Arizona republican., 1900-12-16
WASHIN GTON WORD
Letter From the Republican s
 Special Correspondent.
The Improvement of Four Years in the Capital of the United States-The Work Before Con- gress.

Washington, Dec. 15.-(SpeciaL)-R
 turning to active newspaper work in
 Washington, I am impressed with the
 extent of the improvements that have
 taken place in the city since 1896. It
 IS larger, cleaner and much more at- l tractive town than it was four years i ago. Its street car service, which used
 to be standing reproach, is now sec
 ond to that of no other city in the
 country The underground electric
 system is employed, and cars of the
 size of those that run between Los
 Angeles and Santa Monica supply rap
 i'd transit to all parts of the city and to 1 the outlying districts. The suburbs
 have grown rapidly as a result of this
 fine service, and resorts that formerly were inaccessible to Washingtonfans ! except at the expense of tedious jour i neys, are now brought within easy reach. One may go express to Mount 1 Vernon, for instance, through a his | toric country, in less than half the time ] formerly required. Arlington cemete- l ry, the soldiers home, where President i Lincoln used to spend the summer ] months, Cabin John Bridge, Chesa- ! peake bay and other famous and at tractive points, are now connected with i the city by well equipped lines The 1 value of such lines in summer will be | appreciated by Phoenicians. One may 1 take a car at the treasury and in an | hour at most be where the cooling ! breezes blow.
 This is the natural habitat of the au- 1 tomobile, and hundreds are in opera i tion. All the hotels employ electric ] stages, and dozens of electric cabs may 1 be seen at every stand and in front of | the big hotels. Doctors make their i rounds in handsome automobiles, the | smart set employ these vehicles almost
 exclusively, and they are fast superse- | ding the horse in the delivery of dry | goods and groceries and other needfuls. 1 In short time at the present rate of l progress. the horse will become an ob- ! jcct Of curiosity in Washington. The
 task of keeping the streets clean is
 much simplified by the new order of
 things. There isn't a cleaner city in the world than Washington.
 In 1896 Pennsylvania avenue was one i of the worst lighted streets 5sa t,se na- 1 ton. Now hundreds of arc lights make i brilliant the mile seretcn between the capital and the treasury The avenue has been further improved by the re-
 moval of several unsightly structures
 and the erection of commanding build ings, such as the post office and the headquarters of the Southern railway. A mammoth power house on Four teenth street, just beyond Newspaper
 Row, was destroyed by fire recently and it is expected that the government will acquire the site for d public build- ing. In time, no doubt, the entire southern frontage on Pennsylvania av-
 enue will be occupied by stately public
 structures. Then will the famous ave- nue become indeed the pride of the na- tiOn.
 Willard's hotel for a half century the stopping place of hundreds of noted
 men. is fast giving way to a modern ten story structure. When the plans
 are carried out this will be one of the largest hotels in the country. Over two | million dollars is involved in the en-
 terprise The need of such hotel has long been felt. Up to within a few years Washington, while over-supplied
 with hotels of the second and third class. had nothing that approached the hostelries of some of the western cit ies. Hotel men used to say that a mon-
 
 The world moves, the capitalists have come to understand that the travelling public, esp cially that portion of it that visits Washington, wants the best anl | is willing to pay for it. In the last year the well known Arlington hotel has been renovated and refurnished. There are telephones in every room, and the number of bath rooms and the charac- ter of the fittings would make a Phoe- nix plumbers eyes bulge. The extent of this hotel may be judged by the fact that it contains no less than fifty six well appointed parloTs. The ban
 quet hall is one of the finest in the country.
 At the capitol found many improv- | ments. The old hall of the library Of | congress has been transformed into a 1 series of magnificent committee rooms for the use of members and senators. These rooms have vaulted ceilings, marble floors, marble mantels and eX- quisite toilet appliances. Massive fut ed marble columns support the ceiling of the corridor leading from the rotun- l da. Formerly the terrace opening from the library was much frequented by | sight seers, the view of the city and | surrounding country from that eleva- | ton DelnS exceedingly lovely. FOfIu- | nately there is still an approach from | the rotunda, so that visitors will con tinue to enjoy the panorama unfolded | from the historic terrace.
 WORK OF THE CONGRESS.
 The congress is hard at work on sev- eral important measures. The army | reorganization bill passed the house ! without any obstacles being thrown in it's path. Owing to the shrewdness of | the republican managers the senate op ponen,s of reorganization were depriv- ed of the opportunity to filihuster against it. When the house took up the subject and proposed to limit dis
 cussion, those democrats who are against reorganization and an enlarged regular army hoped ItO be able by pro longed discussion in the senate to force r.r,v, ,i-n lNx- xx-hi iah f6a