Evening star., 1932-10-30

structed as to allow the waters to flow over them
in case of an unusual freshet and thus obviate
any danger to property in the vicinity Of the
canal by reason Of an overflow thereof. The
waters of Rock Creek few into the basin, but
there Is no danger of the sediment and deposit
from there causing any serious difficulty, as 1t
will all be carried into the Anacostia by the re-
ceding tides. The cost Of the causeway will be
about $4,000 The original contract was for
$4,000 but the plans subsequently so
altered to make the cost reach the amount
first above named This is, however, cheap
expenditure for so great benefits as will be
derived
After full inspection had been made and
an explanation had been given of the work the
visitors partook of beautiful repast which
had been prepared for them by the contractors
Alderman T. E. Lloyd presided at one end OF
the table (Which had been spread under pro-
tective awnings on the causeway) and Coun-
Gilman w. w. Moore at the other end.
Speeches were made by Messrs. Lloyd, S. A.
Peugh w. w. Moore, T. B. Florence B. B.
French Thomas Green, Randolph Coyle and
Capt. Fred Stuart
IA /HEN the city was first laid out, the old
w Tiber-later converted into the Washing
ton Canal-frequently covered Pennsylvania
avenue from the foot of the Capitol to the Post
high tide And particularly was this so in the
vicinity of where the Tiber crossed Pennsyl-
vania avenue at Second street. where, in addi-
ton. there considerable marsh land. In
deed, the writer only recently came across a
Civil War picture of soldiers marching up the
Avenue in water knee deep.
In 1922, when Congress authorized the Cor
poration of Washington to apply to the canal
company to have the location of the canal
changed, it was done largely for the purpose
of draining the abandoned part of the canal
near the Capitol and the surrounding marshy
land an area said to have included 1000, 900
feet. or about 90 acres
After the canal was taken over by the local
government the filling and draining were con-
tinued by the city, the Government contributing
in all for this purpose, an account of the
transaction states, the sum of $4,000. In
1867 it was said the ground reclaimed was worth
81 foot, so that when the canal was filed in,
in the late 70s. the Government was at least
better off to the extent of s3,s1ooo0.
gentleman writing of this matter at the
time says:
But it certainly can be worth no less on
an average than 81 a foot, or 81 900 900, which
is more than 20 times as much as all the money
the Government has ever contributed toward
making these improvements. But what Is Of
far greater importance than the value of all
this ground is the benefit to the general health
marsh formed by the Tiber and from the use
Of the canal as a duct for carrying of the
foul sewerage of the city, for had the canal not
been formed and this marsh had been left in
its natural state, and, as must have been the
case, the foul sewerage Of the city had been
allowed to flow into it, its condition must long
since have become quite intolerable. The vest
ward view from the Capitol, which is now so
agreeable, would have become most painfully
repulsive. for the sight in that direction would
then have rested upon q desolate marsh Of q
mile in length and hundreds Of feet in width.
of the character Of an open cesspool, giving
forth emanations as offensive to the sense, II
not as deleterious to life. that ascribed to
the vale of the Bohan Upas."
But then Of course, Congress is supreme,
and, II might Is right 1t can never be wrong,
however to the contrary we may think about it.
Much Of the area along Constitution avenue
westward from Fourteenth street and west
ward from the Monument was once covered
with water and the Army and Navy buildings
are built upon reclaimed land Indeed, If Mr..
Van Ness were to return to earth again he
would probably ind it impossible to locate
where his bridge once stood near the intersec-
ticn Of Seventeenth ard Cd E streets.