Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-05-08


INV PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND HANDSOME PR
NATE RssIDENcES-THB MUSEUM. GEORGETOWN
coLLkGk. AND THE NEW EXECUTIVE BUILDING.
IL. V. Smalley in n. Y Tribune.l
wAsHINGroN, May Ito appreciate the pro-
gress washington Is making In all things be-
nttng the character OF a capital city. one must
return here after an absence OF few years. A
long absence Is not necessary. One need not
compare the Washington OF to-day with the
suassnng' dirty southern town OF the war pc
Rod The contrast with the place as 1t was at
the beginning OF Grants administration is strik-
ing enough, and even the changes OF the mast
three or four years are surprising. In the first
place you observe that II Is the best paved city
In America, and the best In the world after
Paris Everywhere the asphalt stretches away
smooth and firm to horizons bounded by the
loi.y walls OF public building or the trees
ana shruboery OF park. The vehicles roll
aloI G with scarcely sound save the half-muf-
Ied clatter OF the horses feet The pleasurable
sense or motion without jar or noise expert
enced In diving over these perfect pavements
Is one OF the peculiar charms or life in Wash-
lag.on; You combine with the diverting sights
OF a city the enjoyment OF drive on the black.
elastic. sun baked roads Of an Illinois prairie.
SO many handsome new houses have been
ou,t Oh ia.e snat many sections OF the city
scarcely recognizable. A new quarter has grown
up around the residence OF the British minister
tohnecticut and Vermont avenues, which used
10 oe little more than names upon the man are
lined with stately houses. Massachusetts ave-
nue., with Its superb Vista broken by the eaues-
TRAN statue of Scott and Thomas. has singu-
larry fine effect. The little circles In the north
western part OF the city, which not long AGO
were browsing grounds for goats and geese.
are now adorned with shrubs and flowers and
surrounded by handsome houses In no
city are there such advantages for the
free play of architectural genius The
street system is so peculiar-there are SO many
corners, angles, terraces and segments OF
circles to build upon-that the opportunities for
novel and striking effects are almost unlimited
me fayor1te style Just now for large detached
ON OH
material is dark red brick with sandstone trim
mingS, and round tower with black sugar
loaf cap Is the most salient feature. There is.
however. good deal of variety of style. one
finds "reminiscences OF Elizabethan manor
houses, Venetian palaces. Swiss chalatS and
Rhine castles In curious juxtaposition. To a
severe taste the effect is no doubt displeaSing
but all this Kaleidoscope tumble of architectural
Ideas so faithfully represents the omnivorous
cosmopolitan taste OF the American people that
its appropriateness for their capital city cannot
DE questioned.
wAsHINGTON's PECULIAR ATTRACTIONS
The costly houses that have recently been
built and are now building In such numbers are
evidences Of the attractiveness OF Washington
to people OF wealth. culture and leisure. In
whatever line the tastes OF such people NAV
run they find peculiar qualification here II
they have fondneSS for scientific study, here
are the smithsonian collections the Medical
museum, the Observatory, the photographic
Bureau, the Bureau OF Statistics; II for litera-
ture, here is the Congressional Library; IL for
art, here is the Corcoran Gallery, the best pub
lie gallery In America; If for the results of
travel, hither come the explorers from all
parts OF the continent; If for politics. here are
the men whose talents have distinguished them
In the government; If only for society," it is the
most sociable place in the country. Nowhere
is there such breadth, freedom, Individuality,
vivacity and cordially In social intercourSp in
no other city is there such large proportion
OF the population with leisure and disposition
Tor making themselves agreeable, and for find
ing out what there is agreeable In other people,
and no other city so d4awS upon the whole
country for the material for its social life More
and more are these attractions becoming known
ana every year brings reinforcement from
northern cities TO the best classes OF Washing
ton society, OF people who build houses here
because they find it the most delightful place
Tor winter and spring residence.
THE NEW PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
The new Museum Building in the Smithsonian
Grounds is nearly completed. The first sugge.-
ton for this museum was made In the Tribur,gs
correspondence from the Philadelphia exhibit
ZION, wherein the preservation as permanent
collection OF the remarkably instructive exhibits
MADE 10 the government building at the centen-
NAL was advocated. The officers who made
that collection took up the idea. and urged it
upon congress, and the result is an exhibition
that Will be one OF the chief attractions of
Washington. The building is well adapted for
its purposes, having ample light and floor
gay bands of tiles, its lofty dome and many tow.
ers give it worlds fair look and recall the gay
architecture OF the Centennial structures No
douDt IL mas the beauty OF fitness, but why was
made to commit the sin OF incongruity by
spreading itself out In tie shadow OF the Gothic
towers OF the smithsonian Institution? That
stately, dignif1ed ediflce, the finest building of
ltS type In TINS country. is fnSuted by the law
dry modern adornmentS of its new neighbor
and the Museum, which would be admired as a
handsome specimen of decorative architecture
II IL STOOD alone, Is made to look cheap and pre-
tentfous by the proximity OF the lofty towers
rose windows and dignified red sandstone walls
OF the Institution. There was plenty of room
on the many public reservations Of the city.
without crowdlng these two diverse ami dis
cordant structures so close together
the former habitue OF Washington, who re-
turns after few years absence win notice with
feeling Of regret that the old War department
has been pulled down to make room for one of
the facades OF the huge executive building, usu-
ally called the State department, because that
branch of the government was its first tenant.
He will wonder what has become OF the stump
OF S me tree cut down by bullets on Virginia
Da,te neid, which used to stand under the
the little room where Stanton directed
me war was preserved on canvas for
ti is1o Gs , 6ef 6on the demolition The por
l1ngton, and forms an arch over one of the en-
trance gates to the National cemetery hardly
Know whether to admire the new building or
not: Stately it unquestionably is, for it quite
dWarfs the Treasury and dominates half the
city; and the effort to make granite lend itself
10 .he gracefu! forms of renaissance architec-
the building Is so enormous that &c lacks ey-
preston, and The eye wanders over it without
being arrested by any central feature where
the main architectural idea OF the structure
fnds its eliminating and definite embodiment.
The new building for the Bureau OF Printing
and Engraving, down on the Monument Lot
LAS rather factory look, but is on the whole
lot an unattractiye object in the Landscape
when seen from the White House windows or
the Treasury porttcO. Everybody must admire
the new Georgetown College building which
can be plainly seen from many points In Wash
iDgton. Solidity and grace are expressed by it's
gray limestone walls, and 1t wears a crown OF
beauty In the handSOmeSt medieval tower |
know of. MIR. Spofford has not yet persuaded
Congress to make an appropriation for the
much-needed building so long contemplated for
the Congressional Library. fear he sometimes
loses patience as he stumbles over the piles OF
volumes that cumber the floor OF the old library,
or burrows In the basement OF the Capitol for
storage space to hold the books for which he
has no shelf room; but hope he will persevere
and Will live to see the reward OF his efforts in
noble structure wol Thy to hold the largest
and best collection OF books on the American
cOntfnent-a structure that viii be a lifting
monument to American literature, and at the
same time memorial OF the wiSeSt and most
faithful and tIdefatgable librarian this country
has ever possessed.