Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-07


missioners will receive a report which
should go far In providing a final
answer to question discussed
sporadically and with more or less
heat in Washington for the last 80
years. The report will come from
George Watson, chief engineer of the
Fire Department, who Is chairman of
a special committee appointed by the
District Commissioners to investigate
and to reach conclusions regarding the
ACCESSIBILITY of installing system of
high water pressure in the downtown
business district of Washington. The
report will present both sides Of the
matter, with the alternatives for high
water pressure, costs, advantages to
be expected and benefits to be derived
from various methods suggested for
cutting down the fire hazards In the
Capital and bringing the water de-
partment and auxiliary fire equipment
to modern standards in keeping with
the rapid growth Of the city in the
last decade.>
A high pressure system for down
town business Washington is one Of
the questions which has been advocat-
ed steadily, but without success, since
about 1897, when the Board Of Trade
first brought up the subject and
pressed 1t before the Commissioners
and upon Congress. 1t is interesting
to note that nine years after 1t had
first been brought up, it was being
revived by the late Commissioner
Henry B. F. mcfarland, and this
revival was coincidental with Chief
Watson's connection with Fire De-
partment headquarters. Commissioner
Mcfarland asked Congress in 1906
for appropriations for a high-pressure
water system in the downtown area of
Washington. That was 81 years ago.
Congress has never seen fit to grant
the request, and Of late years there
has been some difference Of opinion
not with regard to the benefits to be
derived from high-pressure system,
but involving the question of whether
the money would be better spent in
some other way. The growth Of the
city and its condition today compared
to what 1t was in 1906 have en-
phasized this difference of opinion.
Since 1905 there have been many
changes. The city has grown. The
business district which at that time
was bounded on the north by G street,
has now extended to K. It Is still
expanding, east and west as well as
north. Sections of the city far re-
moved from what was then its bust.
ness district have seen themselves
turn from vacant lots into residential
areas, then complete the metamor-
phosis into humming business Sec
tons. Although a congested business
district still exists in downtown Wash
ington, other business districts have
formed and continue to expand. Along
M street and Wisconsin avenue in
Georgetown; along southeast Pennsyl-
vania avenue and along upper Four
teenth street there are thriving and
busy commercial areas. In 1906 1t
was estimated that an appropriation
not exceeding 100000 was needed to
put in an adequate system of high
water pressure in the congested down.
town area. Today the appropriation
s1,500.0 900 and the highpressure area
would not extend to other business
districts which need adequate fire
protection.
With both increasing and decreas-
ing agitation for high pressure in the
years after 1906, the question was re-
vived again with interest about three
years ago. But in the face of this
new demand the Commissioners con-
CURED in the opinion Of the Fire De-
partment that the departments needs
were not confined to high-pressure
system, as advantageous as such a
system might be. The Fire Depart
ment had fallen under par compared
to the growth of the city. There was
the fear that the District might not
have it's cake and eat it, too; that
money expended on high water pres
sure would take away money which
could well be applied to pressing emer
gencies. The upshot of the matter
was a request by the Commissioners
for an appropriation Of $4,000 to de-
fray expenses Of a thorough investi-
cation of the present high-pressure
systems in other cities; the experience
derived from the use Of such systems
and the applicability of such expert
ence to the situation in Washington.
Chief Watson waS apnointed chairman