The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-08-13

neer Commissioner of the District. Thi
commission was directed to purchase thu
said site on one of the following named
squares or reservations: Square 226
square 225, square 256, square 2s2, square
349, square $50, square 461, east half o
/ reservation B, west half of reservation B
east half of reservation A, west half O.
: reservation A.
! Square 226 is bounded by Pennsylvani;
Avenue, Fourteenth. Fifteenth, and
| Streets northwest. Square 225 is opposite
/ en- the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue
| ana is bounded on the other three side.
/ by Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and F Street!
| northwest. Square 256 is on the soutt
side of Pennsylvania Avenue between
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets
Square 292 is also on the south
side of Pennsylvania Avenue, east of the
preceding, lying between Twelfth ant
Thirteenth Streets. Square 34s is on the
south side Of Pennsylvania Avenue bstweer
Tenth and Eleventh Streets. Square 3S(
is next east Of the former, lying between
Ninth and Tenth on the south side ol
Z Pennsy yania Avenue Square 46f lies be-
tween Sixth and Seventh Streets on the
south side Of Pennsylvania Avenue. The
reservations A and lie on the south side
Of Pennsylvania Avenue between Sixth
Street and the Botanic Garden. and the
]
purchase or condemnation one-half Of
either reservation for the municipal build
ing If in their judgment ii should seem
advisable.
After the purchase of the site the work
of the commission ends, and 1t is TO be
turned over to the Commissioners OF the
District and the Secretary of the Treasury,
who shall proceed to erect suitable build
ing thereon for the housing Of the NUM-
q fral don arfr noYat~ ha ft.rf her
vides that the work of the construction of
the building shall be entrusted to an Off
Ger of the United States GoveisaHfent espe-
cially qualified for the duty, and the money
necessary for the purchase of The site, the
procuring of plans, and the erection Of the
building is appropriated from the funds
OF the Government and of the District.
one-half of the expense To be borne by
each respectively. II
Present Building Poorly Planned.
In speaking OF the need of municipal
building such as is contemplated in the
Mercer bill, the Commissioner above re-
ferred TO said: I'VE need such a building
greatly. Last year We were forced to find
loom elsewhere for the Police Department.
This enabled us to shift Offices little in
this building and to give more room to one
or two departments where the Jerks did
not have room to move without jostling
one another. But We have not enough
room now. The Building Inspectors of
fee, for example, has not enough men for
the prompt transaction of business, and if
others were added they would not have
enough room to work.
Then this building is badly planned for
the purpose to which it is put. 1t was
built for an Office building, to be sure,
hut for lawyers offices and those who
could be accommodated with small Offices.
Some OF the rooms are large enough here,
but they are not the right shape. being
long and narrow. The light and ventilation
are both bad in the building. and we have
long been convinced in our own minds that
the health OF clerks and employees of the
District has been badly affected by the
environment in which they are obliged to
work Congress ought to give JUS the new
building at once. II would take about
three years TO complete the structure and
TO move into 1t, and by that time this
building will have become so crowded that
it Will be similar 10 a New York tenement
house.
There is another thing which should be
pit in mind in connection with this build
Ing, and that is that the thousands of
papers Of record, ETC.. in the several of
fees are not properly protected in a struc-
ture OF this character. While 1t does rot
belong to the class of buildings that are
called fire traps. ii is not ireproof so far
SIS its inside floors and furnishings are
concerned. II a fire should start in the
basement some day 1t is plain that We
would have to scuttle down the fire escape,
and We would not have time to stand upon
the order of our going 1t would be ut
terIy impossible TO think OF saving any
thing in the building. In my opinion il
would burn fast and the lives OF the in
mates of the building might be endangered
by the rapidity with which the smoke
would spread through the building, aided
by the elevator shaft. No one could meas
ure the calamity that q fire in this build
ing would cause. There are papers and
books here whose value is not commercial
perhaps. but which is real, nevertheless.
and their destruction would he a thing not
pleasant to contemplate.
The Outlay for Rent.
eve pay $4,000 for the rent of this
building. $500 for the rent of part OF the
building occupied by the Police Depart
and 5000 for the rent of the vault
in which the old records are stored. This
means an annual outlay of 81, 400 in the
shape of rent, which considered as the in
terest on an amount invested in a new
building would almost pay for the strlc-
ture required. The Commissioners have
been agreed for long time that the most
urgent call for the generosity OF Congress
is in the direction of giving the District
a City Hall as good as those built by
cities in the States OF the same size and
resources. Indeed. 1t is a wonder that
Congress has neglected this matter so long.
1T is not alone the executive Offices OF
the District which want more room, but
the courts as well. The old building on
judiciary Square long since became
structure. II is not now and
never was a good court house. II Is
dngy old building with little windows,
poorly lighted and poorly planned for the
purpose OF carrying on the business Of the
Compared with the beautiful
structure they have recently built in Bal
timore our court house is like some old
castle of the middle ages. l have often
thought that il was a strange comment
on the penuriousness of Congress TO see
building like that court house, at the
Capital of The nation lighted by electricity.
To be consistent they ought TO use tallow
dips over there. II is out of all consis-
tency and out Of reason to ask the judges
Of the municipal and District courts TO sit
in such buildings as Congress has Pro-
vided for them.
The Police Court is worse off than the
District courts. II is a source Of shame
not to say disgust that the police justices
are housed in an old church long ago
abandoned by its congregation. The build
ing is not provided even with the COM
monest requirements of comfort, and 1t
ought TO be given up to the real estate
man TO sell and dispose of at the best ad
for 1t is no longer fit for the
housing OF a court"