United States Congressional Serial Set

connecting the lower Rock Creek and Potomac Park with the upper Rock Creek Park above Zoological Park. This should be supplied by a park driveway west of Zoological Park. The southern half of this encircling park roadway is already owned by the Government, the tract known as the Normanstone Drive, having been already acquired to a point just about halfway around Zoological Park. The valley of Klingle Ford supplies the northern half of this connecting park roadway and should be acquired without further delay. The park commission plan of 1901 included the Klingle Ford Valley as part of the park system. Within the past few months a brick dwelling has been constructed within the lines of the projected Klingle Ford Drive, necessitating a change of route to avoid purchasing this building. Lands constituting an essential part of the upper end of this parkway have recently been acquired by two contractors and builders who were commencing extensive building operations that would have destroyed the park connection. These builders have voluntarily agreed to suspend operations for the present if Congress proposes to carry out this project. As no progress has been made for the past 20 years, these builders feel they should not be expected to delay very long.

PINEY BRANCH PARKWAY.

The valley of Piney Branch should by all means be developed as a natural parkway approach to Rock Creek Park. The Government has already acquired a strip of 400 feet in width extending from Rock Creek at the mouth of Piney Branch eastward along Piney Branch to Sixteenth Street Bridge over Piney Branch known as the Tiger Bridge. The Government has not acquired one foot of land east of the Tiger Bridge and at present there is nothing to prevent the individual owners of all that tract from destroying the forest trees and dumping and filling the entire valley to the level of Sixteenth Street, even filling and completely blockading the east side of the arched bridge on Sixteenth Street. The tract of about 17 acres lying east and northeast of the Tiger Bridge is covered by a beautiful forest on the south and east slopes and northeastward from this point lies the property known as the Municipal Hospital tract already owned by the Government, and Arkansas Avenue, already acquired, furnishing the natural extension of this parkway northeastward to Georgia Avenue. Within the past few weeks very extensive dumping has occurred on the west side of the tract near the Tiger Bridge which threatened to utterly destroy the proposed park roadway. Also contractors were entering upon building projects on the east side of the tract that would have resulted in a dump or fill 30 feet high extending directly across the line of the park roadway. Unless immediate action is taken there seems no possibility of preventing the destruction of this project. This presents the most critical situation in the entire park system. By the extension of a park roadway from Rock Creek following up the Piney Branch, passing under the arched bridge on Sixteenth Street, and following the creek valley northeastward all that great section of the city between Sixteenth Street and the Soldiers' Home which is now without parks, will be able to enter this Piney Branch Park Roadway, follow down

Piney Branch to Rock Creek, down Rock Creek to the Potomac River and Potomac Park, and eastward on Potomac Park to the Mall, Capitol, or business portions of the city. Residents of that section can thus get to and from business by a park driveway the entire distance avoiding the traffic and congestion of the business streets and the dangers of crossing more than 50 streets on the way to and from the business center. When the projected park drive connecting the Civil War forts, encircling the city at the second row of hills is completed, this Piney Branch Parkway will intersect it and thus form one of the essential features of the completed park system. To permit this project to be destroyed by the building operations now imminently threatening it would be nothing less than a calamity.

THE PATTERSON TRACT.

The Patterson tract consists of 81 acres. It lies in northeast Washington, on the north side of Florida Avenue and just west of the Kendall Green deaf-mute institution. The upper half of the tract is elevated, overlooking the city and the river, and is almost entirely covered by the original forest, constituting by all means the largest tract of forest land within this distance of the Capitol. About the center of the tract is a cement swimming pool, constructed while the tract was occupied as Camp Meigs, which will be of great value in connection with the athletics and playgrounds for which the lower portion of the tract is adapted. The southern half of the tract is almost level, and is very urgently needed by the pupils of the high schools and other schools of the northeast section for playgrounds, baseball diamonds, athletic sports, and military drills. It is directly on the car line which passes the Technical High School and the Business High School, both of which have absolutely no space for military drill or athletics. At present for their military drills the streets about the school buildings are roped off while the drills are in progress. This Patterson tract was included in the park commission plan of 1901 for reservation as a park. This tract is an essential part of the park and playground system and if not now acquired will either be turned into commercial uses or the cost of this acquisition will be greatly increased.

The acquisition of all three of these tracts has been repeatedly recommended by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and a provision providing for their acquisition was passed by the Senate in January, 1921, but failed to become law.

67TH CONGRESS, 2d Session.

SENATE.

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REPORT No. 482.

INDEPENDENT OFFICES APPROPRIATION BILL, 1923.

FEBRUARY 3 (calendar day FEBRUARY 6), 1922.-Ordered to be printed.

Mr. WARREN, from the Committee on Appropriations, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 9981.]

The Committee on Appropriations, to which was referred the bill (H. R. 9981) making appropriations for the Executive and for sundry independent executive bureaus, boards, commissions, and offices, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1923, and for other purposes, reports the same to the Senate with various amendments, and presents herewith information relative to the changes made: