The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-11-06

The question of numbering the house.
in some of the subdivisions CT the co lnty
still bothers the office of the Inspector
of Buildings AT the request of the postal
authorities the houses in Anacostia,
Brookland, and at some other points n
the suburbs, are being numbered accord
ing to the city system, to facilitate the
delivery CT mails. The difficulty Of To-
ing this is great, on account OF the fact
that the streets are not cut through, and
the old roads and new thorcughfares that
have been made within the past few years
do not conform TO the true sytem of
squares as established within the city
and which viii in time be adopted in the
suburbs. AS a consequence of this con-
fusion in squares the numbering is also
more or less misleading.
Frequent complaints of the impossible
ity OF finding certain places in the Dis
trict reach the Commissioners, and the
Inspector of Buildings seems unable to
bring entire order out of the chaos Of
street numbers that exists in the city and
outside. Last spring REMEMBERING Of the
houses on Massachusetts Avenue north
east, between Twelfth and Thirteenth
Streets, was ordered, the result being
endless confusion among the people liv-
ing III that vicinity. According to state
ments made in connection herewith it
was several weeks before the various
householders received the goods delivered
10 them properly.
Another case was that of family liv
ing Oh Columbia Heights, who sent invi-
tations to a party, and only small pro-
portion of The guests arrived, not being
able TO find the house owing to the con-
fusion of numbers on Fifteenth and Four
teen Streets, in the 1890 block.
\ recent case has come to light in which
there are two houses in Mount Pleasant
on the same street with the same number,
and the names of the people living in the
two houses are nearly alike, and II has
come 10 pass once or twice that one of the
families have been shy on the question
OF Sunday dinner, while the other had too
much in the delivery of the market basket
at the wrong number. These are serious
matters. and the annoyance resulting
therefrom is q d character to make peo-
pie wonder whether the system of num-
bering houses in Washington is not a
little scattering, like long-used shot
gun.
The Building Inspector however. says
that it is i practical impossibility to keep
up the city system of numbering when the
officials of his office go across Florida
Avenue. He declares that the streets are
so laid out as to defy any accurate sys-
tenn of marking houses The territory
south Of Fifteenth Street, above Florida
Avenue, was instanced as one in which
there are streets running to every point
Of the compass, and the irregularity OF
the squares is such that imaginary lines
have TO be drawn 10 enable those in charge
OF the matter to start the numbering
properly, and in some instances the num-
bers pass from enc division to another in
the middle Of the square instead of at the
end of the square There being no uni
formity of the streets, the numbering has
to be more or less problematie.
The Office of the Inspector of Buildings
has given the problem much attention. 1t
has been figured OUT on maps in the office,
while inspectors have gone over every
inch of the ground to try and invent some
method which would enable the office TO
comply with the law and ct avoid the
confusion which arises all the while from
the system OF numbering in vogue