The true Democrat., 1855-03-07


 Mr Cass And ventilated from below.
 Mr JOHNSON. That makes the case, ,,Iive lighted from above, and ventilated from holow. I understand, in fact, that the ventila- .;on is to be given us by steam engine. Is .horo to be one for each House, or for the whole capitol?
 Mr. James. Will the Senator allow me to .ov one word.
 Mir. JOHNSON. I shall be glad to have .Lo+ ouestion answered.: and then; with one snnre .ai question, shall be done Are there to be nno ar two steam engines employed in the ven tIation?
 Mr James, One in each wing.
 MT JOHNSON. Is the engine to be direct. l. beneath the Senate? Laughter.
 HMr James. I do not know where 1t is to be Mr JOHNSON. I should be glad to know lonouse have heard of explosions of steam " oes Laughter I have heard of one .horacter in history who has certainly attained very great notoriety, by an attempt to produce aUsxplosion under legislative body. Guy Fawkes, I believe, piled his combustlbles be- heath the parliament building; but when he got in and while he was preparing hls magazine there, thank God, as the people sad at that time. he was detected before he accomplished # and was arrested. have never yet heard of one being blown sky high; but this engine is to ba nlaced beneath the chamber. 1 should he plad to ask the Senator of how many horse nower it is to be? Laughter.
 Mr. James. I refer the honorable Senator to the architect.
 MT. JOHNSON. He is beyond these walls, and have no power to bring him here lsup-
 o1 %ho,r hsiuess, could explain and give me all these little items I should like to know that, be- conse with the calculation of the horse power, shall be able to understand how high l am to ascend. if this is finished in my day. Laugh ter Now, I do not like this thing of steam engines and explosions. We have been legis- lating against them all the time. They are the saddest disasters in the world that occur. 1 do not care about being celebrated by great monu- nent built up in memory of the whole Senate and detailing disaster here from a steam en- cine which we ourselves have enacted shall be mt beneath our feet-for what? To produce tbe same effect that lady will produce with a little tongue-a blowing up. Laughter. We are to be shut in all around, with not even the opportunities for light and air which are furnish cd us here. have heard of this repeatedly. If as the idea seems to be, ventilation be to blow up everything, the biggest blow will come when the steam engine bursts. Laughter r. There will be a ventilation. The very occasion itself will ring with that ventilation. appeal against the steam engine if it is to be directly under us. Laughter.
 Mr. Badger. The honorable Senator from Michigan, Mr. Cass, in the first remarks which he made, threw out doubts and apprehensions which, entertain myself, and from which must confess am not entirely relieved by the ex- plantations which have been given to US. have no interest personally in the inquiry as to what will be the construction of the new chamber, the advantages or disadvantages of 1t in regard to the capacity for hearing speakers, the facii ty with which they can deliver themselves, or as to the ventilating or heating of it; but still on account of many of my honorable friends who are here and who will have the opportuni- ty of occupying that chamber, and on account of our successors and their successors, 1 feel a considerable degree of anxiety upon the ques- ton which now has been alluded to.
 My friend from Michigan has suggested that, although these things are proposed upon scien- tfc grounds and by very scientific men, all his- tory and experience have shown us that, what ever may be the talents of the individual, and his sincerity and his confidence, an unfavorable issue is not an unlikely event. Now. sir in old times there was notion of resorting to natu- ra process for the purpose of ventilating a cham ber The idea was that if you would have an opening at the top, or near the top the heated air would take itself out; and by having some convenient openings at the bottom, or near it, the cool air would come in. That went upon the principle tha. nature acts by sort of moral SuaSion. 1 should have been exceedingly grati- fled myself if that old system had been adher- ed to; but, then, my friend from Michigan must remember that this is an age of progress. This is an age of steam. Everything has been, or is to be, altered He will recollect that in very high dramatic authority certain patient was once informed by medical professor, that, whereas originally the liver was placed upon the right and the heart upon the left of the body the college of physicians had altered that whole business, and had made them shift to different places. Laughter So my friend must recollect it is to be now. This is the age of steam. Formerly the cool air was allowed to come in below, and the heated air to pass out above. Now, the action is to be reversed- Science is to be brought to bear on the subject steam engine Is to be constructed; and the cool air is to be forced down from above, and the heated air forced out below; and why should 1t not be done?
 Mr. Broadhead. It is the very reverse.
 Mr, Badger. It is the other way. Well, in the old times it did not require any great force to get cool air in below and heated air out at the top, if place was only made for 1t to come in and go out at But what want to call atten- ron to is, that after all that has been said on this subject, the plan is settled. The old me thod was liable to some difficulties. The Se- nator from Rhode Island Mir. James has men, toned one of them. If you build big fire, or you let in heated air by registers, as 1 believe they call them, you will still have this result, that one part of the room. will be warmer than another Well, now, sir there is no possible mode of preventing that in any apartment ex- ept by coverting it into an oven, heating it, and closing it up; and from everything that have been able to understand of the present project that is exactly what we propose to do in regard to the intended senate chamber. It is to have no outside wall at all. It is to be shut in. It IS not to communicate externally with either the air, or the light of heaven. It is to be an oyen' Laughter, closed in on all sides; and the way you are going to get air into It ls by forc-