Morning journal and courier., 1882-08-01
The State House Question.

ing.
The question as to the proposed removal of |
the old State House is an interesting one in |
various respects, and many of our leading |
citizens have expressed wish for the views
of Mr. Eli Whitney, expressed more fully
than at the recent meeting, on the subject
We obtained an interview with that gentle
man, who expressed himself as follows
The question is, Should the old State
House be demolished I am opposed to its
removal. I think the model of the building
standing argument for its retention. Its
model Is a very fine one. 1t was planned by
the first architects of fifty years ago, Mr.
1thiel Towne, and is considered by judges rs
q classic model of the Grecian temple order.
The building not as well built
as it should have been, but it can be
repaired at the expense of few Thousand
dollars and made an ornament to the city,
and building in which the people of New
Haven will take pride and pleasure. 1t can
be made useful for various purposes, the
most important of which is public library.
For that purpose the site cannot be i'm
proved. The repairs of the building with
the best modern skill and the use of cement
| mortar can be made in such thorough man
ner that in the future it will not have that
| tumble-down appearance it has had in the
| past. The building should be we'll plastered,
| as it is not now. The plaster should be
coated with mastic and then given two or
| three coats of paint. 1t looks now as if it
| had seen no paint for many years.
To prevent dampness in the building the
| steps, both the north and south, should be
rslaid, and the foundations under the steps
should be we'll cemented and coated with
asphalt. The steps should be trimmed over
and partly laid in granite at the sides. Where
| the steps are stained with iron as some are,
and also the marble work of the foundations,
they should be painted white-in fact all the
| work in marble should be painted.
| This painting of limestone to cover up iron
rust is q very common thing in this country.
I can quote, instance, the court house
| in the city of Washington. It was built of
| light brown limestone and in few years was
badly streaked with iron rust which gave it
a very unsettled appearance. But since it
has been painted white it is one of the hand
soonest buildings in Washington.
| If the State House is damp there is no ne
| cessity of its being SO with a small outlay.
There is no need of its being damp in any
part. The entire building in the second and
third stories we'll the roof is tight and
is not damp, can be shown by the firearms
of the different companies which are here
| on exhibition, the polish of which is unsul-
| lied and untarnished, and none of the arms
| having been retouched since they were placed
there many months ago. They exhibit no
! signs of rust, which is good test that the
| h,1il },o OH &1,o
basement.
The basement is unquestionably damp for
| the water from the roof flows into it. Any
building would be damp under the same cir
| cumstances. The basement rooms can be
made useful The earth can be taken out to
| within a few inches of the bottom of the
foundation and a cement floor laid which
| will give height to the ceiling of
nearly ten feet, and proper drains
can be placed to prevent the
| water that flows from the roof from running
| into the basement. With regard to the base
ment, by means of arches for the partition
| wallis it can be made into large room
| which, when well lighted by gas, can be used
| for town hall. Additional windows can be
placed in the basement if deemed advisable
| The maple trees that are planted close to the
building have tendency to make it damp in
their vicinity. and it would be we'll to have
them cut down.
1t is said by some that the fact that the
| building is built of stone and plastered, and
not of stone altogether initiates against it ;
| that it is not worthy of the style of archi-
| lecture it represents but with many of the
public buildings that admired in Europe
the plaster forms an important part of their
structure. AS to the ornamentation of
the building, [ think it is not
necessary to have it white in color, and by
the exercise of good taste as to harmonies of
color fine effect may be produced, which
| will greatly tend to remove its identity with
the forlorn old State House which it has
been for the last 80 years. owing to the neg
| lect of the State of Connecticut properly to
to repair it, and latterly to the neglect of the
city government of New Haven. One trouble
with the building has been that the amounts
appropriated by the Legislature for
the repair of the building ;. have
proper repair and the small amounts from
time to time appropriated, after having
passed through legislative committee into
the hands of political cronies. have afforded
no desired relief, as the building did not
than it was before. The improvements of
the building were slight. Repairs in the
| right place and at the right time would have
protected it from the heavy breakages of the
foundations exterior that are now apparent
The steps of the State House and the DOR
tico now tend to make the building damp
because there is nothing to prevent water
from the storms settling down into the mass
of stonework which is the foundation of the
steps and portico.
The building can be called the Atheneum
| or City Library, and with suitable repairs
and a changed appearance of the building it
will soon be forgotten that it ever was the
old State House. The repair of the
building and its gift by the city
or Its use by the city for public free library
and insure the success of that enterprise. If
the building is properly repaired it will offer
| inducements to large portion of the public
to contribute literally of their means
to such result. A library building
if the State House is taken down or
destroyed library buildingssas substitute,
with suitable spot of ground and of equal
capacity, cannot be procured under $3.50, 900.
The present building can be used not only
for library, but can be popularized in vari-
| GUS ways as place where free lectures
| scientific, historical Or other subjects can be
! delivered tending to the improvement and in
| struction of the citizens of New Haven It
| will be, in my opinion, sin and shame to
| tear down this building, if it's partition walls
| are as understand it. of solid stone. And
| in many respects the building is fire proof
AS it is the only classic building in the city.
and, as far know, in the State it seems
to be very proper that this city, which may
not improperly rank the Athens of
America, should have one building at least
Athenean in style, of purely classic proper
| tions.
Death of Henry C. White, Hartford.
Henry G. White died at the Park Central
Hotel, Hartford, yesterday, after weeks
illness. Mr.. White actively connected
with business interests there for number of
years, and was one of the first passenger con-
ductors on the old New Haven and Hartford
railroad, running the first passenger train on
the line. He was also connected with the
Hartford and New York Steamboat line, run
ming the old steamer Marlborough He
rendered efficient service many years ago in
rescuing passengers from the ill fated steamer
Bunker Hill, which was wrecked by an ex-
plosion at Essex. Mr.. Edward Wadsworth,
of the Connecticut Trust and Safe Deposit
company, was with him on the Macdonough
at the time. During the international expo
sitiop at Paris ba repreSantsd the Stafa of