Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-05

which stood upon the route were demoi-
ished or removed, and the land occupied oy
the canal was leased by the city from the
owners at a reasonable rental. Wnen the
worl, is completed the canal Is to be hlled
up and the houses that were preserved Will
be taken back to the lots which they ioF-
merly occupied.
The material used for filing is exclusively
sand. brought by self-loading and self-pro-
pelling dredges from the bottom OF the pay.
When dredge is loaded 1t steams through
the canal to one of the distributing STA
lions at the foot of one of the streets along
which immense iron pipes have been lalo.
These pipes are attached to the dredges
and the sand is forced through them by
hydraulic pressure and distributed over the
streets until they are brought up to the re-
quired grade.
The same contractors are filling most of
the private property by the same method.
They can do it much better and more eco
nomically than any one else, and 1t is done
with extraordinary rapidity Each OF the
giant dredges can carry enough SAND IN a
single load to bring an ordinary lot up to
grade The houses are first elevated to the
required height by jack-screws and other
familiar methods and new foundations are
placed under them. Then the pumping ma
chnery is set in motion and tons upon tons
of sand which was scooped up from the
bottom of the bay only a few hours before,
begins to pour through the pipes until the
lot is filled and brought up to the grade or
the street. A sufficient allowance is made
for packing and settling. and the owner of
the property can exercise his taste In COM
pleting the job. In some cases the sand
is covered with rich soil and sod brought
from the mainland, but there Is very little
turf in Galveston.
1t has been difficult and in most cases
impossible, to preserve the palms and other
trees for which Galveston has been fam
Gus. They cannot be raised like the houses
Several of the streets are lined with rows
of oleanders, which bloom the year round.
Galveston Is called 1.-The Oleander City,
and when all of the plants are in blossom
the effect is not only beautiful, but unique.
There is nothing like Ii anywhere else In
the world Many of the oleanders were de-
stroyed by the flood. but fortunately more
were left uninjured and have been carefully
preserved while the streets are being ele-
waited. Other plants and flowers have also
been taken care of in the same way Rich
residents have restored their grounds at an
enormous expense SO that Galveston will
not lose all its beauty.
Board of Four Commissioners.
Galveston has a peculiar city govern
ment 1t formerly had a mayor and a
board of twelve aldermen, but the mu-
nicipal administration went to pieces at the
time of the food. The state authorities
took command and at the next meeting of
the legislature a SPECIAL act was passed
providing for a centralized government
composed of four commissioners. who elect
| a president from among their own number.
| He exercises the functions Of a mayor and
| they divide the labors and responsibilities
| Of administration between them This plan
| has been so successful and popular that
| both San Antonio and Houston have since
adopted 1t and Dallas Is talking of trying II
| also.
| Comparatively few Of the streets here are
paved and 1t will be long time before the
| taxpayers will be able to provide for pave
ments. The streets are of sand which ag
| gravates the situation and makes teaming
| difficult and heavy. The board of commits
sioners have adopted the plan Of sprinkline
| the surface with crude petroleum. which
has proved very successful. The oil keep.
| down the dust and the wheels OF passing
1 vehicles pack 1t as hard as asphaltum, SC
| that after few sprinklings an excellen
pavement is secured. The odor is not pleas
| ant, but 1t is said to be very healthful
| which Is some compensation. The use o
oil in keeping down the dust is becoming
| quite general in the larger cities OF Texas
and the santa Fe railroad has sprinkled it.
tracks, which Is great blessing to travel
ers. Crude petroleum Is very cheap. In
| deed, there Is no other use for the lowe
| grades, which are produced in enormous
quantities throughout the entire Beaumon
| district