$138,762.24. For ventilation of House of Representatives, $22,970.70. For lighting Capitol and grounds, and other expenses connected therewith, $31,048.95. CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY. In compliance with instructions from Congress authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to ascertain as near as may be what would be the probable cost, either through direct purchase from the owner or condemnation for public use, of land adjoining the Capitol grounds on the north, east, and south sides, to the extent required for a proper site for the Congressional Library, and to report to Congress the desired information, I have had prepared plats of the several squares located on the north, east, and south sides of the Capitol, and a full report, as near as could be ascertained, of the area of each lot, its present owner, the assessed valuation of last year, also that of the present year, and the price at which the same can be purchased. The report, together with accompanying papers, will be laid before Congress on the first day of the session as required by law. PURCHASE OF PROPERTY AT THE INTERSECTION OF MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA AVENUES AND FIRST STREET WEST. By a provision of the act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the government for the year ending June 30, 1879, and for other purposes, the Secretary of the Interior was directed to purchase portions of lots numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, in square 575, and a portion of lot 9, in square 576, in order to enlarge the circle, and to give proper width to the roadway and sidewalk at the intersection of Maryland and Pennsylvania avenues and First street west. To carry out the provisions of this law abstracts of the titles of the several lots, portions of which were to be purchased, were prepared by the direction of this department, and were, on the 15th of August, transmitted to the Attorney-General with the request that he would cause to be prepared and presented to the supreme court of the District of Columbia the necessary petition for the appraisement of the several interests of the owners of the real estate, and the improvements thereon, to be taken for the public use. Messrs. William B. Webb, William H. Clagett, B. H. Warner, S. T. G. Morsell, and Elias E. White, were appointed by the court to make the appraisements. The notification required by the law having been given, the commissioners proceeded under oath to perform their duty. They reported to the court that, taking into view all the benefits and advantages arising from the improvement, Lot, in square 575, was damaged to the amount of $12,000. Lot 5, in square 575, was damaged to the amount of $3,000. Lot 9, in square 576, was damaged to the amount of $5,233.60. The report of the commissioners was ratified by the court, no exception thereto having been taken. No demand having been made upon the Secretary of the Interior for the assessed value of any portion of the property, within fifteen days after the appraisement, the full amount of the assessed values was, in accordance with the law, deposited in the court to the credit of the owners of the lots and improvements. The title to the property is, therefore, now vested in the United States. The following allowances were made by the court for costs and fees: To the United States district attorney, $300; to the marshal of the court, $99; to the clerk, $22.05; to the National Republican and the Law Reporter, for advertising, $57.50. The court allowed the commissioners $200 each for their services. From the order making this allowance an appeal has been taken on the ground that it is excessive. The department paid to M. Ashford, esq., for making the abstracts of titles, $220. GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE. The twenty-third annual report of the Board of Visitors is one of unusual interest. It is accompanied by tables showing the number of patients treated during the year, also the number treated from the beginning; their sex, nativity, duration of the mental disease of those admitted, also those who died, forms of disease, age of patients when admitted. The whole number under treatment during the year enling June 30, 1878, was 947; admitted during the year, 182. The number of males was 721; females, 226. Discharged, recovered, 60; improved, 41; unimproved, 7; died, 46. The average number of patients treated daily during the year was 781, a larger average than ever before recorded. The accommodations are intended for 563 patients, so that the present necessity for more room is both evident and urgent. It is gratifying to note that, in the face of this overcrowded condition of the hospital, the general health of the inmates is excellent, the percentage of death being but 4.85, the lowest, with the exception of a single year, in the history of the institution. The products of the farm and garden are estimated at $23844.83. The total expenditures for the year were $174,276.52. This includes all the expenses of the hospital and care of grounds and buildings. The estimates for the year ending June 30, 1880, are as follows 1st. For the support, clothing, and treatment of the insane, $1'9,250. 2d. For general repairs and improvements, $10,000. 3d. For airing courts for the recreation of the inmates, for the completion of rooms in the upper story of the bakery, for changing 'oof of portion of the building, and providing accommodations for employés and for erection of hay barracks, $10,500. 4th. For a fire-pump and additional pipe and hose, $3,500. 5th. For reservoirs and filter-beds to provide pure water for the hospital, including pipes and a tank, $9,500. 6th. For the extension of the accommodations of the hospital by the erection of a building for female patients, $300,000, one-third of which is asked for expenditure during the next fiscal year. 7th. For the erection of a suitable structure for the immediate relief of 250 patients of the chronic class, $30,000. ASYLUM FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB. The number of pupils remaining in the institution July 1, 1877, was 81; admitted during the year, 15; from July 1, 1878, to November 1, 21; total, 117. Of this number, 103 were males and 14 females. The sanitary condition of the institution has been excellent, the report showing exemption from disease of any serious nature, with but a single exception. All the buildings are now completed; the total expense of completing the college edifice, together with connections with the main building, and the remodeling of the roof of the old edifice, including fixtures of a permanent character, having been $125,060.64. The receipts of the institution for the year were $51,578.06, $48,000 of which was by appropriation from Congress. The expenditures were $50,277.03, and of this amount $28,253.69 were for salaries and wages. The receipts on account of extension and refitting of buildings were $72,036.86; expenditures, $71,996.50. The estimates for the next fiscal year are, for the support of the institution, including salaries and incidental expenses, $51,000, and for the erection of a gymnasium, bath-house, and for improvement and inclosure of the grounds, $15,500. FREEDMEN'S HOSPITAL. The whole number of patients in hospital from June 30, 1877, to June 30, 1878, was 807; of this number, 530 were admitted during the year. The number remaining in hospital June 30, 1878, was 231. The Colored Orphans' Home and Asylum, containing 115 children and attendants, has been supplied with medicines and furnished with medical treatment during the year. In the dispensary department 1,083 patients have been treated and about 4,000 prescriptions prepared for their use. The number of deaths during the year was 118. The average daily cost of supporting a patient, as given in the surgeon's report, is 46 cents. As the Freedmen's Hospital is the only one in the District, under government control, where all classes of patients can be treated, its usefulness should not be crippled by inadequate appropriations. and distribution of the reports, maps, and documents, and other results of said surveys. As a complete suspension of the work already done by the commission would have been followed by serious embarrassment of the interests of a large population as well as those of the government, I requested-by direction of the President under date of June 25, 1878the late commissioners to take charge of the records of the proceedings had before them while acting as a commission, and to perform such work as would facilitate the early adjudication of the claims, expressing the hope that Congress at its next session would adopt such legislation as might be needed to confirm the acts done, and provide for a due compensation for their services. The late commissioners complied with the request, had the records of the commission and all the testimony and other papers brought to Washington, and, as will be seen by reference to their report, have rendered valuable service which will greatly facilitate the final adjudication of the cases, when empowered by the law to act. Stenographic notes not before written out, amounting to about 3,000 pages of foolscap, have been transcribed and properly briefed and filed. Careful consideration and much study have been given to the subjects of laying out, widening, and straightening streets, and such other duties have been performed as could be, properly, under the letter of instruc. tions. They have devoted their time and money to the service of the government, and although no legal obligation has been incurred to repay them, yet, under the circumstances, I feel warranted in earnestly recommending that the expenses incurred by them while acting, and pay, at the rate formerly given, be allowed them for the time they have served. The Hot Springs Reservation contains about 2,565 acres. The Hot Springs Mountain, containing about 265 acres, from whence the supply of water is received, has been set apart as a permanent reservation, to be owned and held by the United States; this will leave about 2,300 acres to be disposed of under the provisions of the act of March 3, 1877. Before the expiration of their term of office, the commissioners had closed the work of taking testimony from the claimants in interest. More than six months were occupied in this; 2,750 witnesses were examined in 897 cases. The oral testimony and documentary evidence are reported to be equal to 25,000 pages of legal cap. Accurate surveys have been made of the entire tract; boundaries have been re-established, and permanent monuments erected on the exterior and section lines and corners. Monuments have also been set at each angle of the permanent reservation. Claims of individuals have been surveyed and platted on sixteen large maps, representing the quarter-sections. A topographical survey has been made of the entire reservation, and three maps prepared and photolithographed-one topographical map, one claim map, and the third combining the two. From this it will be seen that the work left unfinished by reason of the clerical omission in the enrollment of the sundry civil bill is of vital importance, not only to the citizens of Hot Springs, but to the govern ment itself. It is earnestly urged that the act be renewed as soon as possible upon the reassembling of Congress, to the end that all pending claims may be adjudicated, and improvements completed, as contemplated by the act of March 3, 1877. The commissioners report the following work remaining unfinished : First. Straightening and widening old streets; laying out new streets, avenues, and alleys in the town of Hot Springs. Second. Hearing of arguments in contested claims, and the final adju dication in 897 cases. Third. The appraisal of each lot awarded. Fourth. Resurvey of each lot after adjudication of the claims, in order to define the lines and ascertain the exact amount of ground to be certified to each claimant as required by the law. Fifth. The appraisal of improvements upon each lot awarded. Sixth. The division of the land not claimed or awarded into lots, squares, or blocks, and appraisal of the same. Seventh. Preparing and issuing certificates to each claimant who is adjudged the right to purchase, being evidence of claimants on which to base patent. Eighth. Condemnation and appraisal of all buildings on permanent reservation and issuing certificates therefor. Ninth. Preparation of a map embodying the results of the whole work to be filed with the Secretary of the Interior, accompanied by the schedule provided for by law. The superintendent of the Hot Springs Reservation reports that during the year he has had removed from the permanent reservation some three or four hundred people encamped thereon. The erection of comfortable barracks and suitable pools for their use, and the expenses of the removal, were provided for by private contributions. The reservation is now practically free from all nuisances. Reference is made in the report to the destructive fire which destroyed a large portion of the town of Hot Springs, and to the means employed to prevent the introduction of yellow fever. For the year ending June 30, 1878, the total amount collected for water-rent was $5,260. Recommendation is made that the present rental of $5 a month for each tub in use be maintained in the future. YELLOWSTONE PARK. The superintendent of the Yellowstone Park reports the construction of about sixty miles of wagon-road within the park during the present season. Although the work was somewhat retarded by the presence of hostile Indians, it was accomplished without loss of life or property. He refers to complications likely to arise with parties who claim to have made improvements within the park, and suggests the early consideration of the questions involved. |