Evening Star Newspaper, April 24, 1894, Page 6

AYER’S Hair Vigor HAIR VIGOR PREVENTS cnowra BALDNESS, | coon Removes Dandruff RESTORES COLOR Faded & Gray HAIR. THE Best Dressing. ALL DISORDERS CAUSED BY A BILIOUS STATE of the system cam be cured by using Carter's Little Liver Pills. No pais, griping or discom- fort attending their use. Try them. THE MODERN MIRACLES OF HEALING WHICH are indisputably performed ,by Dr. Williams Pink Pills should receive the closest investiga- tion by sick people and their friends. ja23-tu&thly if THE BABY 1S CUTTING TEETH BE SURE AYE os it old _well-tried remedy, Mrs. Syrup for children’ teething. It iid, softens the gums, allays all colic and ts the best for five cents a bottle. myl-ly trea! tology with every cake. CASEI 2 ES AN aN RR wnings Are A mcrae appearance. You will be sur- Prise& at the great difference they C7 Latest desi and “¢ and estimates furnished on applicatios. Write or telephone. G. Copeland & Co., [x AEST coerce eee a $20 Gas Ranges, $15. $22 Gas Ranges, $17. $24 Gas Ranges, $19. $26 Gas Ranges, $21. ‘The crowded condition of our stock's responsible for it. Ss. S. Shedd & Bro., 432 oth St. N.W. Boliding Clay and ‘The four H's—health, happy homes and hospi- tality—fostered by Angostura Bitters. Sole manu- facturers, 5 6. BT Siegert & Sons. At all dealers. eee THE SENATE’S DIGNITY. Mr. Wolcott Not the First to Set at Naught Its Traditions. Some readers of The Star take excep- tion to statements made in an article print- ed: in yesterday's Star regarding changes in the Senate, asserting that the old-time dignity in that body was being broken down and that the etiquette which re- quired a new Seaator to maintain silence for the first few years of his service was mo lorger regarded. One writer corrects the statement that Senator Wolcott was the first to set at naught the custom for- bidding anew Senator to speak. “Without going back beyond Senator Mahone’s time,” says the writer, “every one knows that the Virginia Senator made a memora- Dle speech a day or two after his admis- m to the Senate. The Senate is not the box some writers would have readers imagine.” Another writer, a lady, seems to think that instead of a lowering of the Standard the Senate is much more on its dignity today than in old times. She writes: “Well, well, dignified! Why, I thought the Senate was becoming excrutiatingly dignified and the new rules overpowering. Why, I remember in 1879 Hannibal Hamlin taking a handful! of his own visiting cards, and,after dancing rgund the floor, dash them up into the public gallery for any of the ladies that wanted them. At another time I saw a small child taken on the Senate floor. Why, if such a thing was to happen now Col. Bright would be obliged to rush with some sal volatile, such would be the shock, except to Senator Wolcott, who, I think, would welcome the child as a relief + to the monotony. Still another. I have seen notes tHtown to and from the Senate floor—horrors! Once a poor fellow was taken out of the gallery, and when search- ed had at least a quarter of a peck of oy: ters Im the sheil in his pockets. And then, the galleries used to be graced by the dis- tinguished presence of Dr. Mary Walker. Now. a guest must not go to sleep,lest he should snore; he must not sit on the gal- lery steps; he must not lay anything on the gallery railing; he must not sneeze, laugh or speak louder than a whisper, and cards are not issued for the reserve gallery for More than ten days lest the guest should prove to crowd out the families of the Senators and so become a nuisance. Wouid that we had more Wolcotts in the country. it would not go to the dogs, as it is ev dently doing now! If I could be a Senator for awhile i should like nothing better than dtsturbing this- senatorial dignity and shock them so that the electricity would bring them to their senses. pusenal A DOMESTIC SCENE As Pictured Today in the Court of Judge Miller. Julius Adams, a colored man, who has paid a good deal of money into the Dis- trict treasury for violations of law, has been out of trouble several weeks. Lut yesterday, after he had worked hauling ashes, he indulged in a few drinks and Went home drunk, as usual. “Louisa,” he said to his wife, “I want my supper. Pour me out a cup of tea or coffee.” But Louisa could not serve his order, for the reason that the husband had falied to provide either food or money. He threatened to hit Louisa with a cup, but did not do so. The coal ofl lamp was good enough for him, and then the husband|} and wife engaxed in a scramble for pusses- sion of the lighted lamp. Fortunately, the house was not destroyed by fire, but a policeman who arrived ar- rested Julius and locked him up. In Judge Miller's court this morning Julius was Aned | $10 for his fun. so Sean H. M.S. Pinafore Soon to Anchor Here. Notwithstanding it is nearly two wecks before the presentation of the operas of the Pirates of Penzance and Pinafore, the in- dications point to crowded houses at each Performance, for the saie o! both tickets &nd boxes warrants this assertion. When Pinafore was presented in February last, Not less than “”) people were turned away who were unable to gain admission, so great was the desire to see and hear the talented young ters and misses who ‘were to interpret this charming opera. The fame cast and chorus will repeat the ope: at the Academy on the night of May That worthy institution, the National Homeopathic Hospital, is to be the bene- ficlary, and another crowded house, no doubt, will greet these talented little ar- tists. In addition to the opera, all of the special features, such as the beautiful @ancing between the acts, the silent drill, i&c., will be reproduced. a ges His Sweetheart’s Pocket Book. Geo, Fitzhugh, a young colored man, and ‘Agnes Warrington, a young woman of the game color, were friends until a few days ago, when George visited wis friend and took her pocket book when she was not Yooking. George took the pocket book in fun, but when he discovered that the book contained 33 in greenbacks and 75 cents im small change, then he changed his mind and spent the money. This morning he received a sentence from Judge Miller of sixty days. ee THE COURTS. Equity Court, No. 1—Judge Cox. Yesterday—Daish agt. Hoge; referred to auditor. Smithson agt. Prudential Insur- ance Company; demurrer sustained and amended bill dismissed. Heacock agt. Dr fy; sale of notes by trustee authorize Davenport agt. Gordon; release of pu chaser and return of part of deposit or- dered. Equity Court, No. 2-Judge Hagner. Yesterday—Ebbert agt, Ebbert; divorce @ranted, ee Na a MAP OF PROPOSED THE EVENING STAR, TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 1894-TWELVE PAGES. eee: tingle Yt CATITOY {Grounok ‘ Nan wt? MAIN SEWERAGE AND DRAINAGE WORKS. (The fall black lines indicate the sewage interceptors; the broken Iines, sewers intercepting storm water as well as sewage, or carrying storm water only; the waving ling, the lines of dike at the foot of 17th street west and of Delaware avenue.) G | } | THE SEWER PLANS Captain Derby Explains Them in a Public Address. THE NEGESSIIES OF THE DISTRICT Folly of Building the New System by Piecemeal. THE PRESENT CONDITIONS Capt. Geo. McC. Derby, assistant to the Engineer Commissioner of the District, de- livered an address last night at the Colum- bian University lecture hall on “Sewage Disposal in the District of Columbia.” Capt. Derby set forth in a clear and interesting manner the present condition and needs of the District as to sewers, and the plans made by the sewer commission, designed to meet all the needs of the District for forty years, as calculated by the sanitary engi- neers composing the sewer commission. Capt. Derby emphasized what he consid- ered the absurdity of congressional action in making annual appropriations to carry out the project at a rate that would require forty-five or fifty years to complete the sys- tem, which will be outgrown in forty years’ time, or before it is completed. Capt. Derby exhibited several maps and charts to illus- trate the subject. His audience included the District Com- missioners and many well-known engineers and sanitarians. The address was delivered at the invitation of the Sanitary League, and Capt.-Derby was introduced by Dr. John S. Billings, first vice president of the league. Capt. Derby said it had been frequently a matter of surprise to him during the past year to discover how very rudimentary the ideas of the public are on the subject of sewage disposal. “I believe,” he said, “this audience could almost count upon its fin- gers the number of our fellow-citizens who have ever asked themselves the question, what becomes of the sewage after it has Passed from the soil pipe to the sewer lat- eral, thence to the pipe sewer in the street or alley, has been gathered from the whole community into some main sewer, and finally passed on to jgin with the flow from many more main sewers, in some big trunk sewer down in the older parts of the city? What becomes of it? What should become of it? These are the questions which we present for your consideration tonight. The Existing Conditions. “Let us begin with the first question: What actually becomes of our sewage to- day? Here,” he said, “is a map of Wash- ington and Georgetown and part of the county. “The surface of the city is not a level plain, nor yet an even slope back from the river, but is divided by ridges of high ground into a number of different drainage basins. There are eleven of these. First, a large basin west of Georgetown and the town road, which drains into Foun- dry branch and other small streems, and in which we have as yet no sewers, in spite of the fact that it is the natural cutlet for the drainage of the villages of Tenleytown and Reno. Second, another large bisin east of the Soldiers’ Home and Trinidad, which drains into the Eastern branch, but which is also without sewerage, though it con- tains Brookland and some other growing suburbs. In these two basins, there being no s@wers, the sewage from houses and out- houses is drained into cesspools, and is ab- sorbed by the ground, polluting the soil at the risk of contaminating the local water supply. Fortunately the population in both of these basins is as yet not so dense as to have caused any serious inconvenienc: though Brookland and Tenleytown have both become aroused to the danger ahead, and have petitioned for sewers within the past year. “The third basin is a large one, being the main valley of Rock creek extending from Georgetown and Tenleytown, r on one side, to Mount Pleasant, the Soldiers’ Home and Takoma, on the other. Most of this area is yet unsewered, yet it con- tains a very considerable popuiation. koma, Brightwood and Brightwood are still able to get alon; but parts of Mount Pleasant, Holmead, Petworth and the settlements adjoining Brightwood avenue are quite too thickly settled for this, and with Mr. Loeffler’s slaughter house—where our sausages come from—as a starter, these communities pro- duce an amount of sewage which it is quite impossible for them to take care of themselves. Until a few months ago the only thing they could.do was to let it all run into Piney branch and a little brook parallel to Spring road. Of course, it did not take long to convert this little brook into an open sewer, and last summer its bed had become so foul that you could not escape the odor of it anywhere in its whee Wn weiter ae ee wide. Fortunately, my able prede- Capt. Lusk, succeeded in gettin; <sional committee to take a drive along Spring road, and its odors were so eloquent and convincing that the neces- sary, funds were provided, and we have le % with cesspools, } | | | sewage of this locality flows to the Tiber recently finished a main sewer in this valley and down the valley of Piney branch as far as Rock creek. Of course, this removes the difficulty for the people of Mount Pleasant, Holmead, &c., but I would call your attention to the fact that, after all, what we have done is only what the house owner did who drained his own sewer into his neighbor's back yasd. For we have but taken the sewage of Mount Pleasant, Holmead, &c., and drained it into the brook behind Washington and Georgetown. If this is allowed to continue we will soon convert the upper part of Rock creek into an open sewer, as we already have the lower part, and our beau- tiful Rock Creek Park, with its popular adjunct, the Zoological Park, will soon be redolent of breezes that will make even the foxes in the Zoo feel outdone and tempt the visitors to retire to the mon- key house for fresh air. It would seem as if it really required no argument to show that this ought not to be, and yet we have been asking for years funds to construct_a sewer to protect the upper part of Rock creek from pollution, and have falled this year as heretofore, in spite of the fact that this sewer was begun five years ago and $36,000 have been ex- pended in constructing about a third of it, which cannot be utilized until the whole sewer is finished; it is a sewer more than 6,000 feet long, badly needed, but lying idle, never having carried a quart of sewage. It is as if a man had bought his lot and built his house to the second story and then slept outdoors for five years rather than spend the money to put the roof on. “The fourth basin is a small one in Georgetown, which disposes of its sewage by draining into the Potomac. Drains Into Rock Creek. “The fifth, also a small one in George- town, drains its sewage into Rock creek below P street; and this part of the creek also receives the sewage from the sixth basin, which is a large one, including near- ly all of the northwest section of Washing- ton. I need not dilate upon the condition of this part of Rock creek, it is familiar to The creek is dammed at its mouth, the ordinary discharge of the stream flow- ing out into the Potomac over the top of the dam. Of course the quiet water above the dam makes an admirable settling basin, in which the solid matter brought down by the sewers quietly settles upon the bottom of the stream, there to putrefy and give off gases which taint the atmosphere of the whole neighborhood—even a mile away from the creek at times, “The seventh basin is another large one, extending from N street to beyond the Sol- diers’ Home and from 14th street northwest to the Bladensburg road. Much of this ba- sin is thickly settled. Part of its sewage drains into an adjoining basin through the ‘Tiber sewer and the remainder reaches a twenty-two-foot trunk sewer on Florida avenue and discharges into a brook, which, after running more than a mile through a swamp, finally reaches the Eastern branch. When the branch is high the sew- age overflows the banks of its channel and spreads out over the swamp, It is, of course, only a question of time before these flats will have become unwholesome in the extreme. Still, as matters stand today, this is probably the least objectionable of all our main sewer outfalls, the sewage of this basin being much diluted by several large brooks which are tributary to the Florida avenue sewer. “The eighth basin includes the area of the city lying to the east of South Capitol street and North Carolina avenue. The sewage of this basin reaches the Eastern branch through a number of small main sewers; and in like manner the ninth basin, a small one in South Washington, drains into the Washington channel through ten or more sewers of moderate size. Neither the East- ern branch nor the Washington channel have a sufficient flow of water to make it safe to discharge any large amount of sew- age into them. “The tenth basin includes the heart*of the city from the old Observatory grounds to Iowa Circle and east far as 6th street northwest. All of the sewers of this sec- tion drain into a trunk sewer on B street; and that empties at 17th street and Vir- ginia avenue into an open drain called the B strget outlet canal, which conducts the se) across the flats to the Potomac. = ‘gonal is about two-thirds of a mile lol id 100 feet wide. The James Creek Canal. “Finally, the eleventh basin is another large one, which ingludes the rest of the thickly settled portion of the city, extending ¢rom 6th street west to 7th street east. The sewer, a trunk sewer 30 feet wide, con- structed in the bed of the old Tiber creek. This sewer discharges into the head of the James Creek canal at 1st and South Capitol streets. This canal is another open drain similar to the B street outlet canal, but even worse; it is nearly a mile and a half long, 6 feet wide and about 6 feet deep. Like the B street outlet canal,it has ordinari- ly almost no current, the tide rises and falls in it, so that part of the time what current there is, is actually upstream. Both of these canals are practically open stagnant cess- pools, their bottoms several feet thick with putrefying masses of fetid matter. Having no water-tight bottoms, they naturally pol- lute the soil around them. “I recently had a complaint from a house owner in one of these localities, that there was a stream of water rising in the cellar of his house. He had tried every means of finding out where this stream came from. He finally collected a sample of it and took it to a chemist in one of the departments, who analyzed it and pronounced it sewage. Of course, the owner naturally concluded that his premises were being invaded by a leak from nearest sewer. On Investi- ion, however, it turned out that the leak ame from the service pipe of his neighbor; it was pure Potomac water fresh from the main, but the soil through which it per- colated was so full of pollution that by the | 500,000 inhabitants, and even to serve fairly a state of affairs as I have described to you should not make itself apparent in connec- tion with the death rate of the District. It is not a matter of surprise, then, that we find in Dr. Billings’ interesting report on the vital statistics of the District that for the six years ending 1890 the death rate from malarial fevers in the sanitary district bordering on the James Creek canal was three times as great as the average for Washington and Georgetown, and twenty- one times as great as in the least malarious of our sanitary districts. The death rate in this particular district is only exceeded by that in the one bordering on the Potomac just below the mouth of Rock creek. “T think now I have shown you sufficiently thoroughly how we dispose of our sewage in the District, or perhaps, I ought to say how w» don", dispose of it; for I think you will agree with me in thinking that as a eommunity we have really dealt with the subject on exactly the same principle as the thrifty housewife. We have realized the importance of cleaning house, but we have only swept out our dirt onto the side- walk; we have thought it necessary to carry ; Out the slops from our bed rooms, but we have been content to stand upon our back steps and pour them into the yard, “Well, what ought we to do? The Plans Adopted. “Fortunately the answer to this question is in very definite shape. Congress, in its wisdom, decfeed some years ago that the President’ should appoint a board of emi- ‘nent sanitary engineers to consider this question, and that board was duly ap- pointed and submitted a report in June, 1890, This document is published as ex- ecutive document No. 445, Fifty-first Con- gress, and is very interesting reading and a most thorough and valuable report. “After a very exhaustive consideration of the subject, the board recommends a freshet of 1889; the damage done by this flood was very great; and if a like one were to occur now, the damage would be still greater, as there are many more cellars to be flooded and more business to be inter- rupted than there was then. Throughout much of this area, the level of the surface is so little‘above the level of the ground water that it is impossible to construct the deep basements and cellars which important business property requires. “In the adopted plan, to meet this difMf- culty, as-well as the sewage disposal prob- jem, it is intended to construct a dike on Virginia avenue from high ground on EB street to high ground near the monument, and another along the banks of James creek canal and across N street southwest, so as to prevent the waters of the river from overflowing the low area of the ci to keep them from backing up through the sewers, tide gates will be placed at the out~. lets. A trunk sewer fifteen feet in di- ameter will be built along B street from 22d street northwest to the pumping sta~ tion at the foot of New Jersey avenue on the Eastern branch. Into this trunk sewer will empty all of the sewers of the low area, an intercepting sewer built along the bank of Rock creek to cut off all the sew- age now flowing into that stream from Georgetown, as well as Washi m; an~ other marginal interceptor built along Water street to keep the sewage out of the Washington channel, and finally the Easby’s Point and F street high level in- terceptor, which we are now building. This sewer, together with two other high level irterceptors, one on 41-2 and M street scuthwest, and the other following the mar- gin of the low area from Indiana avenue down to New Jersey avenue, perform the function of intercepting the storm water from the higher ground surrounding the low area and carrying it off to the river, so as to diminish as much as possible the work demanded of the pumps. These sew- ers are located as near the margin of the area subject to overflow as is possible con- sistently with their having a free di into the river. dry weather, when these sewers carry sewage only, the outlets into the river will not be used; the first will discharge its sewage into the B street trunk Sewer at its head, the second into the Water street intercepting sewer, and the third will carry its sewage direct to the pumping station. During heavy rains when these large high-level interceptors are run- ning nearly fully with storm water, the sewage which they carry will be so diluted that its discharge into the river will be un- objectionable. The sewage of the eastern part of the city, together with the dry- weather flow of the Boundary sewer, will be carried by a marginal interceptor along the bank of the Eastern branch direct to the pumping station. “You see now that this plan provides means by which all of the dry weather sewage of the city shall be brought to the pumping station, at the foot of New Jersey avenue, together with all storm-water of the area which lies too low to drain into the river during freshets. The Pumping Station. “At this pumping station we will have a Proper number of large centrifugal sewage pumps, which will deliver into a low stand- pipe, connected with iron pipes, running under the Eastern Branch to a trunk sewer on the other side of the branch, which will discharge at the selected outlet near the naval magazine. There will also be large storm-water pipes, which will discharge directly into the Eastern Branch. “In operating this system we have three cases which may arise. We may have or- dinary weather, either dry or with moderate rains; we may have heavy rains, and we may have heavy rains accompanied by @ freshet in the river. “In the first case, in ordinary weather, all the sewage will be delivered to the pumps at the pumping station, which will be operated at such a rate as to keep the level of the water in the trunk sewer low, so as to keep down the level of the ground water in the low area. “When heavy rains come on, all of the high level intercepting sewers will, for a while, continue to deliver both sewage and storm water into the trunk sewer, until they have been well flushed out. As the storm continues, to avoid overloading the trunk sewer, the connections with the high level interceptors will be partially or en- trely closed, and these latter will dis- charge directly into the river. In the mean- while, the water and sewage brought down by, the trunk sewer has begun to exceed the capacity of the dry weather sewage pumps, and the level of the sewage begins to rise in the trunk sewer. Additional sewage pumps are started, but if the storm continues, even these will not keep down the level of the sewage in the trunk sewer. Tn the course of time this level rises so much that it becomes higher than the water in the Eastern Branch, the pumps will then be stopped, and the sewer will overflow into the Eastern Branch through open tide gates. By this time, however, the large amount of storm water flowing into the trunk sewer will have so diluted the sewage that there will be no risk of polluting the Eastern Branch by allowing the sewer to discharge into it. As the storm abates, the level in the trunk sewer will fall, until it becomes the same as that in the branch. The tide gates will then be closed, and the pumps started up again, and the contents of the sewer pumped down to its normal level as rapidly as possible, so as to create a rapid current in the sewer, and scour out any deposits that may have taken place while the velocity in the sewer was checked. project for the disposal of the sewage of {the District which will be ample for the next forty years. Congress has approved | this project and has begun to carry it out, but at a rate that gives promise of our get- ‘ote ESTIMATED FUTURE POPU “Finally, when a heavy storm occurs and we happen to have a freshet in the river at the same time, it Is evident that we can- not let the trunk sewer discharge through LATION OF THE DISTRICT, ting it completed and in operation in the course of about fifty years, or say ten years after the expiration of the period for which it was designed.” Capt. Derby then described the four gen- eral methods of sewage disposal, chemical precipitation, intermittent filtration, broad irrigation, or sewer farming, and discharge into a sufficiently large stream, and showed the conditions that led the sewer commis- sion to decide in favor of a system involv- ing the pumping of the sewage to a point of discharge down the river as the most economical thing to do. ‘The Conclusions of the Engineers. “This,” he said, “Is the conclusion reach- ed by the board of sanitary engineers, and our present plans are based upon this con- clusion; all the sewage of the District will be collected in certain large sewers and carried to a pumping station at the foot ot New Jersey avenue, and thence pumped through irén pipes under the Eastern branch and through a trunk sewer on the other side of the branch to the proposed outlet into the Potomac at a point near the naval magazine. “The selection of this point for the outlet was controlled by the fact that at even the lowest stage of the river the volume of water passing this point is so large as to sufficiently dilute the sewage of a city of well until the population has reached 850, 000; and that it is so far down stream that when the sewage is being carried up stream by the flood tide it cannot get as far up! as the mouth of the Eastern branch be- fore the tide turns and carries it down again. “This oscillation to and fro with the tide Nas its advantage, as any particular vol- | ume of water in the river will pass in front | of the sewer outlet eight times before it | receives its allotted portion of sewage and | passes down the river to remain; in this way the thorough mixing of the sewage with the water of the river will be assured. Protection Fom Floods. “There is another problem which con- cerns the city of Washington which is so intimately refated with the subject of | sewage disposal that it was thought ad- visable to include its solution with that of the sewage question. I refer to the pro- | time the water reached the surface in the | cellar of the complainant it had acquired | the characteristics of sewage. ! “It would be remarkable, indeed, if such tection of the lower part of the city from floods. The map shows the area lying be- | low the level of nine feet above ordinary | high tide which was flooded during the the tide gates after it has filled up, because these gates must be kept closed to keep the — freshet from invading the city. To meet this contingency we have at the pumping station a series of large centrifugal pumps, large enough to keep pace with any rain storm, and with these we pump directly in- to the Eastern Branch all that the sewer carries as fast as it comes. The same force of men who ordinarily operate the sewer | pumps will be used to operate these flood pumps, as they will only be wanted at long | intervals, unless it should prove to be de- sirable to operate them during ordinary | storms, with a view to keeping down the level in the trunk sewer to such a point | as to permit the building of deep cellars in the low district. . “I think that it may fairly be said that this plan meets every requirement. It dis- poses of the sewage safely and economic- | ally, it protects the low part of the city from floods, and it lowers the level of the ground water where necessary. Why It fs Not Done. “Of course, the question now comes up | why, since we have a good plan all matur- | ed, don’t we go ahead and carry it out? Well, as I said before, we are carrying it out. Congress has made one appropriation to do any considerable portion until all of its parts are finished and in place. For instance, we are now building the Easby point high level intercepting Sewer. Well, what good will it do us when it is done? It has a two-fold object; one is to keep the storm water of the higher stound from flowing down into the area subject to overfiow, so as to reduce the amount of work required of the sewage pumps. Well, what do we care whether this storm water flows one way or the ed as long as the pumps do not exist and not for the next fifty years? The sec- end function of this sewer is to intercept a part of the sewage that flows into the B street outlet canal and discharge it into the B street trunk sewer, so that the canal can be filled up or at least abandoned as a sew- er. But what good does it do us to inter- cept this small amount of sewage as long as the trunk sewer into which it is to dis- charge does not exist and may not for an- other half century? We cannot fill up the canal, for it must still carry all the sewage from the heart of the city, which is ulti- mately to go into the trunk sewer; and I question very much whether the condition of this canal will not even be worse after the completion of the Easby point sewer than it is now, as this sewer will cut off a large portion of the storm water which now at least once in a while flushes out the canal. No, as the board of sanitary engi- neers who made the plan aptly state them- selves, ‘we were unable to devise a scheme which would be economical and efficient and at the same time give any large meas- ure of relief by building only one of its parts; we therefore urge the importance of Providing at one time for the construction of the entire work.’ The Finances of It. “Under these conditions to expend over $4,000,000 at the rate of $90,000 per annum is just as unbusiness like as it would be to bulld a $4,000,000 manufacturing plant the same way. What would you think of a board of directors who took forty-five years to get the factory running while pay- ing out $90,000 per annum on equipment. I figure that the money lost in interest alone would amount to over $4,600,000, or considerably more than the total value of the plant. “On the other hand, if we sold bonds to the amount of $4,000,000, 3 per cent interest, we could establish the vs — ~ — and it would cost us for in- erest and operating expenses both only about $170,000 per annum, which is cer- tainly not extravagant when we remember that our revenue from taxation for this fiscal year amounts to $300,000 more than | our expenses, and for next year our sur- plus will be more than twice as great. “Of course, we hear a good deal about hard times just now, but really hard times are an argument on the other side, if we only realize it. the result of hard times we have millions of money and thousands of men idle in the country today. As a result of the idle money we can sell a A cream of tartar baking pow- der. Highest of all in leavening strength.—Latest United States Governmen Food Report. Royal Baking Powder Oo. 106 Wall &, ooo A DEFUNCT BUILDING COMPANY. A Stockholder Files a Bill Praying for Relief. By a bill in equity praying for general re- ef, filed today by Wm. J. Morris against Charles C. Duncanson and Eldred G. Davis, the affairs of “The Citizens’ Building Com- pany of Washington City” were again brought to view. The bill alleges that the object of the company, organized September, 1874, was the purchase of square 363, this city, for $112,500, and the fairs of the company. The plaintiff states in his bill of complaint that Bigelow owned property and moneys which were liable for his indebtedness, and a large amount of which, he believes and is informed, came into Duncanson’s hands, and which he utterly failed and refused to apply to the said indebtedness. The plain- uf further says that he is informed and believes that Davis has $1,000, or more, which belongs to and should be divided be- tween the stockholders of the company, He states that he owns $1,000 worth. of stock in the defunct company, and, while admitting that other s are un- 3 per cent bond today probably more ad- vantageously than ever before in our his- tory, and as a result of the idle men we can today get labor and material more cheaply than ever before. If we had au- thority to sell bonds today, I am confident that this whole sewer system could be promptly established and in the very best manner, with a saving of at least half a million dollars on the estimates. I know this because we are building sewers all the time, and contractors are anxious to take work today at prices they would not have thought of a year or two ago. i “There might be other reasons advanced | why it would be genuine economy to take this opportunity to put our idle thousands | but i won't discuss them—you | to wot might accuse me of trying to steal Gen. Coxey’s thunder. Ahead of the Schedule. “Finally,” said Capt. Derby, referring to another diagram or chart, “I would ask your attention to this chart. It was com- piled by the same board of sanitary en- gineers to which I have so often referred. To properly determine the sewers we will want for the next forty years it became necessary for the board to form the best idea they could of the Probable future growth of Washington, so they had this chart prepared, which shows the rate of growth of al) the large cities of the country up to 1890 and also the rate of growth of the United States in general. Reasoning from this as best they could and taking the flattering view that we all share of. the advantages of Wash- ington as the most attractive city home in America, they ventured to prophesy that the growth of Washington for the next forty years would probably not be than that indicated by the curve A B nor Ee ead than that indicated by the curve c. “Well, I wrote to the health officer the other day for the closest estimate he could make of the present population—you know he needs these figures to enable him to keep track of the vital statistics—well, he replied to me that by June 30 he will have to take as the basis of his tables @ population of 300,000. Now, if you will refer to my chart, you will see that the board sanitary engineers considering this subject in 1890, only four years ago, did not expect that we could reach this figure of growth earlier than 1001, and perhaps not until I. So our necessity for sewers today is as great as this board thought it would be by 1901-03, and as the growth of the population is certainly the best measure of our general prosperity we can say also that in ability to pay for what we need we are likewise from seven to nine years ahead of the schedule. This is certainly very gratifying, and it would seem that a healthy growth like this is something to be proud of and is well worth fostering. It would be a pity to/ take any risk of checking it by neglecting simple sanitary measures and winning the unenviable reputation of unhealthfulness.”” RS ir ea Order of the Golden Cross, At the meeting of Goodwill Commandery, U. O. G. C., last evening Noble Commander Nelson Conover presided. The degrees were conferred on one candidate, and one appli- cation for membership was received. The committee on the good of the order,through Dr. 8. I. Groot, reported that all the ar- rangements for the entertainment and re. ception to the members of Trinity Com- mandery on next Monday evening had been completed. It was announced that the embers of sister commanderies will as- st Goodwill Commandery at this recep- tion. At the meeting of National Commandery last evening Noble Commander George E. Phillips presided. Eight applications for | membership were presented and the degrees | were conferred on six candidates. Grand Commander Yates conferred the third de- gree. This commandery has increased so rapidly during this term and the attend- ance has been so large that a committee has been appointed to secure a larger hall. Past Grand Commander Ehle was present. also visitors from MountVernon, St. John’s, Potomac and Goodwill Commanderies. Un- der the good of the order, instead of speech- es, refreshments were served under the di- rection of the ladies of the commandery, the refreshments being a birthday present from a gentleman Jately received into the commandery, —_- v. W. Warden's Promoti One of the earliest orders given by Mr. Perry S. Heath after he had taken office as president of the Cincinnati Commercial-Ga- zette Company was for the promotion of the foreman of printing, Mr. William W. Warden, to the editorial department of the paper, and appointing Mr. E. M. Hack of this city as superintendent of the mechani- cal department, the duties of which position include those of foreman. Mr. Warden has been connected with the Commercial and Commercial-Gazette nearly thirty years, about eight years of which time he was the assistant foreman, and during the past nineteen years he has been the foreman of the establishnient. He has many friends in this city, where he spent some time with his father, the late Col. W. W. Warden, and his brother, Clifford Warden. —_—~—> Death of T. W. Bedford. Mr. Theodore W. Bedford’ of Baltimore, of $90,000, and this money is now being ap- plied to the construction of the Easby point and F street high level interceptor. But | he trouble is that the whole work is esti- | mated to cost a little over $4,000,000, and if we only appropriate at the rate of $90,000 per annum we won't get done for forty-five or fifty years; and there are three substan- tial reasons why this won't do. First, be- cause we are in actual need of a system of sewage disposal now, and our need of it is | steadily growing worse, and it is a physical | impossibility to wait fifty years, or half of that time, for some method of getting rid | of the James Creek canal, the B street out- let canal and Rock creek as open sewers. | Secondly, the proposed system is only ex- ected to give first-class service for the | next forty years—after that it will have to be modified and perhaps radicaily altered; we can’t afford to spend so much time in building it that it will be obsolete when done. And, finally, as a business proposi- | tion, It is simply absurd to talk of estab- | Kishing any great plant costing four mil- lions of dollars by spending ninety thou- | sand dollars per annum. If this sewage dis-| posal plan could be operated piecemeal there might be some advantage in building | it piecemeal, but this cannot be done; it ts | one great machine, which cannot be made i but for the past two years a resident of this city, died last night at 9 o'clock at his home, No. 1014 15th street northwest. His sudden death was due to a stroke of paraly- sis, which he survived only forty-eight hours, He was a man of vigorous and at- tractive personality, an enterprising, hon- orable citizen, a true and generous friend. He leaves a widow and two sons, aged uif- teen and eighteen, respectively. ——_— A Divorce Granted. Judge Hagner yesterday granted Sedonia Ebbert a divorce from Edward F. Ebbert. ‘The parties were married at Greensburg, Pa., February 5, 1889. The plaintiff alleged desertion on the of the defendant. —_————_ Officers Installed. The officers of Holy Name Commandery, No. 248, of the R. C. Knights of St. John, were installed on Sunday. The officers are as follows: Civil officers—President, W. H. Frizzell; vice president, W. A. Lusby; re- cording secretary, Thomas Bevans; finan- cial secretary, P. H. Gallagher; treasurer } J. Collins. Military officers—Captain, P. H. Gallagher; first lieutenant, W. A. Lusby; second lieutenant, Thomas Bevans. size of the) to join him in his suit, asks that there shall be a full accoun iting by the de~ fendants and that the alleged balances between the of ———- POMPEI AND ITS PEOPLE. Dr. J. C. Welling Addresses the Co lumbian College Preparatory School. This morning President Welling address- ed the students of the Preparatory school on the subject of Pompeii, giving them an | eXceedingly interesting sketch of the hab- its and homes of the Pompeiians, as they were at the time of the destruction of their city. He gave an account of his visit to Pompeii and his investigations of the won- derful scenes and remains disclosed to view by pick and shovel, when the over- lying lava and —— were forced to dis- i i “tf i ‘ 5 | Tully equipped to teach ani in teaching, charm ‘the minds of his hearers, e ee EXCITEMENT AT BLUEFIELDs. The Nicaraguan Government Has Seized the Property of the Canal. Advices from Bluefields, Nicaragua, dated the 234, are as follows: Since the depar- ture of the San Francisco for Port Limon to coal and send a report'te the Navy De- partment of the situation here, there have been some exciting incidents, which, al- though no bloodshed has yet been precipi- tated, have caused @ great deal of uncasi- ness. Capt. Watson of the San Francisco left two officers here, with instructions to proceed to Rama and investigate the kill- ing of the American, William Wilson. by Aguella, the acting governor of that town. They have not yet returned, but a report has reached here that the mail boat which plies between here and there, and which flies the American flag, has been seized by the Nicaraguans, As the Clinton is prepar- ing to sail, a schooner load of Nicaraguan troops has just landed, having come up from Greytown. It ‘s reported that three other boat loads of troops are coming. Lecayo was very much agitated when he learned that the troops were about to land, as he feared that trouble would ensue with the Americans and natives, especially as the American man-of-war was down at Port limon, and would not return for several ys. A Mrs. Renton of New York has arrived here with her little niece, seven years old, and reports having been subjected to bar- barous treatment. Her left wrist is shat- tered by a bullet. It seems that her hus- band had a claim near Brewer's Lagoon, in Honduras, where they lived. A man named Jchnson, also an American, lived with them. One night a half-breed called Johnson to the door and shot him in the knee with e Winchester. Later Renton was ous and shot in the stomach by the same mat, As Mrs. Rezfton went to her husband's rescue she was shot in the wrist and then seized by the fiend, who had been rein- forced by several of his companions, and with her niece she w made to ride on muleback for three days and subjected to many indignities, They finally brought her to Port Garcias, where, hearing that Nica- T.guan troops were in the vicinity, they abandoned her. She found the assistance of some Americans, who made up a purse and sent her to this place, where she is being well cared for. She avers that the attack was prompted by persons who want- ed to get possession of her husband's claim. She has not been able to learn whether hé jand his friend ever escaped alive, though she does not think it possible. The news has reached here that all the property of the Nicaragua Canal Company at Greytown seized by the Nicaraguan government for an alleged debt about three weeks ago, and sold at auction, being = in by some Spaniards for about $74,- -—— - +00 THE GRECIAN DISASTER. A Total Loss 227 Lives Reported Through the Earthquake. There were several light shocks of earth- quake in Greece yesterday. Telegrams received from the shaken dis- trict represent an appalling aspect of af- fairs. The total number of deaths reported is now 227, of which 130 were killed at Malesina al = eee THE IDLE NUMBER 125,000, Reports Received by President Bride of the U. M. W. The latest reports received by President McBride of the United Mine Workers show suspension of work by 8000 men in Ala- bama, 5,000 in Tennessee and Kentucky, 000 in West Virginia, 5,000 in Indiana, 26,000 in Ohio, 0) in Illinois, 1,30 in Towa, 2,000 in In territory, 1,300 in Mis- souri, 50,000 Michigan. Total, 1: Moe The Assembly € A very pleasant and most enjoyable so- clable was given last Friday evening at the Assembly Presbyterian Church, corner of Sth and I streets northwest, which was largely attended by members of the congre- gation, as well as a number of outside friends. An enjoyable program was rendered, after which a social time was enjoyed for a while by all. There was a piano ~olo, “Tann- hauser March,” by Mr. Chr.les N. Ritter; a song, “Sing, Smile, Slumber,” by Miss Annie Harkness; a reading, “Aux Ital- jens,” by the Rev. Howard Wilbur Ennis, the new pastor of the Western Presbyterian. Church; a song, “The Water MUil,” by Miss Alice Kimball; @ reading, “Der Vater Mill,” Kimball; a song, “The by Rev, Howard W. En- nis; a violin solo by Mr. Jullus A. Bisen~ beiss, and a duet by Miss Harkness and Mr, Young. ee Salvation OU is a sure cure for Neuralgia,