ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDEN. 53 



our company was, no doubt, unintentionally placed in rather a false 

 position. 



We do stand as the owners of the Graceland Cemetery tract, 

 but from what was said I rather gathered that something improper 

 or even suspicious seemed to turn upon our ownership which, I think, 

 I can very easily convince your committee is not the case. About 

 eight years ago the property came on the market and we bought it. 



A company operating 175 miles of street railway has got to have 

 the proper tools for its trade, and " tools " in that sense means sites 

 for necessary conveniences in the District of Columbia. I hardly 

 need suggest these are mighty scarce and there is none other like the 

 Graceland Cemetery tract in the entire District on account of its 

 being so near the center of the city, and of such great advantage for 

 the needs of a street railway and electric light company. Since 

 purchasing it we have put no improvements upon it whatever, except 

 a little trackage above ground which simply rests on the ground 

 for the temporary storage of old cars. Prior to that time, with the 

 consent of the commissioners of the District, we had built a little loop 

 there which stands slightly in the line of Maryland Avenue, and 

 was placed there long before there was much talk about the exten- 

 sion of Maryland Avenue, and, as I say, with the consent of the 

 commissioners. We built it to turn our cars back instead of running 

 them out to the District line, which would have involved great waste 

 in " dead " car mileage. As a matter of fact, all our improvements 

 there, temporary tracks and all, can be removed in the space of 24 

 hours. 



Long prior to the time of our purchase of the Graceland Cemetery 

 tract a considerable purchase had been made at Fifteenth and H 

 Streets XE. by the Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis Railway; 

 a station was erected which was used as their Washington terminal. 

 The White House Station does occupy part of Maryland Avenue, 

 but only a small part, and it is my impression that it would not be 

 very difficult for the railroad to remove it. 



At the hearing last Wednesday, day before yesterday, our presi- 

 dent spoke in regard to the extension of Maryland Avenue and said 

 that our company could not afford, nor would it consider for a 

 moment, antagonizing or hindering any important public improve- 

 ment. The Maryland Avenue extension bisects our property on an 

 angle of approximately 45°, but it leaves a tract of about 12 acres 

 -on the south side of the extension, which will be sufficient for our 

 needs if we are met with a spirit of cooperation in the matter of 

 closing two or three of the smaller streets within the tract. We 

 have spent over $5,000 in preparation of plans, but not for a power 

 station, as has been suggested ; we have no intention whatever of put- 

 ting a power station on the Graceland Cemetery tract. We have our 

 splendid power plant out at Benning, farther out on the Anacostia 

 River ; but we have need of a great car barn and repair shops, and a 

 substation for local distribution of current might be included. It 

 will be remembered by this committee that about four years ago a 

 bridge was placed across Rock Creek on Q Street, and that bridge 

 and the extension of Q Street cut our present repair-shop property 

 into two parts and destroyed its efficiency. 



Mr. Johnson. That is in the northwest \ 



