The Washington herald., 1906-12-30
Government Buildings to Be
Supplied in Groups.
BIG MODERN POWER PLANTS
Congress Has Appropriated over n
Million Dollars for One PIant-The
Other Surveyed and Planned Ont
by Experts-No Gas in the Capitol.
The Downtown Group.

/ government official, the other day. "and
you will see the finest system of light
/ ing, heating, and furnishing power that
can be found anywhere on the face Of
the earth"
The Introduction OF electricity within
I the past twenty years in every branch Of
city life has been one Of the marvels Of
/ the age. Men can De found almost any
where who can remember when. as college
/ boys, they asked the professor Of physics
why it was not possible to use electricity
as a motive force they were invariably
told that the difficulty Of securing the
mechanical device that would convert the
current into "a rotary motion in wheels
would forever no doubt. make it impossi-
bic to use electricity in the place of
steam.
There are scores Of prominent scientists
now In high places throughout the coun-
Try who talked in this way thirty years
ago To-day they tread streets and marks
/ Hshted by the mysterious liquid" they
/ ride upstairs in elevators moved by cleo
/ trc.ty they ride downtown in cars pro-
PEELED by it and kept warm by it. and
over the telephone. by means of it, they
conquer ali space.
Few know that already the government
Is wei on the way To lighting and heat
ing The various department buildings with
electricity. As "a mere matter of saving
~ The labor OF handling coal and keeping
the buildings clean the innovation became
practically "a necessity. From the stand
point Of the disburser. the change was
( long ago one most earnestly TO be de-
sired
An Economical Plant.
We have found our plant here in the
Interior Department" said chief Clerk
Dawson of that department. "a success
ID every way We make over i'm the Old
Flst-cihce Department building now oc-
cupled by the Patent Office and the In
dian Bureau, all the light and heat we
require for these two buildings. and we
also light the Pension Building We are
rid Of the noise and dirt Of the boilers We
used to have here and the results az.
fine in every wa-.
We Keep the buildings mp 70 an even
and healthtul temperature The problems
OF ventilation are more easily handled
and the danger from fire is probably re-
duced very considerably. We do not heat
the Pension Building mainly because our
plant has its limitation. but / DO not see
why groups Of public buildings ike these
may not 5e connected up to one central
plant and thus supplied with light. heat.
and power
'Of one thing let me tell you. we are
certainly Well satisfied That is that the
cost OF this plant is giving las d big saw
ms over steam and gas and I may also
say over the service rendered the general
public of Washington. our electricity for
these three buildings for light and for
two Of them for heat and power costs
us not Go exceed 3 cents per kiIowatt hour.
The outside price, I believe. is 10 OF J.
cents O. the ordinary consumer. AS a
result of competition some ye1rs ago
there are contracts that show that light
and power can be furnished somewhere
near our figures The Geological Survey
IS getting light at cents per kl0watt
hour ! believe the Treasury Department
has "a contract for a portion of its service
at cents ] am not sure our figure IS the
lowest, With a larger plant the cost
might be cut down below what we have
found it TO be- here"
No Gas iu the Capitol.
You could not find an ounce Of gas in
the Capitol" said Col Dan RansdeU Ser
Eeant-at-arms Of the Senate, when the
matter was brought To his attention.
NO, sir, we don't want any gas here.
We have electric lights in every c0ncelv-
able place where we need them. and our
light is fine always. We have our own
dyuamos and large and up-to-date
plant We don't know what a gas bill
is up here. and we don't want to, either
The building is fully wired. and if at any
time We want TO shift TO any other plant
that Will be perfectly easy Of accomplish
ment We heat our end of the building
suu with steam. but electric heating is
bound to come when the new light. heat,
and power plant is completed. II viii re-
ueve us of q great deal of dirt. noise, and
labor, and viii DE quite welcome"
Since that gas explosion some years
ago over at The Supreme Court, said Col.
Henry Casson. Sergeant-at-arms of the
House Of Representatives. we have been
opposed to the use of gas i'm the Capitol.
We make all our electricity here at this
end of the Capitol. and the Senate folk
make what is used az that end. The gas
main running into the Capitol was dis
connected after the explosion. and the
end plugged up. SO that not a particle
of gas could possibly get into the building.
We found that no matter whether we
used gas or not the pressure on the mains
continued. and it was menace to the
safety of the building. When the new
light, heat. and power plant is built we
shall have an ideal supply Of these three
necessities.
The new light. heat. and power plant is
to be built in charge of Mr., Elliot Woods,
superintendent of the Capitol Building. Il
viii be erected on Garfield Park, and viii
be an ideal structure of its Kind. The
task laid out for this proposed plant IS to
furnish light, heat. and power for ma
chinery and elevators for the Capitol. the
Library Of Congress. and the Office build
ings for the Senate and House of Repre-
scntatives. The cost Of the plant is to be
81 $4,000, and il will include the latest
types Of machinery with all the newest
devices known to the electrical handi-
craft.
The Downtown Group.
The greatest scheme of electric lighting
and heating. however. has been proposed
for the downtown group Of department
buildings. Congress. in taking up this
Idea. appropriated 5000 for a survey and
preliminary report, and a staff of expert
electrical engineers. under Prof. Homer
Woodbridge Of the Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology. made an elaborate
study of the subject. The aim Of this
project IS to supply the State War. and
CLOSED ALL DAY NEW YEARS.
| E0R NEW YEARS RECEPTIONS
Am FAMILY EEAeTS