Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-03

missioners and different arrangements of
the railroad company have been endeayorng
10 get together on some proposition to do
away with grade crossings Now, for the
first time in the history of the city the
Commissioners Of the District and the Bal
timore and Ohio Railway Company have
come together. We can never get action
on this question unless we have harmony
and the citizens. You have harmony be-
tween the company and the Commissioners.
now do not let the citizens of Washington,
through the board of trade act as obstruc-
tionists TO this BILL
Mr.. S. c. Bundy said it had not been
apparent 10 him that any considerable oD-
lection had been urged against the plan of
the Commissioners, and he did not favor
the resolution.
Mr. Loring Chapel appealed to the board
against any obstruction to the plan to
abolish grade crossings. He lives in the
northeastern part of the city, he said, and
had for many years heard this question
discussed and never before had they ap-
preached 50 near solution of the ques-
ton He had been told by Mr.. Cowen of
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company
years ago that the difficulty in abolishing
grade crossings in this city was based on
the impossibility of the people to get to-
gether on any plan. Mr.. Chapel appealed
to members of the board to vote in a way
20 settle this grade crossing problem
Mr.. Server made final appeal in favor of
the adoption of the committees report He
Sd4u ne was one OF from 10 LOO people
who would lose from one to three thousa nd
dollars on their homes If this bill went
through as approved by the Commissioners
he gave an illustration to show that re-
Gently sales in lexington had been pre-
vented because of the fear that the bill
would go through as now framed. He did
not think II was unreasonable to demand
that the railroad company should expend
even $4,000 more for better plan that
would save the people of lexington their
homes.
IF you want to take our property with
out giving anything in return he said
vote for this bill in its present form
sat down.
and was lost by a vote of % to II
a motion to strike out these two sections
% to Is.
For Section Thirteen.
Mr.. BahsOn offered the following sub
stitute for section 13 of the report:
"lnasmuch as the improvements pro-
vided for in the railroad bill and In this
report are properly the work of the rail-
road, we are opposed to the appropriation
or public funds except to pay the expense
of bridge approaches and changes of grade.
We regard the companys demand for
sl,JG00Oo as unreasonable, and we RECON-
mend that Congress be urged to ignore
that request for a gratuity
Mr.. Frizzell opposed the substitute and
supported the provision contained In Sec
ton IL.
Secretary Harries. in a short and vigor-
Gus speech, supported the substitute He
was opposed to giving gratuty of 81 800
Ho to the railroad company. That pro-
vision had been put in the bill in order that
the Baltimore and Ohio company might be
/ on equal terms with the PENNSYLVANIA Rail-
road Company, which In its bill was given
S2,Ooo,UO worth of parks. Chicago had been
| referred to as place in which the policy
| proposed here had been practiced but he
knew about that and said the fact was
| the city council of Chicago had declined to
| contribute to work of improving the rail-
| roads in that city, and the railroads had
/ to pay their own expenses. He said the
| man who tears down a shanty to erect a
! mansion had good claim on the pub
lie treasury as had the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad
| The substitute opposing paying the rail-
road company s1,500OO0 was then adopted
| unanimously.
| Streets and Avenues.
| The report OF the committee on streets
and avenues favoring transferring city
records now in the War Department to the
| custody Of the surveyor of the District was
1 approved.
| Mr.. Edison congratulated the board on
| the manner in which the questions at issue
had been discussed. and the board then ad-
i journed-
Members Present.
Among members of the board present
were John Doyle Carmody, Samuel Ross.