Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1873.djvu/35

Rh for are necessary from the fact that the grounds north of the hospital building are twenty feet above the proper grade, and must be graded and terraced to render them serviceable.

Considerable progress has been made during the year in the construction of a jail in and for the District of Columbia, authorized by an act of Congress approved June 1, 1872, to be erected under the supervision of the supervising architect of the Treasury Department, after plans and designs to be prepared by him and approved by a board of commissioners, composed of the Secretary of the Interior, the governor of the District of Columbia, and the chief justice of the supreme court of said District.

At a meeting of said board, held October 22, 1872, certain general plans, designs, and specifications, prepared by said supervising architect, were approved; and at a subsequent meeting, viz, on April 15, 1873, the supervising architect submitted the full working plans and specifications for the jail, which were approved by the board. Under authority conferred by the board, the supervising architect has, at various times, advertised for proposals for such materials .as were required in the construction of the jail, and contracts have been awarded to various parties, who were the lowest responsible bidders in each case, for rubble-stone, concrete, cement, sand, ironwork, and cut stone. In each instance the contracts referred to were authorized by the hoard of commissioners, and have been approved by at least a majority of its members. As the work progresses it will be necessary to award contracts for the necessary flagging, and for a galvanized iron cornice for the building.

The supervising architect reports that the foundation-walls have been laid, the superstructure built up to an average height of eleven feet, and about two-thirds of the necessary grading completed. He states that if no unforeseen difficulties occur, the building will probably_be completed within the current fiscal year.

The architect represents that, although the plans for the jail were prepared in view of the amount appropriated for the purpose, viz, $300,000, unexpected and unavoidable expenses have been incurred in grading the site for the building, and in building a wharf on the Anacostia River, amounting to upwards of $15,000, which amount he considers to be not properly chargeable to the appropriation for the erection of the jail, and should be refunded thereto; otherwise, an additional appropriation will become necessary. He also states that in order to keep the cost of the jail within the amount appropriated, he was compelled to provide in the specifications for a galvanized iron cornice; for wooden joists and floors to warden's office and chapel wing, and for timber framing and boarding to the roof, with a tin covering to the same. He expresses the opinion that the building should be constructed in a fire-proof manner; that the cornice