. Olmstead and the coast sur
vey. Mr.. Olmstead, who, it will be re-
called, was mentioned by Congress as the
landscape engineer to assist the Commits
sioners in the preparation of the map, re-
fused, according to Major Powell, to make
any plans upon the maps furnished him by
the Commissioners, so maps had to be
made by the coast survey, and this took
good deal of time.
Although the Commissioners have taken
official action in a number of cases Affect
ing subdivisions and extensions OF streets
in connection with this map, none OF tnelr
actions have been given to the press, nor
has there been any invitation to the public
to inspect q considerably amended map
which hangs on one of the walls OF the
District Commissioners board room-an
apartmeut which is closed to the pubic all
day Saturday and for from one to three
hours on each of the other week days. the
room is never open to the pubic at a time
when persons employed In the depaItineenas,s eia,
or otherwise engaged in earning with diff
Guilty their daily bread would nave a
chance to at once inspect the map ana per
sonally place their criticisms pefore the
Commissioners. Plans of extensions nave
been made and after the owners of the
property Immediately affected had heard
v hat was going on, and had been able to
learn of the prospective action OF the COM
missioners, the plans were changed
A case in point occurred yesterday morn
irg, when large property owner called
upon the Commissioners to get them 10
change their action in relation to his sub
division. In conversation with represen-
tative of The Star. he said ne believed that
the Commissioners were anxious to get the
whole matter settled and off their hands
with the smallest amount OF publicity pos
sible. He cited his own case in this con-
nection, and said he had been informed OF
what was proposed to be done; then, with
out any warning whatever. the Commits
sioners changed their announced plan and
did not even notify him of their action.
Fortunately. he had heard of it indirectly,
and, coming to the District building, was
this gone on and the map been approved
| without his knowledge he would have been
the loser by a large amount of money.
Maj. Powell said yesterday that his engi-
completed. 1t had been virtually approved
by the Commissioners as board. although
it was still subject to some minor changes
1t would be impossible at TINS time, he
said, to allow copy of the map to go out
An ApoloEist Who Kicks.
zone of the condemned writes to The
Star asking for justice to the Commission
l-ers, yet complaining of their deliberation
and says:
I'm reference to the charge that the Com
| missioners of the District of Columbia have
not given sufficient publicity to their plans
| of street extension, I wish to state, in JUS
| tice to said Commissioners. that / have
upon several occasions, without invitation
visited the District building relative to the
plans for street extension and that 1 have
| at all times been treated with the utmost
| courtesy by Commissioner Powell and his
| assistants and given the fullest informa-
tion regarding the proposed extensions AS
| to the time that has been consumed in the
| preparation of these plans, however,