Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-11

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: 1926 Engineer Commissioner j.
Franklin Bell announced today that
: he would begin Immediately to pre-
pare for future eventualities in order
10 fortify the Capital against the
. potential Gripping of its transporta-
/ ton arteries.
Keeping the lanes of travel open
and street cars moving without Sc
! rious interruption was, indeed, re-
markable considering the limited
amount of labor and equipment. Com
missioner Bell explained. and the un-
usual heaviness of the fall OF snow
served to emphasize the need for pre-
paredness in combating similar con-
ditions. which may arise any WINTER. 4
The we'll planned program of snow
removal adopted last year by the snow
defense committee, he believes, de
serves a share of the credit.
Business Men Laud Work.
Representatives of the city's bust
ness organizations Joined today IN
praising the authorities for their work
and in Complimenting The Star for its
steady campaign which led to adoption
of the snow removal plan.
The present snow removal EQUIP
ment of the District. while adequate
under normal conditions, Col. Bell
said would not be sufficient in an
emergency. and he announced that
il is his intention to ask Congress next
year and every subsequent year to add
= few plows. trucks. flushers and other
mechanical apparatus.
The snow defense committee recon-
mended that an emergency fund Of
1855. 600 he created. s233. 900 of which
would he spent on equipment and the
remainder for labor. The recon-
mendation. however. was never car
ried out and this Winter the Street
Cleaning Department has been forced
to combat snow with funds appro-
priated for street cleaning.
Approximately $4,000 was spent in
removing the comparatively light fan
of snow January s. and 7. l.. Costi
gan. surerinr endent Of street clean
ing. estimated roughly today that the
recent storm would draw at least
$50 900 more from the street cleaning
funds. Commissioner Sell is hopeful
of getting this money back through a
deficiency appropriation which Con
cress will he urged to grant. other
wise the street cleaning work in the
summer will suffer materially.
New Equipment.
The District spent A siZable sum
last year in auSmentinG its snow re-
. inON3l aDpdFdJu MI. 'OSIlSdn eN-
! planned and like Commissioner Eer
he is dubious about the proposal to
acquire A large amount of equipment
which might not he used in wears
The storm Tuesday night. he said.
demonstrated conclusivcly that the
Street Cleaning Department can cone
with an unusual situation like this
one with its present equipment If il
adheres TO the preparedness program
I s 1T
gets on the job without delay.
Twelve new plows and six graders
were among the equipment acquired
last year. and this gave the depart
| ment 80 plows In addition to its own
trucks and - hired ones with which
TO remove snow and keep traffic lanes
open. Eight hushers also were used
With this equipment, Mr.. Costisan
Hald. the % routes mapped out by
he snow defense committee. averac-
ing about 10 miles each, were covered
mi kept open until the storm ceased
These included such north and south
nund streets as sixth. Tenth
Twelfth. Thirteenth. Sixteenth. Seven.
teehth and Eighteenth. The east
and west bound thorouchfares which
We're plowed included all those in the
downtown business section from
Pennsylvania avenue to X street as
ida and Rhode Island avenues. In the
outlying districts the streets cleaned
were connecticut avenue beyond Ca.
| thedral avenue. Wisconsin avenue be-
You'd Massachusetts avenue Sixteenth
street north of the bridge. Fourteenth
street north of Monroe street. Georgia
avenue north of Rock Creek Church
road and Rhode Island avenue as far
east as the District line.
Men Still Working.
The vanguard of the snow-removal
force started work about O'Clock
Wednesday morning. when the fall
had reached q depth of about > inches
and three hours later Mr.. Costigan
had between 400 and 500 men ightipg
he snow. These men worked ince,s
sanity until shortly after o'clock
yesterday afternoon. and a fresh but
smaller force was put to work last
night and early today in clearing moro
snow from the downtown streets.
Mr.. Costigan explained that the plan
outlined by the snow defense commit
tee was followed religiously. The car
line streets and the traffic highways
not Carrying car lines were first at
tackled. The next move was to con
centrate on the business district. Cross
walks were cleared for pedestrians
car tracks as F and G the snow was
carted away and dumped into man.
holes.
1t is estimated that s. miles of
streets with car tracks were plowed
in addition to "A miles of traffic high
ways. The fact that the streets with
car tracks were plowed carly. Mr.. Cos
tigan said, kept motorists off the
tracks and enabled the cars to oper-
ate without interruption.
While District authorities estimate
! that the cost of removing Tuesday
nights snow at approXima tely $50, 900.
they will be without accurate and
complete figures for several days.
One of the first communications
opened today by Col. Bell came from
charles j. Columbus. secretary of the
Merchants and Manufacturers Asso-
citation. who served on the snow de-
Tense committee with Ross p. An
drews, John l.. Newbold. Rudolph
Jose. John II. Hanna and William S.
Corhy, all representatives of the three
local trade bodies. Traffic Director
NJ. o. Eldridse was another who
praised the prompt removal Of the
snow.
Praise for Campaign.
Mr.. Columbus statement follows:
The Star is to be commended for the