Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1882-10-26
RepaIntinE the Capital Dome.

. ~ eeaAat 80 N--l
The work Of repainting the great white
dome Of the Capitol, which has been in
progress several months under the imme.
diate personal supervision Of Signor
Philippe Costigini. the well-known
Italian artist and frescoist. is offering
daily attractions to hundreds Of people,
not few OF whom arc visitors from
every section of the country. The men
actually employed upon the outside OF
the dome are twelve in number. They
are Washington painters. men of more
than ordinary daring in their profession,
who are not afraid to risk their lives for
fancy prices, and that IS what the Gov
ernment pays for all its work. The dan
gers to which these men are daily subject
would no doubt freeze the blood in the
veins of their loving spouses and cause
their hair TO stand diZzily on end, but
fortunately for the good danes, they are
told nothing about these things. They
only hear about the wages. 1t is mis-
take to say. as some adventurous cores
pondents have done in years gone by,
that the air around the upper part Of the
dome is in freezing condition as com!
pared with that of the air on the ground
below. OF course, at even this elevation
there is delightful profuseness of breeze,
crisp cool air, and all that sort of thing,
but on clear day in this autumn wealth
er the workmen WELD their brushes in
their shirt sleeves, and even this does not
keep them from a profuse perspiration.
1t may seem incredible, but it is fact.
nevertheless, that to repalnt the outside
of the dome requires fifteen tons of pure
hita lad 20 oI
under ordinary circumstances, would be
sufficient to paint every house on Penn
sylvania avenue from the Capitol to the
Treasury building. Common white paint
would wash off the dome in the first rain
that came along, and trickle down in big
streams, leaving the dirt as palpable as
before. The work of repainting would
not be rendered SO often necessary were
it not for the fact that the dome is SO
constructed that the vertical joints or
ribs of the walls, which are of iron, as is
the entire structure, do not come in
actual contract with each other, thereby
allowing the rain to get in and rust.
Where they joined, the grand old dome
would assume, each day, under the in
f1uence of the weather, new and horribly
fantastic shapes, and some unusually
cold morning would find it crushed like
an egg shell into thousand fragments.
The painters on the roof of the domesre-
semble nothing so much as tiny flies, and
the rope ladders stretching down from
the top in every direction like hair lines,
remind one of delicate streaks of molas-
ses. which these flies are working for all
they are worth. To reach the bottom of
tho dome it is necessary to lie PROSTATE
and climb down these ladders, proceed
ing which is not of itself peculiarly diff
cult, but becomes so when he who de-
scends has dizzy head, an unsteady
nerve, and is encumbered with too many
paint pots aud several brushes. Fortun.
ately no accidents have as yet occurred,
although single misstep. or the giving
way of slender piece of rope, would
send the unlucky painter rolling down
the steeply curving roof andSoff into
well, eternity.
The most wonderful thing about the
Capitol dome, however, is yet to be told.
1t is said that there was a statue in
ancient Egypt. called Memon. which
whispered sweet words of melody to the
sun as he appeared above the horizon.
and sung him to sleep every night with
wild, weird lullabies. The grand,
naughty Goddess of Liberty on top of
the dome has heart of bronze, but
good heart for all that, and one filled
with true old Virginia courtesy. She has
not yet picked up enough courage to AZ
tempt to do the prima-donna act, but
every morning the good dame courtesies
to the sun, and when he sinks in the
West she again courtesies, but without
turning around. Some time since Arch
itect Clark suspended plummet line
from the interior of the dome, and it was
found by actual measurment that the
lead swung over space of four and one
quarter inches, making total dip out of
the perpendicular of eight and one-half
inches. This is caused by the alternate
contraction and expansion of the iron. A
ludicrous mistake, which occurred not
long since, may be mentioned in this con-
nection. The coast survey had in chage
the surveying of the river front prepara-
tory to locating the line for the reclama-
tion of the Potomac flats. The top of
the dome was taken as one point of the
surveyors triangle in estimating certain
distances. The calculations thus arrived
at were found TO sadly differ almost every
day, and much swearing and perplexed
thinking upon the part of the brilliant
engineers was INDUCED in before the
dipping of the dome was brought to mind.
After that the top of the Washington
Monument did unceasing duty as a
mathematic guiding star.
To remove the paint from the dome it
is necessary to use potash. This is ap-
piled with mop. In closing it may be
remarked that it is in contemplation to
remove the copper roof over the Con-
gressional Library, owing to its cracked,
fissured condition. The cost of repaint-
ing the outside of the dome is estimated
at $4,000. This is fer paint and labor.
And, while the dome is putting on snowy
robes without, Costigini is within weav-