Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-01-25
Many Measures of District Interest
Considered in Committee.
NO REPORT ON THE DOLLAR GAS BILL
Several Amendments to the Appro-
priation Bill Agreed Upon.
THE PURE MILK Bill L

committee held It's usual meetlnS at 1O:oU
with Senators Harris, Faulkner. HuntOn,
Martin, Gibson and Mcmillan in attendance.
Quite number of minor matters were dis
posed of and the talk centered principally
upon the bill,Senate 2l6S, permitting Wash"
ington parish to sell burial sites in the
Congressional cemetery in the line of GER
tain streets. A favorable report was or
dered on the bill last Friday. and on the
same day the bill was placed on the "al-
endar, while the House bill to the same eff
feet was on Saturday received and sent to
the District committee. Since that time
it has been demonstrated that there Is
public oposition to the bill, as we'll as "on-
siderable opposition among certain of the
lot owners. Facts in relation to the mat
ter have already been printed in The Star.
At today's session of the committee there
was good deal of surprise expressed tnat
the bill should have been allowed TO go
through so easily while protests We're al
ready on fi.e with the committee against it's
passage. Several of the Senators present,
1t is understood. spoke with considerable
warmth on the subject 1t was pointed
out that the policy Of the government IN
relation to the District is not to give away
land in the line of streets, but rather 10
open up the highways and to condemn the
land for that purpose.
1t was argued that it would be 1nadvisa-
BILE for the government now to place itself
in a position to have TO condemn this ter
ritory when the time shall come to open
these streets. Then. too. it was shown the
original .ot owners in certain parts OF the
cemetery have good ground for complain
ing of the project to utilize the street
spaces, which would necessarily deprive
them Of valuable frontage. In view of all
these presentations, the committee voted
to authorize Seratcr Faulkner to move In
the Senate that the Senate bill then on the
calendar be recommitted. Later in the day
Mr.. Faulkner made this motion. and it was
agreed to without division. The Senate
District committee, therefore, now has pos
session of both bills, and it Is not likely
that either of them will pass at this ses-
sion.
No Report on the Dollar Gas Dill.
No report was made to the full commit
tee by the subcommittee en- the dollar gas
bill Senator Hunton. the chairman of the
subcommittee, stated that certain reports
were to be submitted early next week from
the gas companies of Washington and
Georgetown relative to the value OF their
plants and other financial matters. which
the subcommittee desired to examine be-
fCre making a report. Further time was
there fore granted, and 1t was arranged that
the subcommittee should meet again on
Tuesday IeXt to examine these documents.
The present outlook is that the bill as 1t
came from the House will certainly not be
reported favorably and the chances are. 1t
would seem. that if any bill is reported to
the Senate at all it will not contain the
provision for dollar gas and the purity pro-
visions will be materially reduced. 1t
is understood that an effort will be
made to secure the attendance be-
fore the subcommittee on Tuesday Of
Mr.. Edwin Vowles. the real estate dealer.
who is said to have been the author Of the
letter that was written to the Washington
Gas Light Company offering to kill the bill
granting a charter to the National Com
pany for certain consideration. 1t is not
certain, of course, whether Mr.. Nowes will
attend if invited, but the subcommittee is
deSrouS Of clearing up the apparent myS-
terry that surrounds this letter which Is
treated as having bearing upon the ques
ton now before the committee. beyond
this there will probably be no further pub
lie hearings on the bill.
The House Milk Bill.
House bill S231, to regulate the sale of
milk in the District, was taken up for a
brief discussion. 1t was pointed out that
while the bill represents pressing need,
there are some parts about it that need
revision, and the subcommittee on the bill,
consisting of Senators Faulkner, Hunton
and Ga,linger, asked further time in order
to grant a hearing upon the bill to repre-
sentatives of the dairies of the District.
This hearing was arranged for 2 o'clock
this afternoon.
The main point Of contention, 1t seems.
is that section is too severe. 1t provides
that no person shall offer or have for sale
in the District of Columbia any unwhoe-
some, watered or adulterated milk, or milk
known swill milk, milk from cows
that for the most part are kept tied up in
stables or that are fed on swill, garbage
or other like substance, nor any butter or
cheese made from any such milk The sug-
geston is made that the word knowingly"
should be inserted before the word OFFER
so that the offense must be deliberate in
order to merit the penalties provided for
in the 18th sectional fine of not less than
So nor more than SO, or Imprisonment in
the workhouse for not more than thirty
days, or by both fine and imprisonment.
The idea has been advanced that the bill
in its present shape would render liable to
this penalty any dealer who might be i'm
posed upon by fraudulent parties, and
while igonarnce Is not an excuse in the
eye of the law. as a general rule, it is con-
tended that knowledge of the fraud that is
being practiced should be required in such
a case that under consideration
One matter. however that is not covered
by the House bill may be made the subject
of an amendment by the Senate This
is in relation to the sale of milk from
which the milk is drawn by means of
spgots at the bottom. Under such con-
ditions the cream of the milk, unless agt-
tated, will continue to rise to the top of
the can so that the consumer, getting his
milk through the spigot, gets the poor
quality and the more watery fluid. 1t is
argued that there should be some provision
made for frequent agitation of the milk
in such cans. Such appliances are at hand
and it IS likely that a provision will be in
serted in the bill requiring their use 1t
is not likely that this provision will be
made to extend to milk delivered from
wagons, where the cans are kept in con-
slant motion, and so automat tically asi-
tated
The Municipal building Amendment.
Senator Hunton's amendment to the Dis
trict appropriation bill providing for a
new municipal building, which he offered
yesterday in the form of the Faulkner
bill to that effect, was favorably passed
upon by the committee, and Senator Faulk-
her was directed to report 1t favorably to
the Senate. This amendment locates the
building on Judiciary Square, and limits
the cost to s2,5oD,00O The amendment
row goes to the committee on appropria-
tionS.
In view Of the nearness of the end of the
session and of the fact that the supconl-
nlittee on District appropriations is now
actively at work upon the local bill, the
District committee decided that members
Of the committee should have the privilege
of introducing amendments to the District
bill. have them referred to the District
committee and then obtain action by the