Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-08-13
Anacostia's Urgent Needs.
To the Editor of The Star:

10 the Enltor OF Inc Slar
With all the improvements to the
streets and highways of the city and the
District now going on it is strange, in
deed, that the streets of this section are
not improved in some respect. 1t surely
is a grievous shame that the residents of
this community have to put up with the
wretched streets along which they have
their beautiful homes In this section
lying between Howard avenue. st. Eliza
beths Insane Asylum and the AnacOstia
river the streets and roads are utterly
neglected-in times of rain almost i'm
passable for mud and water-not the
slightest semhlance of effort to i'm
prove or even keep in any sort of re-
spectacle condition is ever made. 1t is
shame, an eyesOre to residents, a dis
grace to the city of Washington, of which
II is a part. This is not a sparsely set
lied community On the other hand.
there is a large population. which, of
course. makes heavy traffic. both foot and
vehicle, over the Streets-roadS. i should
say. And with heavy wagons constantly
rumbling up and down these sandy thor
oughfares the houses are always covered
with dust, requiring constant cleaning
and almost annual painting. Residents
cannot a hot summers day, even with
screens in their windows, keep the in
terror of their homes clean. For this
dust, rising in the wake of these heavy,
rumbling teams and wagons floats in
dense clouds into the windows, running
furniture, walls and bed coverings, etc.
There are no sidewalks The whole thing
Is a roadway. nothing more-rOugh and
uneven When it rains these roads look
like swamps. and pedestrians passing
afterward have to leap mud holes and
water pools in order to effect any prog
ress at all. And this water. rushing
1nadly down. is constantly washing holes
in the roads and embankments away,
making a serious danger to life and prop
erty. These roads should be improved at
once. They should be graded, macad-
amized and curbins and sidewalks laid.
Trees should be planted along them and
the present unsatisfactory system of light
Ing abolished. These things done, the at
Effectiveness of this section would be inn
proved fully 80 per cent. Their present
condition would put to shame country
hamlet, let alone beautiful suburb of
beautiful city. populouS and growing, but
its growth retarded by street conditions.
A great injustice is being done the resi-
dents thereof, who are paying the same
taxes as those of other sections who are
living on modern Streets with other i'm
provements constantly being added, while
this locality appears like the sO-called
-'Pohick- There is one more disgrace
TO this locality in the nature of creek
which runs through the heart of the
town, keeping the land marshy and damp,
serving as an ideal breeding place for
mosquitoes, flies and germs. This should
have been eliminated long ago 1t should
he either arched over or converted into
a sewer This creek and the condition of
our streets keep property values down
and make this section undesirable to
homeSeekers- We residents and property
owners have endured long, and conditions
should be remedied at once, even in pref
erence to other sections. The Commits
sioners should wake up and give to these
residents the Improvements their long pa
thence and endurance merit.
WILLIAM III. WILKINSON, Jr.
Anacostia, d. G.