Evening star., 1901-11-16

Sucn other provision cars as may have ar
gaved during the evening, they are brought
to the side tracks Of the market near the
center of the city. Here they are imme-
diately unloaded and their contents let
down on large hydraulic elevators to the
main hoor of the market. which is on a
level with the surface of the ground The
supplies thus received and delivered sggre
gate from 120 to 1e0 car loads each night.
The side tracks of the market will not ac-
commodste more than forty freight cars
at time, hence, when unloaded. they are
Immediately taken away to make room for
others. When few years ago this market
method was introduced to take the place of
the general sale of produce from carts Il
aroused great opposition. which has now,
however, wholly died out. from the discov-
cry that by the new method the prices of
food supplies have been sensibly reduced.
The market is owned and stalls leased by
the city, but the management of the mar
ket traffic, until the produce comes within
the walls of the market, rests in the hands
of the state officials.
THE same system obtains in the manage
ment OF the Berlin slaughter houses, which
are located on the North Ring, and at which
as many as 5000 head OF animals of all
kinds have been landed in day (the aver
age daily supply is 10000. Here. too. the
service of delivery is largely performed at
night, though when the special freight
tracks are completed this will not be In the
least necessary
Pointers for the Capital.
The Berlin system commends itself to
Washington, in that 1t provides noiscless
rapid transit and permits passenger sta
tions in the heart of the city and amnle
freight facilities. without single death
trap grade crossing with no obstruction of
the streets and no real Disagreement of the
surface of the city. And Berlin's expert
ence suggests improvements upon it's sys-
tenn in a somewhat greater height of the
structure, a more extensive use of the
space under the tracks and the provision of
distinct set of freight tracks. The same
end Is reached, of course, by tunneling in
London, where terminals and local rapid
transit have been secured by burrowing X
pensively underground But travel on Ine
London Metropolitan and District roads Is
sufocating experience to an American.
Washington could tunnel to better advan-
tage than London, where a considerable
portion of the line is built in land reclaimed
from the Thames, and the tracks are, at
certain stages Of the tide, below the wdle-
level of the river, compelling the operation
of five pumping stations to establish thor
ough drainage. But where circumstances do
not forbid the elevated structure the route
in the aid and light will be approved by
most Americans. The New York elevated
roadS-trackS elevated on stills, obStructing
streets, disfguring the city and serving
only for local rapid transit-are not the al
tentative from the London tunnels, the
choice would be extremely difficult The
New York rapid transit commission have,
to be sure, selected a tunnel plan for the
greater part of that city, but they pre-
ferred, as they explicitly state in their re-
port, the above-ground system, and decided
against 1t in part only when, in the light
of conditions which do not yet exist in
Washington, they found the elevated struc-
ture impracticable in the downtown sec
tion Of New York. with it's heavy popula-
tion, costly improvements and tremendous
land values. Where the conditions permit
them in other parts of the city, as, for in
stance, in the two miles east of Madison
avenue, they propose to use a masonry via
duct resembling Berlin's Stadtbahn.
What L'Enfant Would Have Done.
If the founders of Washington, who with
prophetic foresight planed and marked out
in the last century the framework Of the
magnificent capital of the next century,
could now, in the light Of the requirements
of modern cities, repeat their task. they
would provide ample space in the city's
plans for a great central railroad station,
and would set aside rights of way for lines
radiatfng to the principal points of the
compass from this station. These lines
which would be both long-distance railroad
terminals and local rapid transit roads
building up the suburbs and relieving city
congestion, would in their course through
the city run, think, over masonry vidducts
of the Berlin plan, with all the space under
the tracks except at the bridges over
streets utilized and ornamented, and with
distinct tracks for long distance travel,
short distance travel and freight seryiIe.
The station, though in the heart of the
city, would have nothing in its approaches
to threaten life and limb. to reduce the
value of property or to Obstruct street
traffic and travel. 1t would be like the
Cannon street and other great stations In
London, the impressive railroad structures
of Paris, the Friedrich StraSSe and AleXan-
der platz stations on the Stadtbahn in Be--
lin, or the wonderful structure at Frank
Main. In contemplating these
buildings the Washingtonian feels pro-
cpo,,, nod -laar, h. I'LL - Ia
local stations at home. The foreign cities
teach us lesson both to the avoidance
of grade crossings and as to the construc-
tion and arrangement of stations
Handsome Stations.
In looking for the first time from ST.
Paurs one foggy morning upon the notable
buildings of London, the structures which
| first caught my eye and about which I first
inquired turned out to be some of London's
immense railroad stations, lofty buildings
Of pleasing and imposing architecture con-
tanning huge modern hotels Of the first
class.
The Cannon street, Charing Cross and St.
Pancras stations may be especially men,
| toned They are referred to by Samuel
Rea as fit types of modern city terminal
stations The first mentioned station stands
back from Cannon street some ninety feet.
leaving a broad area in front of the build
ing for an entrance to the underground
| railway station, cab stand and sitting
down platform. This fore court is par
TALLY closed with a heavy balustrade, and
fine approach at the west side leads up
to the hotel and station. The depth through
the ticket Office is about ninety feet, and
the train hall Is over $50 feet in length
The Charing Cross station much resembles
it. st. Pancras issa huge structure with
an imposing facade, ianked at the eastern
corner with high clock tower. The head
house, large and imposing building, is
connected with the railroads hotel. The
station hall has roof trusses of 243 feet
| span and is $50 feet in length. Some of
the stations in Paris are equally impress
| i've. In Berlin and other German cities ex-
tensive improvements have been made, and
large sums of money recently expended by
| the railroad management to bring the city
terminal stations up to an ideal standard
| The station at Frankfort on-the Main
now claims to be the finest in the world
The Engineering Record pronounces the
| station "a model structure Of its kind
| combining enormous size with thor
oughly well-worked-out plan to meet the
demands of great traffic. The station hall
| proper, not including the passenger wait
ing rooms, is about SOL feet wide and 900
feet long. Its total cost was about $3.50.
O00.
An Old Local Proposition.
1t Is understood that this road nroposes to