Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-28
Senate 0. KS
Toll Bridge at
Great Falls
Commission Members
Named; Abottoir Site
Purchase Blocked

The Senate yesterday approved
bill creating the Great Falls Bridge
Commission and authorizing the
construction, maintenance and OPP
Grafton Of toll bridge across the
Potomac River near Great Falls.
The bill, introduced by Sem
ator Glass, Democrat, of Vir-
ginia, now goes to the House for
consideration. Senator Bailey, Dem
ocrat, of North Carolina reported
for the Senate Commerce Commit
tee that the War Department had
no objections to the bill and that
the Capital Park and Planning
Commission also approved 1t if GER
tain changes were made in the pro-
visions.
Bond Issue Proposed.
The bridge would be constructed
with private funds, to be raised by
bond issue, and would be operated
by a business corporation. The
Government would have no part in
financing nor operating it.
Federal officials, in testimony be-
fore the Senate committee, opposed
the authorization. officials of the
Federal Works Agency and the
Public Roads Administration re-
ported that they did not believe
there would be enough traftlc to
make the undertaking pay.
Proponents of the bill argued that
this was the worry of the business
men who were backing the project
with their own money.
In 1928 the Government granted
a permit to a corporation to con-
struct bridge at the same place.
The group had difficulty in raising
the money, however, and the prof.
ect was abandoned after small
amount of preliminary digging had
been done. In 1899 the project was
brought before Congress again and
was delayed when the Park and
Planning Commission requested that
the authorization be redrawn.
Commission Named.
The bill which the Senate passed
named the following men, who are
organizing the project, as members
of the Great Falls Bridge Com
mission:
Commission Members Named.
The bill named the following as
members of the Great Falls Bridge
Commission:
James Nolan and Robert Peter of
Montgomery County, Md; John c..
Mackall and H. w. T. Eglin of Fair
fax County, Va and J. Edward Bur-
roughs, jr.. of Washington.
Purposes of the bridge are to
facilitate interstate commerce. i'm
prove postal service and provide for
military and other purposes
Chairman Frederic A. Delano of
the Capital Park and Planning
Commission, in his report to the
Commerce Committee, said the
commission preferred a free
bridge" built with funds appro-
priated by Congress as authorized
in the George Washington Memorial
Parkway Act, but that the commits
sion, if Congress did not consider an
appropriation feasible and if the
bill were amended in certain re-
spects, had no objection to the pro-
posed toll bridge. e.
Abattoir Site Purchase Blocked.
A bill for the Government to buy
the site of a former stockyard and
slaughter house at the intersection
of Benning road and Minnesota
avenue NE narrowly missed Senate
approval when it was called back
after passage.
The bill was called back by Sem
ator Danaher. Republican. of Con-
necticut. who questioned the amount
of the appropriation which the Sec
rotary of the Interior was au-
thorized to spend for the property
Senator Byrd. Democrat. of Vir-
ginia explained that in 1886 the
owners of the property were stopped
from building an abattoir there.
Legislation, he said, was introduced
to compensate the owners, Adolph
Gobel, Inc, and the Union Stock
yard Co. of New Jersey, for the loss
they had sustained in the work
already done on the slaughter house
The Committee on Public Buildings
and Grounds cut out the compensa-
ton to the owners so that all that
remained in the bill was an ap-
preparation of not to exceed $500 900
for the purchase of the land. Sena-
tor Byrd estimated the land was
worth around S15000O.