Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-11-26
SOME LOCAL NEE(
Measures Which Senator McMii
Will Press for Action.
EXTENDING The SEWERAGE SYSTEM
Solution of the Steam Railway
Problem.
a BETTER WATER SUPPLY

I. 4 IL l.
Senator Mcmillan, chairman Of the Sem
ate committee on the District Of Columbia
is In the city. ready TO begin work Of leg
| islauon for the District OF Columbia as
soon as Congress meets. Mr.. Mcmillan has
been prominently Identified with great i'm
provements that have been secured in the
District during recent years and many
much-needed appropriations for putting The
city IN a better condition have been per
sistehtIy urged by him until they have been
allowed by both houses OF Congress.
Ihere are now several important meas
ures pending which he proposes To press
Tor consideration ard action at os carly n
day as possible. Chief among these arc
me complexion of the sewerage system of
the District; filtration plant TO provide
clean water for the people; better side
walks, so that pedestrians may hot be
forced INTO the streets in preference 10 tho
uneven brick walks, a solution of ths
stsam railway problem as pr4clfCalIv de-
cided upon, and more liberal appropriations
LOT peautifying the parks in all parts of
the city.
The Steam Railway Problem
i am very much Interested in ,ii.nosin-
OF the steam railroad problem i'm the Dis
trict, said Mr.. Mcmillan when spoken IN
by Star reporter today. This problem
mas been worked on for so long a tim,
that now the Engineer Commissioner of
the District and the railroad people hova
agreed upon a plan which appear 10 be
satisfactory to all Interested in this mat
ter. COL Black gave a great deal of Tina
anu attention to this matter. and bills are
now being prepared to present to Congress
at a very early date Under This biII tba
grade crossings Will be done away with
ana the railroads will build station houses
suitable to the capital city
The street railway problem has ha.
soIved as well as in any city In the world
ana the ns1t thing to do is to dispose OF
the steam railway problem.
The Sewerage system.
Last year a great effort was made 10
secure more liberal approximation To cor7-
uhue our sewerage system here. and finally
Congress gave an appropriation very much
IN excess of what had been allowed I'm sor-
h'er years. and more in keeping with the
heeus OF the city. hope thar Congress
VIII realize the pressing need for ouicxly
carrying out the sewerage system which
mas been devised for the District and
@tIch VIII 90 much to place the city in q
A Filtration Plant
The water supply of the city should also
be improved in quantity and quality.
ard University reservoir, and the reservoir
itself. completed, so that we may have a
liberal supply of water, and also 10 have
provision made for a filtration plant which
Will give the people of this city clean and
' Vhoiesome drinking water. Congress ar
It's last session. provided that a llan for
such a plant should be submitted 10 it by
the chtef OF engineers, and when this ,lan
is received We will be in a position 10 yTorlr
on this matter.
Better Sidewalk
Another Improvement think the Com-
missioners should press before Congress is
that Of making the sidewalks here what
they should be. Congress seldom gives
what Is not asked for The sidewalks here
are such as cannot be found in any other
city or Its size In the country The old
brick sidewalks in the thickly settled part
of the city should be replaced as soon as
possible with Lew granolithic walks. The
present rate of replacing these walks is so
SLOW that 1t would require very many years
TO bring about the Improvement
Improving the Parks
THE parks of the city, especially in the
eastern section, should be improved at az
early day as possible. In the eastern part
OF the city the small parks are very gem
etally neglected. They have been improved
in the northwest, but all sections should be
treated alike in this respect.
bridges Over Rock Creek.
Another great need Of the city it seems to
me is to have more bridges connecting
Washington and Georgetown. We have
made provision for bridges across Rock
creek on the line of Massachusetts and
Connecticut avenues, and there are bridges
at Pennsylvania avenue, NJ and z streets
but there should be at least one or TWO
other bridges. A uniform plan for bridging
this creek should be adopted, and there
should be as solid a roadway on these
bridges as is afforded by the streets These
old bridges should be replaced by construc-
tions OF more substantial character The
bridges to be found in the District gener-
ally are far from what they should be.
The planks on the AQueduct bridge, for ex-
ample, are of character to make il al
most dangerous for one to drive over the
bridge. Yet enormous travel goes over
tha~ bridge.
The Smoke Nuisance.
THE smoke problem is another thing that
should be disposed of here. Looking over
the city from any of the heights about It
one can see the smoke from great smoke
stacks hovering over the city, and the re-
suit is there is deluge of SCOT that should
be prevented. That is the case at the bu-
reau OF engraving and printing and at
many of the large hotels and fiat houses
The House has passed a bill providing for
smoke consuming appliances to remedy this
trouble, and 1 hope to see II enacted Into
law in the near future