Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1882-06-15
THE WHITE HOUSE.
Historic and Ideally Struc-
ture Which should &c Preserved.

from the Utica Herald
The White House has had no general
overhauling since it was rebuilt in 1916.
after it had been destroyed by fire by
the British troops, on the occasion of
their raid upol Washington in the War
OF 1872. The cornerstone of the build
ing was laid in 1892, and it was ready
for occu ancy by President Adams,
when lie was inaugurated in 1900
i? 1897. Extracts from the diary Of
Mrs. Adams are published, in which she
speaks If hanging up the executive
clothes to dry in the bare wastes of the
unfinished blue room, and wonders
what she shall do with herself in the
great "barn." The fact which calls for
present consideration is that the White
House Is really very old structure, for
this country, and that when it was built
little was known about the modern
methods of insuring 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 repeat
ed 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 new and modern executive man
sion constructed in another locality more
distant from malarial influences which
are waited from tho stagnant marshes or
the Potomac But this, it seems to us,
would be going farther than the neces-
sites Of the case require. AS to the
marshes, i'll the first place The White
House is a little nearer to them than
most of the 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
danger which is not to be obviated by
simply removing the executive home q
little farther from it. Not only for the
sake of the White House occupants, but
for the health of the whole capital, the
marshes ought to be drained and re-
moved, and it is o shame to Congress
that it has not long since taken steps to
that end.
The present location of the White
House is the ideal one Both for beauty
of site and convenience OF access, 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 re-
garded as the best justification for the
pride which the American people are
coming to feel in their national capital.
The White House should not only not
be removed, but it seems q pity to de-
stroy the venerable and historic edifice.
There eighteen of our Presidents have
lived, and there it is possible that all
who are to come after may live, sur
rounded by all the comforts and conven-
fences which the willing purse of the
nation can supply. The structure of the
building is unique and on the whole it
may be doubted if modern architecture
especially such as the Government
employs-can devise building which
in its general exterior aspect will be
more satisfactory. Its outside walls are
built of freestone, and will stand firm
for generations to come. It is ITO feet
in length and eighty-six feet deep, which
renders it amply large for any Executive
Mansion that will be required in the
future. The sole objection to it is that
the interior is old, rotten, damp in pla-
ces, nconvenient in arrangeme emit, I'M
suited for home These are difficult
ties which no amount of ordinary repairs
can ever remedy. The obvious thing to
be done, then, is, to gut the entire in
terror of the building, and, leaving the
exterior walls substantially rs they are,
to construct a new Whit, uouse III the
shell of the old one