Evening star., 1902-01-15
made worthy Of the building proposed to be
erected.
Tie Union Station.

erected
The Union Station.
Subsequent examination convinced the
commission that, from an aesthetic stand
point, there are insuperable objections to
the depot site provided by law. The chief
objection is that were the station to front
on c street. a train shed 800 feet wide
would be thrown across Massachusetts ave-
nue., one of the great thoroughfareS of the
city. Not only would the vistas be block
ed by a commercial building, but also the
street would be carried underneath this
enormous structure in tunnel of such
length and dimensions as to cause the ave-
to be avoided. The commission there
upon proposed site fronting on Massa-
chusetts avenue, and again the officials of
the railroad company consented to a change
of location.
The plans call for a station nearly 100
feet wider than the Capitol the building to
be of white marble, the facade to be
classical in style of architecture, and the
construction and arrangements to be so
to any structure ever erected for railway
purposes. Facing the Capitol, and yet not
too near that edifice, the new station will
front upon a semi-circuIar plaza, 800 feet
in width, where great bodies of troops or
large organizations can be formed during
inaugural times or on other like occasions.
Thus located and constructed, the union
depot will be in reality the great and i'm
press1ve Vestibule to Washington.
1t should be said here that in consider
Ing the views of the commission, and in
reaching his decision, the president of the
Pennsylvania railroad looked at the mat
ter from the standpoint of an American
citizen, saying in substance that he appre-
ciated the fact that if Congress intended to
make of the mall what the founders of the
city intended it to be, no railroad should
be allowed to cross It, and that he would
do all he could do consistent with the in
terests of the stockholders of his road to
vacate that space.
This conditional consent on the part of
the railroad removed the one great obstacle
to the preparation of adequate plans for
the Improvement of the city. Lesser OBJ
stacleS, such as the lack of surveys of the
oldest parks in the District and the diff
culties of getting together the widely scat
tered data, have been Surmounted. On the
other hand, the work has been much light
ened by the excellent Typographical maps
of the District outside of the city, prepared
by the coast and geodetic survey, and by
the uniform courtesy of the Engineer Com
missioner of the District and other officials,
who have willingly given all the assistance
Of their various offices
Climatic Conditions in Washington.
"On beginning work the commission was
confronted by the fact that while from the
1st Of October till about the middle of May
the climatic conditions of Washington are
most salubrious, during the remaining four
and a half months the city is subject to
extended periods of intense heat, during
which all public business is conducted at
an undue expenditure Of physical force.
Every second year Congress is in session
usually until about the middle of July, and
not infrequenty it happens that by reason
of prolonged or special sessions during the
hottest portion Of the summer the city is
filled with the already great and increasing
numbers of persons whose business makes
necessary a more or less prolonged stay in
Washington. OF course, nothing can be
done to change weather conditions, but very
much can be accomplished to mitigate the
physical strain caused by summer heat.
Singularly enough, up to the present time
the abundant facilities which nature af-
fords for healthful and pleasant recreation
during heated terms have been neglected,
and in this respect Washington is far be-
hind other cities whose climatic conditio IONS
demand much less, and whose opport tunities
also are less favorable
In Rome throughout the centuries it has
been the pride of emperor and of pope to
build fountains to promote health and to
give pleasure. Mile after mile of aqueduct
has been constructed to gather the water
even from remote hills, and bring great liv-
ing streams into every quarter of the city;
SO that from the moment of entering the
eternal city until the time of departure
the visitor is scarcely out of sight of beau
tiful jets of water now flung upward in
great columns to add life and dignity even
to St. Peters; or again gushing in the form
of cascades from some great work of ar
chitect or sculptor; or still again dripping
refreshingly over the brim of a beautiful
basin that was old when the Christian era
began. The Forum is in ruins, basilicas
and baths have been transformed into
churches, palaces have been turned into
museums; but the fountains of Rome are
both omnipreSent and eternal.
The Necessity of Fountains.
''If all the fountains of Washington in
stead of being left lifeless and inert as they
are during most of the time. should be set