The Washington herald., 1906-10-23
DOWNTOWN IS LIGHT
Officials Of District Discuss
Street illumination.
MCFARLAND CHERISHES PLAN
Hopes TO Have City Made Beautiful
with Electric Lights, Like Paris,
in the Near Future-EIectricaI En-
Eineer Enumerates Lights On Penn
syIvania Avenue and + street.

The subject Of street lighting, brought
TO public attention by The Herald. was
given consideration by officials at the
District Building Yesterday
Commissioner mcfarland said on his
return from Europe, recently. that lac
hoped TO see. some day. the principal
streets lighted like the boulevards of
Paris. as a matter of beauty. with bril-
liant clusters of high-poWered lamps, and
perhaps after experiments. which he
hopes 10 have made this winter. and af-
ter the incandesccnt gas lamps nave
shown everybody their superiority 10 Hat
flame burners. that a beginning may be
made upon an ideal system of stree!
lighting. But he did not propose this
as necessary to the illumination of the
streets. but as an esthctic project 20 en-
hance the general attractiveness Of the
city.
1t was stated that no complaint had
been received in recent years in regard
TO the lighting OF Pennsylvania avenue,
+ street, or any Of the other streets of the
city of Washington. with the exception OF
several complaints from Georgetown.
I
were changed this fall to the incaudescenJ
gas lamps. the new lights, it was said.
were too bright in certain localities. 1t
was stated that it had been supposed that
the streets were now well lighted. certain
Is as 90 those lighted by electricity and
those where the change from the fiat
fame gas burner 20 the inCdndcsccnt gas
burner had been made, and all the flat
flame burners would be- so changed with
in a short time under the new contract
Pennsylvania Avenue Lights.
The electrical engineer said yesterday
that Pennsylvania avenue, from Fifteenth
street to First street northwest. is lighted
by siXty-nine electric arc lamps of the
standard inclosed type of thousand
candlepower. of which thirty-fve are on
the north side of the street and thirty
four on the south side. The distance be-
tween lamps varies. owing to the length
Of the blocks. but it averages niuety-two
feet measured along the center line of
Pennsylvania avenue The intersection Of
every street with this avenue has ID least
one arc light. and iu a number of cases
there are two lights. The width of the
roadway between curbs is lc5 feet
7
the foliage ON the trees seem. possible
each lamp is suspended by an arm extend
ing nine feet beyond the curb
How + Street Is Treated.
r street. between Fifteenth and Fifth
streets northwest. is lighted by twenty
seven arc lamps. of which sixteen are on
the south side Of the street and eleven on
the north side Between fifth and Ninth
streets all of the arc lamps are on the
south side Of the street. A the width of
the roadway between curbs is only fifty
feet, the average distance between lamps
measured along the center line of the
street is l55- feet There is at least one
arc lamp M the intersection Of the streets.
and in some cases there are two lamps.
Il is believed that these lamps are at
distances apart substantially the same as
i'm most Well-lighted cities. and that they
give as good illumination as is found from
street lighting anywhere in this country
on similar streets. Il was stated that no
public need for additional lighting ON the
streets Of the city appeared, and as no Pa
quest or complaint indicating a desire for
more lamps on these streets came TO the
Commissioners, they did nor ask in their
estimates for any additional appropriation
on this account.