The counterweight cables and the elevator cables were shortened from time to time as required. The under part of the iron stairway from the 200-foot landing down to the bottom floor, and the iron gates at entrance, were painted. In the motor room the machinery was maintained in good working order. The wooden wainscoting in the room was repaired, all defective material having been taken out and replaced with new material. All of the woodwork was painted and the roof was repaired and painted. In the power house the engine and all piping were kept in good order. The two boilers were frequently opened up, washed out, front and back connections cleaned, tubes brushed, and scale removed. Each boiler was in use every other month. The fronts of the boilers were painted several times during the year. In the lower engine room the walls were whitewashed and the woodwork and steam pipes painted. At the lodge house the rooms were maintained in cleanly condition, the walls and ceilings in toilet rooms whitewashed, and a new clothes locker for the watchmen made and placed in storeroom. The following table shows the number of visitors to the top of the Monument each month during the year, both by the electric elevator and by the stairway, the total number during the year, and the aggregate number since the shaft was opened to the public, October, 1888: Pressure on foundation nowhere greater per square foot than.. (Coast Survey Report, December 1, 1884.) 9 tons 3 tons inch to 1 foot 179 898 50 8 Taper of monument__ Memorial stones (beginning at 30 feet, stopping at 280 feet) Weight of car loaded, 35 persons (1 person equals 150 pounds) Cables Dynamo Engine, double worm. Speed of elevator, 100 feet per minute. 14 inches diameter 50 kilowatts. 250 volts Engine governor throws off current at 105 feet per minute. IMPROVEMENT OF PUBLIC RESERVATIONS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. The work of the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds is divided as follows: 1. Clerical department. 2. Horticultural department. 3. Engineering department. 4. Police department. 5. Executive Mansion, greenhouses, and grounds. 6. Washington Monument. 7. Departmental telegraph. For the purposes of administration all the parks under this Office are divided into three divisions, viz: East division: All east of North and South Capitol streets. Northwest division: All west of North Capitol street and north of B street north. Southwest division: All west of North and South Capitol streets and south of B street north. The area covered by the park spaces of the District of Columbia under the charge of this Office is 472,662 acres. There are in all 312 reservations, varying in size from 250 square feet to 82 acres. They are classified as follows: During the year six park spaces were added to the system by the transfer to the Chief of Engineers by the Commissioners of the Dis trict of Columbia of the following parcels of ground under authority granted by section 2, paragraph (b), of the act of Congress approved July 1, 1898 (volume 30 Statutes, page 570): The following described grounds were transferred by the Chief of Engineers to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia under the operations of section 4 of the law quoted: October 27, 1906: Reservation 180, New York and New Jersey avenues, First and M streets NW. The east half (approximate) for street purposes. December 1, 1906: Reservation 24, Pennsylvania avenue, Twentyfifth and L streets NW. A strip of ground 2 feet wide on the L street side, for sidewalk purposes. December 24, 1906: Garfield Park (Reservation 17). A strip of ground through the park on the line of Second street SE., for the purpose of extending that street through the park. January 5, 1907: Garfield Park (Reservation 17). A strip on line of New Jersey avenue SE., for street purposes. January 28, 1907: Reservation 57D, Florida avenue and Twentysecond street, between P and Q streets NW. A strip 5 feet wide on the Twenty-second street side, for sidewalk purposes. April 2, 1907: Reservation 103, Virginia avenue and E street, between Twenty-first and Twenty-second streets NW. A strip of ground 86 feet long and 6 feet wide on the Virginia avenue side, for sidewalk purposes. In addition to the foregoing, the Chief of Engineers, at the request of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, temporarily relinquished to them, on October 1, 1906, jurisdiction over Reservation 200, at Maryland avenue, Seventh and C streets SW., and over the northern half of Reservation 113, at the intersection of Maryland and Virginia avenues and C street, between Seventh and Ninth streets SW., in order to facilitate the execution of the laws providing for the elimination of grade crossings in the District of Columbia. Between July 1, 1906, and June 30, 1907, part of the $25,000 appropriated for "Improving various reservations" was devoted to improving two reservations hitherto unimproved, containing 0.326 (about one-third) of an acre. These improvements consisted in a general way of grading, soiling, seeding, making flower beds, planting trees and shrubs, and introducing water. The reservations referred to are shown on the accompanying table, which also shows those improved in the nine preceding years. In addition to the foregoing, the part of Potomac Park bordering the north and west sides of the tidal reservoir, hitherto unimproved, was brought to a high state of improvement by constructing a macadam driveway from the terminus of the Seventeenth street driveway, opposite the old bathing beach, to the inlet of the Potomac River into the reservoir, grading the ground on either side of the roadway, soiling and seeding it, laying sod borders, constructing brick gutters and catch basins, cinder bridle paths and footwalks, and planting trees and shrubs, the work having been done with the special appropriation of $60,000 provided by Congress for the purpose. Work was also commenced for constructing a macadam driveway along the river side of sections 1 and 2 of Potomac Park, and by June 30, 1907, the driveway had been completed from the inlet (where it joins the other driveway) up to the river end of the Seventeenth street sewer canal. The ground on either side of this river drive was also graded, sod borders laid, gutters and drain traps built, and cinder bridle paths and footwalks constructed. This work was done with the portion ($15,000) of the appropriation of $80,000 provided by sundry civil act of March 4, 1907, which was made immediately available. Park curbing.-Substantial and gratifying progress has been made during the year in constructing cement copings around reservations, with corner posts of similar materials at entrances to walks. A total length of 4,069.1 feet of coping and 24 corner posts were built during the year, the work having been done under contract. The reservations thus inclosed are enumerated in the following table: Table showing the extent of artificial stone coping constructed as borders around United States public reservations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1907. Number Reservations. Reservation 24, Pennsylvania avenue, Twenty-fifth and L streets NW Total. Park watchmen.-I especially desire to invite attention to the force of park watchmen, which force is improperly named and insufficiently paid and commanded. The designation of "watchmen " does not describe the members of this force and their duties. They are strictly policemen, with all the powers of the regular police force, and their duty is to maintain proper police control over the parks. The force is insufficiently commanded, and it is urged that an additional sergeant and four men be added to it. The compensation of the watchmen is also not commensurate with the duties they per |