Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-10-02
49, 1ssSSsHtIy5T4lD
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house for each of the rocks. They think
that some day the rocks will be bought by
railroad company as support for the piers
of a bridge, and the chances are that they
will. The party~that refer to, however,
as trying to by them had a novel scheme
IL his mind for their use. He claimed to be
able to control the necessary capital to
build on the Three Sisters a summer resort
ard dancing pavilion, and to construct
tunnel under the river through which the
patrons to the same could go, as novelty,
provided they did not want to go by the
bridge that will eventually go there. 1t
was also to be used as a terminal summer
resort for railroad company. How the
Moores got possession of the property l do
not know, but / know from the late Gen.
b. F. Butler, Mr.. w. w. Woodward and
Others thoroughly competent to speak on
the subject. and who Investigated it, that
their title Is perfect When the govern
ment purchased the AQueduct bridge from
the company which owned it there was a
proviso in the law directing the purchase
Of the Three Sisters, on which to build
bridge in case the Aqueduct company held
their property at too fancy figure. 1t
was thought at that time that the Three
Sisters could be bought at about $4,000,
which is rather a good price for three large
rocks, for that is all there is of them. The
Aqueduct company realized that the Three
Sisters would give better foundation than
the piers under their own briuge, which,
as 1t has turned out, have been a constant
source of expense to the government ever
since. and have already cost nearly ten
times as much as the Three Sisters could
be bought for and gladly disposed of their
property. The law authorizing the pur-
chase of the Three Sisters lapsed with the
purchase of the bridge. / am satisfied that
the ordinary paSserby has never thought
for moment that these three big rocks
are as valuable under some circumstances
as an ordinary gold mine, and indeed, more
valuable than the great majority of So
called mines: for the Three Sisters have
not cost one cent to keep them in repair
n 10 hmm rod or1d ton,
l admit they have mot been an income
producer. They pay no taxes, however, for
they are not regarded as property. for the
reason that they are under the water"
x X
1.-The burning of the power house of the
Capital Traction Company Wednesday
night observed an insurance agent to
Star reporter, was blessing in disguise
to the local Insurance business. and
though the various companies which car
ried the insurance on the property will
have considerable money to pay, they will
get 1t all back again in the increase of the
insurance business that is sure to follow.
For the past two or three years insurance
business has been rather dull, and life in
surance specially SO. for there are lots
of people who will keep their fire insur-
ance alive even II they allow their life
policies to lapse. An extensive fire like that
of Wednesday night impresses upon every
one the fact that there are few buildings
which are safe from the ravages of fire, and
there is already an activity noticeable in
fire policies. 1t is in this way that the fire
insurance companies are likely to make
more out of the fire than they will be called
upon to pay. AS has been fully explained
in The Star and other papers. a heavy loss
from fire is very rare thing in this city,
Washington being regarded by all fire in
surance companies as one of the safest
otff -,,;@
The wide streets here guarantee a certain
safety that no other city can furnish, and
1t is on this account that the various out
side companies are represented here in the
competition for the business. which. though
risky. as it necessarily must be. is profita-
bic IN the long run. for in Washington.
until in very recent years. big fires and
extensive losses have been very rare"
< X X
$50 far the authorities of Fort Myer have
done nothing to remove the so-caled well
which cost over $1,000 to dig but which
has meyer produced drop of water said
conductor of the electric line which
passes by it to a Star reporter land time
and time again as the cars pass it we are
called upon to point it out and give its
history. The we'll Is in the valley to the
west of the fort, and the cars pass within
fifty feet of it. The contractor got the
money for work he never performed. and
the strangest part of it is the fact that
the quartermasters officers not only certi-
fled to the quantity of water the well pro-
duced each day, but government chemists
Certified that the water was unusually pure
and good. Tie fact is there never was a
drop of water drawn from the WELL the
contractor turning little stream which
ran near by into 1t. 1t was the water from
the stream which was measured and ex-
aInined- The pump house and pump, as
you see, are still there. though the storm
of September one year ago knocked over
the smoke stack, leaving 1t in the shape
you 1t today. AS it Is. the wreck is a
constant reminder of the cuteness of the
continuous criticism. and if for no other
reason than that ] would suppose 1t would
be removed 1t appears, though, that none
Of the authorities want to mix in It,"
y X X X
There is but little sympathy for the
many ladies who report that their purses
are grabbed from Them said a police
officer to a Star reporter, though, of
course. we use every effort we can to get
the money back, well as the parties
who steal it. The chances. however, are
all against catching many Of these purse
grabbers, for they nearly always throw the
purse away, even before they spend the
money thus destroying the chances of
recovery. With an article. of Dress jewelry
or hundreds CT other things the thing
stolen has to be sold sometimes to get any
thing by stealing it. and in this way we
are fortunate In turning it up as the
police phrase goes. All this is lost with
the pocket-book snatcher. for he loses no
time in destroying the evidence of his
crime. the reason the police do not ex-
tend much sympathy in the matter is be-
cause the victim in some respects suggests
the crime by carrying the pocket book or
purse openly in the hand. Lead US not
into temptation Is forgotten by many la
dies when 1t comes to carrying their money
In their hands. My idea in speaking about
this kind of stealing now is that pocket
book snatchers are much more bold in the
fall than during any other time in the year,
and / would like to counsel ladies to fix
pockets in their dresses and carry their
money therein, especially In the evenings.
They are safe enough the travelled
thoroughfares in the daytime. but they
must blame themselves in some degree If
they insist in exposing themselves In the
evenings. or, III other words. tempting the
pocket-book snatcher to commit crimes
that he would NOT commit ~ bo nysy,or-