The times., 1901-04-01
LIVE TOPICS ABOUT TOWN.


Rock Creek basin. just at the terminus
of Massachusetts Avenue extended is AN
extremely active place Just now. Look
ed at from above. II resembles good
deal a small ant colony. so continually
and rapidly do the men at work there
move to and fro. Work on the founda-
ton for the big bridge Is being push
ed rapidly but Il will be nearly a year
and a half before the structure will be
completed. All day long engines pun.
men wheel barrows. aud blasts are fred.
The piers of the bridge arches are now
being put in They are made OF heavy
mixed concrete sunk far below the sur
face OF the water. one has already been
constructed and the second is partly fin
ished. Upon the piers a brick arch will
be raised. and the whole will be faced
with a fine Maryland granite. In order
to put In the piers II was necessary to
turn Rock Greek out of it's bed and run
II through fiume. Farther up the stream.
at Connecticut Avenue. similar work is
being done on the Connecticut Avenue
bridge. To that bridge there will be seven
piers, two Of which have been completed
The structure will be 400 feet long and
Will span two driveways In addition TO
the creek
The Presidents gardener is making
ready for the thousands Of children who
will invade the White House grounds
Easter Monday He is looking after his
fences in a material and not a political
way Stored away are yards and yards
of wire netting. many stakes. and much
snake fencing. that he has put by for Just
this event. Every flower or shrub that needs
protection will be fenced about by wire
or wood to keep out children. The amount
Of IL a.at F..r+ h.s
crowds is great. notwithstanding all pre-
cautions. The gardener takes It philo-
sophically. however. and makes his fences
higher and stronger. hoping 20 save his
most cherished bushes and shrubs.
Automobilists practically take posses
sion of Pennsylvania Avenue from the
Treasury to the Peace Monument every
evening when the weather is fine. They
recognize in the broad thoroughfsre an
ideal place for a spin. and after the
heavy traffic OF the day has ceased they
have it almost entirely 10 themselves and
can speed their vehicles down it's mile
length without much fear of being inter
fered with Beginning at about 10 o'clock
the number of autos increases steadily
until nearly midnight. They have the
field and make the most Of it, They
puff or buzz along al a high speed. often
racing at a velocity that would be dan
gerouS in daytime. The lower stretches
of the Avenue are most frequented. from
about Sixth Street 10 the Monument.
The soda water season viii soon be
here" said the representative Of a large
soda apparatus house in Boston 20 a
Times reporter last night, at one Of the
uptown hotels, and of all the cities In
the United States Washington easily
takes the lead In the amount Of the
foamy beverage consumed IL is a fact
well known to all men in my business. A
study OF the soda water trade OF Wash
ington iS interesting ] have given IL
some attention during my frequent visits
here, and have actually located it's centre
I mean the locality where most OF the
soda is consumed. It IS on Capitol HilI.
and a trip over there any evening dur
ing the summer will convince you that {
have made no mistake. Extra men are
employed behind the counter after dark
to attend to the rush. Several of the
drug stores have chairs placed on the
edge of the sidewalks under the trees
for the accommodation of their soda
water customers. The cooling fluid is
carried to them by boys from the f0unt-
IL is hard to get one of these seats on a
hot night between and 10 o'clock Soda
water parties are common among tho
people Of the northeast and southeast
sections of the city. Then there is the
can trade Sounds funny, doesn't itZ
It is Il common thing here 10 see man
or woman walk up TO a f0uut and put
down bucket or pitcher and call for so
many glasses of soda. When their order
is filled they hurry away with IL TO their
homes, sometimes several blocks distant.
where the whole family takes a drink
and chocolate the flavor most desired.
This is true wherever 1 have been