Evening star., 1901-11-12
THE CITY BEAUTIFUL
PROGRESS Of PLANS FOR IMPROy-
ING WASHINGTON.
Interest Manifested by Leading Spfr-
its in the Govern
ment.

Il
Nothing could better show the spirit Ii
Which the predetermined men In Wash
ington are taking the movement for develop
ing general scheme for the beautffcatiol
of the city than the recent award to Lore
& Hewitt, the New York architects. OF tn,
order for design fer the new s., ,OOO, ,Oot
building for the Department of Agriculture
Supervising Architect Taylor, instead Of go
| Ing ahead on his own responsibility as ths
oHicer directly accountable for the building
called In the assistance Of the Burnham
Mekfm- -Olmsted commission. to consult as
to the position, the style and the adaptation
OF the proposed structure, the architects
| who should be invited to compete, and the
choice between the competitive drawings
/ ihey selected ten names, all of architects
| VINO would individually be perfectly COM
petent to handle this large work. and they
! decided that, In order to be in keeping with
| the site selected and the best examples of
government architecture here, the exterior
aeslsn should be classic. When they sat
IN Judgment on the drawings, two appeared
SO far superior to all others that the COM
petition narrowed down to them; and when
1t came to sitting the merits of these two,
the commission, the supervising architect
ana the Secretary Of Agriculture, voting
separately, fixed upon the same one 50 that
tne award has left no tailings of controver-
sy behind it. Another interesting circum-
stance illustrative of the wisdom of COM
petition in such an undertaking was the
discovery, after the envelopes containing
tha names were opened. that the architects
TO whom it had been at first supposed the
award would go, on the strength of the
quality Of their work in the same general
Held, and their conspicuous professional
standing. had dropped quite out of the race.
Attitude of Secretary Root.
The Secretary of War is another ally in
high place, and most intelligent one By
far the largest share OF the commissions
scheme falls within his jurisdiction, as gen
eral custodian of the public reservations in
the District of Columbia. No one has
shown a more hearty desire to cooperate
and he is man of deeds rather than words
The other day, taking to task a subordinate
who, on the advice of poor architect had
permitted an aesthetic eyesore to go up In
one of the grounds supervised by the War
department, Mr.. Root said: THE man who
has house to build In a public place and
employs a cheap architect is like the man
with an important lawsuit who employs a
cheap lawyer; such a mistake is very apt
TO carry Its sequel Of long repentance - In
the selection of sites for certain statues
left in his charge he called in the COM
mission for consultation. In the requests he
VIII make OF Congress for appropriations
Tor various local improvements he will keen
always in view the scheme of the commits
sion, and adapt the character Of the i'm
proVements, and the money needed for them
to that. Indeed, his selection of the old
arsenal grounds the site for the War
College means a great deal more than
appears on the face of the incident While
the premises were held for arsenal pur-
poses, or as barracks for handful of ar
tlllerymen, in an out-of-t -the-way quarter
and with forlorn> surroundings nobody
cared very much what became of them.
Numbers of old Washngtonians have
never been inside Of the walls of the res
erVation, yet it is artistically one of the
choicest spots in the capital city The Po-
tomac flows with a fine current past it
on one side, and Anacostia creek otherwise
known as the Eastern branch, empties it
self on another. Opposite on the Potomac
side, lie the redeemed flats or Potomac
Park, and the best view of the Washington
monument with water and foliage in front
ana a brilliant sunset sky behind it, may
be obtained late in the afternoon from the |
sea wall that fringes the grounds on the /
river bank.
Beauty of the Place.
A place so beautifully situated ought |
never to have suffered neglect, but its near |
est nefghbors have been the steamboat and |
hsh wharves on one side, and, on the other, !
further up the creek, the District Jail. the |
dingy Congressional cemetery and the gun !
" works called by courtesy a navy yard.
transform the old arsenal site into q great !
war college, fill it with the pick Of the
otcers of the army, make 1t more or less
of center of social Intercourse and what
% pouiu " loHoW II not the early Improve
nent OF the creek? This has steadily gone
begging while other and less deserving
water courses. which had a representative
and pair Of senator's as sponsors, have
got goodly appropriations. Surround 1t |
with conditions favorable to forcing its
fafms upon the attention of Congress- and |
he money will be forthcoming Now, the
of the creek is a part of the
general scheme of improvement and beau
ification which the commission has laid
'ut; SO the Secretary of War; in dedicat-
ng the old arsenal reservation to college
purposes, is both carrying out a ong-need-
d reform In the military establishment and
ontrfDutlng his share Indirectly toward
ne fulhllment of the commissions ideal.
A ike enthusiasm seems to seize who
yer 1nspects the plans of the commission |
.eading engineer officers, who at first
,oked somewhat askance at what they fan
led was a scheme in which practical con- | 6
!deratlons had been sacrificed to artistic
Hect. have, on looking the whole matter
yer, come out in warm commendation of | l
!. Ihey appear to have been particularly
impressed with the plan for using a part of s
ectric launches and gondolas can be en- 6
'yed In the warm, fair weather which In 5
ests washington for so much of every {
ear, and which now commonly drives the | r
ty-bound crowd to such refugees as the
heap vaudeville parks at the termint of |
lie trolley lines. The geological survey
- sop,e tti nave long wanted permanent home I
gettlng one; and they are most anxious
), have their building fitted into the COM l.
nssion scheme as to both site and arcbi- t
cture DR.. Langley. the head of the q
mithsonian Institution, approves warmly
le overhaultng of his share of the mali '
nd demands that he shall be counted In as =
ie or the promoters OF the new movement 7
Preparing Relief Models. i
BY way of making its project more intel o
sible to Congress and the public who can r
ot be expected to understand technical q
rawlings and specifications, the commits
on has now In preparation pair of large
lief models-one depicting the mall. the
hite House grounds, the river, the monu- j,
ent field, etc.. as they are now, and the h
her the same area as it will appear if the -
heme for Identification recommended he
'rrfed out. The scale of these models will 81
such that the monument will stand u
'out as high as an ordinary lead nencil II
very building. and even every tree. will IL
reproduced in miniature, and all the oh tt
cts VIII be celored to initiate nature so O.
at the unframed eye can take in the
mole erect as Well as the eye of an ex-
TT. -" CA
The models will be placed ON public ex- a.
bition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in b.
nuary and February. One room win he a,
voted to them, and an adjoining room | y,