The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-07-01
AFFAIRS OF THE DISTRICT.
The HarbOrmaster's Report for the
Fiscal Year Just Ended.

for the Improvement of the Ser
vice-Thc ArchinS Over of James
Creek CanaI-Other Local Matters.
John r. Sutton. Harbormaster Of the
District Of Columbia, today submitted 10
the Commissioners his report for the fis-
cal year ended June 60 1901. Mr., Sutton
reviews the operations of-hs office for the
year. and offers several suggestions.
among which Is the arching over of the
James Creek Canal. which is recommend
ed in the interest Of the public health.
In my report last year" says Mr.. SUIT
ton attention was invited to the urgent
necessity that existed for a night crew
for the police harbor boat, and an esti-
mate for the same was then submitted
The conditions which impeIIed meat that
time to ask for the proposed addition to
/ the force are not only still in existence,
! but have become more apparent, the deSi-
! rability for the increase more marked, and
its necessity more pressing upon each day
of the year just ended. The utter made
quacy Of the force as at present consti-
, tu1ed to cope with the increased business
connected with the large territory assign
! ed to it has been demonstrated again and
again. and only the greatest effort and
sacrifice on the part of the Harbormaster
and the crew Of the boat have enabled US
, to make some approach to that efficiency
. which should characterize this important
branch of the service
"A night crew is. therefore, not only q
/ desirabi,ity but an absolute necessity. be
, cause a large proportion of the work OF
the haTboT force is required to be per-
formed at night, or after o'clock in the
evening, at which hour the boat is at
present laid up This work pertains to
! the enforcement of the game and fish
laws Of the District of Columbia which
are violated almost nightly; the handling
Of the thousands of persons who. during
the summer season. go down the river on
| the various excursion steamers. returning
at or later than II O'Clock at night: the
enforcement OF the laws against gamb-
mig, which Is carried on in boats anchor
/ ed in numerous places along the river
I front; the locating for anchorage within
the prescribed area of yachts which have
in recent years been arriving at te Capital
( in large numbers from many different
States; the prevention of bathing in the
vicinity of these yachts and the wharves
Of nude persons who offend the occupants
/ Of these vessels by obscenity and Mcen-
tious actions. and so bring discredit upon
! the name of the city in all localities Of
! return TO their homes; dragging the river
! at all hours Of the day and night to re-
I cover the bodies of drowned persons.
/ which drownIngs occur oftener in the
/ early evening hours than at any other
period Of the day; preventing, upon the
request of the Health Office the entry into
/ the harbor Of vessels coming from local.
/ ties where contagious diseases are known
/ 10 exist and which are supposed to con-
I tain infection; and. in cases Of fires upon
! vessels lying in the harbor, of assisting
/ the fire department to run out lines of
/ hose to fight the fire.
The crew as at present constituted
I comes on duty al g o'clock a m and goes
! OF at . o clock p m, and with no one but
! the night Waterman on duty after the
/ last named hour, much time necessarily
/ elapses before the men can be summoned
/ from their homes whenever a necessity
! Tor their services arises after the hour
! mentioned Furthermore, after d period
OF alSht duty, the men must be excused on
! the succeeding day and am therefore.
/ on such occasions without crew TO at
/ tend 10 whatever business arises during
said day For these reasons. 1 feel i'm
PEELED 70 again lay the matter before YOU
+ for consideration, and request that an
/ eaTnSeJ effort be made to secure the ad-
;
The new and larger boiler for the pc
! lice harbor boa for which provision was
made IN the appropriation act for the past
/ fiscal year, was successfully put in place
on the 18th Of June last. In this connec-
( ton attention is invited TO the estimate
heTcIn5eIcre submitted for a fireman at
( 50 per month. The installation of the
! larger boiler makes this increase abso-
/ luteIy necessary. as it viii be impossible
/ for one man to act as both engineer and
/ fireman as was done heretofore II is Of
! the utmost important that this additional
man be provided
On May I last. while endeavoring 10
! apprehend viOIators of the game laws, the
police boat was disabled by the breaking
/ OF its era nkShaft, 10 replace which would
have entailed an outlay Of bout 500 No
money being available for this purpose it
was necessary TO put the NigiIant out of
commission and 1 borrowed the small
launch. Allie Moore on May ? On June
!, this launch, having been sold by its
owner. was removed, and for ten days [
was without a boat on June 10. through
the courtesy Of Capt. +. s. Randall the
! launch LOWE Randall, was placed al my
disposal and has so continued up to the
present time
The appropriation act for the year
{ ending June 20. 1862, contains a provision
! for new engine for the VigiIant. and on
April Of this year, the contract for fur
nIshing the same was awarded Work
under this contract has progressed salts
factorily. and 1 expect by the first of Au-
gust to have the new engine in place
and the Nigilant again in comm iSsion-
With the new boiler and new enegine the
harbor boat viii be in good condition and
IL IS believed viii be able TO maintain a
speed of at least ten miles per hour The
installation of this new and larger ma
chineTy viii necessarily increase the cost
of maintaining the boat, and to meet this
additional expense the estimate for mis-
ceilaneous expenses has been increased
from 8. 44O TO 81 $50
The dragging Of the river for dead
bodies which is an important item in the
work Of this department. is at present
performed by the crew in row boat, and
hausting, as well as time-consuming- 1
therefore recommend that an apprOpTia-
ton be submitted for the purchase Of a
naphtha launch or it's equivalent to be
used for dredging. This launch could also
be used q substitute for the Nigilant
when the latter is laid up for repairs, as
il is at present, and its presence would
render impossible the enbarra ssiug CON
ditiOns which for time existed during
the past year, when, upon the breaking
down of the Fisilant with no money
available for hiring q boat, l was com
PEELED TO resort to borrowing boats. A
suitable launch can be procured at a cost
of about $3.50 and ! earnestly recommend
that estimate for the same be sub
mitted.
The maintenance of a suitable fish
wharf for handling the large quantities. Of
fish brought to the harbor IS matter to
which l wish to invite your attention
Under the present practice the fish wharf
privilege Is annually auCtioned of to the :
highest bidder. and for various reasons
one OF which has been the lack of a def
nd Fip 20