Evening star., 1920-11-26
Chief of Army Engineers
Cites Rock Creek and Po-
t0mac Reservation Needs.
$2,533,561 SOUGHT FOR
BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS
Tidal Basin and Meridian Hill
Park Improvements Also
Recommended.

N~ctiSti uttioi VI new UE.NeNdNS III
| Rock Creek and Potomac parks an
increase in the facilities for outdoor
exercise in the parks, extension of the
tidal basin bathing beach and i'm
provement of Meridian Hill Park are
recommended to Congress in the an
nual report of Maj. Gen. Lansing II.
Beach. chief of engineers of the Army.
made public today.
The total amount sought for the up
! keep and improvement of federal build
! ings and grounds in the District during
the next fiscal year is So 2,533. SCI. Among
the items asked for in the report are:
$4,000 for Rock Creek Park improve
ments, including the transformation
of Pierce Mill into an attractive tea
1 house: cleaning out the dead and fall
en- timber and the building of a cross
road at the upper end of the park
from Beach drive to Daniels road.
Facilities for Exercise.
Another item is $4,000 for increas-
ing facilities in the parks for health
full outdoor exercises. Gen. Beach says
the sum now provided for these play
grounds is entirely inadequate to meet
more than /. small portion of the de-
mands made upon it. An item of
$685. is submitted for improving
Meridian Hill Park. including a ter
race wall and an entrance at the west
end of same, and improving the 10Th
street side of the park.
For extending the tital basin bathing
beach and purifying the water there, an
estimate of $4,000 is made. Special es-
Inmates are 100000 for providing
boulevard entrance to Potomac Park by
way of New Hampshire avenue. and
$1,000 for a circular road around the
Lincoln Memorial, with road connection
from r street To erect fence in
the grounds between the White House
and the lawn area, the sum of $4,000 is
asked. in addition to $4,000 for repairs
to the Presidents home.
40 Park Reservations.
On July /, 1919, the total number OF
park reservations. was 40. with a total
area of 2.747 acres. During the fiscal
year changes were made as follows;
Thirteen small park spaces were added
by transfer from the jurisdiction of the
Commissioners of the District Of Cslum-
bia, and also = Fl EiR II Land on ihe west
side of Meridian Hill Park between
Chaplin and Euclid streets: A narrow
strip Of land along the 10th street side
of Meridian Hill Park and between
Florida avenue and Chaplin street was
transferred to the Commissioners Of the
District of Columbia for sidewalk pur-
poses. These changes made a net gain
of EOS acres in the system and gave
total of 453 park reservations June 81.
1920, with a total area of 2,749 acres.
There are now thirty-five statues i'm
the public grounds, and one in course
of construction-that of Gen. Ulysses 5.
Grant.
With the statement that the local dis
trict engineer is making an investiga-
ton of the economic value of the Great
Falls power plant, called for by the fed
eral water power act OF June TO- 1870,
Cen Beach says that pending the SUBJ
mission of the report of that officer ''the
chief of engineers makes no recommen-
dation for an appropriation to begin the
work on an increased supply for the
District
Regarding the system generally. he
says the safe daily capacity of the sys-
tenn is considered to be 6S.000,000 gall
Ions. The maximum capacity of the
conduit is estimated at 10000. 900 gallons
and of the filtration plant at 10000. 900
gallons, with all pumps in service. The
usual routine operations were carried
on. The publication Of the water was
very satisfactory. The average turbidity
was reduced from 110 to 0. and the bac-
terial content from 10S3S to 46 per cubic
centimeter The average consumption
was 66.75 million gallons per day. max
ing the average per capita consumption
147 gallons per day.
Total Cost to Date.
According to Gen. Beach, the total
cost of the entire water-supply system
to date has been .537. of which
So, 750, 420 was paid by the United States,
S4,490.115 by the District of Columbia
and 1921. .002 by the Water Department
District of Columbia.
Estimates for maintenance and i'm
provement of the various public works
in the District of Columbia are as
follows: Public buildings and grounds.
1928, $50; repairs. fuel, ETC.. Executive
Mansion. s77,500: lighting Execu-
tive Mansion. $500: lighting. public
Monument, sIs.slo: rejecting pool
west Potomac Park, $500; care of Lin
coin memorial, $13,S00: Salaries OF
employees and contingent expenses.
public buildings and grounds. $162.-
733; Washington aqueduct, $4,000:
maintenance highway bridge, S22,04e:
construction Key bridge at George
town. s45O,000; reclamation of Ana
costa river flats, 100000. In addi-
ton Gen Beach says that $4,000 can
be profitably expended in the next
fiscal year for the maintenance of the
Improvement of the Potomac river at
Washington in addition to the balance
of $50. 7S9 on hand June 30 last.
Expense for Fiscal Year.
Total expenditures for the past fis-
cal wear on the works named were
about $2,00O,000. Gen. Beach summa-
rizes the work accomplished by ex-
penditures on various projects as fol-
lows:
District water supply system-Wa-
ter supply maintained without inter-
ruption; the average daily per capita
consumption was lat gallons; the
average total consumption per "a
hours was sc, 100000 gallons-the max
imum being 79,420.00O gallons.
Anacostia Park-About Is per cent
of the project executed during the
fiscal year, making the project about
AZ per cent completed.
GeorSsSwn (Key bridge)-About 23.41
per lent executed during the fiscal year.
work about 43. 66 per cent completed.
Public buildings and grounds
These were maintained in good condi-
ton: extensive work Of importance in
progress in a number of reservations,
the work of erecting the structure of
the memorial to Abraham Lincoln
was practically completed; the Ar
lington memorial amphirheater and
chapel was completed and turned over
to the quartermaster department of the
Army.
Has Cost &3,225,4IO.
Gen. Beach says that the total ex-
penditures to date on the project
adopted in 1882 for the Improvement
of the harbor of Washington. d. c..
including the making of Potomac,
park, has been $S,225.410. Commerce
has been facilitated, he says; deep.
draft vessels can enter the harbor
and freight rates have been materi.
ally reduced. THE terminal and
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