Evening star., 1901-02-09

.he uepateS IN Congress, the frequent in
teresting spectacles and gatherings of dis
tinguished men, the mild climate and the
pecuilar attractiveness of the beautiful
eIty ana It's surroundings bring to WASH
l lns.o every year an increasing number of
most desirable citizens. They find that n
mas admirable churches and a fine public
schooi system, besides excellent private in
stitutions of learning, first-class newspa-
pers, good clubs and all the other neces-
tsaries OF modern city, They find that
II mas eff1eient municipal service-street
nre, poiice and scaverger; good lighting ar
rangements and a fairly good water sup
p,ys ply anu sewage system Its parks and its
hundred thousand trees, the noble govern
ment buildings and the fine private resi-
oences all free from the SCOT and dirt
which make some cities so unattractive
are always praised. Yet Washington
beautiful though ii is, can be improved
and those who love it best are the most
anxious to see improvements made
some OF them long desired, are already
under way. Mr.. Andrew Carnegie's gift of
s5oo,00O and the appropriation by Congress
OF part or small park In the center of
the city make possible the free public Ii
| brary which Washington has never had 1t
Is now under construction and will be ready
1or use in March, 1902, when, for the first
time, the residents of Washington will have
a hrst-class circulating library. for except
for the use of representatives and a limited
number of officials, no books are allowed
| TO leave the Library of Congress.
Millions to Abolish Grade Crossings,
Inc abolition of grade crossings on the
steam railroads within the District Of CO.
| iumpla, Tor which the citizens and the
commissioners have been laboring so long,
| Will probably be provided for at this ses-
sion by act of Congress- and soon be be-
gun under plans whose carrying out
VIII cost about S11,OO0,0O0, including the
| expenditure eES on two new railway stations.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad has had
| a station near the Capitol for over half
| a century, and has occupied, in a great Y
a good deal of the northeast portion of
| the city and the District. The Pennsylya-
ma Railroad, or, rather. the Baltimore and
| Potomac, which it operates, has had, since
| 1876, station on the mall just south of
pennsylvania avenue. and it's tracks have
occupied streets in Southeast Washington,
| while the southern railroads, connecting
with 1t over the Long bridge have occu-
pied streets in Southwest Washington The
"servitude' thus imposed upon the streets
OF washington has been more than legal
term 1t has cost human lives every year;
1t has hindered the advancement of large
sections of the city; 1t has caused vast an
noyance and Inconvenience. OF late years
the railroad companies have shown a de-
| sire to change all this by doing away with
| the grade crossings, and after much discus
| sion and negotiation between their repre-
sentatives and those of Congress and of
| the District of Columbia, plans have been
agreed upon which have been embodied in
! legislation. Under these bills all the tracks
are to be either depressed or elevated so as
| to abolish grade crossings within the Dis
| tr1ct of Columbia, and two handsome ter
mnal stations are to be erected. These
features of the legislation are, of course,
very popular in the District of Columbia.
But the provision made for partial compen-
sation to the railroads Is not so generally
approved Under this provision the Balti-
more and Ohio railroad is to receive a
million and half in money; half to be
paid by the United States and half bv the
District of Columbia and the Pennsylvania
railroad is to receive rights in the park
known as the mall, and in certain streets,
which are estimated to be worth two mill
| ion dollars. The railroads. of course,
contend that they are making the changes
in response to public demand and not pri-
marily for their own advantage, and that
this is only just compensation.
Need for a New Water Supply.
| Perhaps the most pressing needs of the
District of Columbia are a better water
supply and a better system for the disposal
| of sewage. Plans for the extension Of the
| water supply service and for a filtration
plant in connection with it have been ma
| tured by the United States army engineers
charged with the task, and work under the
| plans for the former has been begun. A
scientific system for the sanitary disposi-
| tion of the sewage Of the city has also been
| planned by the United States army en-
! gineers, and Is partially completed. But it
| is regarded by everybody in Washington
as very desirable that all these plans
| should be executed more expeditiously than
| the appropriations made by Congress have
hitherto permitted and in the name Of the
health and comfort of the city the Commits
| sioners Of the District have asked Congress
to provide means for larger annual eXpend-
itureS on this account, that the work
may be completed at the earliest possible
day. The Commissioners coupled with these
two projects the great need of the govern
ment of the District for a building for its
Offices The District government has never
had a building of its own, but since the or
ganization of the territorial government,
in 1871, has gone from one rented building
to another, and is now paying large an
nual rental for t2adeQuate quarters, which
are not fireproof, arra in which are neces
sarily stored archives and records, includ-
ing all the records of the underground con-
structions. that could not be replaced ex-
cept at great cost, If at all. The need for
District government building has been
admitted for years by Congress after Con-
gress, but lack Of money, or, perhaps, lack
| of interest, has prevented Congress from
providing for it. Now, however there Is
apparently desire on the part of Congress
to meet this need, and 1t is hoped that
the purchase Of suitable site and the
erection of a worthy building will soon be
authorized.
Capital Centennial.
The very successful celebration on the
18th of December, 1900. of the centennial Of
the establishment of the seat of govern
r1ent in the District of Columbia, in which
the President, his cabinet the Supreme
Court, Congress, the diplomatic corps, the
governors of the states and territories and
the Commissioners of the District of Co
lumbia, with others, participated, strongly
drew the attention not only of the national
government but of the entire country to
the District of Columbia and gave 1t an in.
terest which it has never had before. This
was apparent in the new vigor infused into
all projects for the identification of the
CITY of Washington and it's surroundings.
The intense pride of the nation in Its capi-
tai and It's generous purpose to make 1t all
that it ought to be were brought out clearly
by this celebration, which gave great
stimulus to all ideas for the improvement
of the District of Columbia, especially on
the aesthetic side The speeches delivered
during the celebration at the Executive
Mansion and at the Capitol dwelt on this,
and Immediately afterward propositions
were broached in both houses of Congress
for the creation of a commission of experts
to form plans for the enhancement OF the
beauty of the District on more compre-
hensive scale than ever before. The con-
struction Of the proposed magnihcent me-
| mortal bridge to connect the city OF WASH
ington west of the Executive Mansion with
| Arlington, across the Potomac; the i'm.
| movement of the parks, and especially OF