Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-19

-. 1852, under which act 100000 was APP
propriated for beginning the work. The
next appropriation was for SJtD.WD. which
was authorized by act of Congress of
July =. 1884.
To obtain glimpse of the state of az
fairs on the Washington water front.
which hideous conditions have become
rather mellow memory with many men
who were boys then. 1T is interesting to
refer to report made by Mai. Hams in
1855, at which time the work of reclama-
ton had made such progress that part
of the proposed park at Its northern emu
had been raised above high tide. and the
contour of the park had been outlined by
mud banks and riprap walls. In the re-
port referred to it was said:
1.-The object of the improvement is to widen
and deepen the channels to Georgetown ana
Washington $" as to accommodate the larSeS'
fish the harinr lines. and at the same time 10
raise the marshes and flats on IN" cry IronI
terial taken from the river in widening anu anu
deepening the channels to be used IN ming the
fats The latter are to r rst ,hrs fae tne above
the freshet slope of 1877 and the portion below the
bridge has the same height at the middle inc,
from which it will slope toward each cnhnnei Ia
the margin of the fill. where il will h@ slx fret
above mean low tide. large tidal reservoir not
less than eight feet deep will be established he
tween Long bridge and the sewer canal, to sup
ply fresh water to the Washington channe !:
which channel AT the upper end will he cut of
from communication with the Virginia channel.
The plan concentrates the removal or rt-iuiuih.
of the Long bridge fewer piers. with WIDER
SpanS and also that the sewage now diSrnargefl
into the Washington channel be- Intercepted and
conveyed To James creek.
In that historic report it was pointed
out that the condition of the Washing
ton river front at the time the first APP
preparation was made had become so bad
i'm a sanitary point of view that parts
of the city had become almost un1nhablt-
able '"This was caused" wrote Mai.
Hams by deposits on the city front OF
sediment from the river and solid mat
ter from the sewers which had 1Ormed
flats or marshes. covering an area OF sew
eral hundred acres.
The flats on which there was dense
growth of marsh grass and reeds: were
covered by water about one-half the
time and were uncovered the other half.
and i'm the latter condition they were eX-
posed for time each day to the rays
of the sun, which in summer produced
favorable conditions for various diseases.
Reaching far back in the records one
NAV read that the citizens of Georgetown
presented petition to Congress In lso4
setting forth that the Potomac river be-
was Obstructed by mud bank and ask
ing that permission be given Georgetown
to construct a dam between Mason s Is
land and the Virginia mainland, which
il was believed would improve naviga-
ton by forcing more water through the
Georgetown channel. Congressional au-
thoriZation for this work was given in
1905 and the dam was built. but the re-
suits were not all that were hoped for:
Soon after the authority of Congress mad
been obt aimed the corporation OF george
town set a mud machine to the Wor or
dredging through the bar. The machine
worked satisfactorily. One can read IN