The morning times., 1896-11-08
TO Be ASKED Of CONGRESS
District Ne dS Which viii B ,
Urged This WiLt.r.
NEW MUNICIPAL BUILDING
This VIII Receive Much Attention
and There Are Strong Hopes of
,ess-PrCEoscd Changes Ill
Cleaning the Streets Other I'M
proyements.

The District estimates. as they wIH be
presented before the next session of Com
Iress for its consideration, Will as usual
CONSIST largely of items held over from
previous sessions, ana among the most
important of these Is the request for an
APPROXIMATION L. start the construction Of
a MUNICIPAL building.
The sum deemed necessary as Il starter
for Inls buildI.. y SIuu,uv". its estimated
aggregate cost. if the >truCturcssnail be
n:side to correspond with tine needs OF the
District. VII not fall short OF quarter
oil Il million dollars.
L; is understood that the board of trade
VIII become again, a. before, an active
advocate OF TINS appropriation. president
Woodward wIl, IT H. btIieyed, III his lorth-
coming annual report, take strong ground
IL Its favor, and IT is possible the matter
WIN be presented by botn the board of
tradeaua the Commissioners upon PROPOSE
ton to construct the building upon the site
now occupied by the city hall. judiciary
square IL recognized as the most available
site for such an institution. Which Is eZ-
pcctcd 10 accommodate all the District
offices, as well as the courts now DOM
Cl!ud there, and the police court.
ANOTHER PROPOSED SITE.
There l. but one thing Which Is conceded
to be likely as an interference with the
foregoing program, ana that WAS outlined
a the hr=iminG Of the recent session "r
Congress by Representative Hepburn, Ill
an Interview printed i'll The Times. HIS
. <ug.CstIuu WAS tnai Tie square north OF
East Capitol street and directly opposite
The ueW library building, should he pLr-
chased 10y the government "a site Tor
court house for the accommodation or
the United States Supreme Court as Well
aS the District courts.
His iaea was that tre building should be
b fitting companion for the library, and
that TO erect one OF SuGfiCi"ntSlZc TO become
such would give ample room FOR Tie entire
judicial force.
Present plans, however, a> inGurScd by
the Iuard or Trade, are for the removal
of the present anilquatcd court house IN
Judiciary Square, and the substitution OF
modern municipal building, ornamental
tu the city ana of ample space TO accommo-
d3te the courts.
Comparisons will bc laid before Congress
bet ween the conditions i'll Washington and
those existing in all uuner cities of equal
size where the government has erected
massive cdifices for the convenience of
United States courts and custom houses. IL
VIII he pointed out that the United states
judiciary in Washington is housed in quar-
tiers wholly inadequate, and that from n
municipal standpoint the annual rents for
the accommodation of the government are
almost If not quite equal To fair interest
upon the money necessary to build a mod
crn office structure.
FOR STREET IMPROVEMENTS.
The Commissioners have asked Congress
for 5000 900 to improve the city streets,
the same To be made available in the year
to end June 30, 1898.
This sum is deemed to bc essential to the
proper performance of this work, and here
again is where the board of trade and other
associations Will uphold the Commission
ers. II Is urged that the streets should re-
ceivc Immediate attention. and that with
out the cooperation Of Congress and a lib
eral appropriation there Will continue to be
patchwork and mcaGrc improvements.
The estimate for two main manual train
lni; schocls, al Si50.uuu and 100000 re-
spcctiyely; one for white youth and the
other for colored, is regarded by the Com
mlssioners as of special importance. With
the facilities for instruction i'll the trades
which these institutions will afford it is
maintained that young men and women
may he ntted for future usefulness III lines
outside the various professions.
The lack of manufactures here is urged
as reason why Congress should provide
this means for equippng the rising genera
uon with practical education.
Tie extension of the sewerage system
aud the street sweeping departments are
stisD ltclllS OIL importance, SuCA as are
likely 10 command the attention of the
board of trade. and which the Commissions
erS are Intending To make the objects of
their special sulicitudc
The latter service is likely TO give the
Commissioners no little concern, for rea-
sons heretofore stated in The Times. The
present contract expires next June. and
the Commissioners are casting about to
determine whether or not TO have the
work continued under contract or whether
TO purchase "A plant and do the cleaning by
hand.
Supt. MCKensie of the street and alley
cleaning department went TO New York
recently, by direction of the board. to OBJ
tain some information touching hand clean
Ing. II is understood that he regards the
system in operation there as very efficient.
but TOO expensive for Washington. The
total expense incurred by New York for
cleaning streets is So ,9S5 ,0G0, but $40. 600
OF is set aside for use in clearing away
the ice and snow. In addition. if in the
judgment of the superintendent it becomes
necessary, he is at liberty TO draw upon
the city comptroller for any amount in
excess OF the $40, 900 that may be required
for the removal of the snow and ice.
CLEANING THE STREETS.
The streets are hand cleaned and hand
sprInkled. Each man employed goes over
about 5000 square yards per day. Com
pared with Washington this is slightly in