Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-11-18


lead through the east and west wings, on the
first and second floors, and that on the second
floor connects with a similar passage through
the north building. On either side of these
passages are the rooms, or offices, for the Of
fcers and clerks Of the Department, and of the
Auditors Office, connected with it. A fsw
rooms in the northwestern corner are now occu.
pied by officers connected with the city post
office. The ascent to the second and third
stories is by spacious marble stairways in the
old building near the ends, and we suppose
there will also be stsirways in the north build.
ing. The third, or attic, story is also divided
into rooms, for the accommodation of the cler.
ical force employed in the Department and in
the Offices attached, and lis arrangement il
very similar to that of the first and second
stories.
The pavilion is covered with q wrought iron
hipped roof, of new and simple construction.
The rafters are rolled from Inns, of a form
something like this, -, and the ceiling is Of
cast iron, supported by trusses from the roof,
and elegantly deoorsHd with representations
symbolical of the uses for which the room is
intended. This room is lighted by sky-lights
and numerous windows, and the roofing over il
Is OF corrugated copper. The roof of the GEN.
trail portion of the north front is somewhat
similar in design to that covering the pavilion,
and 1t, likewise, supports a cast iron ceiling.
1t is furnished with sky-lights, and, indeed,
nearly all the rooms in the attic story are pro-
Vided with sky-lights, because of the small.
ness Of their windows. The roofs over the east
and west fronts will be of simple description,
probably covering of copper supported by
angular purlins, with rafters of rolled iron
beams, resting on the exterior and interior
brick walls. The west front, and the greater
portion Of the north front, will probably be
rooted In, and the east front will be quite well
advanced, before the cold weather Of the pres
ent winter causes suspension of the work.
The lower story of the east 'front.' and part of
the north front are already finished and occu-
pied. ~
The foundation Of the new portions of the
building consist of q bed of beton, three feet
In thickness. The beds of the marble and
granite work are in no case less than one foot
In depth, and range from that to four feet.
For the eornice they are even considerably
more. The stone work of the old building is
very inferior in this particular, being in some
places not over three inches in thickness. A
small portion of the floor of the lower story
rests on groined arches, but the remainder of
that foor, and all the other floors in the new
portion OF the building, rest on brick arches,
Of four inches rise, which are sprung from
wrought iron beams, nine inches thick of the
form of = which are placed from two feet
and two inches to four feet apart, according to
the span Of the arch and the expected weight
to be placed upon the floor. These arches are
leveled up to the top of the iron beams with
beton, and then covered with a thin coat of
asphaltum, with gravel pressed into it while
hot, 50 rs to render each foor impervious to
water. Finally, they are paved with marble,
or with thick slabs of plsned slate, which is
procured from Vermont. The rolled iron beams
are from the rolling mills of Cooper, Hewitt 4
Co., Trenton, N. j. and from the Phoenix Iron
Company, Aheu;xvilie, Pa.
The skirting of the rooms and passages Is Of
polished marble, ard the door and window
frames are of cast iron. In short, every part
Of the building is being finished in the most
and durable manner The whole
building is to be heated by steam; a current
OF fresh air being driven through chambers, in
which there are coils of pipe, by the agency Of
a large fan which is operated by a steam-en-
gine. The steam c;rcu'afes through the coils
Of pipe placed in these chambers, and the air
becoming heated during its passage, is driven
by the fan through distinct fues, which convey
it to every room and passage-way. This is the
same method of heating that is now in success
full operation at the Capitol and various other
public buildings in this country
The marble for the exterior Of the east and
west fronts is from the quarries of John F.
Connolly, of Baltimore county, Md. That for
the north front was furnished by Charles Hub
ner, Esq, President of the Lee Marble Quar-
rying Company, from quarries in Lee, Berk.
shire county, Mass. The marble columns were
quarr,ed and imported from Carrara, Italy, no
American quarry being abe to furnish suit
able blocks. The granite for tho walls facing
the court yard is from the quarries of Messrs.
Sumwalt 4 Green, Baltimore county, Md.
The shafts and bases Of the marble columns
are turned in lathes at the Capitol Extension
machine shops, by an ingenious mechanism
which insures entire accuracy in the outline
They are afterwards futed by hand. From
fourteen to eighteen days are required to turn
one of the shafts, thus showing that this method
is much more expeditions and economical than
working them out by hand, while it insures q
correctness that is hardly attainable by the old
plan.