The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-02-09
Seneca Sandstone.
The Washington correspondent of the Uti-
ca, N. Y, Herald, says:

The Washington correspondent of the Uti-
ca, N. Y, Herald, says:
The Democrats have at last got what they
want in the matter of the "Seneca sand
stone" 1t is to- be investigated" like ey-
erything else. 1t won't take long to do it,
and their ears will be apt to tingle when the
facts come out. The lies that have been told
about that innocent substratum are sufficient
in number and enormity to- cause the father
of lies to open his eyes. The Democracy
have usurped his prerogative. About the
new State department for instance.
That building, by the way, is located in the
rear of the war and navy departments, west
of the White House, and in way to cores
pond with the treasury department on the
other side. 1t will correspondent with the
ground plan of the treasury, but will differ
from it in style of architecture-the treasury
being Ionic, and the new building classical
renaissance.
The Gerz resolution, passed the house on
Monday, alleges that Mr. Mullett, the archi-
tect, in violation of the directions ofthe joint
committee on public buildings, has put Sen
eca sandstone in the foundation walls of the
new buildings, the instructions requiring that
they should be built wholly of granite. If the
Democrats had taken the pains to examine,
they would have discovered that somebody
has been hood-winking them. So far from
the allegation being true, the fact is, that not
one foundation stone has yet been laid upon
another. The blocks of granite are there,
ready to be placed; but neither granite nor
sandstone is yet in the foundation. All the
work that has thus far been done, is the exca-
vation, and the erection of some of the inner
partitions. These inner partitions, which
will constitute the dividing lines and door
ways of the cellar, are built of the Seneca
sandstone. 1t was chosen instead of brick,
which is generally used, because it is cheaper;
and instead of blue stone, because the quarry
is thirty miles nearer, and the cost nearly $40
a ton less. To have put granite in these par
tition walls would have been an extravaganza
that the specifications never contemplated,
and that has no precedent in any of the gov
ernment buildings here, or any large build
ings anywhere. As l have already said, brick
is the material generally used tor'this purpose.
Mr.. Mullett has violated no instructions
whatever That's what the investigation
will bring out.
1t will bring out some other facts. Among
them will be the fact that Mr.. Mullett used
the $1,000 worth of Seneca sandstone which
had been put into the basement partitions of
the State building, against the express wish
of President Grant, and wholly without his
appreciation. He used it, in spite of this fact,
because it answered the purpose better
than any other material. Another fact
brought to light will be that it was President
Grant, alone, and individually, who first re-
jected that one of the three plans submitted
by the public building committee, which pro-
vided for making the whole building of sand
stone, after the manner of the Smithsonian
Institute. A third fact is, that President
Grant has not realized a penny on his stock
in the Seneca quarry, although he held it for
some time before he was elected. A fourth
fact is, that he has been unable to sell this
stock, without pecuniary loss on the invest
ment. A fifth fact is, that he has tried to sell,
at the desire of other stockholders, because
his interest in the quarry had operated to pre-
vent their getting any government contracts.
All these facts are just what the Democrats
don't want them to be. They contain the
whole story. The result will be that the Sen
eca sandstone, which they thought to convert
into fusilade to blow the President up, will
be the sign and symbol of their persistent
SANDER and unintermittent falsehoods. 1t is
not as heavy as granite or marble; but it is
heavy enough to crush the party which
sought to make capital by building pyramid
of Seneca sandstone lies. They say this stone
is soft. 1t will be so much the easier, then,
to cut into it an epitaph for the Democratic
party. 1t will be in strict accord with the
eternal fitness cf things, to build the tomb
stone the party will need after next Novem-
Der out of Seneca sandstone. Hic jdcet-fin-
ish the epitaph to suit yourselves.