The Washington times., 1901-10-01

eight Apartment Houses Erected
Confusion in House Numbering
John B. Brady, Inspector of Buildings
yesterday submitted TO the District Com
missioners his report for the fiscal veal
ended June 80 1901. The report shows that
permits We're issued for the erection OF
repairs of 5,199 buildings, involving al
expenditure of s6,l94, ESQ. The report also
shows that permits were issued. for 1.O5l
new buildings as against S92 the previous
year, being an increase of 1865 The num-
ber of permits for repairs in 1901 was ,S9s
and in 1900 was 1,520, there being an in
crease from the former year OF 376. OF tn,
new buildings erected during the period
covered by the report 734 were dwellings
as against 650 the previous year The per
mits for apartment houses during the fis-
cal year were 12S, as against 50 the pre-
vious year.
The value of new buildings erected dur
ing the fiscal year was s., ,1O6.0Sl, and of
repairs, 1854. .467. The receipts of the of
flee of the Building Inspector for the is
sue of permits were S3.755, an increase of
1886 over the previous year.
The inspector states that, in addition
to the permits included in the above sum-
mary, miscellaneous permits were issued.
for which no fees We're exacted, such as
renewals of entrance steps, temporary
structures for the use of builders in con
structing buildings, and extra occupancy
of public space for the storage of ma
terials.
The volume of work this. office has
had odeal with" says Mr. Brady, has
been attended to as promptly, as it has
been possible to dc SO. apd as The mum
Der of hours in an offfcfal day is not
| sufficient to meet the demands of, the
public for inspections, the corps of as
sistant inspectors have willingly worked
beyond the official time allotted so as to
| comply with the request of : the con-
tractors and builders for inspection of
| trenches and foundations, tn=orsier to re-
duce to a minimum delays in Construction.
| Adverse criticism has been indulged in
| to large extent by the builders and 9TH
ers interested in building, due to the loss
| of time in having proposed projections
| beyond the building line approved within
a reasonable time after application has
| been made therefor to this office. By act
| of Congress passed March 1881, the ex-
tension Of any building or buildings. or
| any part or parts thereof in the city of
Washington, in the District bf Columbia,
beyond the building line, and upon the
ed, except upon special application and
with the concurrence of all of the Com
missioners and the approval of the Sec
| retary of War.
LAS the applications for projections, as
now made, necessarily pass through many
hands, the average time consumed before-
approval is secured is ten days. In or
der to prevent unnecessary delay in the
construction of buildings pending ap-
proval of applications for projections.
and solely as a privilege, the Commission
ers have permitted excavations within
building lines to proceed in advance of
action on the question of projections.
This privilege has unfortunately been
abused in many instances, and unauthor-
lied excavations have been begun without
the building lines. Complaint of the nee
essary delay in the granting Of building
permits involving projections beyond the
building line should be reserved until
builders no longer abuse the privilege
granted them with the object of facili-
tating their operations
The confusion row prevailing in house
numpers IN many parts of the District,
especially In the suburbs, due to the sub
division of land into narrower lots than
twenty feet in width, the limit first es-
taDlished for basing numbers and the
erection of houses thereon, is a subject
which must be corrected as quickly as
possible. In partly improved squares it is
manifest that the introduction of narrow
houses affect existing numbers on build,
iigs previously erected, and to eliminate
the, condition now prevailing, il is recon-
mended that commission. composed of
two persons, be appointed, to whom sal
ary OF Sl,Vc each, per annum, be paid, so
that the correction of the house numbers
may be accomplished at the earliest prac-
ticable moment"
The inspector reports that since July !
contracts have been entered into for the
construction of three school buildings;
namely one four-room buildingsin Pet
worth. one eight-rcom building on p
Street, near North Capitol, and one
twelve-room building in lexington, and
d. d. Gaillard. U. S. A, and Snowden
Ashford, appointed TO prepare amend
ments to meet the requirements of build
ing construction of the present day, have
on the completed work.
In view of the number of buildings re-
Gently erected. approximatins the limit of
elevation allowed by the Regulations, 100
feet, and as there are others OF this type
now under consideration, attention is
called to the necessity of having geo
logical map and sections of the District
of Columbia. especially that portion with
in the old boundary lines of the city pre-
pared for use of the inspectors Office
Richard NJ. Evans. Charles A Hark-
ness, Henry Story and Thomas Francis
the assistant inspectors of buildings, have
submitted their report 10 the Commission
.S ioI tiit hscei year tIlulnB June ~,
1901 They give the following summary
of inspections, comparing the same with
that OF the previous year: Visits to new
buildings, l2,S6S: visits 10 old buildings,
5,5sl; visits of miscellaneous character, |
3.5S5; total, 1901. p OBS; total, 1900 L, ,691;
showing an increase of 9.344. t
The cundemnations of dangerous build |
inss or parts thereof for 1900 were SIG. and |
Tor 1901, 5IS. being a decrease OF 81.
The number of buildingsS rtnuntbered |
was 359. sEEhES
The increase in the actual number of |
visits, says the report, rs greater than !
in any previous year, in spite of the fact |
that members OF your staff were again. |
as last year. broken down from -qyerwork, |
much valuable time thus being lost,
The decrease in cOnderlHa tityfls is rot |
as the above facts Will prove, dive from |
lack of attention to our officiaI duties, but |
from the fact that more prosperous times |
have enabled the citizens to care fer their |
properties by removal and repair, ana |
also frorl the fact that one large build |
ing VIII now be erected in place % many |
small ones, as in previous years thus de- |
creasing the number OF party wall con- |
formations. etc. ra
During the fiscal year Just ended we !
have endeavored, with the limited force in |
the Office, to perform the duties entrusted |
to us. Our experience has been varied |
from attending to the most trivial com |
plants to the supervision of the large |
In course of erection and repair. We find |
that 1t is impossible to cover the vast |
territory allotted to each man and give |
the proper time and attention TO the in |
spection Of buildings for which we are |
held responsible
This having been the year of y Prosi- |
Dental inaugura ton, for two weeks prior |
n. 10 Ia Of Ia fF, y.ft