, 1869-05-07
Sketches Of Politics and Arohi-
lecture.
The Quakers on the Plains.
Specific for the Alabama Claims.
Talk with The Builder Of the Dome Of
~ The Capitol. :
Lucretia Mott, Etc.


t,ek arross the capes aud vanish under the bu1A
1t Ia quiet pastoral time now, and the fields Are
my library. .-...-
rtlr vr.n rzu xAx wHo Eu11r THf DONE Or TIE
cAf1rpL-
Nv house In Washington Is In tho rear Of the
famous hotel and restaurant called " htneyh'
which Ad}o!ns the Capitol Ton would hardly
think that public place Tie tn8 ts animated by
the zane nelghbory and kindly feelings as any
other ,illagc. let After Congress a1ld11us, ind
tho dallJ mob Of eminent men have gone clae-
rherr for their champagne AMI cocktails, this
tavcru falls hscK Into the community; quiet anu
good ennees marx 1t, and, rs one Of the hou2ehold
said t. nc yesterday:
AThts plAee, Nj. Gath. II 1t present ike big
Hater.og.plsce hotel whsn the season u over"
6ohA; 60 ls al the 6uagEtlng village that Ee
call .csptoi H,u,"a part Of Washington yet dis
uuc,,y separated from IT, ~ Warrington Heights
from Sew York city. ....
Alter Congress- aileurns We begin to know each
other Tne carpenter and the bsshar 60 nshinz
together. The azchitect of the Capitol inquiries
lor your family. The Capitol policemen and the
o1lce11 Of the btaeka near By stop II Jour door
step To chat with your baby 1t b hfe living In
some college town during the vacation, and very
cool, Alniahle AID Agreeable Is Capitol Hnl In
mmner.
Atwhltney's saw, few days ago, a white
bearded old gentlemau, Of Northern and buAneAs
I asquare-ended nosc, beye1le1 1t the up and 4
hearty Down-East manner.
'Dunr Jor know Nj: Fowler, Gath 7" said a
gentleman near hy. 1Tnt1 Is Nj. Charles Fowler,
who hu1s the dome Of the CAPITOL
Mr. Fowler MA bona In Hartford Connecticut
lie Is or WIS member Of the former n1n Of iron
founders, Fowler Deehy, nt Read and Centre
strcets New York. he was the lowest bidder to
cast the patte1s fol the dome and that noble piece
Of son-wuvt, solitary IN the woztd, was vet up by
n1u. Perhaps you can ht9t get the s1t1ik oI Mh2t
he h1d to saJ In tha categorical form In which he
gave It
7"What was 5oar contract, Nj. Fowler, when
/ .ou nEst undertook To build the dome ~
"Beven ceun pound for Ill the lron used The
a1chttect, Thon,as N. Walter, made tho deaigns,
plece BY piece They ran, for example, an lueh 70
eight feet waa TO put up the dome, furnishing
all The scaGolds, worLmen, and so forth, for scven
| cents pound"
"Did they keep their bargain ~
mo. General Franklin MAS SuperintendlnT
| Engineer when nrst arrived here. He made the
| contract for the War Department After had
run the dome up to the top Of the arst ORDER, OF
the drum. 81 you see 1t there, General Nelgs was
put IN FtnnkiiuS plac< He cut my contract
down, arbitrarily, to st1 ceuts . pound con-
suited my awyers. and they said:
| This cutting down OF your contract Is piece
| Of force, ha7tng no authority In Law. But II you
don1 submit to Il you will be kept out Of your
money It tutnoas expense. So accept It and come
| other time.
"Thereforc took the stx cents, aud the worx
| WIS stopped.
"Thc yard OF the Capitol vas Uttered WITH iron.
Senator Foot and others began to ask:
.'.Why = the work On the dome suspendedt'
"1hey demanded recontiuuanoe u the Nork,
| and had an order make out transicrtn1 the work
49, ~.
| Interior Department. This WIS done to lit out
Of Camcrons handB the matter Of the dome.
~ went to tho Secretary Of the Interior and de-
| rnanled my additional cent pound 1t was paid
! demanded also the fifteen thouE4nd dollars
| which. under the INT ssta1zangement, w1a withheld
| from my control to insure the finishing of the
dome This VA paid oTeF. Then Heut to
| work again.
-"on What principle u that dome ae4 up, Mr.
| Fowieff"
"On this Iprinetple: there l. \ ateleton series
Of nbs within; they extudc supports Tor the outer
| dome; tho dEure on the top, the government
guaranteed to furnish, a. IL aitewarls did, from
CLARK An1s' deAigna and castugs. The scales on
the dome are bolted together. There "a no atruc-
| ture In the world more enduring than that dome.
You may call II eternal, Il 5on Lie. 1t weighs
oYer 1000 tona That ia, you tell ne, only one
| ninth the weight Of the Victoria Tower, On the
Parliament buldlnxa, in London Why, III. the
Rocky Mountains will budge As quickly u that
trrnc,nrr. Their are souc thluzs about II which
! don like, bat the Government Superintendent
Is a,eolnte. For eInmple, the trst coat Of palnt
should hs~e heeR dlt'ereus protested. Putt
I en xhlsei said the e;4t Consequently the dome
eats up paint BY the ton every year, because there
Is not a good color for oase.'
uoes nos tue oouie ieak, 81. oy sea*oa Oh tae
metal'plaes Expanding snd eoaaaeaoEf nh not
Possible tass oJ tne pcspesua *o!A1os 70 aaa 10 Oh
Inc !Hs1es' tus1' Hae2a1eo llse's Anu uoA eohapse
haGke plaee ......-
\ ~ sae "hoie uone oi one mesal: a.
pands ana oonttacsa Ike INC 1oloing and unfolding
Of NY. Al moving tosesaef. An Atmospheric
change that Will move one piece moves ail-sealc
ano oo!1- RUST VIII naPpon oo& 70 asoid lois 1he
oosnln9 mn&1 nc Kept Fa1ef-Egnt anu well painted
IL hos oy mecnanrA changes that public WoFfa
ar Affected, but 5J sudden and unnecessary pont-
ca changes. For example: got Judgment
| a8alns1 9oFe1nment IN Lie CoufT OF El2ln8 !1sE
week fcF sventJ-stx thousand dollars They msie
CONTRACT x1fn nc to put up the Wings Of TIE
| Aor&l!, As LAO alteads rnfsatd and oehVEfed the
nam FaH OF H. lae sec1e1MJ Of tne !n1eflof waa
stadehI5 CHANGED. and ne abolished my contract
whinncany. Ihetcfofe' bring sutf, and his htsfe
~hm costs 1ne people tNenty"tix thousand DOL
lars besides putting me out of pocket eTen At that
see, also, the erect of change os supertn:
tenoenie. which ! have already referred to. ]
hafe cA1tn OF slxEJ ODD Thousand dollars TOT the
increased eoss and delay incurred oy me Through
thas substitution OF Aeigs TOT Ffanklm- Lad
tney let me 60 on " Tue TERMS OF my contract
snould hare had The Work done BY 1851 Ihs,
hsopPe" ue esn&tst1!' INC WIZ cAnc ou' LUZ
went up eone hundred PEI cent; the E!vi
"as nned "lth rslea hafacEes; freight.
went up 100 per cent; the prtoo pf lhho'
went up almost a badly. new nnan1 whlu
will cost sixty thousand dollars, perhaps, to the
People; II not, 1t Will come out Of my pocket
~ tell Eo0- stl,'' satd the dorne builder, eutoW
aged IN his theme, "xhitn. freak. Change, an
! responsible for Z good deal OF folly and more ex
t1ayaEaoca here
"Let mo ahow you how they got dome In ths
| drst pl1cc; for that u Nh example:
"Mr Walter, the aschItecs, prepasod the plana
for q complete extension Of the cspatol-ner
wings, new dome. and = new marble front for III,
middle Ct tzeestaue building, which Nas tho Oh
Capitol; ana, IL be knew 1eTJ wen TINT con1tes
would nerer yote this money IN the paost econoru
1cal Uxy-th.t d. IN bu1t. or by a1ed yea,ly uar
cels-he nrst submitted the x1aes,
"Sext N Congress VIZ stuput aarpurn,ns At Ii,
| end Of 4 sesx,on, md the7 Were sil yery metry =
ntsht-lad,es On the t1om. xyrrytntn1 nvely. rood
hu1nor ,houndtnz-xr WsJter n.ft thr havinr
the dou,e 1n,,rdneed. fnlorsf1 snd amounted mo.
! t,rauetfuIty. Ey.rbosv wa delighted.
u.comeL now1 Giro rs htnsart,i thooaatd dot
larx far A nrv dfmel.
~1teyy yotedn IN n1Ia houscs In twenty m,autes
tina WIN yhe hundred thousand dollnrs tho OLE
dome wna resn0yed Than, attar The recess TIT
! 1rstteet came up and mil hiuntr:
"'Ixauf m anvroo.:ston 10, the dome. There,
nothing On Tho bnfdine.-
~HoVe We e1ye ycu = hundred thorsand'
"'Thu wss 70 take OF ta1 Old DOME -
| tst3rn~t "a u. n ~, hnr,n "a ooxtyt