The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1931-09-03

imical to the health. of families that
lived in the White House.
In fact, fifty years ago this month
members of the presidential house
hold were i'll with malaria and there
was great controversy extant over
whether or not the malaria came
from the river and marshy places OF
not. While it is generally conceded
now that the slough was responsible
for numerous cases of White House
illness, there were authorities at that
time who thought they proved that
the contrary was the case. In fact
Major Twining, engineer commits.
sioner of the District of Columbia
declared that the swamp was blame
less and that the sickness in the
home of the president was due to
poor drainage in the White House
itself. There is nothing new about
the flats at ALL" he said. mo sew
age lodges there now" Evidently,
then, there was a time when sewage
did lodge there. Imagine such a
state of affairs within a short dis
lance of the family of the head of
the nation.)
It was at this time that thought
was first given to getting rid of the
flats. Major Twining said that the
District planned to dump 100000 GU
bic feet of soil into the slough and
prove that it could be filled up. Well,
millions and millions of cubic feet
were later deposited there and the
sight of the two wonderful parks is
proof sufficient that the theory was
correct, but l give it no doubt that
fifty years ago there were plenty of
people who stood on the sidelines and
said, at can't be DONE"
1 have in the past told you of the
many buildings which are being torn
down here to give way to open
spaces or to vaster public structures,
and 1 now learn that engineers have
decided that no capital city Of any
country in the history of the world
has ever been subjected to greater
changes than the changes taking
place here right now. Included In
the alterations of the city was the
widening of Constitution Avenue on
the north side of the long. stretch of
parkway known as the Mall. Great
stone pillars, rested at the edge OF
the old street, to mark the beginning
of the Mall, and it was necessary to
set these pillars back twenty feet to
provide the additional width for the
street. On some of these pillars were
carved figures which gave the depth
of high water along this point dur
ing the great flood in June, 1889.
During the first week of that event.
full month, the water in the Potomac
river rose higher than were ever
recorded before, and spread back over
the lower lands of the southwestern
part of the city and crept onward
over a part Of the northwest section
and on toward Pennsylvania Avenue.
All streets in the inundated territory
became canals. At that time the
Baltimore & Ohio Railway had its
station on Sixth street southwest,
across from the present Census Bur-
eau, and the water rose to the top
step of the depot"
If you ride down the Potomac riv-
er in a steamboat or drive down in an
automobile, toward Alexander, the
first sight that will greet your eyes
will be the wonderfully beautiful
Masonic Memorial to George Wash
ington, erected at the edge OF the
old town on hilltop overlooking a
series of terraces. This structure is
to be dedicated in May next year
and it is estimated that 100000 men,
bers of the Blue Lodge from through
out the United States will be pres
emit to witness the impressive cere-
monies. The services will last a
week. The Memorial represents an
expenditure of four million dollars.
From figures which / have just OBJ
tanned, it would appear that the
Treasury Department has the great
est number of Civil Service employees
in Washington. At any rate, the
figure is very large. There are 49,
459 men and women working for the
Treasury. The Department of Com
merce also has large force, 10,-
600. The White House, l notice, has
forty-three Civil Service employees.
Here are some of the departments,
bureaus, and agencies using Civil
Service employees in Washington:
The White House, State Department,
Treasury, War Department, Depart
ment of Justice, Post Office, Navy,
Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, La
Dor, Government Printing Office,
Smithsonian Institution, Interstate
Commerce Commission, Employees