WASHINGTON 



6197 



WASHINGTON 



set apart as Rock Creek Park, and adjoining 

 this on the south is the delightful Zoological 

 Park, of 169 acres. Potomac Park is an en- 

 closure of 737 acres, made up of reclaimed land 

 along the river. It is practically an extension 

 of the Mall, which is itself a series of parks 

 Botanical Garden, Seaton Park, the grounds of 

 the Smithsonian Institution and of the Agri- 

 cultural Department, and Washington Monu- 

 ment Park. Four miles north of the Capitol 

 there is a beautiful hilly tract of over 500 acres, 

 containing the Soldiers' Home, and adjoining 

 tliis on the south is McMillan Park, enclosing 

 the nitration plant. Of its 118 acres, twelve 

 are improved parking, thirty-eight are included 

 in the new reservoir, and the remainder are de- 

 voted to the plant. 



Educational Institutions; Museums. Wash- 

 ington has a number of high-grade institutions 

 of advanced learning, notably the George 

 Washington University, Georgetown University 

 (Jesuit), the Catholic University of America, 

 Howard University and the Columbian Institu- 

 tion for the Deaf and Dumb. It is also the 

 seat of the Carnegie Institution (see page 1190). 

 A Methodist institution the American Uni- 

 versity is of recent establishment, and re- 

 ported a student enrolment of forty-five in 

 1916. A free school of art is maintained in con- 

 nection with the Corcoran Art Gallery (which 

 see). The priceless collections of this institu- 

 tion arc housed in a beautiful building near the 

 White House. Another valuable art collection 

 is preserved in the new building of the National 

 Museum, previously mentioned. This building 

 is itself a combination of splendid museums, for 

 in it are extensive collections representing a 

 wide range of scientific research. There are 

 other important collections in the various 

 buildings of the Smithsonian Institution, and in 

 many of the departmental buildings. In fact, 

 Wa.-hmirton is an educational center of first 

 rank, and the city offers the best possible fa- 

 cilities to the specialist. 



Libraries. No other city of its sice can com- 

 pare with Washington in respect to collections 

 of books. The Library of Congress, facing the 

 east front of the Capitol, has the thin I largest 

 collection in the world (see detailed description, 

 page 3405) an<l th.- hrnr*t in the WMtflra 

 hemisphere. The building itself, a splen<li<i 

 iple of Italian Renaissance architecture, 

 has by far the most art i -fir interior of any of 

 th national buildings. One would need to 

 spend days within tin- library to appreciate 

 fully the surpassing beauty of its decorations. 



Of the various scientific collections of the 

 government, of special merit are the medical 

 library of the office of the Surgeon-General, 

 and the collections of the Weather Bureau, the 

 Agricultural Department, the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution, the Geological Survey, the Bureau of 

 Education and the Naval Observatory. Wash- 

 ington's public library collections are housed in 

 a fine marble building on Mount Vernon 

 Square, at the intersection of New York and 

 Massachusetts avenues. 



Transportation and Industry. All steam rail- 

 road trains enter the city by way of the Union 

 Station. They are the Baltimore A Ohio, the 

 Chesapeake & Ohio, the Pennsylvania, the 

 Southern and the Washington South. Local 

 transportation is amply taken care of by 

 numerous electric lines, carriages and si. 

 seeing automobiles. The Washington Railway 

 & Electric Company operates thirteen differ- 

 ent lines, providing transportation to many de- 

 lightful spots in the country about Washington. 

 Mount Vernon, the home of George Washing- 

 ton, is sixteen miles below Washington, on tin- 

 right bank of the Potomac, and is easily 

 reached by boat or by trolley cars. As an in- 

 dustrial city the national capital is only of 

 secondary importance, the chief industrial es- 

 tablishments being manufactories of products 

 for local consumption. The government de- 

 partments, however, give employment to thou- 

 sands. 



Government. Three commissioners, ap- 

 pointed by the President and approved by the 

 Senate, control the government of the city and 

 District. Citizens are not permitted to vote in 

 national elections or on local matters. Half of 

 the money required for the support of the local 

 government and municipal activities is appro- 

 priated by the United States, and half is raised 

 by taxation of citizens within the District 

 The District is supplied by water brought from 

 the Great Falls of the Potomac through an 

 aqueduct twelve miles long, and the water- 

 works system is under government control. 



History. The beautiful site on the Potomac 

 occupied by the national capital was the choice 

 of President Washington (see DISTRICT or CO- 

 LUMBIA, mibhra'l //. lory] Tin- north section 

 of th. Cij-itol was completed in 1800, and Con- 

 gress held its first session in the building in 

 November of that year. As to the rest of the 

 city somrthmg may bo infern <1 from tin- 

 oft ho period: "The Capitol 

 is on an eminence \\< u ihr center of the im- 

 mense country called here the city. There is 



