Arizona weekly citizen., 1882-12-31
PICTURES N THE WHITE HOUSE.
Objects of Art With Which Our Bachelor
 President is Surrounded

fresluent 4> Surrounded
 On the lower floor of the White House, | says a Washington letter, there is DOT { tralt of each one of the Presidents of the united States, and a stately painting ! representing Martha Washington h richest attire hangs III the east room. With the exception Of this OihcIgl ret q portraits and tLe heads Ot Mrs. Tyler
 and General Jackson In the upper corr dor, there Is Dot a picture Oh the walls Of The White House. In the suites Of bedrooms, and even m the private din lng-rOOn, the vast wall spaces are bare,
 or only OrnameBted by tLe paper hang
 CTS devices and oy the large French
 mlrrOrs set above each mauteI-piece.
 1 he e are no paintings or engrayiugs ue-
 louglEg to the mansion itself and III dIs-
 penslng the annual appropriations uO
 one ever lerms tO have thought of pIct-
 ures as essential to pleasure and comfort
 Cd; the Inmates. General Grant possessed
 many handsome paintings, with which
 he made pnvate parts of the mansion
 take on more human and hOspItable
 ar, but they were packed and sent to
 his Galena home when hls lease of the
 premises expired. Among Gen. Grants
 pictorial treasures Was the original paint
 Ing of "Sheridan's Ride by Buchanan
 Reed, which was presented bs the poet
 banter himself, and Is now with his other innumerable trophies decorating
 the walls of hIs house m New York
 President Arthur IS an admiftr and
 something of a judge of art work, and
 ar his LezingtCn avenue house iu New
 York he las many fine paintings and enGravIugs. With all the baroness of the White House walls staring him oryiy In the face, he refuses to despuIl hIs home Of d single treasure or change the least one of its arrangements, del- lcate sentiment constralnIng him to
 wish every thing there to remain un- touched-a constant reminder Of his wife, to whose taste that habitatiOn owes Is charm. lie brought with hlm from New 1Oik the miniature portrait og Mrs Arthur, set ln finely wrought bronze frame. This picture, standing on d la ble m his bedroom, constitutes the household shrine, and Is lighted iu the evening hours by {. e shaded light of an antique bronze lamp. Bierstadt, who IS an old personal friend Of President Ar taur, remarked upon the bare walls of the official residence, and forthwith made an offer of some picturesfrom hIs studio. The loan was gladly accepted by the President, and five paintings o5 American scenery were at once sent down from New York.
 They were hung on the walls at the west end of the upper corridor of the ! mansion, wilch the president has had !. fitted up as snuygeTy, smOkIng-rOom | and sItting-room for himself and his 1 friends. The private staircase from the | first floor leads up to this retreat. and 1t l + shut off from the rest of the corridor | bt 2 heavy p1rtlere of raw silk tapestry, | shot wIth gold and silver thread. A | pogtiere of Turkish cloth ou one side | couceals the door of the pink and blue l pOmpadOur apartment occupied by the l president, and a similar drapery hangs | at the entrance of the vice presidents l pale azure chamber The arched win- I dow at the end Is filled with blooming l plants; the floor k covered with part ! Of the rich Turkey carpet sent some | years ago as present to this Govern l ment from the Sultan, the prevailing i tint of which is a soft, rich orange, and | the furniture Is covered with a dark . gray-green plush. 4 writing desk at | one side of thIs sitting room has its | racks filled with dainty cream-tinted | note paper, and the center table Is strewn Wlth the latest books and Inags- zines. Several copies of the North Amer ican Revlew occupy aconspicuous place, and rich Venetian lamp, with a tuted globe Of opaI glass, stands on this table. big Shaker fans uRRd the daily i,a I- ...-.- comfort and a,--r New .dle summer hours, and through the curtained dOor-ways there comes the steady south wInd. Bierstadts fine pictures are hung on the walls of thls
 uformal apartment; the largest which represents a dark and gloomy noun canyon of the Rocky Noun taIns, occupying the wall just above the -t airway. On one side of IL hangs a .maller canvas showing the great au
 Teyser of the Yellowstone park m Iull play: and on the other side view of the Yellowstone fall. with the amber
 waters pouring straight over the precipice and flashing down the canyon toward one. On the opposite wall IS he somewhat celebrated painting of | 'Winter morning scene in the Yosemite, | the giant rocks and valley walls l powdered with soft lines of snow, and i he trees bent and whitened with the l accumulated flakes. The fifth picture | shows a calm, green -boTdered lake, with lonesome fisherman floating over 1t m boat and dropping bis line lm-
 pediately into its waters. All of them
 are worthy objects of the great artists bra h. and on a hot day the gaze rests euviously on the cool waters and snow
 oanks of the western wOnderland-.