Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-03-29


; boulevards. thirty-five squares. ten oper
spaces and nine hospital gardens. anG
there are eight additions in construction
Outside Of parks the city has planted ane
cares for 15O,S56 trees.
Transformation of Rio.
The work Of capital building done ir
Rio since 1902 is even more impressive
and inspiring. Before that date Rio con.
sisted Of a series Of disconnected villages
stretched along narrow. shore strip and
creeping between steep hills which here
| approach close to the edge Of the bay
| which constitutes the city's harbor. AS
a general result OF the rebuilding cam
paign these disconnected villages have
been united. Hills have been removed or
| cut through. whole blocks of sQualid
tenements have been leveled, narrow
| streets have been .broadened, great ave-
nues have been made and lined with fine
| buildings, and q new Rio has been Great
! ed. harmonious, homogeneous, one OF the
most beautiful capitals In the world. The
/ city in plan and execution Is made worthy
| of its location on a magnificent bay. pic
| turesque In it's environment of green hills
| and yellow curving coast line, attractive
| In the islands with which 1t Is adorned
| and in the luxuriance Of tropical vegeta-
| ton which covers both hills and islands,
and SO extensive in area as to furnish
| fifty miles of harbor.
improvement plan were the construction
of quay following the shore line two
and one-Sixth miles long. costing from
twenty-five to forty-two millions, accord
ing to varying estimates; a broad avenue
parallel with the quay and of the same
length; rectiflcation and prolongation to
the sea Of the Manque canal, with an
avenue on either side nearly two miles
In length and 131 feet in breadth: eleva-
ton OF steam railroad beds: enlargement
nj tfNysu afAys ~0Hrr nf
sewerage system: construction of a bay
side drive four and one-half miles long
and lis feet wide, the beautiful Avenida
Beira Mar (the Massachusetts, avenue or
with artistically designed residences set
in gardens Of palms, bamboos and bright
flowers, and driveway unsurpassed in
the whole world for picturesque beauty;
the broadening with the result Of de-
stroying 1900 houses). embellishing and
repaving with asphalt. multitude Of
old streets and avenues: and Of especial
interest to Westinghouse the construc-
ton Of the great Avenida Central Ohe
Pennsylvania avenue OF Fdo), one and
one-eighth miles in length. los feet broad.
running in straight line from sea to sea
and serving as the principal outlet of the
congested business section, especially of
the quay and the river front. Over 600
the way. 5000 laborers working night
menced November 15, 1895. and completed
in twenty-five months at a cost of about
$11, 100000, which covers clearing of the
ground. paving. construction Of electric
lighted buildings. and opening of avenue
to traffic. Among the buildings on this
made-to-order avenue are the Municipal
Opera House, National Library, National
School Of Fine Arts and the attractive
Rio expended 100000 on model homes
for laborers. Between 1904 and 1905 1t
made large expenditures in municipal
sanitation: The great period Of pulling
and 1908. when on those two objects $780,
OO 600 were expended. The total ex-
penditure will, 1t is estimated, amount to
as much as 500. 100000.
Compare these vast works. SO rapidly
completed. with the neglect Of Washing
toms original magnificent plan. and Of the
city itself for three-fourths of q century,
and with the delays. waverings and oc-
castonal picayune methods OF dealing
with the problem Of transforming and re-
creating Washington even today, when
the nation ID under the partnership obli-
cations. in capital building imposed by
the equitable agreement Of 1878, and
when the whole American people ara af-
fectonately proud OF the nations city.
Washington's Building Problem.
The modern builders Of city beautiful
on the banks Of the Potomac have had q
simple problem to solve compared with
that set by Buenos Aires or Rio In the
single Item Of broadening and straighten-
ing streets they were spared millions OF
expenditure necessary in the southern
capitals. The forefathers provided a
masnihcent street plan before there was
greater area for streets than was re-
served for building lots. As late as
Charles Dickens visit. In 1912. the most
notable thing about the capital was its
great novelist as the vast design Of an
aspiring Frenchman. displaying as its
leading features spacious avenues that
begin IN nothing and lead nowhere:
streets m. male,i lions thu. only want houses
that need but q public to be complete,
and ornaments OF great thoroughfares
ornament
Our modern capital builders have had
as their task: a. Protection OF the ortei-
nal streets and avenues, parks and park
let's OF the city's plan; O. expensive
maintenance and development Of the orig
tnal streets and avenues covering q vast
area, suitable for the thoroughfares of a
populous and wealthy capital ludicrously
out Of relation to the resources Of q self.
supporting. self-developing Maryland vii.
iage: 90 extension OF the city's original
plan. as far as possible, to the new Wash.
! inSton outside Of the original limits, which
Is spreading urban conditions to the
boundaries Of the District; ~ removal OF
conditions which have sprung I'D to MAJ
the original plan and the harmonious de.
velopment Of the city beautiful: and 81
component parts Of the new system OF
connected outer parks which did not enter
into the plans Of the forefathers, but
which are essential to the adequate and