Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-15
RAILROADS AND SMOKE LAW
House Bill Favorably Acted on by
Senate Committee.
MUST COMMIT NO NUISANCE
Within the Limits of the District
Other Matters Affecting the
City Considered.

The Senate committee on the District of
Columbia today ordered favorable reports
made on quite large number OF bills of
especial interest to the District. The most
important Of these measures was House
bill 1929, which was ordered reported to
the Senate without amendment. This bill
carried provision by which the steam rail-
road companies coming into the District of
Columbia will be obliged, from January l,
1908, to conform to the smoke law This
provision stipulates that the smoke law
shall be extended to all steam locomotive
engines of any description used on any
steam railroad within the District, and any
officer, agent employee of any individual
firm corporation operating any steam
locomotive engine on any steam railroad
| within the District of Columbia from the
smokestack of which engine there shall
be emitting dense or thick black or gray
smoke or cinders after January /, 1905
shall be held guilty of creating a public
| nuisance and violating the provisions Of
! this act.
When representatives of the several rail-
| roads were before the District committee
| the statement was made by some of them
| that if this law should be enacted it would
| be fought in the courts to the full extent
| of their ability to do SO. Later some of
| these officials declared that they would en-
| deavor to do away with the smoke nuisance
I Dy the use OIL I(dTQ coal ana COKE on yard
| engines and the use of hard coal on loco
| motives entering the city. But they gen.
orally stated that without complete cleo
| IRRIGATION of the roads entering the city it
would not be possible to comply with the
smoke law.
In Favor Of Amendment.
! This provision applying the smoke law
to the railroads is in the form of an amend
ment placed on the bill which was origi-
!
Terminal Company, which is the owner of
| the union station, to provide additional ia
| cilities for handling mail, baggage, express
| and other business carried on passenger
| trains, by the construction OF the necessary
| facilities on the square between the east
| ern liue of the terminal area and the west
/ ern building line of I'd street east. The
| bill authorized the company to acquire
i this property by purchase or condemnation
| as provided in the union station act of
| February 8, 1903 1t also authorized 1t
| to close Chicago street, G street and all
| public alleys in the squares to be vacated.
The company is also authorized to acquire
/ by purchase or condemnation all the prop
/ erty between the eastern line of the ter
/ minal area and the western building line
of I'd street east, and between street and
/ the east and west public alley between +
and California streets. The company is
also obligated to dedicate to the District
Of Columbia sufficient land for a street
| sixty feet wide on the east side Of the ter
| minal area from to California street.
| When the representatives of the railroads
were before the District committee they
stated that they did not care enough for
the rights granted under this bill to accept
them If they had to take them in connec-
ton with the proposed smoke law. They
| stated that they were providing these addi-
tional facilities as an accommodation to
| the Post Office Department and to their
patrons generally. and 1t was of more I'm
lportance to their patrons than to themselves
| that this law should be enacted.
If the Senate passes the bill az reported