Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1863-12-17
The Browning of the Dome of the Capitol.
The Capitol Eyta6sieu

VI IiS tApiIal toOk place. This statue Is
nineteen feet six inches high, and weighs
nearly fifteen thousand pounds. 1t is com
posed entirely Of bronze, and is constructed
IN hye sections, the weight of the heaviest of
which Is four thousand seven hundred and
forty pounds. The statue has been washed
with an acid which causes slight oxidation.
thus producing rich anG uniform bronze
tint, which will never change
! The : Statue of Freedom " was modelled
IN plaster by Crawford, the lamented eminent
! sculptor, for which model the price of three
/ thousand dollars was paid, and was cast at
the foundry of Clark Mills, ESQ, at Bladens-
| burg The entire cost Of this great work of
art is from twenty-five to thirty thousand dol
lars. During the past two weeks three sec
! lions of the statue have been elevated TO the
/ thoius of the dome; the fourth one, embrac-
ing the chest OF the figure, was placed in po-
sltlon yesterday, so that to-day little remained
! to be done other than that of setting the head
of the statue. The height of the iron work
above the basement floor OF the Capitol, in
| Guiding the browning statue, is 2S7 feet.
A word or two in reference to the dome of
the Capitol may not be uninteresting to our
readers. The old dome was built of wood
The outer and inner shells were not concen-
tric and while the inner was, in proportions.
a copy of that of the Pantheon of Agrippa at
| Rome, though much inferior in size, the out
er dome was higher in proportion than that
| of the Pantheon. Its int1ammabe nature
and Its narrow escape at the time the library
| was burnt, in 1851, called the attention of
| Congress TO it, and it was finally resolved to
replace it by dome of iron, entirely fire
| proof.
| The new dome in its proportions resembles
the modern rather than the antique struc-
lures of this character. Instead of the low
and fiat outlines of the Pantheon of Rome,
and the st. Sophia of Constantinople, the de-
| sign is light structure, decorated with col
umns and pilasters, rich cornices and entaba-
lures springing up towards the sky, and
supporting at the height of nearly three hun
dred feet above the ground of the eastern
square, and three hundred and seventv-two
| feet above the western gate, the colossal
| statue of which we have spoken
The interior diameter of the dome is nine
| ty-six feet. The galleries afford a fine view
OF the interior and of the exterior the views
| stretching many miles down the Potomac
| The structure is double, and between the in
| terror and exterior shells staircase, winding
| spirally around the whole, will afford access
| to the very summit.
| The general outline of this structure re-
| sembles that of the dome of St. Peters, of
| Rome; st. Pauls, OF London; and St. Gene.
We've and Of the Invalides of Paris and of
| the last great work of the kind erected in
| modern times that of the Russian National
!; Church, the Cathedral of St. Isaacs, at ST.
| Petersburg, which is also partly built of iron
The exterior diameter of the perisbytian cir
cular colonnade is 124 feet 9 inches The
| columns Of the peristyle are 81 feet in height,
and weigh y, 900 pounds each
At IL o'clock DrpciSp1y the unnpr nnrtiop
| Of the figure, contained in a large box, COM
menced ascending to the dome of the Capt.
tol, and some twenty minutes later the statue
was complete. Then a handsome flag was
run up to the apex of the dome, and this sig
nal of the browning Of the statute was the
occasion for vociferous cheering among the
( populace congregated in the park and around
the grounds below
While the crowd was patiently awaiting the
browning of the figure, we leisurely saunter-
ed through the uncompleted portions of the
Capitol extension, and took a hasty survey
OF the wcPk Of the past few months. The
| eastern porticoes of the north wing of the
Capitol extension have been constructed
| with the exception Of few pieces of the
cornice, all of which are now in the hands of
| the workmen All the marble required to
complete the eastern entrance to the north
| cheek blocks, and the carriage way of the
| eastern entrance to the south wing is also
laying around the grounds, with the excep-
ton of the cheek blocks. This portico, like
that Of the north wing will consist of twenty
two marble columns, composed OF monolithc
shafts, pedestals, and deliberately wrought
capitols, supporting highly ornamented en-
tablature, and deeply panelled marble cell
ing. Five of these shafts are already on the
ground. The porticoes of the connecting
corridors have been finished, and the roof
and cutters have been permanently laid. The
white middle jams and head of the front door
of the north wing have been wrought and set
and the workmen are now engaged from the
quarries of Baltimore county, Maryland
Nothing has been done during the year to
the north, south, and west porticoes, although
a large quantity of the marble is on the
ground for this purpose. Nothing like the
amount of progress has been made upon the
marble front that was expected owing to the
fact that the contractors for the marble at the
Lee quarters, Massachusetts, have been I'M
able to secure vessels of freight to convey
the marble to the Capitol The eastern por-
ticoes of both wings would have been finish
| ed but for this delay. During the past year
| marble to the amount of $4,000 has come
| from these quarries. Some eighteen mono
| lithic columns have been furnished by the
same parties, its commencement is almost
| S85O,OOO. Some ffty-four monolithc shafts
are yet required for the exterior portico
The group of statuary, Progress and Civ
ilization," executed from casts furnished by
the late sculptor, Crawford, for the pediment
of the eastern portico of the north wing, has
been put in place during the past year, as our
readers are aware. They are securely at
49,
clamps. The figures have all been executed
marble from the Lee quarries. The two
marble statues, "Justce and History" which
were executed in Italy, from the design of
Crawford, for the top of the front door of the
north wing, have also been put in place du-
ring the past year. These figures are very
beautiful ones, and form appropriate and
tasteful ornament to the Senate entrances
The plaster model for the eastern front of
the north wing have been completed from
the design of Crawford, by Rinehardt and
are due in New York from Rome. The bronze
coating for the doors will be executed in this
country.
All of the sculptures for the eastern front
of the north wing were designed by Crawford
the group representing progress of Civil
cation" in the tympanum of the pedimcnt,
the group Of 'Justice and History" over the
front door, and the bronze doors for the main
entrance-thus leaving the corresponding Or
namentation of the south wing yet to be exc
cuted The marble work of the south wing
is being executed with receding tympanum,
similar to that on the north wing, so as to
admit of group of sculpture whenever Con-
gress may see fit to order one. The cornice
of the south front door is also left without
sculpture, which may also be supplied when
ever it is deemed expedient to do 50.
As soms time will be required before the