Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-25
NEED OF COUNTRY BUILDING RULES
The Proposed Extension OF City
Street Railroad Lines.
V RIOUS Nj A T T E r S

have been looking around for a SUBURBAN
home. My attention was invited to very
neat and attractive house, Hastily papered,
with snowy mantel. As much as $40 pos
sibly had also been expended on electric
bells. My wife was carried away with 1t,
and as a matter of fact, as she was TO
occupy it much more of the time than L
could be expected to 1 concluded to buy It,
Unfortunately. as 1 thought at the time.
negotia ions fell through. l did not buy
the house and have since learned to regard
my SUI posed misfortune as being all around
for my best interests
The house as l have since discovered,
had little foundation, the frame being laid
on nothing but four-inch wall, the bricks
Of which were laid, so l was told: IN
trenches about eight inches deep and on
soil better suited for garden purposes than
to carry walls The house was never
sheathed and the weather boarding as thin
as any manufactured. There was no celiar
to the house, so that the lack Of bricks in
the foundation walls was hid from view,
and the plaster on the inside and paint on
the outside to the inexperienced, did not
tell the story of the weather boarding.
If all the other work was sighted In the
same proportion, and l have reason to be-
ieve IT was. the price asked was nothing
short of highway robbery. for the simple
reason the innocent purchaser would eX-
pect to get home. whereas he, in fact
would only get a shell. ] was surprised
| that the authorities had allowed such con-
struction, and more particularly so when
such houses are nothing short of dangerous
| to life and limb. But then, in places out
side of the District there are no regula-
tons. and the house was built as cheaply
as possible to sell, without any other con-
sideration save the almighty dollar III
| tell you what, though. the people of that
| village are so worked up over Il that 1t Will
be pretty difficult job to even give away
such a house, much less to sell it. and it
would seem good thing to any prospective
buyer to investigate thoroughly before pur-
chasing. not from the owner or builder. but
from old residents. who know and have seen
what has been used in the construction of a
house. and thus effectually stamp out such
alleged Improvements. which are, in fact
the personifcation of destruction to the
growth of any suburb
Growing City.
During the present year there Is likely to
be two additions TO the street railroad sys-
TENS of the city. and beth, strange to say.
Will be practically within the limits of the
city-but not the old limits, for, as every one
knows the population Of the city for some
time past has gone beyond those ancient
bounds. When the jury completes the
award of the cost of widening Columbia
road then the law gives the Metropolitan
road authority to extend its line, commonly
known as the Connecticut avenue line, east
of 18th street Uhat street being the furthest
limit of that section of the road at presently
old 10th street, and thence to Mt. Pleas
ant.
This is an important extension of a city
railroad, and 1t IL recognized that while
the entire route is not lined with houses
and the section Is not as yet closely built
up the same time 1t Is an essential part
of the city. much SO as if it was within
the old urban limits. Population really de-
termines the lines of a city. and not
mere legal enactment, and from this point
Of view alone the city has long ago passed
northward
First Pavement in the Suburbs.
Mount Pleasant, one of the oldest subdi-
visions Of land in this vicinity, is no longer
| a suburban section, but part of the city
| This is a statement of simple fact, which
| is entirely familiar to those who are ac
quainted with local conditions. Neverthe-
| less it is astonishing to those who call to
mind that less than twenty years ago the
fret asphalt pavement laid beyond the old
urban limits was on Chaplin street, just
north of Florida avenue, and west of 14th
street. Prior to that time the streets in
| that locality had been regarded as country
| thoroughfares, but the people have gone
| out there in large numbers and built homes
| there. and the city authorities have recog
nized that the limits OF the city in that
| section had been advanced; and so they
| extended beyond the line OF Florida avenue
/ the urban improvements.
| There has been constant progress since,
| and in the past ten years Columbia Heights
! has been changed from old fields to city
| squares lined with rows OF fine houses on
| paved streets The gap between the city
and Mount Pleasant has thus been almost
| cOmpac:iy filled up, so that TO speak of
| Mount Pleasant as suburban Is misnomer.
Streets Instead of Fields.
| A somewhat similar process has been
| going on In the region known as Washing
| ton Heights. and people who left the city
early in the season and will not get back
| Until rather late will be surprised at what
| they see. II they go out in that direction.
Here. too. the fields are being filed up with
| rows of city houses, and what the founders
! Of the subdivision not many years ago de-
| signed a place for villa residences. with
/ abundance Of ground about them is now
| essentially a part Of the city, with paved
| streets and houses IN rows. For this rea-
i son II Is proper to say that the proposed
| extension Of the Metropolitan road is with
| in the urban bounds although for the pres
| ent at least, proportion OF the roadway
| will be along streets that are still without
| pavements The same process can be wit
| messed by following Florida avenue to the
| east where are the settlements OF LIE Droit
| Park and the improvements along LIST street
| east and then lexington
street Railroad Facilities.
The other street railroad extension to be
| made this season will be that of the Capt.
| tai Traction Company along F and G
| streets between 18th and oath streets. When
this work is completed street railroad facil-
tiles will be provided for a section Of the
| city that up to this time has been without
| them. 1t is recognized that 1t will be an
| important addition to the car service Of the
city. The latter is said by those who have
been In other cities to be without exception
| the best in this country. At present the
newest system Is being adjusted, and some
of the Inconvenience of the transformation
are being experienced. There have beer
| notifications Of the transfer system and
| changes in well-known routes and in SEIZED.
ules that will take time to get accustomed
to.
| 1t Is admitted. however. very generally
| that whatever causes there may be foi
| complaint, the present conditions taken as
| whole, are 50 far superior TO anything
that was thought possible a year or two
ago that there Is an inclination to accept
the annoyances Of the present and show
] consideration to those who have spent lit