Evening star., 1916-01-09
Situation Up to Congress.

IL was up to the Commissioners These
improvements cannot be made without
money, and Congress has failed to ap-
propfiate the amounts necessary to
correct this condition. The things that
are absolutely and imperatively needed,
some of which I am endeavoring to
bring to the attention of Congress, can
not be accomplished under the half
and-half system without imposing an
unbearable burden of taxation on the
taxpayers of the District
IF it could, under this system. the
Commissioners are hindered by law in
the District to double the amount of
the estimated revenue that can be
raised by taxation: that is to say, the
estimates are limited by the amount
raised by taxation and cannot exceed
the amount thus supplied plus the one
half assumed by the government Such
q system. by which the hands of the
Commissioners are tied and the liza =
bility of the government limited, has
been dead weight on the prosperity.
the morals and the health of the city.
This work Of proper sanitation is the
governments problem. Ii should not
shirk 1t. The amount contributed by
taxation, whether one-half or more or
less should have nothing to do with it,
Engine and Truck Houses.
The engine and truck houses of the
District are subject to the same criti-
cism as the police stations, though
probably not in SO great degree. The
truck house in front of the Senate Of
fice building. that has been uncovered
and exposed to public view by the tear
ing down of the houses around it, is a
sample of some of these that we have
no reason to be proud of. Fortunately,
its destruction is made necessary by
the conversion of the ground that it
stands upon into public park, and a
better, more modern and more sanitary
one is promised in its place. But there
are others equally in need of atten-
tion.
Some of them are infinitely worse
than this one. / have visited and in
spected number of the engine and
truck houses There are thirty-eight of
them in all One of them was con-
structed ffty-eight years ago. another
ffty-one and some over forty years
ago. But very few of them are up-to-
date, modern engine houses. Many of
them are insanitary in the extreme and
most of them are inadequate for the
purpose and inadequately equipped
The nremen are fine looking body
OF men, but large proportion of them
are compelled to live and work in quar-
ters that are disgrace to the city and
the nation. Let me describe one Of the
houses that is much the same as a
number OF others The engine room
where the engine and other equipments
are located. and where the horses and
men are Quartered, consists of one
room too small for the purpose. The
front space is occupied by the engine
and other fire apparatus.
Enumerates Conditions.
Immediately back of this are the
horses. In open stalls. extending clear
across the room and Immediately back
OF the horses. without any partition be
tween them. and occupying a narrow
strip of only few feet, extending/also
across the room, the men are quarter
Literally the men live in the stable with
the horses.
The dormitory. or sleeping room, is
upstairs. The whole building is heat
ed. or partially heated. with one old
cannon stove. There is no system for
heating the entire building. and no hot
water for the use Of the men in the diff
ferent parts. the old stove being the
only mvans of heating the building OF
water. The rooms are lighted by gas
only. There is no side or rear entrance
Everything that goes in or out mus,
pass through the one room at the front
All of the accumulations of the sta bl.
are taken out that way and the Goa
and other supplies arc brought IN the
same way.
"As the stalls of the horses take VI
section entirely across the room ant
the men are located behind them, nj
one can pass through without crowdint
past a horse in his stall or the hors1
being taken out. When fuel or othel
necessaries are brought in IL is some
times necessary to run the engine ou
in the street to make a passage room
The building is miserably lighted ant
ventilated. At one of the engine house,
where they had no heat except from tn.
one stove i asked the captain IL the,
could be kept warm by that means il
cold weather and he said no, that a
night the man watch in the room
where the stove was situated had I,
wear heavy coat in order to keel
warm.
Intolerable in Warm Weather.