APPENDIX B B B.

IMPROVEMENT AND CARE OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA-WASHINGTON MONUMENT.

REPORT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1897. OFFICERS IN CHARGE, COL. (NOW BRIG. GEN.) JOHN M. WILSON, CORPS OF ENGINEERS, AND COL. THEODORE A. BINGHAM, U. S. A.

OFFICE OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND GROUnds,

Washington, D. C., July 19, 1897.

GENERAL: I have the honor to submit the following report of operations upon public buildings and grounds in the District of Columbia, under the Chief of Engineers, during the fiscal year ending June 30,

1897.

Col. John M. Wilson, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, was the officer in charge from the beginning of the fiscal year until February 8, 1897, when he was promoted brigadier-general and Chief of Engineers.

From February 8, 1897, First Lieut. John S. Sewell, Corps of Engi neers, was temporarily in charge, under the direction of the Chief of Engineers, until March 9, 1897, from which date until the end of the fiscal year the office has been in charge of Col. Theodore A. Bingham, United States Army, captain, Corps of Engineers.

In addition to the public buildings and grounds, this office has also been charged with the care and repair of the Government telegraph lines connecting the Capitol with the various Departments and the Government Printing Office; of the repair and improvement of the Government Printing Office; of the repair of the building on Tenth street NW. where Abraham Lincoln died; of the construction of the statue of Gen. John A. Logan; of such matters connected with the erection of the statue of General Sherman as may properly devolve upon the War Department; of the monument at Wakefield, Va., the birthplace of Washington, and the iron-pile dock erected under the supervision of this office in 1894, under the direction of the Department of State, at the mouth of Bridge Creek, Virginia; and of the erection in the National Military Park at Gettysburg, Pa., of the memorial tablet to Abraham Lincoln.

As it would be difficult to improve on the arrangement or wording of the previous annual reports made by my predecessor, copious extracts therefrom have been made where needed, in discussing various subjects.

THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE PUBLIC GROUNDS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

While all persons justly concede the utility and value to the capital of the nation of the system of parks and public spaces at the intersection of its streets and avenues and the important relation they bear to

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the health and welfare of the citizens, many of whom, from the requirements of official duties, must reside here nearly continuously during the year, the many indirect yet not less valuable agencies extending from them in promoting mental growth and cultivating a love for horticulture, arboriculture, and floriculture among our people, who congregate here from all sections of our country, do not seem to be fully understood or appreciated.

Prior to the commencement of the improvement of the Smithsonian Grounds in 1851 by that celebrated landscape architect and gardener, Mr. A. J. Downing, it is believed that few extensive park improvements were contemplated or had been made in any American city.

Now many of our largest cities have within their limits extensive and highly improved public parks, the expenditures therefor in some instances approximating to millions of dollars. However large the cost has been, the benefits accruing therefrom have invariably amply repaid the labor and expense.

Increased revenues have been derived from taxation caused by the rapid increase in value of adjacent lands and from the handsome and costly buildings usually erected in the immediate vicinity of the parks. The effect upon the health and morals of the people benefited by these improvements has been of the most marked and beneficial character.

In the opening paragraph of a recent publication, Washington has been described as follows:

Washington is in a double sense the capital city. It is the capital of one of the foremost nations of the earth, and it is first in beauty and attractiveness among all of the cities of the American continent. It is in many respects the most interesting city in America, and to it thousands of tourists make pilgrimages from all parts of the world.

If this language is too strong, and Washington is not the most beautiful and attractive city in America, surely as the capital city it should be made so, and the parks and park places so freely distributed through it by the wise foresight of the great man who laid it out, and which are conceded to form one of its chief attractions, should be maintained in the very highest condition of improvement.

This can only be done by liberal appropriations from Congress for their support, as they are the exclusive property of the United States. The improved reservations of the Government, comprising the public grounds, have been mainly created under the direction of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, the officers detailed for the duties having been most earnestly, ably, and efficiently assisted by Mr. George H. Brown, the public gardener, whose taste, skill, intelligence, and untiring industry have been freely and promptly devoted to this beautiful work.

Mr. Downing designed extensive improvements, but his death prevented him from executing them. Under his direction Lafayette Park was improved and planted and a portion of the Smithsonian Grounds beautified. He formulated plans and projected minor improvements of other parks which were subsequently partly adopted.

During the period between the death of Mr. Downing in 1852 and the assignment in 1867 of the control of the public grounds to the Chief of Engineers no improvements of any importance were made except those around the Agricultural Department. Since 1867 all of the prominent parks and park places, with the exceptions noted in the foregoing, have been improved under the direction of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, with the limited appropriations made

by Congress for that purpose. How well the task has been accomplished, how carefully the funds have been used, the many compliments paid to Washington on her park system by her sister cities and by distinguished visitors from abroad abundantly testify.

It is also conceded that our parks, by the manner in which the improvements are maintained, evidence more care than is generally exercised in such work except where large expenditures are made. This is encouraging in view of the fact that it is believed that a less amount per acre is expended in their care and maintenance than in any other locality where similar park systems are maintained. This condition of affairs is, in some measure, due to the great care exercised by the Government in making expenditures for the purchase of materials and for payment for superintendence, labor, etc. It is a notable fact that the Government has been apparently fortunate in securing good materials and very good service in all work connected with the parks. Unfortunately, for the next fiscal year the appropriations for this very important work have been reduced, and while there is every evidence that what has been done is fully appreciated, it is feared that the great work yet to be accomplished is not fully realized. It is earnestly hoped that the Congress soon to convene will evince that interest in our beautiful parks that their importance demands, and that sufficient funds may be allotted to push to speedy completion projected and necessary improvements in a manner commensurate with their importance, not only for the purpose of adorning the capital city, in which all citizens have a just pride, but to furnish an example of simple landscape gardening and park ornamentation that will have a direct influence in aiding to elevate the taste of all visitors, and that may eventually lead to the transformation into beautiful parks of many pieces of waste ground adjacent to the cities of our country.

With these facts before me, I respectfully submit the following report of work done during the year, with suggestions for improvements which are deemed necessary:

PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, GREENHOUSES, AND STABLE.

In addition to the usual care extended to the Mansion and its furniture, the following has been accomplished during the year:

Painting, exterior.-All the roof balustrades, the crown molding of cornice, window heads, sash, and water table, all the white work on the roof, including the flagstaff, which was repaired after being broken in the storm of September 29, 1896; also all the dark stonework on the north, east, and west fronts, all window sills, window and door frames under north portico, 15 columns, the top of east portico, base of the building below the water table, the flagstaff stairs and platform, and 66 roof platforms laid to prevent wear on the tin roof.

Painting, interior.-The woodwork was painted as follows: Eight rooms on second floor, including bath and dressing rooms; the two dining rooms, including pantry, main corridor, blue and green parlors, and east room on the first floor; also sundry passages, doors, articles of furniture, window frames, and sash. Mantels were cleaned and fireplaces painted where necessary. All grained work throughout the entire house was sandpapered, done over, and varnished. All hard-wood doors were varnished; all gold work touched up where necessary. Fifty-four hatboxes were repainted and numbered in paint. Much miscellaneous painting and varnishing was also done, such as table legs, edging of

sinks, kitchen and laundry furniture, various closets, boxes, screen doors, ladders, and storm sash.

One hundred and sixty-two lights of glass were renewed and edges of sash painted.

Chandeliers and gas fixtures were covered during the heated term and thoroughly and minutely cleaned, repaired, and kept in good order throughout the year.

Canopies were erected and floor covers spread for the official receptions in January and February and removed when no longer needed.

Much work in miscellaneous plumbing was done, such as repairing and replacing water fixtures, cleaning strainers and traps, renewing washers, repairing breaks, sewer connections, and water-closets, repairing fountains, placing temporary drinking fountains in the grounds, etc. The large cistern at the east end of the house was pumped out and cleaned.

The entire system of plumbing and sewerage of the Executive Mansion was tested by hydraulic pressure, a much more severe one than the odor test. It was found to be in fair condition, but not such as ought to exist in the home of the President of the United States. As thorough an actual examination of sewer connections was made as could be done without complete excavation of all pipes. Old records were looked up and new drawings were made of the entire system of pipes in and under the Executive Mansion and greenhouses, and a detailed and valuable report was made by a professional expert in these matters.

The present plumbing in the Mansion is a growth of additions and patches. There is no system, properly speaking. It is not in a dangerous condition, but it is expensive to keep it from becoming so. The whole should be overhauled and relaid, useless parts cut out, proper sewer connections made, old sewers excavated and their beds cleaned, etc. This will cost not less than $5,000.

The spring at Franklin Square supplying the Executive Mansion was cleared of 6 inches of mud, which was replaced by clean gravel. This spring has of late years been getting lower. It ceases to flow at the Mansion in the warm season and does not begin again until late in the winter season. The supply pipe was cleaned out by using the pressure from the Potomac mains.

All doors and windows were eased, and new sash chains put in where required. The chimneys were swept and the exterior of the Mansion washed, using a steam fire engine for that purpose.

The plastering in the basement corridor has been repaired and a portion of the corridor whitewashed.

The library has been papered, new matting laid on floor, and the furniture covered with new materials.

Tiling in large and small kitchens and in the entrance vestibule was repaired.

All lace curtains have been laundered and repaired, new lace curtains placed in the east room, forty dining-room chairs repaired and regimped, new oilcloth placed on all the tables in butler's pantry, and the silver drawers in private dining room partitioned and lined. Tables were scraped and refinished, and two large chairs and one screen regilded. Leather furniture in upper corridor was regimped and repaired. Old defaced moldings in southwest bedroom were replaced with new materials.

New matting has been laid on the floors of the east room, blue, green, and red parlors, dining room, state dining room; the main corridor, first

floor; main corridor, second floor; anteroom, first floor; stairways, landings, and elevator hall. The matting in the various bedrooms was cleaned. The green doors leading from butler's pantry to dining room have been repaired and re-covered. The portraits of the Presidents in the Cabinet room have been cleaned and varnished, and the frames of the large mirror and of one portrait in the library have been regilded. All furniture throughout the Mansion requiring it was repaired, cleaned, and varnished or refinished, and all brass curtain poles and rings were cleaned and reburnished.

The ceiling of the President's office was repaired and redecorated; the walls of the telegraph room scraped and repapered. New carpets were purchased for the east room and for the green parlor.

The Mansion escaped serious damage by the hurricane of September 29, although the flagstaff on the roof was struck by a piece of timber from the board walk and broken off near its base; it was promptly repaired and replaced in position. Twenty-nine panes of glass were broken and at once reglazed. The sheet-iron caps were blown from the chimneys on the east side and were promptly replaced. The high iron fence at the north front, the stone coping and the piers at Pennsylvania avenue entrances were damaged by falling trees; they were repaired as soon as possible.

In October, 1896, all carpets were relaid, all lace curtains and window draperies hung, and the mansion placed in order for the winter. In June, 1897, all the carpets were taken up, cleaned, and stored in the state dining room, and the window draperies taken down, cleaned, folded, and stored away in the attic for the summer, and the lace curtains removed from the windows and sent to the laundry. Thirty-nine new window shades have been purchased and hung, and a new five-fold screen, covered with silk, purchased:

Nine chairs were repaired, reupholstered, and re-covered with new material.

The elevator has been overhauled and put in complete order, and an electric machine for operating it has been purchased and will be placed in position during the coming year.

The exit bridge at the north front, and the storm doors at that front and at the red-room window, and the canopies, were placed in position for all receptions during January and February, in addition to the hat and cloak boxes for evening receptions. The east room and parlors were elaborately decorated with plants and flowers on these occasions. Canopies were erected and floor covers spread for these receptions and removed when no longer needed.

New carpets were laid in the main corridor, the west end corridor, and the elevator hall, first floor, and in the elevator car.

The walls of the northwest bedroom were repapered and the ceiling frescoed; the walls and ceiling of the northwest dressing room adjoining were repapered and the cornice tinted. The woodwork in both rooms was repainted, both apartments recarpeted and furnished with new brass window grills and lace and silk drapery curtains, and the furniture in both rooms reupholstered and re-covered with new materials. The walls and ceiling of the large bathroom on the north front, second floor, were decorated in color, surrounded with border, the centerpiece gilded, and the wood work painted with two coats of oil color.

Some additional furniture has been purchased. New covers of wood have been placed upon the stone steps leading to the area of the Mansion at the northeast corner.

The floors of the east and west ends of the corridor on first floor