Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-05

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The demands for these walks are such.
however. that the appropriation IL not al
ways adequate to lay all the walks re-
uuested. nor can the work be done as rap
idly as desired by the property owners and
they are often required to wait several
months after the work Is ordered before
the contractors force can reach them. The
distribution Of the requests for work is over
q large territory, so that at the beginning
of each working season the contractor has
TO be given a route to follow, In order that
he may not be compelled to move his force
from one end of the city to the other. which
Is an expensive matter. When he Is In any
particular section however, he does all
work which has been ordered In that sec-l
ton.
Surveyors Office.
The work OF the surveyors ONCE contin-
ues to increase. owing principally to the
large amount of building which is being
carried on in the District of Columbia In
order to keep up with the increase, 1t has
been necessary to divide the force into
four divisions. One division looks after the
surveying o. lots. blocks and squares Tor
building purposes: another makes surveys
of agricultural land to determine its area
or for the purpose OF subdividing 1t into
lots, while third division looks after the
proper location Of party walls and foun-
dations, and the fourth. Office force.
carries on the work of recording. map max
ing. tabulating, indexing and correspond
ence.
All work done by the surveyor for pri-
vate parties is paid for by such parties.
The receipts from this source for the fiscal
year ended June 80, 1904, amounted to So
61425, and for the fiscal year ended June
co. 1906, they amounted to s15.3T0.4O. The
surveyor also executes all survey work for
the District of Columbia which he may be
ordered to do by the Commissioners. This
constitutes large part of his work, as
may be seen by his repC-t.
His present field force consists of four
parties, numbering in all 10 men, and his
office force of men. He asks that an as
sistant computer and rodman, now paid on
the per diem roll, be placed upon the an
nual roll. great need of his Office, how
ever, Is additional working space. The
office now occupies three rooms in the old
City Hail. and on account of lack of space
IL men are crowded into room measur-
ing IS by 35 feet. This, as can be plainly
seen, Is not conducive either to economical
work or to accuracy. The surveyor re-
quests that authority be given him to rent
additional building space until such time
as the new District building can be oceu-
pied, and the Commissioners request that
such authority be granted.
Resurvey Of Meridian Hill.
Congress at its last session by legislation
directed the resurveying of Meridian Hill
subdivision and certain squares in the east
ern part of the city of Washington. The
resurvey of Meridian Hill has been COM
pleted. but all the results of the work have
not been reduced to map form. The amount
appropriated for the survey of squares in
the eastern part of the city was not suffi
cient to complete the same. The lines OF
the streets running east and west have,
however, been marked the ground, and
work Is now progressing on streets at right
angles to these. at such times as the regu-
n hn raI
Designating Land for Taxation.
BY the act of Congress approved February
D, 1905, the Commissioners were directed
to inaugurate system OF designating land
in the District of Columbia, outside of the
city limits, for purposes of assessment and
taxation. Fifteen thousand dollars was APP
propriated for this purpose. Work has been
started under this appropriation and it is
hoped TO complete 1t by the first of next
year. The work to be done consists in plat
ting the entire District of Columbia in the
same manner as the city of Washington is
plated, that is, by extending the system
of city squares into the country where
tracts are subdivided and in giving numbers
to parcels Of land which have not been SUBJ
divided. This will do away with all de-
scriptions by metes and bounds, which
have caused SO many errors to be made in
assessments and their consequent inyalida-
ton.
Latimer Field Notes.
In accordance with an item in the District
Appropriation act for the fiscal year 1906,
what is known the Latimer Field Notes
were purchased from William J. Latimer
at a cost of $500. These notes have been
placed among the records of the surveyors
office and complete Index will be made of
them. They and will be of much value
to the surveyor in his work.
Trees and Parking.
The number of trees set out during the
year was 1855. The number of trees re-
moved was ,4S3. The total number of trees
on the streets of the District Of Columbia
at the close of the fiscal year was S9,337,
a net increase of 1872 over last year. The
trees planted were of the following varie-
ties: Norway, Sugar, and Silver Naples;
Sycamores, Films, Pin Oaks, Lindens, and
Gingkos The amount expended during the
year was in round numbers, about $4,000,
and of this sum s.. 900 was devoted to trim
ming alone. Caterpiliars made their APP
pearance on the trees in July and the rough
bark and wire guards of the trees became
infested with large numbers OF eggs. These
eggs were removed by the use of "hot-blast
torches" burning gasoline. In the follow
ing June caterpiilars We're prevalent and
the sum of $500 was allotted from the
emergency fund for the work of destroying
them. These efforts were very successful
and the foliage suffered little injury.
IN having cement sidewalks it has been
found desirable to remove from the streets,
wherever found, North Carolina poplars
for the reason that the roots of this tree
grow very large near the surface of the
ground, causing the upheaval of the cement
walks Other trees which are not open to
this objection are planted, however. in the
spaces in the walks which are left for that
purpose. The appropriation for the park
ing commission for the year was $4,000.
The amount available during the present
fiscal year Q9O6) is 900, this decrease,
however in the usual sum allotted-$30. CO.
being due to the plac ng CT rita EN- loyes.
who had formerly been paid from this APP
preparation, on the annual salary roll and
deducting the sums paid them from the
amount usually allotted. For the fiscal year
1907 the estimate is for $4,000 OF this
amount 1t is desired to spend $4,000 in ex-
tending the system of trees and in filing in
gaps in existing rows of trees, $1,000 in the
care of nurseries, 5000 in trimming the
II ees. $1,000 in removing them, land the bal
ancc for miscellaneous expenses. The trees
of washington are its main beauty. They
labor under great disadvantages, and no
reasonable expense should be spared that
will keep existing ones fourishing, replace
dead ones and extend the system with the
growth of the city.
Sewage Disposal Project