Evening Star Newspaper, February 23, 1884, Page 3

POTOMAC RIVER WASHINGTON, D. C. PLAN SHOWING HOW REC AREA MAY BE UTILIZED. IMPROVEMENT OF THE POTO- MAC FLATS. THE GREAT WORK FAIRLY UNDER Way. THE VAST RESULTS TO BE GAINED. JE SPOT 10 BE REMOVED A MALARIAL PLA THE EARSOR TO RE CLEANED OUT. TO BE BEAUTIFIED. FRONT 1 to re of Washingte: been sue ss of the made ou not propriations wit work HAINS. ! | the subject of th | | The work ft ther suld make Washington But ntry peo- of the | reclaimed able put mount of the beauty | 5 tl They are | adding to ‘asti- | * tide. discharging a into the chaunel 3 ted to represent the | n the im- ‘y. and is vit isnot yet le of the ifal park vsirable | to proteet th {and this is an urgent re: | fined, | aboy |e jficulty of preventing the canal from being | filled by material washed into it will increase. | menced A ay et Oss ' jee LAIMED points within very short distance of the other shore, and these narrow places were to be spanned by bridges of suitable de- This idea was discarded on account of the unnecessary expense of building the brides, and aiso for the more important reason that the water taken in at the inlet gates upon the risi ot the tide would have to follow a circuitous thus merely an amplification of the present plan, and are practicable, I will tell you what I think of them. To carry out his suggestions would ne- cersitate an entire change of the general plan, which is not practicable. Minor changes could doubtedly be made by the proper authorl- ties, deemed necessary. The board of engineers in recommending the adoption of the plan of improvement now be- ing carried into operation, recommended it ‘with such moditications of details, to be sub- mitted in a future report. as a further study of the subject may agecus or expedient.” T rember, that no matt how many radical changes I or any one ¢ might think advisable, 1 could not Major Morgan's plan is Simply a mod the plan suzee-ted In the report of A. L. Rives, in 1 That plan was sign sown inthe map ts evidently more prac- tical. es spoken of can be seen openiny ke from the Virginia channel and int ‘hington channel. ‘The small lake to the left of the fy is expected to pe form yalr in flushing the 1 street sey canal in the sameway 1 of engineers, together with that the | one will flush the Wasl Even if’ Major cha These two lakes will cove vould not cause ac! the larger one 118 reopen to crave o! and will con 5, er. About will be taken i Hane general plau, they t psition of the Long ‘bridge. 1 people right in this city w | Tn any : recommended that i new bi ly. but until the fhe it is decided what dis the reclaimed land, the pr answer, I think, by simply removin: 1usey xtending the bridge ¢ orp “How about Major Morgan’s sugiestions to hjvetions?” asked the reporter. in opening the Washington channel up to Fas Point. There are anu | ber of objections to that. In the first place, wo: pursuing a course directly opposed t i ja channel is the one chose nd it is best to assist her by improv- anuel, rather than oppose her by making a second one. In the second f channel that has ocen | ture. In the third place. it would be necessary to undo a great deal of work already completed. Considerable. filling been done just where channel would run, and that " filled with so much care would have to be cavated. Inthe fourth place, to make a respectable i 10.06 ‘The sewer ¢ 00 gallons, nal can be nt nnel, inte | channel | ¢ brid for Wash for G tt rina . ‘The dotted line at the end of Long tion of the isl: et, ase nnel at x capaelt y be of freshets. The whole of ti is to be protected from_ the ri slope wall or revetment. about 7,000 feet foundation of which has e three di that point, it would be opening a practically closed. by na location of which can be them with the dotted line: Which are lettered to correspond. first, marked A B, shows a cross section reclaimed etween the lakes and E point. and of the Virginia channel; the (C D) across section of the reclaimed land, the jakes and the Virginia channel; and the third the bridge, of aninel, the reclaimed land and Virginia channel. By comparing the three ‘ams the relative depth of the two channels Tthe lakes and the height of the reclaimed nid can be readily ascertained. The sin to the right represents the slope wall which is reclaimed land from the river. About one lundred acres of the flats have been covered up, not to the full height proposed, sary to dam up the Virginia channel, either partially or entirely, or to cut off a piece of Georgetown, and It might be necessary to do the former, even if the latter weredone. We would, in em stroy the only hip channel we have had for ninety years.” “If I remember correctly.” continued Col. Hains, “the principal object Major Morgan had in view in opening the Washington channel was to secure a direct outlet for the 17th street sewer into the channel, instead of extendi: (EF) a cross section, just belo the Washin tt die It however, that will be three feet above the | across the flats by means of a canal. He holds r line. but high enough to prevent oyer- | that there wiilbe no chance forthe sewer canal to flow by high tid Six acres hay n filled in | be flushed out by thetide, and, therefore, a great proximity to Easby’s point, fifty acre deal of sewaye will be deposited before it reaches foot of 17th street, and forty-four acres Just | the Virginia channel. below the bride s of this latter | The tide would sweep out the sewer canal how the National | just about as well as it would the Washington Dredzing com azo, the material | channel, but tt wouldn't do either very well. It for which was rom the Washington | 18 not intended to depend on the direct action channe: The remainingeighty-live acres were | of the tide to clean out the canal. It will be filled by Sanford Koss, the contractor, under the | flushed just asthe Washington channel will be The material was dredged from mnel, Which it is intended to . by both widening and deepening. By zing thus far donea clear channel of & over 20 feet, and a width varying from 10 feet has been obtained from Giesboro’ etown. Any vessel, able to pass ng bridge, and drawing not over et of water, can now be brousht ocean to Georgetown without any Do ‘you see th li pond?” pointing to | the one on the map adjoining the large lake. “That pond will fill itself by the rising of the | tide, and the automatic outlet gates will empty | about 10,000,060 gallons of fresh water into the sewer canal every twelve hours. ‘I don’t understand,” he continued, musing- lly, “just how wide Major Morgan ‘wants to make the Washington channel. He recom- mends that its width above the bridge be kept the same as below. making a channel 200 feet wide. He must have been misunder- stood, for he knows that the width of the chan- nel below the bridge is to be 800 feet, instead of 200 feet. e Another point he makes Is that as the flats are to be raised only 2'4 feet above ordinary high tide treshets will sweep over them. That Is a curious statement to make. Every- body who has given any attention to the sub- ject knows that it is intended to raise the flats three feet higher than the freshet of 1877, which 1, according to Abert, the highest known. Right in this connection he argues that filling the flats will cause the water to back up into Georgetown. Freshets cannot be prevented, but It is con- fidently believed that they will do much less damage when the improvements are made than heretofore. Why? Because the outlet for the water will be greater. Instead of two chan- j through the twenty-three fi the wy PRE ENT PLAN SHOULD NOT BE CHANGED It is thought not only practicable, but indeed rent branches of the im- nt should be carried on simultaneous on for ample appro. priations. The dredging of the channel and the filling of the flats are, of course, dependent upon each other. As this branch of the work pro- uresses the slope wall should be constructed in order that the material may be properly con-. Retaining walls for the sewer canal must structed at an early day. In filling the flats ft it has been found necessary to keep the of the fill at least one hundred feet from the canal, and as the filling progresses the dif- be cot It is estimated that the cost of completing | BoS,{Here Will De but one, but the posers ie on 3 a Ce ip ovement will b@ | that of the two combined, and as water flows Include the Cost ot bullae guat does not | faster in deep charnels than in shallow ones, cost of building the sewer canal retaining walls, which is estimated at $208,144. During ‘the fiseal year ending June 30, 1885, 1.000.000 can be (profitably expended on the improvement, exclusive of the retaining walls above reterred to. The main features of the present carefully studied plan are generally conceded to be the most advisable and practi- cable, but ever since the operations were com- suggestions of improvements and changes have from time to time been made. It will be remembered that Major Thos. P. Morgan was quoted in THe Star some timeago as bein; of the opinion that the health of the city and the security of property demand some cliange in and extension of the scope of the present ions, and his reasons therefor and recom- tions were given at length. IMPRACTICABLE NaTURE OF PROPOSED ALTERA- Th With a view of learning how Major Morgan’s opinions on the matter agreed with thore of Col. Hains, a Stan reporter touched upon the subject the other day while In conversation with thet | Son offi and learned that they differed widely. shown that a centuryagonavigation was greatly “When Major Morgan's criticisms were made impeded by the existing shoals which slowly public,” said Colonel Hains, “I declined to be | spread Semele ee an or ca drawn into a newspaper controversy on the sub- | &f€83_ was effectively ie necessity of Ject, and simply expressed surprise that a man | Eto and to “provont: that ete of Major Morgan's experience aud opportuni- | fntiuence upon the health of the city. These ties for learning the details of the work should | flats were caused by the deposit trom the river, be so Ignorant of the course to be pursued and | washed into it by heavy rains. The river above the results to be obtained. Thinking that per-] the Aqueduct and as far down as Easby’s Point haps the public may be led to believe that the | Is, as everybody knows, narrow and deep. At the diecharge will be greater; in other words, the river above will not rise so high. As an ad- ditional safeguard, however, it is proposed to make a sort of a weir of the old dam trom Ana- lostan island to the Virginia shore, which will answer for a waste way in time of high water. “As I sald at the start,” concluded the colo- nel, as he put on his hat, “the recommendations could not carried out without altering the plan, and even if they could, they would not be desirable.” HISTORY OF THE FLATS. The popular belief that the odious and odor- ous Potomac flats are of recent formation, is erroneous, although the fact that they have largely increased in extent ot late years cannot be disputed. The cherished traditions among our oldest inhabitants of deep water between Washington and Georgetown, in the early part or the present century, permitting of tree navi- gation by the largest vessels to the latter port, the Washington shore are not authenti- by the official records, It can clearly be ut various Tecummendations wade by lia are, as he said, ] Easby’s Point its character is changed. From a s B' current for the Washington channel, it would be | width of about 900 feet It suddenly widens out to over 5,000 feet. ‘The coarse material swept Into the river is rolled along the bottom by the current and comes. to rest a8 soon as the velo- city ot the current Is sufficiently retarded to lose the power of imp ing motion to it. Gius it Ie that the coarser zzaterial 18 always fonnd in the uel. The lighter portions, however, are tone b quiet Above in suspension and carried deposited curre in behind | Point — there iment. but when that poi er widen 1 Its way in s, but sons are nd the it the flats had reacl it to support a growth of was rrowth of weed a good settling i the health of the city has | fected aps Which were and | The tirst, Hest vutheutic information of the topogray bottom of the river in the ton, wa: by M, Ellteott, nr distfhet, ‘ie Hest comme abutment middle cl tinuation t In front of after passing Washington she con- org We Geo "s_point curved te joining the thi short distance below the site of the ¢ Long bridge. ‘The third or \ nel Was a branch from th nel, which, after pas: ted into two parts following along the Wast avizable depth of the Georgetown channel at t, of the ewash 6 it. andof on the mouth of rred tu is that of th nar aw The was eight fe James Kearney, corps of topographical engineers, nade in 1831. An ex- amination of this map that the old nel betwee ser existed. ad rendered it a also shows that the Washinzto: enti cut off from the of along and narrow the Washington shot ched from the main ad just point, to a point some distance bel creek The swash or middie channe! to Ellicott, had about at its junction with the city chaune! bridg. become almost dry fhe third map, made in 18st, hy civil en hows the Washington cl no longer in vestige of the s channel had, in feet, produced. by by natural causes. Ellicott’s map does not show | what the depth of water was on the shoals, gives soundings only along the channe's, but be- tween the channels shoals must hay The Kearney map shows that at water a portion of the tlats below 's point was exposed; that near Long bride there were two shoals dry at extreme low tide. The Abert map shows the wide extent of flats as they exist to-day. nel, ‘h chan SSL. a SURVEYS OF THE RIVER. For a number of years all the surveys follow- ing that of Lieut. Col. Kearney had no compre hensive plan of improvement in view. ‘Their main object seemed to be to deepen the bar be- tween Washington and Georgetown, for the benefit of navigation. In 1857, when it was Proposed to erect a free bridge across the river, Alfred Rives, civil engineer, made a report, which was submitted to Congress, in which he calls attention to the fact that the consideration | of plans for a permanent bridge is so intimately connected with a project for the improvement ot navigation of the river that one cannot prop- erly be matured without a due consideration of the other. He then presents a plan for the im- provement of the navigation of the river, as well as plans for a bridge. His plan of improve- ment seems to have been the first official pre- sentation, in behalf of the government, of a definite plan for the improve- ment of the fiver in this vicinity. The plan proposed by him provided for opening ® clear water way 1,770 feet wide along the Washington shore, by removing the existing causeway and replacing it temporarily by a wooden structure on piles, lowering the dam from Analostan Island to the Virginia shore, building a breakwater from the southern part of the island to deflect the current into the new channel, and tn reclaiming about 166 acres of the flats at the mouth of the Tiber. In short, his ie was to close the deepest and open the shallowest, and what was for a part of the way nochannel at all. Nothing seems to have been done by the government subsequent to the pub- lication of Rives’ report, until March 2d, 1367, when Congress directed the Secretary of War to cause examinations or sifrveys, or both, to be made of the Potomac river in the vicinity of Washington. In July of that year, Major Nathaniel Michler, corps of engineers, was as- signed the duty of making the survey, and in April of the following year he made a report recommending a plan essentially the same as that submitted by A. C. Rives. In 1872a board of survey was created by Congress for the faeee pose of devising a comprehensive pian of im- . | It} i YY OSX KM (RIT RT ra COS rovement, not only in respect to navigation, ut also with reference to its sanitary effect on the city ot Washington and the possibility of re- claiming the swamp and marsh lands along the water front. The board cons of enginee nt of the coast | survey, the 2 of public build- ngs and grou . A. R. Shepherd at fe Patterson. The boztd submitted three The one recommended for adeption, port tention to the hed t : gineer Cy ed aplan modity- in cert t 1872, h 0 the Virzinia intervening brie estimates, di ainiy in detail = convened investigativ A mumber of } propor in addition to those alveady — descrits | One was r 2 areas propo: |b weand Abert, Lut Instead of doing it | nt, tu build adike aronnd the j The r was to be dr \s Another plan was to dred Sand make ak | plan did not meet w consider | howeve AS NOW and the nuous: < would every plain presented. le, and their report With fatense interest by hington upon it ir hopes ling tid of securing the imy and bettering the hi plan which the? board r has becn stated, low grade filling embankment of that pian and sluicing po: Easby's point. submitted to Co Aujust, 1882, an appropi u ress, and_on the 2d of ation of 400,000 was ie for beginning the long needed aud muci wed tor improvement TS. Any plan of improvement whieh make allowances for the freshets Hable to oceur ever y Strong objections‘have been raised on that score to the project witich is now being carried out, on the ground that with the channel narrowed the danger will be increased. If the width of the river were to be reduced, with the depth re- maining the same, there would be good zroands for the objection. It is a well known principle that water flows faster in deep channels than in shallow ones. If, therefore, insteaa ot dis- charging through two channels at Long bridge the water is all concentrated into one of them, and the area of the cross section of that one made as great or greater than the two combined, the dischar; would be greater, and the danger from freshets correspondingly lessened. Any plan of improvement which contemplated the closing of the Washington channel without increasing the discharging capacity of the Virginia channel Would of course be open to strony objection. Whenever there is any large amount of icc i does ein the river there Is always danger from freshets. Heavy rains or a great change of temperature cause the ice to break upsuddenty. Unable to find a sufficient outlet, it becomes gorzed by the many obstructions offered in this vicinity, and the pent-up waters, urable to escape through the usual channels, are backed up into the city limits, often occasioning heavy damage to property. The freshets cannot be prevented, but they will do less damage when tin improvements are completed than hereto- lore. THE LONG BRIDGE. The Long bridge undoubtedly has much to do with the disastrous results of our freshets, par- ticularly that part of the bridge under water. The piors of the bridge in the freshet stage stand obliquely to the carrent, making obstruc- tion greatest when it should be least. The large amount of rip-rap stone piled around the piers tends to largely decrease the discharging capacity of the channel, and is conseqnently a formidable obstacle. “The causeway of the bridge no doubt adds greatly to the difficulties; isted of the chief The report of the board | or the purpose | jenough to rai indeed, it Is considered by many to have been the original cause of the formation of the flats. This, however, is a mistake. It was built after the flats were there, with the idea that it would deepen the water in the Virginia channel. This causeway should be eventually removed entirely. If the reclaimed area, both aboye and below it, is to be converted into a park, the railroad should cross it on an elevated track, and the most ad. le plan would be to construct an entirely new recommended by Col. ‘ charge. The estimated cost of a suitable structure would be $1,500,000. THE ANALOSTAN DAM, the olyect of lessening the danger from ! is proposed to rebuild the old dam, from Analostan Island to the in the form of a weir, to the lev h water or a little above it. By the water would be thrown Into the wn channel during its low stage, while ts the weir would serve as an out- This dam was vighty years agoto deepen bar below Easby's point. It but was allowed to remain. i royed bya freshet. wreat damage when the river fell at_onee, and fur- This fact would seem f rebuilding it in the again pulled ahead. The mattress floats on the surface of the water. It is moved over the place It 18 to occupy In the trench and sunk by stone thrown on it from the stone scows. The rip-rap thus thrown on it forms a solid footl for the slope of the fill, the face of which wil be revetted with a paving of stone, or, at some future day. a nearly vertical wall of concrete or stone can be laid on it. It ts believed that thi¢ will give a perfectiy secure foundation for & solld wall not exceeding six feet in height. Alb ot the various details of operation in makt this great improvement are carried on with skil and care, and must be seen to be appreciated+ A visit to the flats when the work is in progress! would prove very interesting and well worth) the makin, a AND DRAMATIC, MUSICAL hich exte TER PARTIES. “YOUNG, TOWNSEND'S, a — Theater parties are forming for the Wynd- ham season. Blocks of seats, ranging from ten’ have been sold to various soclety fami! . with the view of entertaining thelr guests’ in the now fashionable mode. — The beautiful, pathetic, dramatized idol of! New England, “Young Mrs. Winthrop,” civen} with faultless beauty by the Madison Square! theater company, will succeed the Wyndham) ‘ord’s. There is in the very title’ thing suggestive of colonial times, some- indicative of those puritan days, which, from Blue Laws, had so much in the y of reverence as to challenge the highest! admiration. young Mrs. Winthrop” comes in pportune time, and will be cordially wel-* i to Washington. ethe advisability o fori of a weir. CANAL, matter connected with the A very work of improvement ts that of making pro- the d vision for charge of the 17th street | one of the most y. It begins at the of Ml street and New York ayenue and y the waste from the principal | — “The Deuce of Hearts,” a new comedy, by artments. The B street sewer | John Harrison, with a company including Geo. ; and nearly two-thirds of the | R. Edeson and Miss Balfe, has made quite o e city is discharged at this point. The story is the reverse of “Princess therefore, that the | Ida,” and the laughter is evolved out of theem- & manner as to | barrassments occasioned by men uniting in @ nuisance. It is pro- | plan to live without the aid of the gentle sex. by a canal across — One of the most laughable comedies of the = to the Virginia channel. This a 5 present season is the comedy of ‘Confusion,” tie eae pn) or dale 1 | now the rage alike of New York and London.? nent, ‘yet the ‘necemity’ of taking shompt and alap dog divide the honors of the tun of the play with the company. —*Princess Ida,” by Gilbert and Sullivan, will be produced at Ford's by John Stetson's company, with the authorized score and Sulll- van’s original orchestration. —The two exponents of the English stage, | Wyndham and Irving, will be in Washington the week of March $d, the most famous of English dramatic artists in the persons of Chas, Wynd- {ham and Henry Irving, both London manag rs, both equally distinguished as actors, one Im comedy, the other in tragedy, one ever bub- ing like champagne, the otherrich in the aroma, | flavor and strength of old port; both surrounded. by companies of ladies and gentlemen of rare histrionic accomplishments; both will be seen by many people. It will be the rage here to see Irving, then Wyndham, that week. — Mile. Nordica appears to become very use- | ful to Col. Mapelson. She has twice appeared ccessfully as Gilda in * Riogoletto,” in Chie cago. — Henry E. Abbey is now said to have on foot @ grand theatrical scheme, which looks to the pooling of a number of the best stars in the country, Including Edwin Booth, Mary Ander- son and John McCullough, or & combination season. ° vini's impressions of Shakespeare's Lear, in the February number of The Century, con- tain many observations upon dramatic art apart from the immediate subject of the essay. — George Alfred Townsend has written @ Cromwell,” which deals with the: ‘the protector up to aud including the orate. — Josephine Jones-York, the prima donna, | writes to the Cincinnati Commercial-Gazrite to set right some recently current statements re- garding her. She frankly declares that she was born on March 7, 1853, t jaughter of a wealthy ‘soap and candle merchant. —The Boston Ideals had a flattering recep- tion on Monday night in Richmond, appearing in “Fatinitza.” Last night “Gtrofle-Girofla” was presented. People were turned from the doors both nights. All desirable seats were sold tor the week's enzagement. —The American operetta is really coming to the fore. Mr. McCaull is preparing to bring out an American operetta, the libretto of which is by Messrs. Faber and Morton, of Washington, and the music of which is by Sousa, the leader of the Marine band. ‘Those who know, or say they know, proclaim the libretto as very witty. —The news comes from London that the remnant of Vokes, which still remains theatri- cally active will come to this country In March. Marie Williams and Powers—the comedian who went over with Edouvin—will accompany them, — It cannot be gainsaid that there is a grow Ing demand for stock theaters. This ismanifest not ouly In New York, where there are several schemes for the establishment of permanent compaties in course of incubation, but in sev- eral sures to construc aining walls to the al that the work of filling the flats may not > impeded, is apparent. Colonel Hains in his ed doubt as to who should butld | nether they should be built asa | r i the flats, or by the | svernment as a part of the sewaze stem of the District. As the land on. either side of the canal will be the property of the sovernment, and the retaining walls will per- it of the reclamation of a large amount of und which will belong to the government, advc d the execution of the work by the nd submitted a sep: ate vicinity of | © awidth of wer to d heaviest rains, the shore ¢1 out prod eanal of mor the river out should be vertical | than 14 feet high. whilethe y that the odors | canal will become | into opel tlom I, 1 arged 00,000 allone of ial | the 20,0 ntity suiticient tu Idaily. A great ver a closed one ed out at y time int The flushing takes bety and the scribed. cubic 1 the sewer canal hington channel have been de- By their construction about 1,800,000 of material will be obtained—nearly ethe flats in the vicinity to a helglt of six fect above low tide. As the Wash- ington ch el is to be closed above the Long bridge, It is necessary that it be supplied with fresh water while the lakes are being con- structed. It is proposed, therefore, to connect the two channels by a temporary canal, whien can be utilized subsequently as a part’ of the lakes, and it will be located with this end in view. The construction of sluicing gates will be commenced simultaneously with the excava- tion of the lakes DRE AND FILLING. The material is dredged from the channel and deposited in dumping scows. These, when loaded, are towed to a receiving basin along- side of a railroad, and then discharged. Another dredge picks up the materia! and loads it into cars on atrack built on piles. These are drawn, ten cars forming a train, by a locomotive to the place where the material is to be deposited on the fats, and there discharged, As the flats in iclently cov- sand ralis ued from adout four hundred feet distant. sf Temoved, and tne filing is cor er tin New tracks will be Lailt as toc work progresses, re oe meagre gt Taine & network cf tracks over theentireares. | regime, which has languished in @ moribund nse ‘scem altuost endowed with like One | State aince the combination system catne into vogue a few years back. nS el Cribbage players have been trying to flad out the larvest possible hands at that int game,und have finally ran the Hmit u score of 75, in this way: Give one partner two fives, two sixes, and two sevens, and the other one dye, two sixes, two sevens, and the Jack of i Let them thea discard for the crit iteé Gives and the jack, and turn upa tve of spades. Ry beginning with the seven and pairng it. you will get in hand and cribbage a total cf 7 points. ee A writer in Hygiene Pratique states that boots and thoes may be rendered water proof by soak- ahead, and the mattress slides of until only | Jag them for sume hours in thick soap water, man, who sits in a house ca the dredge, has the monster under his perfect control. By pulling cranks and moving treadles he guides the dipper to the dredging spot, sinks it, fills it with material, raises it, swings it over the car and discharges it with’ marvelous precision. Simultaneously with the work of arc iging and filling the foundation for the slope has been carried op. A mattress of br first laid at a depth of feet below the surfs of mean low tide, with a thickness of and a width of eighteen teet. This mattress is Woven on an Inclined platform of “a scow. As soon as about thirty-five fect of the mattress Is completed the seow ts about two feet remains on the platiorm. Thirty-|The compound forms a fatty acid within the five feet more ig then woven, and the beat is | leather aud makes it lmperyious to water.