Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-11
Site for Supreme Court Building,

To the Editor of The Evening Star:
1t has been recently suggested that the
Botanical Garden GROUNDS would be a good
location for the Supreme Court building.
Surely, whoever made that suggestion
must have done so without full knowledge
of the facts.
In the first place it is from 6 TO degrees
hotter down there in summer than 1t Is
upon the hill, and far more dusty. But
worse tar than Jnat Is the tact That the
11Der creek sewer, WnIcn receives aIl Inc
sewage from Northeast W asnIng ton, as lar
east as 18TH street east, anu norm TO near
boundary street (now rIorIua arenueD
passes through the Botanical uaIuen
grounds.
At pennsylvania avenue, and from there
to the mouun OF the James Creek canal, INTO
which this sewer empues, the ground is so
nearly level that there is not suInclent cur
rent in the sewer TO move the Snl ana Iuul
Accommodations brought down from the east
and norm; and, as SHOWN in The star Some
years ago, II Is deposited there large
masses, which remaIn eXhanng their poi
SonouS VaporS to sucn an extent that every
year they nave to be removed by snoVeIng
them up, lifting them OUT through the man.
hoIes and cartIng them away
" hen this was hrst done some years ago
parties began to use the sand that was re-
moved from the sewer Tor buudng pur-
poses, but it was so foul and so mixed with
sewerage that the health office condemned
health and its use was forbidden by the au-
thorItieS.
The accumulation of the filth brought
down by this immense sewer has flied
James Creek canal all the way down to lne
Arsenal Point with a deposit many feet
deep, in which a dog would mire, and in
which every year several persons, VINO, in
the dark. walk or fall into the open canal,
mire and are drowned.
So terrible is the stencil from this, espe-
cially in the summer time. that one can
hardly remain in the vicinity without hold
ing his nose, and the poisonous gases con-
stantly given off are waited by the pre-
vailing southern winds back over the Bo-
tanicai Garden and the low grounds in the
vicinity.
This has been fully set forth repeatedly
by the press, the health office and the Med
zeal Society; and so well is ii understood
that much of the sickness of representa-
tives and senators is due to drawing of
these foul gases into the Capitol through
the fresh air ducts, that some years ago the
architect of the Capitol, in his Official re-
port, advocated the planting of a belt of
eucalyptus trees between the canal and
the Capitol, with the idea of counteracting
their deadly effects at the Capitol.
Besides, as those of us who have resided
here for several years know in heavy floods
that sewer is unable to carry off the water
that is brought down from the higher
grounds, and results in flooding the ground
in its vicinity with water and sewage
So tremendous was the pressure few
years ago that the brick arch-three or four
brick thick, and over thirty feet wide-was
lifted off and moved to one side, but for
tunately not far enough to fall into the
sewer. To prevent a recurrence of that, a
flood gate was put in at the lower side of
the Botanical Garden grounds to permit the
excess to flow out upon the surface.
/ do not know of a more unfit site for a
Supreme Court building in the District I'M
less it be at the mouth of Boundary sewer
where the latter pourS its contents out upon
the AnacoStia marsh.
/ say nothing as to the site provided for
in the bill that has so many times passed
the Senate as my object is simply to show,
in a very brief manner, the total unfitness
of the Botanical Garden grounds as a site
January 10, 1899. OBSERVER.