Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1860-06-27
Rambles in and about WASHINGTON.

uoWn 1T ttte tliitc. together Will Il lew std
~tistical facts. As we are well aware that
to many of our readers these things are
familiar as household words, we tell them,
at the outset, that is not for such We write.
and advise them to skip all articles headed
as above. But there are many others who
have never seen the public edifces and
works Of art which adorn the Federal City.
the natural beauty of its surroundings, or
had their hearts stirred by the historical
associations which cluster there. If any
thing we shall say. will cause one of this
latter class, who may have the means and
the leisure, (and there are hundreds who
lack only the will to visit the focus Of the
government Of the United States, this great
heart of a great nation, where. and where
only they can fully appreciate the power
of a nation which needs such S ~ructures to
hold the archives and machinery of itsgov-
ernmcnt. our purpose will be accomplish
cd.
The quantity of land coded to the Ma
ton by the States of Virginia and Mary
land for national purposes. now eonstitu-
ting the District of Columbia, was one hun
drcd square miles, forming a square Of ten
miles. The city limits extend northwest
and southeast, about four and q half miles,
and from north. cast to south-we about
two and a half miles. a
The streets vary from seventy to one
hundred feet in width and cross each other
at right angles, except fifteen broader ave
MUGS bearing the names, and pointing to-
wards the States which constituted the
Union at the time when the city was laid
out. Four of these. Pennsylvania, Della
ware, Maryland and New Jersey avenues,
centre in and cross each other in the cen
tire of the Capitol itself, or rather would do
so ifthe Capitol and grounds were not there.
Perhaps it would be more plainly stated if
VIC say, they each start in two opposite di-
rec. ions from the Capitol grounds. Penn
s~ylvania Avenue is the Broadway of Wash
~ington, and is the largest and by far the
finest street in the city. Its width is about
two hundred feet and stretches from Rock
Creek, which forms the eastern boundary
of Georgetown, to the Eastern Branch of
the Potomac, a distance Of ncarly five miles.
It's most populous and important part lies
between the Capitol and the Presidents
House.
The corner stone of the Capitol was laid
by Gen. Washington, Sept. IS, 1893. 1t
was not finished when the war of 1912
commenced, and during that war it was
partially demolished by the British. The
work of reconstruction was commenced in
1915. and it was completed in 1923, at a
cost of about $4,000, 900. AS the our
try enlarged and the number of its Sena-
tors and Representatives. and officers of the
Federal Government increased. it became
necessary to enlarge the Capitol, and in
1851 the corner stone of the extension was
laid by President Fillmore. The size of the
building now, is. length, 40 feet, width in
the centre 22l feet, and at the corners, no
feet. Perhaps citizens Of this place may
Get a better idea of the size Of the Capitol
by rejecting that it is one half longer than
the south side of the public square, more
than half as wide as is the square north
and south. and covers moro than four acres
of ground. Fancy such a structure, its
whole length, 20 feet in heighth, its dome
90 feet in diameter and towering up 220
feet above the roof, 900 feet higher than
the ground on the eastern, and 372 feet
above Pennsylvania Avenue, on the west
side of the Capitol, all of marble, richly
decorated with pillars, c%orniccs, entabla-
lures, pilasters, and groups of statuary,
and standing on a high eminence overlook
ing the city and surrounding country, and
YOU have an idea of the outside of the Cap
itol of the United States.
The Grounds arc bcftting the structure
which they surround. very extensive, "a
dorned with a great variety of trees, shrub
berry and flowers, fountains and statuary,
and are kept in the neatcst order, and sur
rounded by a heavy iron fence. East OF
the Capitol is the famous marble statue of
Washington, by Grecnough. Entering the
Grounds by the west gate, by q broad
stone walk, then passing up a flight of some
forty marble steps, to the level Of the base
of the Capitol, We reach the monument c.
rectod by the officers Of the Navy to the
memory of Decatur, Somers, Caldwell
and others who fell at Tripoli, in the war
with Algiers. 1t is of marble, 40 feet in
heiehth, and rises out Of a marble basin OF
water, Tin which are a large number of
gold fish, 1t has several cmblematic fig
urcs. a view of Tripoli and the American
Fleet, in sculpture. all surrounded by the
American Eagle. Entering the Capitol and
ascending another long flight of steps we
reach the RotuRda.
This occupies the centre, is 96 feet in
diameter, and its heighth, to the ceiling, is
22O feet in the clgar. (This is not yet
finished to its full heishth.) The lower
part is divided in its ci,cuit by eight doors,
and eight panels, each of which last is I'LL
cd with a historical painting very large and
of great merit. Four of these, "Declara-
ton of independence, Surrender of Bur-
goync, Surrender of Lord CORVALLIS at
Nori4oun ond fba RESIGNATION of Gen.