Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-02

ferenceS of opinion expressed on the noors
of the two houses. and it is at such time
that the statement is wont to be heard that
Congress is "gouged' whenever purchase
of land is made here.
From Private Owners.
The record of such purchases and a COM
parison with prices paid by private buyers
do not sustain such a charge, but, never
theIess, It is made, and such a feeling as
well as Indifference on the part of members
of Congress has ted to using as building
sites some pieces of ground that were in
tended as public parks. The latter IN
stances, however are not as numerous as
might be expected. and as a rule the gem
er0uS spaCeS provided in the original pia.'
of The CITY for parks are still exclusively
devoted to that purpose. In the early Sedi .
perhaps eighty years ago. congress i,i'us
the mistake. as it is now recognized u
dispoSng of that portion of the mall Whlcn
Law north of Pennsylvania avenue from "a
street to A. street, and on the south SIDE
from 1st street to 9Th street. The north
line of the mall originally was b and =
streets.
If is however a matter of congratula-
ton that the noble plan of l. Enfant has
been preserved and carried out to such a
large extent as is the case, and now thdt
its merits have come to be generally recos-
-nized it only remains to develop and bring
out its beauties and capabilities rms Is
now we'll under way and there is no douDl
that the coming year will witness the addl-
lions to the attractions of the city along
the line of perfecting the l. Enfant plan
Mrs. Taylor's Home.
Plans have been prepared by Speiden Il
Speiden architects. for a dwelling for Mrs
Mary NJ C. Taylor, to be built at NO. I'll
b street northeast. The house will have
frontage of twenty feet by a depth of six
ty-four feet and will be two stories and
an attic in height. The first floor will con-
tain double parlors, dining room, kitchen
and pantry, while five rooms and bath are
provided above. A cellar under the entire
house will contain a laundry, and the heat
ing plant The front will be of red press
brick with Hummelstown brown stone
trimmings. Hardwood trim. tiled vestibule
and bath open plumbing, etc, will be en-
ployed to make comfortable and attract
i've home.
Stairs in a Street.
Tie connection between the two ends of
the block on odd street between Decatur
street and S street is going to be made, it
Is understood, during the present season.
An appropriation made at the last ses-
sion of Congress fur such a purpose This
section of the block has frontage of about
$50 feet. On the west side is the ground
which was purchased by the French gov
eminent for an embassy site, and on the
being owned by Mr. Charles D. Walcott
and the lower ones by Mrs. Goode. On ac-
count of the difference in the grade of De-
catur street and S street. the latter being
perched up on the top of Il hill, while the
former is practically at the bottom. it was
thought that il would be impractical to eX-
tend 22d street.
The plan that is being carried out is to
extend the pavement of the street with
sidewalks at each end of this section of
the block and about half way through, and
in the center is to be built winding stair
way by which foot passengers can pass
through to street or go south in the
So me way. There Will be no through way
for vehicles but as that would hardly have
been practicable. owing to the grade, the
made will not be a loss in that
particular. but it will be a great conven-
fence in giving more direct access to that
region.
Improvements Contemplated.
1t is not known when the French en-
bassy building is to be erected, the
French chamber of deputies has not as yet
made an appropriation for that purpose.
The ground opposite on 22d street is
to be improved as Mr. Walcott is intending
to build a house on the corner lot and Mrs.
Cioodc will build on the adjoining lot to the
south.
The sudden rise in the ground at this
point has made it impossible to extend 23d
street and it is supposed that no effort
Will be made to bring that about. There is
no such obstacle in the way of the latter
street being opened to the north of S street,
and at the last session of Congress pro-
vision was made for the condemnation of
the land and the opening of the street. 1t
is EXPECTED that this will he followed by
grading OF the land bordering on the street
as to make it available for subdivision
and for building. 1t is also intended to
open the end of Wyoming avenue so that
thoroughfare will connect with I'D street.
The Building of Houses.
An extensive row of houses has been de-
signed by b. Frank Meyers, architect,
which are to be erected on Columbia road
and Ontario avenue-five on the former and
thirteen on the latter. The houses are to
have three stories, with fronts of red brick
and brown stone, and each will contain
nine rooms and bath.
The same architect has designed six
three-story houses which are to be built at
the northeast corner of 18th and Kenesaw
streets. and will be colonial in style. The
houses will contain ten, eleven and twelve
rooms, respectively.
Mr.. Meyers is also building for Mr. w II
Smith a three-story house on 18th street
extended near Howard avenue, Mount
Pleasant.
Fourteen three-story houses have been de-
signed by Mr.. Meyers, to be located on
Cincinnati street. facing the circle and ex-
tending around on Baltimore street. Each
Will contain ten rooms and two baths. and
the fronts will be built of notified brick.
The same architect has planned four two
story houses. to be located on Morton street
between l., NJ, 9th and 9TH streets north
east, and twelve two-story houses, with
attics and cellars, at the corner of School
and Grant streets Mount Pleasant.