Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-07-17


the means of restoring hundreds of such unfor-
tqnates to health, strength and happiness.
by re Gis fH ss
az H., LII rensylyanin avenue adjoining Willards
ment Once hoursHyo am. to pm Wednes si
and Saturday evenings, to s: Sundays, 10 to Il.
All Interviews and correspondence sacredly con-
fdcntial No cases made public without consent OF
patients. jyiI
resulting from such an event. Whatever
may be the decision in this respect It Is
expected that the old canal dam will be
full availability.
The chief obstacle to be overcome by the
engineer. however, is the flooding of the
canal It Is idle to suppose that the canal
company will allow themselves to be en-
tirely shut out from the city. One sugges-
ton Is the erection of a wall along the edge
of the canal, sufficiently high to prevent its
overflow. For two reasons, according to
the engineer referred to-. this plan may be
said to be so impracticable as to be impos-
sible. The first is the immense cost of such
wall, built strong enough to Withstand the
enormous pressure 1t would be necessary to
sustain at ordinary periods to say nothing
of the additional force exerted on 1t during
freshets. The second reason for the nom
erection Of the wall is the great amount of
time that would be consumed in onstrict-
ing it. How long this would take 1t is
impossible to estimate, as there is but little
foundation to work from, and the stone
and hauled.
The other and more feasible plan is to do
away with the canal entirely for five or
six miles above the dam, and at such
point lock the boats out into the river
which, after the dam is completed, will be
sufficiently deep to float them. Here tug
boat will be ready to receive and tow them
down to the dam. where they Will be placed
in q hydraulic elevator and lowered into
the canal below, which will be left intact
from that point to Georgetown. The same
plan could be pursued on the upward trip
1t is claimed that there will be but slight
increase, If any, in the time now consumed
by the boats in going from Georgetown to
the Great Falls, as the time lost by locking
in and out into the river and In being raised
and lowered in the elevator will be fully
compensated for by the increased speed Of
the boats while in tow Of the tugs.
1t will also be necessary in this case, as
in the previous one, to build sea walls to
prevent the overflow of the low lands by
the backwater. The cost of this, 1t is
claimed, will not be SO great as at first
glance might be supposed. There are com
paratively few points at which 1t would be
needful to construct such walls num-
Der of these are the entrances to ravines,
which can be utilized at a great saving as
storage reservoirs to hold water for the
dry season, when, to furnish the amount
of horsepower desired by the company, 1t
will be necessary to increase the natural
flow Of the river by artificial means This
use of the ravines. notably among which is
bridge, for storage purposes, 1t is held,
when the cost of construction is taken into
consideration. will be an immense saving
to the company, as it would be absolutely
requisite for them to excavate reservoirs
were it not for these semi-natural ones.
The dam, which, it is reported, Will be
constructed, will be. If the supposed plans
are carried out, between seventy and
eighty feet in height. During August the
river reaches its minimum flow. which is
about 600 gallons per second. With fall
of seventy feet this would, 1t is calculated,
give in round numbers, 400 horse power:
BY storage, it is claimed, an increase Of
1900 horse power could be easily obtained.
When Mr.. Cummings was seen in regard
to the details of the work proposed to be
undertaken ne stated that there was moth
ing to be given out for publication at this
time. He said 1t is intended to first ar
range all legal matters and remove the
possibility of future litigation before any
definite plans regarding the ways and
means Of accomplishing the desired results
could be announced.
A Government Report.
March of last year resolution was
adopted by the Senate directing the Sec
rotary of War to investigate and report as
to the feasibility and ACCESSIBILITY of using
water power in the vicinity of Washington
for the purpose of lighting by electricity
the public buildings. grounds and streets
of the District The board detailed to make
this Investigation was composed of Col.
George H. Elliot and Capt. John G. D.
Knight. Lieut.. Samuel Reber of the signal
corps furnished the hydraulic estimates.
The proposition under consideration did
not include the construction of new dams,
but merely the utilization of natural de-
clivities. In its report as to Little Falls
the board of examination says: The great
est freshet in the river of which there is
authoritative record occurred June 2, 1889.
TIa OF Hofr hid ot>ox
the foot of the falls, to 1913 feet above tide
level, and remained within three feet Of
that height for about twenty-four hours,
and within six feet for about thirty hours.
In other words, for about thirty hours
the river at the foot of Little Falls was
above the low-water level at the head of
these falls. During this freshet the river
rose to a height of sixteen feet above the
crest of the dam at Great Falls.
I'm November, 1877, there was another
great freshet, in which the river rose to a
height Of twelve feet above the crest of
the dam at Great Falls, which then ex-
tended only to Conn's Island, across the
Maryland channel, the Virginia channel be-
ing unohstructed. No record is available of
the corresponding height in the vicinity
TT is recorded that in 1852 the river at
Seneca creek, which is about eight miles
above Great Falls, lacked but eight inches
OF reaching the height 1t attained in 1877.
These facts lead to the conclusion that
any plant established to utilize the power
at Little Falls would have been practically
imperative during a period of at least
thirty hours in June, 1889, probably in
operative both in 1877 and 1852, and that
the variability of the water power in this
vicinity is too great to justify relying upon
1t for the purpose under consideration"
The construction of an adequate dam,
and the creation Of storage reservoirs, are
necessary, it is said. to obviate the natural
Disadvantages mentioned in the report.
Four eminent hydraulic engineers have
emnlOve0 mi
have charge of the work They have pre-
pared complete photographic map of the
Potomac from beyond Great Falls to
Georgetown, showing every dip and eleya-
ton, and indicating every ravine and in
denture.
Where to Spend the Summer.
Berkeley Springs, w. Va. has lost none