Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-07

and the use of standard scales. weights
and measures in the District OF Columola
are very much improved, and 1t is the
opinion that the merchants generally de-
sire to comply with the law.
| There is necessity for national leglsia-
ton in relation to certain commodities
shipped in original packages :or inter-
state trade. The slightest fraction or
short weight or measure amounts III the
aggregate to an enormous sum OF money
each year, which is lost to the consumer
Systematic inspections are made ana
complete record of every business place
! is kept in the office The ONCE mas re-
Gently taken up the inspection OF TAM
meters and tested all tho e in use In laAl-
cabs operating in the District of Column
bia, which has proven quite satistactor!
to the public.
The district markets are in prosper
Gus condition. as is demonstrated by the
. increase In receipts. Repairs to the
buildings have been made each year 10
the extent of the funds avallabie 1or thal
purpose. The Eastern Market was I'M
proved by the erection OF an addition
costing $4,000. The new part Is modern
in all respects, and particular attention
was given to sanitation. with the ex-
ception of the addition to the Eastern
Market, which was completed in Decem-
Der of last year. these markets have been
in use for more than thirty years and
are in need of extensive repairs TO place
them in a modern condition as to SAM
tation A detailed statement of the i'm
provements necessary to be made to these
markets the cost of which totals 50, 4O2.
includes new sanitary stands. meat
blocks refrigerators, painting, repairs to
sidewalks and the installation Of modern
plumbing Special attention has been
given to keeping the markets as clean
as possible.
improvements have been made to the
wholesale producers market square. sit
nl bnfr Tnr1fh nd NIL c.
and B and Little B streets NV. to pro-
vide for the removal of the wholesale
farmers street market from part OF
the south side of B street in front of the
New National Museum Building, the re-
tail of farmers produce still remaining
between Seventh and Ninth streets on B
street NV. This change has centralized
the business connected with this market
and is appreciated by all concerned.
Street Cleaning; City Refuse.
The work Of the STRENGTHENING depart
ment during the past fiscal year presents
gratifying evidence OF progress in the So
luton of number of difficult problems.
Not only has a larger area in the ma
chine and hand swept branches of the
service been covered but the work has
been successfully extended to the re-
movaI of large quantities of filth from
public and private alleys. back yards. Gel
lars and vacant lots. Inspectors on ma
chine-swept streets supervised the clean
ing of %, 653. 76S square yards more of
street area in 1909 than in 1908: in
spectors on hand-swept streets supervised
the cleaning OF 11,O21, 1877 square yards
more of street area in 1909 than in 1908;
inspectors on unimproved street cleaning
supervised the cleaning of 1923. 444 square
yards more of street area in 1909 than in
1903; inspectors on alley-cleaning work
supervised the cleaning of 3.741 .s99 square
dr. r,nv ali 4
in 1908. There was an increase of go
tons In the amount of garbage collected
in 1909 over 1905 and a decrease of 11SS
in the number of dead animals collected
during the fiscal year 1909 as compared
with 1908
The commissioners again renew their
recommendation to Congress that the
present cost limitation on hand cleaning
of 10 cents per 1000 square yards be in
creased to not less than p cents per
1000 square yards, SO that the surface
area assigned to each man may be de-
creased from 10000 square yards to 5000
square yards. which is the maximum area
that ought to be assigned to each la
borer.
An important branch of the work of the
department is the sprinkling of the
streets During the first four months of
the past fiscal year the sprinkling of the
street-railroad tracks added to the cost
of this service. This is no longer done,
and a considerable saving has been eff
fected without discomfort to residents or
complaint from any source. The work of
the department on March 4, 1909. In pre-
pairing a clean roadway for the inaugural
procession was done in prompt manner,
without any excitement confusion
What at first seemed to be an insur-
mountable difficulty was met and over
come. and it is pleasing to note that the
cost of this work was but $656.25.
That the work of the STRENGTHENING
department has much to do with the pub
lie health can hardly be doubted. The
presence of tons of filth in back yards,
private alleys, cellars, and on vacant lots
is standing menace to every section Of
the city. Hundreds OF tons of this class
of refuse, the accumulation of years
were removed by the department during
the past fiscal year without the expendi-
ture OF single dollar by the District.
This was accomplished by en!isting the in
terest and cooperation of the people of
the city in the solution Of the problem of
municipal cleanliness. More than 500
wagonloads of refuse were removed from
vacant lots and spaces, the area covered
extending from Fifteenth street on the
east to Thirty siXth street on the west
and from the water front on the south
to Spring road on the north; 1851 wag-
onloads of filth were removed from back
yards, wood sheds. and cellars; 65S priv
ate alleys, 1,322 city squares. 5,34S vacant
lots, and p, go cellars, wood sheds and
back yards were thoroughly cleaned.
The various divisions of work in the
Jurisdiction of the STRENGTHENING depart
ment, such as the collection and disposal
of garbage. ashes, miscellaneous refuse,
night soil, dead animals and ashes from
government buildings has been carefully
attended to and fines have been imposed
upon the contractors for neglect where
ever failure to comply with the terms OF
their contracts has been shown to be
chargeable to their fault.
Electrical Operation, Etc.
The electrical department. which has
supervision of the public lighting and of
systems, of the constructions of the pub
lic-service corporations using electricity,
including the placing of wires under
ground, and which regulates the installa-
ton of electric wires and apparatus in all
buildings, has met the increase of is
task, due to the increase of population
and building, efficiently. A general i'm
proyement in all conditions under it's SUI
pervision is reported.
During the past year the several gas,
naphtha, and electric street-lighting serv-
ices were maintained at their former high
standard and numerous extensions were
made. The new increase In the number
Of amps was Al.
The work of the District underground
system was continued during the year,
with addition of IA miles of cable, the
erection of 90 additional fire-alarm and
patrol posts, and the connecting of ad-
ditional buildings.
Fourteen new fire-alarm boxes were
placed in service. At the close of the year
there were 462 fire-alarm boxes in service.
Ihere was net increase of 12S tele-
Dh0neS installed tha or