tled 'An act to increase the water supply of the city of Washington, and for other purposes." The bill provides for the acquisition by the United States, by the right of eminent domain or otherwise, of all the lands and water rights at Great Falls not now owned by the United States. It has been favorably reported by the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia (copy of report also herewith), and it appears to provide a fair and equitable method by which the water rights referred to can be acquired.

RECOMMENDATION.

For the reason that there were no funds provided for the use of the board, none of the surveys required for determining the location of the power canal and power plant at Great.Falls that would be required for utilizing for electrical purposes the power of the falls now wasted and the cost of these works could be made.

This cost, the cost of the necessary works in this city and of the line connecting the two systems, will be so considerable that they should not be undertaken before plans have been very carefully and elaborately worked out, and the board therefore begs to suggest that to this end there be enacted a provision of law similar to the one contained in the District appropriation act of August 6, 1890, which authorized the appointment by the President of a board of electrical, etc., experts, to consider the location, arrangement, and operation of electric wires in the District of Columbia; and the board also suggests that there be immediately appropriated the sum of $10,000 to meet the expenses of the said board.

GEORGE H. ELLIOT,

Colonel, Corps of Engineers. JOHN G. D. KNIGHT,

Captain, Corps of Engineers.

APPENDIX CCc.

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

REPORT OF COL. JOHN M. WILSON, U. S. A., OFFICER IN CHARGE, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1894.

OFFICE OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND GROunds,

Washington, D. C., July 7, 1894.

GENERAL: I have the honor to submit the following report of operations upon public buildings and grounds under the Chief of Engineers during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894.

In addition to these duties, I am a member of the Light-House Board, and in charge of the erection of a monument to mark the birthplace of Washington and of an iron pile wharf at the mouth of Bridge Creek, Virginia.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, GREENHOUSES, AND STABLE.

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

The tin roof has been repaired and painted, wooden walks and steps leading to flagstaff repaired, and the iron tank on the roof and in the attic cleaned and painted. A large new storage closet has been constructed in the attic and the attic floor repaired where necessary. The elevator has been overhauled and tested and the large elevator tank cleaned out and painted.

The woodwork in the bed rooms, office rooms, corridors, reception rooms, parlors, dining room, and butler's pantry has been repainted and revarnished where necessary and a new copper-lined sink placed in the butler's pantry. The entire heating apparatus has been overhauled and put in complete order and all chimneys properly cleaned. All gas and electric light chandeliers have been overhauled, cleaned, and repaired where necessary. Portions of the basement, the north area, and the walls, arches, and columns under the conservatory have been calcimined.

The large cistern at southeast corner of mansion, containing 2,400 gallons of water, was emptied and cleaned, two cart loads of mud having been removed. The water-filter has been overhauled and improved, and the tubs and water supply of the laundry were placed in good condition.

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The red parlor has been redecorated, the pine trimmings replaced with mahogany, east window cut down to level of floor, new carpet laid, new curtains hung, and furniture reupholstered. New carpets have been placed in four bedrooms and on the stairs leading from lower corridor to the bedrooms; new curtains have been placed in two bedrooms and in the window at west end of upper corridor; new portières at four doors and at the division in upper corridor, and new window shades in the east room, in the red, green, and blue parlors, state and private dining rooms, and in two bedrooms.

In the autumn of 1893 all carpets were relaid and curtains rehung, and in the spring the carpets, amounting to about 3,000 yards, were taken up, cleaned, and stored; curtains taken down and stored; about 1,000 yards of new matting laid to replace old and worn-out material, and the house placed in summer costume. New linoleum was placed on the floor of the corridor between main vestibule and east room.

The north and south balconies and the north front of the mansion from the water table to area floor were painted. New granite steps were constructed leading to the area at the northwest entrance. The columns at the main carriage entrances on Pennsylvania avenue and those of the area railing on the north side of the mansion were repainted. Considerable work was done to the conservatory and other greenhouses, all of which were overhauled and placed in as good repair as funds would admit; the conservatory was repainted inside and out. All boilers, furnaces, stoves, pipes, chimneys, etc., were cleaned, repaired, and placed in as good order as possible.

Attention is respectfully invited to the conservatory, the frame of which is of wood, rapidly decaying, and almost in a dangerous condition. A new iron superstructure is absolutely necessary, and an estimate of $13,000 is submitted for the work; if deemed best this could be made in two separate appropriations, one of $8,000, for the cast section, and the other of $5,000, for the west section. If a new iron superstructure can be constructed, it will last many years with but trifling repairs and thus save the necessity for the annual appropriation of $2,000 for the repair of the present decayed one.

Necessary attention was given to the valuable collection of plants in the greenhouses, a large number of bedding and greenhouse plants propagated, and about 16,000 spring flowering bulbs purchased for the greenhouses and grounds. During the summer of 1894 it is proposed to rebuild the superstructure of the south section of the camelia house. Extensive repairs were made to the stable; roofs, gutters, and downspouts were repaired and painted, stalls renewed or strengthened, and new floors laid; the roof covering the area between the wings of stable, which collapsed from the weight of snow, was replaced in position, strengthened with columns properly braced, tin covering repaired, new wooden walks placed upon it, and the whole repainted.

I respectfully invite attention to my report for 1893, in which I urged the importance of providing suitable offices outside the Executive Mansion for the President of the United States.

Surely the people of this great nation can afford to provide for its Chief Magistrate, outside of his home, a place where the immense business incident to his exalted position may receive attention.

Congress, in its wisdom, over forty years ago, made provision for the enlargement of the Capitol by the construction of new wings, on account of the growing business of the country, and again within a few years has ordered the erection of a magnificent library building, so that the Congressional Library might be removed from the Capitol.

No steps, however, have been taken for enlarging the Executive Mansion, which to-day, with the exception of interior and exterior ornamentation and improvement, remains as it was when first occupied by President Adams at the beginning of the present century.

It is a fact well known to all that the enormous crowds assembling at official evening receptions, as well as the demands for more rooms for the entertainment from time to time of the nation's guests, long since required either the enlargement of the White House or the transfer of the office rooms of the President to some convenient locality.

Efforts to enlarge the mansion have failed, and again I earnestly sug gest that a structure suitable for office purposes shall be provided at an early day, either east or west of the main building, and opposite the Treasury Department or the State, War, and Navy building. If erected opposite the Treasury building, it could be connected by a wide corridor, with a large conservatory arranged as a winter garden, thence into a picture gallery opening into the east room, and thus serve a double purpose, by relieving the mansion of the terrible crush incident to the evening official receptions which take place during the winter.

I earnestly hope that Congress will give this important matter speedy attention, so that, if possible, the new structure may be completed at least by the spring of 1897.

WASHINGTON NATIONAL MONUMENT.

Every effort has been made during the year to maintain the monument and its machinery in good condition.

Vandals continue to give annoyance by occasionally chipping pieces either from the outside or from the memorial stones in the inner walls, while some insist upon writing their names upon the white marble; whenever detected these thoughtless persons are arrested, but, as a rule, when brought to trial escape with a small fine.

The elevator and all the machinery connected therewith has been carefully and critically inspected monthly by an expert from the Otis Elevator Company, and pronounced in excellent condition. Weekly inspections are made by the principal steam engineer and machinist at the monument, and daily tests of the safety appliances of the elevator car are made by the employés before starting to convey passengers to the top.

It is believed that the elevator is as safe as it is possible for man to make it, and every effort is made to prevent accident. Should an accident ever occur it will result from something which it was impossible to foresee.

During the summer and autumn of 1893 the floor of the coal vault was relaid, the steam pipes in the tunnel were repacked and put in good condition, and the boilers cleaned, the side walls and ceiling of engine room were sheathed with plank, and a new wire governor rope placed in position, the old rope being used to replace a worn-out hand

rope.

On January 1, when the boilers were opened for cleaning previous to trying automatic cleaners, a scale about a quarter of an inch thick was found on some of the tubes and on the shell of the boilers, while the tubes were covered with mud and slime.

Two Obenehain automatic boiler cleaners were attached to the boilers on three months' trial and gave considerable satisfaction. At the end of the three months they succeeded in removing the slime and mud that had accumulated, and the boilers were found in a comparatively