Evening Star Newspaper, October 8, 1881, Page 2

THE STREETS AND ROADS OF THE DISTRICT Report of Lieutenant Greene, AN INTERESTING AND INTELLIGENT EXHTBIT. ‘The following report by Lieut. Greene to En- eineer Commissioner Twining upon the streets and roads In the District of Columbia, will be fead with pral interest: Ep INEER DEPARTMENT, Disraiet oF Conmunta, Wasurserox, D.C., Sept. 30, 1881. Major W. J. Trine Army, Engineer Commissioner, D.C.: Mason: honor to submit the fol- ending June 3, 18Si. The natureof the work performed is shown in the following statement: SUMMARY STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND ESTIMATES. ees |e Ratimt'a 1882-43. 1. Replacement of paw t= and improve it of sts. and aves. $299,391 99 $300,000 t conerete nents * vial for permit to macadaai tre a . 5. $739,250 on for this purpose was $75,000. The will be expended under cont yet completed. over Rock Creek. road. ‘was expended for ereeting under the appropriation of mut $1 a Rehtinse lain} Bow for that purpose PAVEMENTS. The condition of the streets on the Ist of @uly last was as follows: Bieter of paver Square Yards. Miles. nerete (asphalt and coal 446,089 16.18 550,456 17.70 215.33 745 663.455 $2.25 330.685 16.70 Total improved 333,253 135.20 Unimproved.. 1.782.445 95.00 The most important work executed on the streets since the establishment of the present form of government, in 1873, has been the gradual replacement of the worthless wooden Pavements. The amount of this pavement still Yemaining at various dates since the present joners came into office is as follows: 59. yards. 000 626,742 509481 3 5 stg bout 38,000 square been temporarily repaired with 0 yards are included in contracts st, ISS1, and nearly completed, a be réplaced next f the present ap- vefure, be on the Ist < ts, containing } ooden pavement, impassable and dangerous. a great many of the principal hifares bave now been properly paved, 2any important streets are included in these - w Jersey, ¥ New Hampshire 1 Maryland avenues.and of Mth, The proper paving of these now covered with fragments Of wood exceeds in importance all other work on the streets. and it is hoped that as much of i if not quit nt revenues of the next fiscal year as ply be spared, e ordi the city are pri for this work. . i us annual reports, sinée id in this city have been of tions. to wit: A pave- asphaltic concrete laid on a foundation ydraulic cement concrete, for streets moderate crade and uniformly distributed tra and a pavement of cranite blocks laid on a foundation ef well-rofled gravel and sand, and the joints, for streets of heavy orcontined travel orsteep grades. In addition one or two squares have been paved ach year with compressed asphalt blocks, a lack Of certainty as to the durability of this pavement havins prevented its use in larger quantities. The qualities of these different pavements Were discussed at length in the last annual Feport, and it is not necessary to again describe them. Certain minor changes have been made as the result of a large practical experience, but in <eneral terms the character of the pavements has not been altered since 1873. The principal of these minor changes consist in laying granite Blocks in the gutters, where the stamping of horses in wet weather destroys the asphaltic Concrete. in paving the entire strip of two feet Rext to railroad tracks (which is paid for and Maintained by the railroad companies) in granite blocks, and in purchasing all granite blocks in saeance so as to secure a rigid inspection of en. In reward to the cost, the lowest figures were Feached in 1879, when a very large amount of as- pale pavement was laid at $1.47 a square yard. Fisen to 21.85, and finally to $2.07 per yard. In granite pavements the price ruled at about £2.12 yard in 1878 and gradually fell to $1.78 in i i n again and at present costs The asphalt block pave- price from $2.37 to $1.76 per ntracts make the cost of this ement about $1.85 per square yard. ‘The exact amount and cost of all pavements replacement of wood during the past three years is shown in the following statement: The cost inciue Corps of Enuineers, U.S. | riet of Columbia for the fiseal year | p. | CURRENT WORK OF REPAIRS OF STREETS AND nce that date the price of this pavement has | order. When finally the surface is worn out so that small repairs are no longer sufficient then. the street is resurfaced with a coating of asph- altic concrete similar to that used in new asph- alt pavements. The following streets were thus resurfaced last year, viz: ware A Cost. G s.w., from 434 to 11th. Sroouas “$1688 O n.w., from Sth to 13th... 4,774.70 ‘733.40 Contracts were also madein May last for resur- facing portions of Pennsylvania avenue, Ver- mont avenue, F and H-streets, amounting in alk! to 25,000 yards, but owing to the tailure of the contractors the work has not yet been com- pleted. The annual cost of maintaining all the con- crete pavements in the District averaged 8!¢ cents per yard for the seven years pre- | vious to 1880. For the last yearthe cost (in- cluding contracts not yet executed) was about 9 cents per yard. If constantly attended to in the manner above described, the surfaces can be kept in good order at small e: and they then give great satisfaction. An appro- prfation of not less than €50,000 should be made r this se for the next year. The righ stone ents Are, aS a jeral rule, in order. Tt is an inferior kind of pave- ment, and the lim:ted appropriation made annu- | ally for mfScellaneous work under the superin- tendent of repairs is entirely inadequate to keep them in proper order. The macadam pavements have greatly deterio- rated during the six years in which hardly any repairs have been made tothem. The pavement on 434 street is so completely worn out that a Portion of it is now being replaced with granite blocks. The rest of the street will be repaired from the appropriation of $5,000 made at the last session of Congress for repairs to macadam | Toadways. A small amount of work, greatly needed, can also be executed with this appro- priation on other macadam streets. A similar apy jation should be made for next year. ie graveled streets are, as a general rule, in localities where there is not a greal deal of | travel. They are kept in as good order as is | possible with the small appropriation for miscel- laneous repairs. OTHER IMPROVEMENTS. Of the appropriation of $300,000 for paving and improving streets, five-sixths of the whole amount was expended in replacing the wood. The remaining $50,000 was expended as fol- lows: E st.s.w.. from 424 to 7th st.—Grading | and laying asphalt pavement....... $9,672 43 | Hst.s.w.. from 41 to 7th—Grading | _ and laying asphalt pavement... 10,128 06 7,428 09 I st.n.w., from 17th to 18th—Replacing rabble pavement with alt. .... |H st. n.w., from 15% to 1614—Re- | placing rubble pavement with | asphalt blocks..............+.. Water st. s.w., from 12th to 13!¢- Grading and laying stone pavement. U st. n.w., 14th to 16th—Grading, | graveling, and sidewalks.......... th st. ., D to K—Grading and grav- eling. 18th st. n-w., P to S—Grading. , N.Y. ave., N. Cap. to Boundary- Grading’... 7,681 08 4,825 69 4,213 88 2,034 19° $49,953 78 ‘0 the above various streets were improved in front of private property by parties interested therein, under the “permit system,” the District furnishing the materials, such as curb, bricks, &c. The total length of these im- provements was 11,241 feet or 2.1 miles, and the cost of the materials furnished by the District was $11,236.63. Portions of various alleys, amounting in all to 1,143 square yards, were also paved under the same system. The filling up of the old canal was continued last winter under the special appropriation of $20,000 made by the United States fur this pur- pose. This work has been carried on each winter for the past three years, under special appropriations; accomplishing the double pur- pose of providing employment for worthy poor during the season, when all other work is sus. pended, and of abating the nuisance created by the old canal. The work has now progressed from South Capitol street to L street south, a distance of 2.111 feet. and has resulted in fe- claiming 11's acres of land to the United As a necessary incidental to the work 1, of sewers have been laid to provide for the erage, which formerly emptied into the canal. | There only remains a portion about 1,000 feet in length unfilled at the extremity of the eanal, | wh yuld be completed by a ‘similar appro- | priation during the coming Winter. | ALL There are 25 miles of stone pavements, 35 miles of graveled streets, 43 miles of paved al- | leys and 260 miles of brick sidewalks, for the | ordinary and current repairs of which no special provision is made except in one general appro- | priation for “current repairs.” The estimate | submitted for this purpose last year -was £30, 000, but the appropriation made for the current year was only £20,000. This sam is totally in- | adequate to perform the large amount of work of this character absolutely necessary in. the se of the year, and it will be impossible to | Prevent some of the cobble and ‘gravel streets | from getting into very bad order after the rains of next spring. Thirty thousand dollars is the i least sum for which this work can be done. It | Cost $33,412.46 in 1879-80 and $32,164.72 in 1880- 81. The nature of the work performed last year is shown in the statement of the Superin- tendent of Repairs (Appendix table E.) It in- cluded 29.703 square yards of cobble stone taid or relaid, 14,400 feet of gutter stone relaid, 2,560 feet of curbit brick sidewalks relaid y ing rondways and 30 receiving basins. built under pumps and hydrants to carry the. drip- pings into the nearest sewer. | _ After every heavy rain large numbers of “dan- | gerous holes” are reported by the police, and these must be promptly repaired, in order to prevent accident. The present force of overseers (and many of the laborers) employed under the superintendent of repairs, have been selected from among the employés of several years past, and are thoroughly efficient and familiar with their duties, and the work performed underthem usually costs less than similar work executed under contract, and it is much betterdone. It is heped that the importance of this class of work will be recognized at the next session of Con- | gress by making a sufficient appropriation forit. | In regard to the sidewalks, the old municipal ordinance of 1853 required the owners or ten- ants of property to keep the sidewalks in proper 3,645 24 | during the and preseht year, and require ttore re Cleaning, it is‘probable that this appropriation will be insufficient to carry the present schedule of cleaning during the year, ‘nd in the spring the streets will have to be cleaned jess frequently. For the next year the appropriation should be restored to $33,000. ALLEYe CLEANING. The alleys are cleaned on the same system at present, paved'alleys by contract, at 31 cents per ‘Square yard for each cleaning, and unpaved al- leys by day's labor. During the past year the alleys were cleaned by ‘contract for a fixed*um of $4,275. The alleys are cleaned once a week during the summer months, and once in two ‘weeks during the winter. STREET LIGHTING. The streets are ligtited by the Washington and “Georgetown gas companies, under contratts with those companies at so much per lamp per annum. The rate last year was $28.70 in Wash- ington and $32 in Georgetown. The price was reduced ‘by act of Congress to take effect on July 1, 1881, to $25 per lamp, including all ex- pa of repairs. lighting, etc. Hitherto the istrict has paid for extraordinary repairs, each as the destruction of the lantern by storms, etc. The lamps are erected by the District, and cost, ‘at present contract rates for iron castings, about $2leach. On'the ist of July last there were on the streets and alleys of the two cities 4,202 lamps, 162 haying been erected during the past year. With the appropriation of $1,000 for erection of Gry during the present year about 48 lamps will erected, s0 that there will be 4,250 lamps to be lighted next year at $25 each, or $106,250 in all. During the past year the cost of street lighting was $117.231.69, and during the present_year the appropriation is $108,325. The act of June 4, 1880, appropriated $2,000 for erecting and lighting lamps in alleys. Under this appropriation 75 lamps were erected in the alleys, where they ure of great service to the Police in following criminals. COUNTY ROADS. The principal work done in the county during the past year was the thorough repair of a por- tion of the 7th street road, which is the main entrance to the city from the country on the north. This work beganat Boundary street, and | for a distance of 1,437 feet the entire road’ pea was picked up and relaid with macadam, the curbs were set, and sidewalk repaired. Beyond this point the road was repaired by picking up the old macadam, rebreaking itandadding fresh metal in the central portion of the road 18 feet wide, and in gravelling the road on each side of the maeadam. The work was done by days’ labor in the most thorough manner. It was stopped by bad weather in the latter part of November, at which time the work had pro- gressed as far as Summy’s Hill, a distance of 9,287 feet. The cost of this (ineluding an ac- cumulation of macadam metal for further work) exhausted the appropriation of $15,000 madefor | that special purpose. This year the work was resumed on July 5th, and continued until Sep- tember 28th, at which date it had progressed as far as the foot of the hill leading to Brightwood —a distance of 4,730 feet from the point of begin- ning. No special appropriation having been made for this year, the cost (amounting to $7,750) was paid from the appropriation for general repair of county roads. Next summer me work can be completed as faras Bright- wood. No new roads were constructed during the past year. The ordinary repairs of the roads (about 100 miles in length) other than 7th street, were made from time to time as required, at a total cost of $17,268.20, or £172 per mile. Most of the roads are now in fair condition, and in repairing them an effort is made, as far as the funds will permit, to make the repairs of a per- manent character by substituting broken stone (gathered and broken during the winter) for the ordinary bank gravel, which contains so large a proportion cf clay and earthy matter; and in repairing small culverts and drains stone | masonry is used in place of wooden abutments. | _ During the present year the appropriation is $20,000, which is only two-thirds of the esti | mate submitted, as necessary for this pu Owing to the large expenditure required for the ith street road there will rei 12,250 for the other roads. and in the . nt is not ¢ the roads will prob- n@ extent. For the next appropriation should be not less than $25,000, in order to carry on tie work on 7th street road and keep the other roads tn proper repair. SURVEY OF THE DISTRICT. The careful survey of the District, made by the Coast Survey, the District paying the current expenses, which was begun in July, 1880. has now progressed so far that the triangulation is complete, andthe topography of sheet No. 1, embraeing an area of about eizht square miles, ill be completed during the month of October. The field work costs the District about £700 per square mile, and the territory adjacent to the city, of which maps are now urgently needed, embraces about 35 square mi The appropri- ation for the current year is $5,000, but in order to prosecute the work more rapidly a larger ap- propriation will be necessary. The object of this survey is to obtain accurate maps of a scale sufficiently large to make proper plans for the extension or the streets and ave— nues in the rapidly growing portion of the coun- ty, just north of the city. The streets hitherto laid out in that section do not conform to each other or to the general plan of the city, and an alteration in their lines will be demand as they are thickly built upon. It is very tant that this error should be avoided in streets to be laid out hereafter. ESTIMATES FOR COMPLETION OF STREETS. The act establishing the present form of yov- ernment requires the Commissioners to transmit annually to Congress estimates of the amount necessary to defray the expenses for the next fiseal year, and among these estimates “a state- ment showing in detail the work proposed to be undertaken by them during the fiscal year next ensuing, and the estimated cost thereof.” The act further provides that after Congress ap- | proves these estimates it shall appropriate the amount of one-half thereof, and that the other half shall be raised by a certain uniform tax upon taxable property and privileges. There being no provision for assessing any portion whatever of the cost of street improve- ments upon the abutting property, petitions im- mediately came in, in.large numbers, praying for improvements of every character. The nuinber of these petitions presented during the last three ears, and now on file in this office, amounts to ry street in the y about | ‘hich abutting property could ‘gome ee of = fark street improvements by wi its value is im- mensely enhanced, much more work could be done €ach year; and the readiness of property holders to share the expense would assist the Commissioners in selecting what work is to be done among the immense quantity asked for. Without such assessments the general revenues cannot the balance of wood pavement replace alone in Jess than two years. I respectfully submit this schedule to your judgment in order that you may select the work to be executed during the next fiscal year. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, F. V. GREENE, Ist Lieut. Engineer. 0 ‘FEARFUL CATASPROPHE IN SWITZERLAND. 4 TERRIBLE LAND SLIDE—HOUGES ORUSHED AND ‘BURIED —MANY LIVES LOST— DISTRESSING SCENES—GRAPHIC ACCOUNT OF THE DISASTER— NOBLE DEATH OF BRAVE BBOCUBRS. Correspondence of The Evening Star. GLarvs, SWITZERLAND, Sept. 13, 1881. Since the destruction of Goldan in September, 1806, by a land slide from the Rossberg, Switzer- land has not been visited by a more fearful dis- aster than the utter demolition, on Sunday afternoon, September 11th, of a large portion of the picturesque village of Elm, in the canton of Glarus, nestled under the lee of the great Tschingel Alp, at the base of the Laaxer and Stoekli glaciers. The geological formation of the Tschingel consists largely of argillacious schist, and the perils of a land slide were from time to time predicted; but familiarity with im- pending danger dulls apprehension, and not until after two days of heavy rainfall, on the 9th inst., when the great and widening fissures ap- peared in the mountain’s sides, did the villagers commence to realize that measures should be taken to ayert a catastrophe. A local engineer was called on to devise Means calculated to meet the emergency. But alas, too late; and now the site of the lower portion of the village, comprising twenty-one dwellings, with most of their inmates, numerous out-houses, stables. cattle, horses and well- stocked barns, beautifal gardens, orchards and meadows, lies buried beneath from twenty to forty feet. ee crermcatary Tocks, crashed trees and mountain debris. On Sunday afternoon of. the day of the terrible catastrophe, it was no- ticed by different groups of villagers sitting in front of their dwellings that fragments of rocks would from time to time come bounding down the mountain side, until about four o'clock a larger mass descended, crushing in ite course the offices and other build, of the slate quar- ring company located hef®. Still no. serious harm to the Village was apprehended. Peopie ‘sat quietly that Sunday afternoon before their doors, watching listlessly the passing cloudsand planning for to-mofrow’s work. When sud- denly, as it were in a moment, an unearthly crashing and rumbling was heard, and instantly a thick cloud of dust was thrust, as it were. over and into the village, enveloping everything in deep darkness, followed immediately by a whole | mountain side of huge rocks, immense trunks of trees and great patches of sward. the whole tumbling, grinding and sliding forward in inexplicable con- fusion with irresistible force into the valley where but a few moments before had so peace- fully and attractively stood Elm with its one thousand thrifty inhabitants. Then all became silent as a cemetery, and the clouds of dust slowly lifting revealed to the horror-stricken denizens of the upper end of the village the fearful extent of the disaster visited upon their fellow-citizens. Help! help! was the ery from every quarter, and nothing daunted manystrong and willing hands rushed forward to the rescue of those who lay buried deep beneath the debris of a mountain side. Hardly were the picks swung and shovels desperately doing duty.when another ominous rumble was heard, followed almost immediatley by a ter crash, an irre- sistible column of w immense area of the mountain side h ‘d_into the valley, bur- ing the rescuers whilst at their noble work, and covering past all hope of rescue those whom the first land slide had over- taken in their homes. So powerful was | the pressure of the column of air which preceded these landslides that an iron bridge hing some twelve tons was bodily lifted et up endwise by it—persons on the street were raised by it and then dashed to the ground and. suffocated. Children were thuscrushed in full view of their parents; wives torn from the | sides of their hnsbands and killed. A woman in | confinement was being removed ona stretcher | to a place of safety when the second crash came | and remorsele buried her, the infant and the | rescuers. There is hardly a family left which | mourns not the loss of one or more of its mem- | bers and some honseholds are entirely extinct. | Ofthe town council two members perished. Of | some 120 persons missing only 12 corpses have as yet been un¢garthed. Of the beautiful forest tract above the yillages, whereof the timber was valued at $10,000, not a vestige remains, the site of its former shade being cut clean, as though a reaper had passed over it. The width ot the mountain side which has thus been pre- cipitated into the yalley below is not less than one thousand feet ana the area covered by the debris fully one mile square. The federal au- thorities at Berne at once, on learning of the catastrophe, dispatched the engincer in chief to the seene to render advice and aid, and & commission, consisting of the President and Secretaries of the Interior and Agricultural de- partments promptly visited the place to inspect and report. The corpses, as from time to time they are brought in and laid out in the village church, which escaped destruction, and has been converted into amorgue, look ghastly disfigured, many faces being crushed almost beyond recog nition—limbs and portions ef different bodies lay side by side. From all quarters relays of rescuers have arrived, and, unceasing is the work of rescue going on, but, alas, corpses alone are secured—the fearful avalanche of rocks did its destructive work too effectually. Apprehen- sion of a farther slide exist. as numerous ex- such. The stream which meanders through the valley is partially damned, and its waters, perco- lating through the fallen rock and debris will convert it into a mass of stone and mud, and so suffocate any of the unfortunate who, though buried alive, may, perchance, have escaped being crushed by protecting timbers and walls. Great, indeed, is the ery of distress. posed fissures in the mountain side indicates | OUR ABORIGINAL PREDECESSORS. The Iutians Who Once Lived on the Site of Waskington City. CURIOUS FACTS FROM ANCIENT RECORDS ABOUT ‘THE MASSAWOMEKES AND OTHER WARLIKE TRIBES WHO ONCE INHABITED THIS SECTION ‘OF THE COUNTRY. In the interesting article upon the “History Saturday, July 16th, mention was made by the writer of a noted and once powerful tribe of In- dians, who once lived upon the shores of this Tiver and were called the Massawomekes. The history of this tribe has always been ‘enveloped im some mytery, Ro‘accoumt as to what became of it hay ever been accepted as authentic. Prof. A. L. Gusa, about a year einee, delivered a lecture this: before the Anthro, ‘upon this subject po logical Society at the Smithsonian Iustitation, In which he related some interesting facts. His subject was “* WHO WERE THE MASSAWOMEKES? An inqniry into the identity of certain In- dians met by Captain John Smith at the head of ‘the Chesapeake bay in 1608, with an account of certain members of the Huron Iroquois family, obliterated at an early date, and overlooked by historians.” He said there were four subdivis- ions of this question: hat facts are related by Smith and his companions concerning the Mas- sawomekes? 2. To what aboriginal family, na- tion and tribe have our historical writers re- ferred them? 3. Is this identitication correct ? if not, what is their true identity? 4. What was the true location and situation of th several nations and tribes of the Huron Iroquois family during the first half century of European settle- ment, or prior to the changes incident on the introduction of firearms among the Iroquois ? THE SETTLEMENT AT JAMESTOWN, he said, was made in 1607, one hundred and Although some attempts at exploration and settlement were made along the middle Atlantic coast prior to this date, yet the Indian history of Mexico is as completely unknown during these one hundred and fifteen years as during the great indefinite period prior to the discovery. Smith’s history first introduces us to the tribal divisions and dialectical families. It was first published fragmentary; then as a whole in ondon in 1629, and reprinted at Richmond, Virginia, in 1819. The “second booke” is from the pen of Captain Smith himself, and contains an account, among many other interesting things, of meeting “seven boats full of these Massawomekes” at the head ot the Chesapeake bay. The “third booke” is made up mostly from. the narratives of several of Smith's companions and edited by Dr. William Simons, and this also treats of the Massawomekes, giving some addi- tional details about them. Prof. Gass proceeded to give quotations from both Smith and Simons. JOHN SMITH’S EXPLORATIONS OF THE CHESA- PEAKE BAY AND ITS RIVERS. Smith made two exploring expeditions up the Chesapeake Bay in 1608; the first commenced June 2d and the other July 24, in an open barge of “aboute two tans, and had it but twelve i Yet he gto: of the Chesapeake and its inflow- ing streams, which was long the standard and which must ever remain marvelous monument of this indefatigable explorer. It was during his first voyage while among the savages of Cus-kar-a-waok, now the Uanticoke river, op- posite the mouth of the Potomac, whom Sinith terms ‘the best marchants of all other salyages;” that he first heard of this tribe of Indians. SMITH'S SEARCH FOR THE MYSTERIOUS TRIBE. He says the Indians “much extolled agreat na- tion called Massawomekes.” They pointed across the bay as_the dire from which they came, and Smith inferring that they might beon the islands in the bay, “returned by Limbo,” In search of them. Not finding them he rowed up the bay and crossed over to the western sh | and came as far north as Bolus.now Gunpowd | river. Here he exhorted his men: “Re: your old spirits, for return I wilnot, if God please, until I have seen the Massawomekes, found Patowomek, er the head of | this water you conceit to be end- | less.” Sickness, however, compelled his return. At the mouth of the Potomac they summoned | courage to explore that river, then returning to the mouth of the James river where the nat inferred from some signs that they had been to finally told as a great secret that they had taken spoils from the Massawomekes, which report spread up the river towards Jamestown faster than they rowed the barge. It is apparent th the natives east of the bay and on the west si as far south as Fortress Monroe, were in co! stant dread of the incursions of a people they termed the Massawomekes, and that their de- scription greatly excited Smith to see them. SMITH’S SECOND TRIP—HE ENCOUNTERS THE MASSAWOMEKES. On the second voyage, returning to the mouth of the James, in the vicinity of the present Fortress Monroe, Smith again imposed upon the credulity of the natives by feigning an ex- pedition against the Massawomekes, and by this means was well feasted by the king. They were rowed beyond the point reached during the first voyage and explored the head of the Chesapeake bay. While crossing the head of tl y they met seven canoes filled with the veritable Massawomekes. Both parties made | preparations for an encounter, but the Indians finally took to the shore and there-stood staring at the strange sight until Smith’s boat anchored. close by them. e After a long deliberation two of them ventured |} to come to Smith in acanoe, followed by the others at a distance. The two being presented with a bell each the whole party soon became so familiar that they all came aboard the barge. The two parties—whites and savages—did not understand each other and had a conference only by signs, from which Smith inferred that they had been AT WAR WITH THE TOCKWoGHS, a Leni Lenape tribe on the Elk river, east of the head of the bay, for they showed fresh wounds as evidence of an encounter. They gave Smith “venison, bears’ flesh, fish, bows, arrows, clubs, targets and bear skins.” “The night parting us,” says Smith, “we imagined they appointed the next morning to meet, but after that we never saw them.” * * * “A rocky river, of the Potomac,” published in Tux Star -of | fifteen years after the discovery of America. | the states north of the belt adjoining the Guif of | war, pressed them for an answer, and they were | | in the National Museum, startling their beaver, he states: ‘Here I was tempted to ron ap the river to the heads; there to trade with strange populous natives called Mow- bawke, man-eaters, but after good deliberation gave it up.” Neill supposed that these Mow- bawks were the historic Mowhawks, one of the Five Nations. This mistake abundantly appeared ‘in the fact that it was up the Potomac river ‘that he was tempted to run his craft in order to trade with the man-eaters. To understand this, it is only mecessary to recall to mind that the term Ser he as used by the Dutch on the Hud- ‘Son, and by the New Englanders that day spelled Mohucks, Mohogs, Mowhaks, and in many other ys. Although it ripened into Mohawk, as ‘denoting the most eastern of the Five Nations, it did for many vears after the first settlements signify ly any or all of said tribes, or that Kind of peone. These iniand tribes, who used the throat-speaking language, were stig- matized by the natives along the Hudson riveras man-eaters, and the white people got the name from them, and as first it simply desig- nated the Mohawks as cannibals. It was a term —- teed by the Algonquins of the coast, and the charge to some extent was no doubt true. The word, as used by Fleet, was intended to designate Indians of the same kind in habit and language, but not in location or tribe. As he understood it, these man-eaters were about the heads of the Potomac, whether it was pos- sible to go in some kind of water craft, and it is certain that they were not the New York Mo- | hawks. FLEET'S RVENTFUL VOYAGE UP THE POTOMAC. After a trip to New England Fleet is again found at the mouth of the Potomac, Monday, May 21, 1632, where he came to anchor, and whence he sent his brother Edward and some Indians on the north side of the river, toward the falls, to what he terms the **Emperor,” who lived at the Piscattaways. This he termed a three-duys’ journey, five miles. “On the 26th he arrived at Potow- mack town, at the mouth of Potomac creek, and on the 3d of June at the emperor's. Further up the river there was an Indian town, which Fleet | says the emperor called the ‘Nacostines.” It | was here that Fleet had been captured in 1632, and twenty of his companions killed by the Na~ costines, a name from which our Anacostia and Analostan are derived. and who lived on and | near the site of the present city of Washington. BOER EE RL A WASHINGTON WHALE STORY. A PLASTER CAST TAKEN FROM A LIVE SEA MON- STER—THE WORK NOW GOING ON IN A SECLUDED CORNER OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM BUILDING. A Star reporter strolling through the Smith- sonian grounds came unexpectedly upon a scene under the trees that transfixed him with astonishment. Just west of the towering insti- tution building is a modest litte stracture. This ‘isthe modeller’s building—the busy workshop out of which have come the myriads of models of fishes, properly assorted and tagged in the cases of the National Museam, and the host of snakes, | salamanders and reptiles that seem to be ready to crawl or spring from their places on the shelyes. Nature has been faithfully copied, even to the various tints of the scales. The taxider- mist shares the building with the modeller, and in the lower rooms bright plumaged birds, stuifed and ready to be mounted, moulds of huge serpents, porpoise heads, and the odds and ends of the animal and reptile world are mingled in delightful confusion. THE SPECTACLE which so astonished the reporter was under the trees in front of this building. A dog posed on a workbench, while the chief modella, Mr. Joseph Palmer and two of his assistants were busy operating on the side of the dog away from the spectator, who wondered at the patience and discipline of the animal, which never moved a ™muscle or stirred a foot. It was some minutes before the mystery of the thing was revealed. The dog was dead. His motiontess muscles were stiffened in death—but there he stood in a most life-til attitude—it was a pointer dog—as thor just starting in the chase. The modella ‘Was engaged in coating the animal's body with | plaster of paris. The sideaway from the reporter | already had an encasing of plaster an inch thick. nd cannot be over seventy- | | “Ido hot think anything like this was ever done | before I started it,” said Mr. Palmer pausing in | his work: “moulds are generally made from | stuffed animals. I worked a little in this way | inEngland before I came to this country, but I | never had such facilities as [have here. It is | proposed to make casts of all the finer breeds of | dogs. I will show you one we have made,” and dropping his brush Mr. Palmer led the way into his workshop. A PLASTER DOG. There. reclining between two windows, was the model of a nobie mastiff—of shape and form, even to the delicate tendons of the limbs, so | natural that one almost expected to see him leap up from the ground. The hairs which had remained in the mould and been transferred to the cast aided the illusion. This cast was made nessed in operation under the trees outside. The body of the dog was posed and covered | with plaster. When the plaster hardened | it was broken off. and formed a perfect mould. This process has been brought to perfection by Mr. Palmer, to whose skill a myriad of figures f in their life- like appearance, bear testimony. While passing | through the shop Mr. Palmer pointed out to the reporter the a of a water buffalo, one of Bar- num’s curiosities, a ise head, a gram; head, and other casts that ornamented the walls of the workshop, all of thenrtaken from nature's own model. A MASTER PIECE. “The biggest piece of work. I ever attempted was awhale,” said Mr. Palmer. “There are models of whales in England, but I never knew ofa cast being taken right from the whale itself. Where did I do it? In Province Town, Mass. The whale was ran upon a dry dock, and I took | the cast there. We are putting it together now. | Itis a small whale of its kind.” Mr. Palmer then | requested his son, one of his assistants, to measure the tail of the whale. The plaster mould —_ taken the — tail | was lying on a work-bench in the shop. From tip to tip of the two flukes or divisions it meas- ured 9 feet 6 inches. Mr. Palmer, jr., and another young man having been instructed to go to work on the whale, the yor followed them to the National Museum iiding, where the precious cast is kept. Here, in one cor- ner, divided off from the rest of the great build- | | | | | by the same process which the reporter wit-| dealings, — The Roman Cathetic church claims to have 400,000 converts In China.” —A second Methodist Ecumenical confer- ence is to be held in the United States in 188%. — The 80,000 Methodists in Towa, it is stated, are building churches at the rate of one every fortnight. —Dr. Charles F. Deems having retired from the conduct of the Sunday Magazine, Dr. Tal- mage will take charge of it with the December number. — The next general conncil of the alliance of Presbyterian churches throughout the world will be held at Belfast, in June, 1884. The com- mittee of arrangements is already at work. —The Rev. Dr. See, who was some time ago disciplined by the Presbytery of Newark for in- viting ladies to preach in his church, has now embraced the doctrines of the Swedenborgians, and is editing a newspaper. —A Mrs. Cooper, aaid to be a consin of Col- onel Robert G. Ingersoll, was lately expelled from a San Francisco Presbyterian church for heresy, in that she denied the authenticity of the story of Jonah and the whale. —Francis Murphy, the temperance orator, is in London with his son Edward, who is helping him. He has been holding meetings as of old, and denies the report that he is to become a Methodist minister. Mr. Murphy is received with great favor by British audiences. — The predestination controversy has led the following ministers to withdraw from the Mis- souri Synod of the Lutheran eburch: Revs. H, Fischer and P. M. Johannes in Wisconsin, F. Boehling in Michigan; F. H. Holterman in Missouri; A. H. Wetzel in Minnesota, and J. H. Dormann in TMlinois. —The California Methodist Episcopal confer. ence has denonnoed the facility with which di- vorces are graned in that state, and has resolved that its ministers will not celebrate marriages for persons who have been divorced for other than the Scriptural reason, and in any case will marry none but the innocent parties to the transactions. —The Wachusett Association of Baptists, Massachusetts, has passed resolutions protest- ing against the Sunday businessof therailroads, and asking the compantes to give theirmen a Sabbath rest and altow to the people along their ines “that Sabbath quiet which they so much desire, and to which by the laws of the common- Wealth they are entitied.” — Dr. Frazer, Bishop of Manchester, ina re- cent discourse, spoke as follows of the ritualis- tic controversy now raging in the church of naments and chalices and incense, the’ Infidels and atheists at their doors were trying to de- stroy their people's faith in rg gf that spoke of God, of judgment and the beyond the grave.” —The Brahmin, says Dr. Scudder, has intel- Tectually no superior. Noman can minglemuch with them and not have his wits sharpened. ‘They are the learned men of the country. Sanscrit, ‘queen of "ts their tongue, and its vast literature has been grand field of mentai training. The Brahmi almost white, wonferfully neat, begins day in the water-tank, eats no animal food, be- lieving that if he does he shall pass through as many transmigrations after death as there are hairs on the animal of which he eats. Physi- cally, these people are of splendid form, majestic heads, and carry themselves grandly. —The way they manage church debts in St. New Brunswick, ‘is somewhat different from the way which prevails here. Among as an insurance company or other corporation gen- eraliy holds the mortgage in one sam. when it is cut into small amounts and held individuals, it is not in easily transferable shape. But the issue of church bonds in ®t. John is such an ordinary thing that the follow- ing advertisement is seen in a paper of that “Center church bonds by auction. On day, the 27thinst., at 120'elock, atChubb'a corner, 5 Centenary chureh bonds, $500 each, 20 Years to run, interest 6 per cent. payable half yearly at Bank of New Branswick.” —Howdo you explain all this?” We at- tempt no explanation. In fact, there is but one mystery in the history of creation; that is, that God should have allowed sin to exist in the uni- verse. That is a mystery black, fathomless, ill- umined by no ray oflight. And in that mystery all other mysteries are included. That mystery carries in its bosom all of sin, all of sorrow, of woe, all of tears, all of suffering, all of death. If it were in our power to explain all God's hen they would not be mysterious; then His way would not be in the sea; His foot- steps would no longer be unknown. The mye teries of God's government God will, in His own time, explain; we seave them to Him.—The Or, by rr —A Connecticut correspondent of the Sunday School Times, referring to some of the earlier choir troubles of a little country church he is mentioning, says, in pleasant mood: “I sup- pose they are modern enough in that old church now; that they have two sopranos, who are very jealous of each other and are not on speaking terms through the week; an alto who is pretty and somewhat worldly and who wears red strings to her bonnet; atenor who waxes his moustache and sees the alto home—a long time it takes them in those pleasant moonlight evenings, and a bass who is quite upright and reliable (I sing bass). Queer places, church choirs! Nice places, though—I found my wife there.” Just so with manya choir in many another church. Human nature will worry its way into the choirs in spite of all the bars set up by the church authorities to keep it out. —It is seldom that a Methodist minister is called upon to baptize by immersion, althougn it is sometimes the case. Two young ladies of Baptist parentage were recently converted at Wise Point woods meeting and wanted to con- nect themselves with the Methodist church. They expressed to Rev. Louis E. Barrett, form- erly of Easton, pastor of the Methodist Episco- pal church at © , their desire to be bap- ; ’ 'S setting curb and every other | Tepair in their front, and provided in the event | 726, and they cover nearly e : : : : 4 ized by immersion. He readily complied with where the Massawomekes went up, we called |ing by a section of board fence and | ize : incivlental expense, except salaries of District in- | of their failure to comply with the ordinance for | city. As previously stated, however, the Com- | Be not afraid to pray —to pray is right, Willowhyes river,” now known as the Patapsco, | ramparts. of boxes—with curious, mysterious | their desire, and Sak ae Gee Spectors, which amount to about $5,000 per the performance of the work by public officers, | missioners have limited their work on the streets Fray if thou canst with hope; but ever pray, at Baltimore. This is all there is of this only in- | Surroundings.—Indian idols, ancient pottery pepe ge ame. tn ohdnion the Sle 000 Per and the assessment of the cost auinst the pro mainly toreplacing worthless wooden pavements, | ‘Though hope be weak or sick with long delay: | terior aud buknoma ople. and relics of former ages.—is the cast of the fe was perfa In ion to yar = ing Prop | gehich alone has absorbed all the revenues avail” Pray in tha darkness if there be no light. RCSGGAee tak eeorie > sea monster. It measures 28 fect in length. | Young ladies a youth named Isaiah D. Northam, H : ee Eas Pur is the time, remote from human sight, E E = i ¢ | Converted at the same meeting, was also im- Las Commissioners that it is_no longer in force, and | _ In order to prepare a basis on which to make | \ouSte Hhebleeced tree tee people called Tockwoghs, who being about to | when visited by the reporter. One square piece greeter ago no ee yo nage S that the sidewalks must be repaired in the same | the estimates and statement of work above ver is good to wish, ask that of heaven, give him a hostile reception, became hospitable | like the last block in a Chinese puzzle remained | 0N€ grown person by sprinkling. novelty a manner as the roadways—. e.,at the expense of | referred to, I have carefully examined the _con- | Though AE be aan not bons to see; friends on seeing the Massawomekes weapons, | to be inserted under the mouth. The mould | => p nepoecinens stent canon tea 5 the general public. About 95 per cent of our, citian of every street, within {he lratta of the elite ek ob once S and being made believe they were taken by cee DE 4 — yao i : : ” " z sidewalks are paved in bricks, which pavement | tWo cities, excluding the unsettled portions east | fear it forany wish thou darest not pray, force. While on the Susquehannah river Smith | Was Peete eee te en be | — The Christian Intel thinks that the 4 has very little to recommend it except its cheap- | of Lincoln Park, south of N street south, and | ‘then pray to God to cast thntwian eee sent for and had an interview with some sixty | the Pacific whales like these grow to : atcigencor 3 ness. Othe whole 20) miles of this pavement | between the White Lot and the Observatory. (Hartley Coleriage, | of them “gyant like people,” termed by hiin 110 feet long. They are called Suit ur-bottom | prevailing habit of having a good dinner on —s at least one-tenth is in very bad condition. It | ‘The necessary measurements have been made + Sasquesabanocks, a mighty le and mortal | Whales, from a peculiar sulphur color let Sunday is doing much to break down the popu- = is a question, however, whether its repair is of | aud the estiniute calculated in detail of the cost George Borrow’s Gypsy Wanderings. onatlies with the Maawonecen” They came | mud where they have been wallowing.” The | tur fooling ofthe sacredness of the Lord’s Day. a} as much importance to the city at large as the | at present prices of putting all the streets in In the “Reminiscences of George Borrow,” | down from the chief town Sasquesahanongh, | corrugations in the whale's belly. It says that alittle good management on the 2 | replacement of the wood pavements on the ear- | proper order. as petitioned for. This schedule | ontyiputed to the Athenann of September 10 | located near Columbia, Pa. Theynumbered “606 | Tangement of nature, allowing the surface to riageways. In case it shou! letermined to | With granite, REPLACKMENT OF WOOD PAVEMENTS, Cont, On all pavements laid since 1878 the repairs for a period of tive years are made at the con- jor's expense. “On the pavements laid prior to that date the repairs are made by the Dis- trict. The most important of these are the re- Pairs to the concrete pavements (princi ly of coal tar), which make up alength of about thirty miles. Under the system which has been gradually established these pavements are kept im thorongh repair at all times. The minor re- rs and patching are made under a contract each fiscal year for that class of work. Under this contract skilled laborers are kept at work on some portion of these pavements during a ee of every month in the year e: dur- the winter. " The total amount of work thus executed during the past year was 28,580.70 square yards of repairs, costing $23,361.27. In this manner small holes are repaired before they becouwe serious, and the surface is kept in good Years. 1879 and 1880 1880 and 1882 do any of this work, 1 have submitted an esti- mate for repaving the sidewalks on both sides of Pennsylvania avenue, from the Capitol to the Treasury, with a permanent pavement of blue. stone flazzing or of Portland cement—stone such as has been largely used in the Capitol grounds and elsewhere. This work is estimated to cost not less than 250.000. Should it be done a portion of the bricks obtained from that ave- hue could be used to make temporary repairs elsewhere. STREET CLEANING. The paved streets are swept by contract, ran- ning for three years (subject. to annual appro- priations) from July 1, 1880, at the rate of 233( cents per 1.000 square yards actually swept and cleaned; of these streets about 4 per cent are cleaned daily, 6 per cent twice a week, 50 per cent once a week, and 40 cent once in two weeks; the streets on which there is most travel being cleaned most frequently. The total amount cleaned during the past year was 110,535,160 square yards, costing €26.252.10. The contractor uses sweeping machines with re- volving brooms. = The unpaved streets are cleaned from time to time by day’s labor, under the superintendent is submitted herewfth, (appendix table C,) together with a map showing the present con- dition of the streets and the improvements needed. It comprises work on 173 streets or parts of streets in the city, in addition to the suburban streets now being rapidly built upon just outside of the city limits. The most im- portant work is the replacement of wood pave- ments. amounting to 294,757 square yards and estimated to cost $683, » Next in im- portance is the replacement of @ portion of the Tough and unsuitable cobble or blue rock pate- ments in the heart of the city—such as 434, 6th, 10th and 14th streets adjacent to Pennsylvania avenue. The amount of this work is 99,718 square yards, estimated to cost $259,847.15. Next in order is the replacement of themacadam, where it was unnnished or improperly laid prior to 1875. New York avenue east of 5th street, 11th street southeast and the western end of I street are samples of this. The whole amount is 80,939 yards, estimated to cost $174,018.85. All of this work is replacement of pavements aieeaay Jaid, but now worn out or unservice- able, Of new work there is required a certain amount of paying on streets of frequent travel, such as Virgini: avenue, F and H streets south and Vermont avenue, Q and other streets north. of repairs, $2,029.45 having been expended for this purpose last year. The unusually heavy fall of snow during the winter necessitated a considerable expense for leveling snow banks, cleaning crosswalks and removing ice irom the roadways. The ice was broken up by large scrapers, supplied by the contractor for street cleaning, and he was paid the actual cost of this work, amounting to $254.07. The balance of the work necessary for removing the snow and ice was performed by day’s labor, under the su- perintendent ofrepairs, at an expense of $2,819.37. The total expenses for street cleaning were then as follows In addition: toe the eles ser Soe sepeczens tilt ©. ‘$30,000, and as many streets Srageerel i : The total amount is 118,000 yards, estimated to cost (with grading and ‘sidewalks) $805,522.10, by Mr. Theodore Watts, the following passage occurs: “No man has been more entirely misunder- stood than Borrow. That a man who certainly did (as Mr. Groome says) look like a ‘colossal clergyman, should have joined the Gypsies; that he should have wandered over England’ and Enrope, content often to have the grass for his bed and the sky for his hostry roof, has aston- ished very much (and I believe scandalized very much) this age. explanation of the matter is this: Among the myriads of children born into a world of brick and mortar there appears now and then one who is meant for better things—one who exhibits unmistakable signs that he inherits the blood of those. re- mote children of the open air who, according to the old Sabwan notion, on the plains of Asia lived with Nature, loved Nature, and were loved by her, and from whom all men are descended. George Borrow was one of those who show the olden strain. Now, for such a man, born in a country like England, where the modern fanati- cism of house woreip has reached a condition which can only be called maniacal, what is there left but to try foratime the Gypsy’stent? On the continent fhouse-worship is strong enough in all conscience; but in France, in Spain, in Italy, even in Germany, people do think of some Less important streets are gravel road: mated at $063,910.80. ? ve also estimated for relaying the side- walks on Pennsylvania avenue, $51,807.20, and for grading and the erat ie Tecord- thing beyond the house. But here, where there are no romantic crimes, to get a genteel house, to keep (or ei a genteel house, or to pretend to keep (or ‘run’) a genteel house, is the great first cause of almost every British delinquency, from envy and malignant slander pete forgery, vobbery and murder. And yet it isa as Borrow discovered (when a mere aa in @ 80! deration, be quite considerations of honesty and sweet air, pure water, clean freedom to manners, ml ‘above all, freedom from ‘all cares rs of law’ that may come against PE eye eae = i wil Garret, who was found able men,” and the nation had, as given on Smith's map, five other towns, “and are palli- sadeed in these towns to defend them from the Massawomekes, their mortal enemies.” They promised Smith their aidand victuals and what- ever they had besides if he would be their gov- ernor and protector, “to defend and revenge them of the Massawomekes.” Many deserip- tions of this much feared people were given, and convincing proofs presented by Prof. Guss, showing that most of the Indian historians have been misled in their expressions that this famous people were the Iroquois or Mohawk tribes, and he tock the ground that they were the Eries, and for many generations had lived adjacent to the lake which bears their name, and that they were in the habit of hostile incursions on the natives of the Susquehannah river and those east of the head of the bay, as well as on the lower parts of the bay, as noticed. On their return Smith explored the Pawtuxent, whose ple he tot very civil, and he promised hem, as also those of the Patawomeks, to avenge them of the Massawomekes. After- wards, in exploring the Rappahannock, he had some difficulty with the natives and used the Massawomeke as around the boat to ward off the arrows. Prof. Gussstated that he had recently found in Neill’s ‘Founders of Maryland” the journal of Henry Fleet, giv- ing an account of his : TRADING TRIP UP THE POTOMAC IN 1631-2. ‘The facts related, being within twenty-four years of Smith’s explorations, are of special in- terest. ‘This interest is enhanced greatly,” said the lecturer, ‘by the circumstance that the writer was taken Mont- | expand to a great extent when the fish eats— were shown in the plaster mould, as well as the deep, hideous mouth, the blow hole. and the sma fin on the back. ‘The side fins, like the tail, were moulded separately, What was to be done with this monstrous specimen, the reporter asked. It was to be cast in papier mache—that is, a section representing one-half of the whale was to be cast. The hol- low papier mache would be filled with the bones Pinch are withheld as to what portions of the repast might with propriety be cooked on Sunday. old ai hot things except al ings exé lowed to be boiled on the day of rest. But while it advocates cold dinners on Sunday, the Chris- tian Intelligencer which is probably as cold a dish as can be served. It bewails the fact that many confectioners have repare a satistying repast, the principal part of could be cooked on aateomay, Directions ‘ice among many who rigidly insisted on Sunday dinners was to draw the |i , Which were al- discountenances ice of the whale—the veritable bones, shipped here from Province Town. Then the model would gracefully as ever whale sported in his native element. A view from the other side will dis- play a half section of the whale, exhibiting the r i f : i : F twenty years ago ance of the day, now have the ice cream Up to thelr houses and deposit freezers at basement doors.