Evening star., 1896-03-16
DISTRICT IN CONGRESS
Rapid Transit Wanted by 0itisens Of Eok-
ington and AnaoostiA g
Petitions to That Effect Forwarded to
the Chairman of the Senate
District Committee.

| pdSSdSe OIL senate DllA 1885, requiring tno
lexington and Soldiers Home Railroad
! Company, to dispense with the use Of
horses on all Its lines and to adopt an up
proved modern system of transit. He ac-
companies this with a letter, in which he
| says:
| "a few days ago 1t was stated in one Of
our local papers that the lexington and
Soldiers Home railway people have prom
| tsed the Senate committee to use new
and modern motive power. 1t is compress
| ed air. They claim that their new cars are
| being constructed Eow. and that they will
| be ready within sixty days. They have told
the committee that this power is a great
| success wherever it has been tried.
IF the management of this company has
such confidence in the success of the air.
| motor system, as would appear from the
statement, why does the company hesitate
| to invest its money in the scheme? The
| facts are that the compressed air cars,
| which are said to be In course of construc-
! ton. are not being built at the expense Of
| the Ecklngton company at all, but by the
| owners of the air-motor system, and are
| to be placed on the lexington company s
| tracks and operated for stated time with
| out any expense whatever TO the company,
| 70 demonstrate the success of the system
If proven to be successful to the entire sat
| lsfaction Of the lexington company, they
| are to be accepted and paid for II not
| they are to be taken off by the owners
| without cost to the company. President
Newbold himself is authority for this state
| ment.
| Now, Mr.. Chairman, the passage of
| senate bill 1886 will in nowise interfere
| with this proposed experiment with COM
pressed air motors The bill simply requires
.he Eckington company. within fifteen
! months from the date of approval of the
act. 10 wholly dispense with horses as a
| motive power on all the lines of the com
| pany, and to substitute therefor such mod
1 90 10
| shail be approved by the Commissioners of
| the District of Columbia but nothing in this
act shal! In any wise authorize the use of
| overhead appliances
! Tine bill simply fixes a time and ra
duires this company to do within that
| tme what its representatives say it in
| tends doing, and what they promise the
| committee they will do, but it makes the
| iuiilllment of such promises compulsory
| instead of leaving it to the pleasure of the
| company to carry them out or not, and it
| VIII give to the public and to the owners
OF property In the sections traversed by
| tncse lines something more tangible than
| the bare promise Of this company to look
| forward to. Without the passage of this
| blll or some similar measure the effect of
ms proposed experimenting with these
| compressed air motors will be to retard the
| development of the sections through which
| thls road luns and continue tenantIess the
| hundreds OF empty houses along its lines
| anu az the end oil six months. or the time
1
| proves unsuccessful as l believe will be
the result we will be just where we are
now. with six months time lost.
| ON the other hand, if Senate hill 1896 ia
| enacted INTO law 1t will no, interfere with
! TINS proposed experiment, and at the end
OF the experimental period if the wind
cars prove impracticable as street car
| motors. the public will have had the bene
Ut or their trial, and at the same time the
! satisfaction and encouragement of know
| ing that they are six months nearer to the
| tme when this company will be compelled
| to put in a system the success of which
| mas bean demonstrated by practical use
| ne existence of such law would have a
| wholesome effect upon property values
! along the lines of this road and would
| stay the downward tendency of things
| which has been going from bad to worse
| ever since the lexington road went into
the hands of its present owners
Anacostians Also Want 1t,
Mr.. r. j. Buckley and Mrs. E. L. Eaton,
| represt nting the citizens of Anacostia,
| called on Senator Mcmillan this morning
and presented TO him a petition signed by
1000 residents and property owners of
| Anacostia and the surrounding territory
| praying for tine passage of the bill to in
| corporate the Capital Railway Company,
| which proposes to serve the AnacoSta sec
| tfon with rapid transit by way OF the Navy
| Yard bridge and 11th street east, the line
| to tap the Metropolitan road at Lincoln
| Square. Mr.. Buckley told the Senator
| that it vas expected that 400 additional
! names would be secured. and in a few
moments he and Mrs. Eaton outlined the
! situation ttat now exists in the suburb
across the river.
| Serator Mcmillan assured them that he
! intended to take the matter up for serious
| consideration in a short time, but he called
| attention to the fact that Mr.. Griswold
| had made a published statement that he
| could not afford to introduce rapid transit
|
! whether there was patronage enough to
support two roads. He said that only a
| day or so ago one of the Senators from
| Connecticut told him that he had received
| a letter from constituents in Hartford,
Conn.,. VINO are stockholders in the Ana
| costa Railway Company, complaining that
their interests were in jeopardy. The Sena-
| tor promised his callers that some thing
would be done in the near future for the
| relief of the Anacostia citizens and they
left feeling well satisfied with the result
| of their interview. They gave Chairman
| Babcock Of the House committee a dupli-
| cate of the petition.
The Gas Investigation Resolution.
| Senator Calls resolution directing the
District committee Of the Senate to in
vestisate the gas question came up in the
| Senate this morning for consideration. AT
| the suggestion of Senator Platt, Senator
Call agreed to an amendment authorizing
the committee to send for persons and
| papers. In the absence Of such phrase,
| Mr.. Platt explained. it would be practically
| impossible for the committee to secure the
| information desired unless the gas COM
pany were willing to submit it voluntarily.
Senator Faulkner called Mr.. Calls atten-
ton to the fact that the District committee
was already investigating this matter, and
that there is now in print, as public docu-
ment, all the detailed information called
| for by the resolution. He was not abso-
| lutely certain that the documents now in
| hand cover all of the various points of in
quiry, but he asked Mr.. Call to let the reso-
luton go over for another day, SO that he
might examine the papers. Mr.. Call agreed
to this and the final consideration Of the
resolution was again postponed.
To Pay Emmart, Dunbar Il Co.
Senator Gallinger today offered an
amendment to the District appropriation
bill appropriating $1l,5iS.22 to pay EN-.
mart, Dunbar & Co., in accordance with
the bill recently passed 10y the Senate Dis
trict committee.
The Marshars Salary.
The bill supplanting the fee system now
in vogue in the United States courts BY
salaries was today reported favorably to
the Serate by Mr.. Hoar. 1t fixes the salary
of the marshal of the District at $500
ard that of his chief deputy at 5000,