The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-04-18
Rirbmnnh 4ispztrb.
WEDNESDAY MORNING. April. Is "a ~,

WEDNESDAx AOAN1N0. April. ls lSor.
Correspondence Of the Richmond p;.,.,oh
A ''Ciiy ef Gaydeas"--Ta Marsi6e..s E,...
House IN Course Of Eveesion-SoGih Cn,oi;.c
Coiisge-Presbytsrian TAsoiasical St,aimnrv-
Hoa. Wm. C. Presfoa-Pssss aad Edifor: ~
Coi&'nbia-1Ae Dispatch IN t.s Sosth. -
COLUMBIA. s. o., April IA.
The reputation Of this city Of gardens and
shade trees, the capital Of South Carolina as
one OF the most beautiful cities ON the Ame-
rican continent, has not beeu exaggerated II
10 now, with its immediate suburbs a town of
about nine thousand Inhabitants the streets
wide and lined on each side with trees. eome.
times rows Of trees in the middle of the = streets
and flower gardens, now In their elory In
front Of all the private residences. or the
public buildings. the new and magnificent
State House, now in course Of erec tion. has
advanced so far towards completion that the
third aud last story is now being put up and
the workmen are engaged in preparing the
cornice. This new edffice is worthy of mar.
ticuiar notice, and l beg here 10 express M y
Acknowledgements 70 one of the accom- pli ished
architects, and gen tlemen engaged upon this
great work, Mr.. John A. Kay, for the infor.
pu bile.
This noble structure was designed by Mr..
John X. Niernsee, an eminent architect who
formerly conducted an extensive practice in
Baltimore, and it is being built under his i'm.
mediate supervision. The house is oGO feet
long, including the wings, and 1870 feet wide in
the centre portion the wings are s3 feet in
width, and tho structure will stand upon a
paved terrace nve feet shove the street. There
are to be four entrances on the first story that
on the South being under porte caeheve The
entrance hall on the first floor is os feet wide
and leads from thr North and South into the
central hall, which will form a splendid
apartment, ligh ted from the roof by two sky
lights, each Is feet SO uare, and the stairs as.
cending right and lett in two flights each eight
feet wide. Rooms for the Executive depart.
y a M fhasS Sp1r rnfn vy<Nf
General, Treasurer and Com mptroller General
are also upon this floor, aud in addition the
Equity and Appeal Court rooms, with Law
and Equity Libraries, Clerks rooms and nu-
meronS committee rooms are provided. The
principal entrance to the building is by a
broad and magnificent flight of steps, o. feet
wide, leading up to a porlico projecting from
the building 20 feet and supported by two
rows of Corinthian columns, ten in each row
The main features on this floor are the en-.
trance Hall. Senate Chamber. Represen tatiye
Hall and Library. The Library is 81 by AZ
feet There are also offices and private rooms
for the President and Clerk of the Senate aud
Speaker and Clerk of the House, adjoining
the respective Houses. The Solicitors office is
25 by 32 feet. The Senate Chamber, Repre-.
sentative Hall and Library, are to be 35 feet
high, and the entrance to the galleries Of these
rooms is from the Sd floor, by which is avoided
the necessity of clam bering upa narrow stair.
way to hear discussion. as is too freq uen tly
the case in legislative buildings. The mate.
rial used is granite, of a very superior quail.
ty; it is quarried within three miles Of the
State House and conveyed on a railroad con-
structed expressly for that purpose. The
quarry is one of the finest in America AS
blocks Of any dimension can be obtained up
to 50 teer in length and it has the further ad van
tage of being destitute Of pyrites, so that there
is no apprehension Of iron rust-it is of an uni
form light blueish grey color and at little dis
tahce can scarcely be distinguished from mar
Bile. On each side of the grand entrance door
way, will be the Roman Jasrss or emblem of
authority, and over these will be two eagles,
then two medallion busts of McDuflie and
Hayne, executed by Mr.. II. X. Brown. Of the
U. 5. Art Commission; above these again will
bs two testoons composed very artstically of
the cotton plaintiffs portion is executed in
marble. Mr.. Brown has likewise, received a
commission to fiji the tympanum of the North
Pediment with alto-relief statuarv, and his
design is happy conception. The centre
figure which is thirteen feet high, is n female
walking on the sea-shOre, on her left hand a
Palmetto tree and on her right the rising sun,
with the anchor of hope beside her-this be-
ing the arms of the State. On one side is
Jus tice with the sword and scales, a lion at her
feet as the emblem of strength on the other
a figure of liberty, with the eagle Of America
rising beside her. To the left of this central
group, are negroes rolling cotton bales, and
farther on cotton field is represented, with
the negroes gathering cotton. On the right
hand, rice field In harvest time-thus the in
dustry and commerce of the Palmetto State at
the present time will be faithfully represent
eO 10 IuLuFe SeueTdtlOuS. xuc COlum0S III the
interior OF the building are to be OF Tennessee
marble. from the quarries belonging to Messrs.
VIM. D0ugherty II Co. Mr.. Dougherty re-
sides in Columbia, having taken
tensive contract to furnish and prepare
The marble for columns, door and window
dressings, &c, aud has erected a very fine
marble mill to execute his contract
1t is expected that the building will be COM
ma can then be proud Of possessing the finest
capital in the Union. As u school of art alone,
for her rising generations, che will well be re-
munerated fol- her present expenditure, and
in addition her people will find that by devel-
Oping her own internal resources, they are
sowing the seed which will produce rich and
abundant harvest. The commissioner of the
work is General James Jones; architect, Mr..
John H. Niernsee assistant architect, MIR.
John A. Kay. There are over 500 workmeM
and labOrers engaged.
Among other objects Of interest in this city
is the venerable College of South Carolina,
over which Hon. A. Il. Longstreet, the famous
author OF Georgia Scenes" now patriarch
OF three score and ten, ia President. The num-
Der Of students has been considerably dimin-
ishet by an EXERCISE of college discipline. It
has now l7O. The Governor Of the State and
the other officers Of the executive, and of the
legislative and judicial depar rtments, and a
numter of distinguished private gentlemen.
com pose the Board of Trustees. An admira-
BILE lOry of this College, making volume
of nearly six hundred pages, has been publish
ed by the distinguished scholar and eminent
professor, ,Maximilian La Borde, M. D.. Proies-
sor Of Logic, Rhetoric, &c. who IL now the
Senior Professor OF tue COLLEGE, ard is well
known as The author Of an admirable work on
Physiology. Dr. La Borde is a shining orna-
ment Of College which has been eraced BY
some OF the brightest names known to Amer
ican scholarship. In this College the great
Lieber was y Professor for thirteen years.-
He now resides in New York, and fills the
ph. OF Sf
of Columbia University, to wi which he
Of the gentlemen Of the present faculty are
xqown tSa ~ 'e,lnsd Profsss"r of Ro.
man Litera :ure, was formerly the eloquent
Pastor Of the Second Baptist Church of your
city, and Charles S. Venaple, Esq, the able
trained scholars and estimaole
gen tlcmen OF South Carolina, was formerly
one OF the Professors Ut Hampton Sidney Qol-
iege. The names Vt In OSate. Rivers and
tuition. The Uoliegs library contains ei.OOO
volumes, and liberal sum, annually granted
by the Legislature, provides for the constant
increase Of the number OF books. There are
cieties There are five scholarships in the Col
iege, yielding incomes Of from &2i0 to $iaO
year. Four gold medals, worth $50 each, are
annually awarded TO the senior, junior and
sophomore classes, respectively, for the best
essay on subjects assigned BY the Faculty.
.rhere 10 also In Columbia Presbyterian
Seminary, having So studeuts.-
The buildings are neat and c0InmodiOus The
library embraces 1850 volumes, besides the
il.UuD volumes more. A new Pr0fsssOrship of
). Natural Science in connection with Reyeia-
tion" has been founded in this tnsutudon
during the past year by the iioerality Of Hon.
John Perkfns, Of Mississippi, WHO has xiven
for that porpose sa0OO. He has also given
: sI0.UOO tu enlarge ths Foundation for the spp-
'rort OF iadieent students, and Slv,Dtp more
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