Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-06-10
THB wRFFE HauAa
A Historic aud Edehlly.Locaied
structure which should
Be Preserved.
uaea ner.ld.

The White House has had no gen
eral overhauling since it was rebuilt il
1916, after it had been destroyed b,
FIRE by the British troops, on tn
occasion OF their raid upon Washing
ton in the war of 1872. The corner
stone ofthe building was laid in 1892
and it was ready for occupancy. By
President Adams, when he was inau
gurated in 1910 {? 1871. Extract,
from the diary Of Mrs. Adams are
published, in which she speaks O.
hanging up the executive clothes t
dry in the bare wastes of the uniur.
nish d blue room, aud wonders whaI
she shall do with herself 10 the great
barn" The fact which calls fol
present consideration is that the
White House is really a very old
structure, for this country, aud that
when it was built little was known
about the modern methods OF insurinC
the comfort of the occupants, or Of
the sanitary conditions of health in
the matter of drainage and the like.
1t is obvious that the repeated efforts
made to remedy these original defects
have not been successful.
In some quarters it is now urged
that the entire structure should be
RACED, and a new and modern execu-
tive mansion constructed in another
locality moro distant from malarial
Influences which are waited from the
stagnant marshes Of the Potomac.
But this, it seems to us, would be
going farther than the necessities of
the case require. As to the marshes,
in the first place: The White House
is a little nearer to them than most of
city, and the breezes which blow
thence have an unbrOken sweep across
the park to its south front; but they
are deleterious to the health of the
best part Of Washington, and it is a
danger which is not to be ebyiated by
simply removing the executive home
a ! little further from it. Not only for
the cake of the White House oocu-
pants, but for the health of the whole
capital, the marshes ought to be
drained and removed, and it is a
shame to Congress that it has not long
since taken steps to that end.
The present location of the White
House is the ideal me-. Both for
beauty Of site and convenience of &C.
cess, there is no portion of Washington
which is to be compared with it. 1t
is the terminus Of the Government
reservation Of South Washington,
which is becoming year by year the
most charming neighborhoOd in the
country, and will some day be regard
ed as the best justification for the
pride which the American people are
coming to feel in their national cap
ital.
The White House should not only
NOT be removed, but it seems a pity to
destroy the venerable and historic
There eighteen Of our Presi.
dents have lived, and there it is pos
that all who are to come after
may live, surrounded by all the com
and conveniences which the
purse of the nation can
The structure of the building
unique; and on the whole it IS
may be doubted il modern architecture
especially such as the government
smploys-can devise a building which
its general exterior aspect will be
more satisfactory. Its outside walls
are built Of freestone. and will stand
irm for generations to come. It is
I70 feet in length and sc feet deep,
which renders it amply large for any
Executive Mansion that will be re-
in the future. The sole obiec-
ion to it is that the interior is old,
damp in places, inconvenient
arrangement, unsuited for a home.
These are difficulties which no amount
II ordinary repairs can ever remedy.
The obvious thing to be done, thea, is
gut the entire interior Of the build
.ng, and, leaving the exterior walls
substantially as they are, to construct
! new White House in the she'll Of the
Did one.