Sistersville daily review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1905-1907, 1905-05-11
WASHINGTON LETTER
Especial correspondence.l

Especial Correspondence
Washington is not q city of small
things, Notwithstanding its limited OPP
portunities in the field Of commerce
and manufacturing as compared with
other cities. In the District of Column
bia the public works for the benefit
of the people are planned and executed
on large scale. Probably In no other
community Of approximately 100000
inhabitants are such immense projects
of Improvement carried on as are exc
cuted in the District Of Columbia.
The improvements now being eXecut-
ed for the benefit Of the Districts
citizens and the cost of the individual
projects are as follows: Sewage dis
posal system, $5,0OJ,000; filtration
plant. SO, 46S, 405; new municipal build
ing, S2,5OO,O00; railway terminals, in
Guiding damages to property, etc.,
So, 270, 900; elimination of grade cross
ings, 100000; Connecticut avenue
bridge, $4,000; highway bridge and
approaches, $1,196,OOO; Anacostia
bridge, $375,O0O; total estimated cost
Of improvements, $17,604, 400. OF this
amount the District Of Columbia will
pay one-half, while the United States
government under the half and half"
arrangement will pay the remainder.
The Downfall Of Billy.
Billy, the uncOnquered butter, the
pride Of the White House stables and
the Joy of the presidents boys, is laid
I'D with q broken leg. In stall at the
other end of the building, down by the
Corcoran Art gallery, is General, the
carriage horse, placidly munching his
oats. There is not hint Of triumph
in the old bays demeanor, yet from all
accounts his good right hind hoof laid
his goatShip low with single stroke
and thereby put the bully Of the
neighborhood out of business.
Return of Confederate Flags.
Before the distribution of Confed-
crate flags authorized by congress was
begun there were stored in the upp4!
rooms Of the war department 544 flags
of the different states. About hun
dred of these belonged to Union regi-
ments. while the remaining 44O were
Confederate flags taken at the close OF
the war. Before 1887 twenty-five flags
had been returned by different secre-
taries of war to former Union states,
and twenty-five Confederate flags had
been delivered, mostly to the organiza-
tons In northern states which had cap
tured them in battle.
Picnicking In the Monument GrOundr
Every warm sunny day between II
and 1 o'clock numerous small picnick-
ing parties, composed Of young ladies'
employed in the bureau Of engraving
and printing and the department Of ag-
riculture, may be seen under the trees
in the Monument grounds and the
grounds surrounding the departmental
buildings south Of the mall.
When the noon whistle blows ut the
bureau of engraving and printing
groups of young women, sans hats and
wells and careless Of what the sun may
do to their compilations, come trooping
out of the various departmental build
ings near the mall, swinging their
packages Of lunch back and forth,
laughing and chatting and apparently
as happy as crowd Of children off for
a picnic in the woods. They. seek out
grassy plots within the shade OF the
trees, founce down upon the ground,
spread out their skirts, and then, amid
the singing Of the birds and their own
bright chatter, proceed to dispose of
their monday meal surrounded by ma
ture and Uncle Sans possessions.
The New Union Station.
The work of laying the stone in the
superstructure Of the new union rail-
road station has begun. The entire
building will be constructed Of beauti-
full white granite. The foundations
have practically been completed, and
much Of the steel structural work
about 1000 tons-has been placed In
position.
Thanked by Secretary Taft.
george I. Ellis the iapoiei a. ene
Washington barracks reservation who
Is credited with having saved the stat
ue Of Frederick the Great from dam
age, If not from destruction, by the eX-
plosion of package Of powder some
time ago, has received official acknowl-
edgment Of his action in personal let
ter of commentator from Secretary
Taft.
Trees With Historfes.
In the grounds around the White