Morning journal and courier., 1884-02-06
NEW RAVENS FILMS AND GREEN. Descriptions, Historical Items and An- ecdOtes of Persons and Things Con-
 nected Herewith.
BY HENRY HOWE.
Copyrighted 1888 by Henry Howe.l

BY HENRY HOWE.
 Copyrighted 1888 by Henry Howe.l
 IN ABOUT THIRTY oHAPTERs-oHAPTER xxv1.l History of the State House with a
 Sketch of Its Architect, That Remarka-
 hle Man, Ithfel Town, illustrated by
 Characteristic Anecdotes From the
 Lips of Those Who Knew Him.
 The only structure remaining on our Green for our notice is the State House, which was finished in time for the May ses- sion, 1880. Henry W. Edwards, of our city, grandson of Jonathan Edwards, and after ward Governor, was Speaker. Within the last year sufficient to fill volume has been published upon the question of it's disposal. It has been instructive to observe the variety of opinions which 1t has called forth and the varied phases of character shown by those who have taken part in the discussion. One truth must be clear, that whatever may be it's intrinsic merits, the structure has been for thirty years continual source of pain from it's diIapidated appearsnee.-This almost lifelong irritation would inevitably destroy with many in reference to 1t ssundnsss of judgment, and the man of the best taste, the finest sensibiIities, would be the greatest suf- ferer in this direction. In It's pristine days it's fine proportions, marble-like whiteness and admirable site won for it many admirers Among these were Horace Bushnell and Elihu Burritt Many years since the latter tarried some days in our city and was fond of walk ing around the building and studying it from different points. He told our fellow-citizsn, the Rev. William Whittlessy, that he had seen all the principal buildings in Europe, and that scarcely any of them had 50 pleas antly impressed him. He also wrote for the New York Tribune two articles expressive of his sense of admiration.
 The building is of East Haven sandstone, and even the division walls are all solid stone It was ever regarded as defect in the State House that it WAS succeed. This arose from ignorance of the fact that in Europe are highly valued and popular buildings covered with stucco, which have preserved their beau ty for more than 8 thousand years. While the State House was buildiag, Professor Sill liman took the occasion to speak in 8 lecture to the students upon this subject of stucco, which he commended highly, stating that where the sand was pure the sils1 formed with the lime one of the strongest known chemical combinations. It is harder than marble, indeed about as hard as flint. Never was structure more honestly built. MT. Charles Thompson, the builder, now living among us who did all the wood work, says Neither Mir. Town nor any body made dol lar from it. It was built as well as 1t was possible for the money expended" Mir. Town said he ''dsfied anyone else to build so large building and build 1t so we'll for so little money" While digging the trench for the east wall, which is over the old grave yard, some bones of the long-buried dead were exposed. This created such a horror with many that MT. Town was compelled to desist from excavating any farther ana at tempted to secure g foundation by the use of rammors. "Yet" said MT. Thompson, 'the graveyard had been dug over more than once. I used to see the old bones thrown out when the new graves were dug. fl similar excite ment"-continued he-"was created when the trenches were dug for building the Gen. ter church. I SAW a company assemble with shovsls to go down and fill the trenches ss fast as the laborers exoavated, but as no one man had the pluck to tske the lead the oth- CTS backed ont. I was boy at the time"
 It Is due to the memory of Mir. Town that sketch of him ahould appear in this con neotion. This has already been prepared at our hands and published. The writer through early manhood was near neighbor of Mir. Town. We quote his material points:
 Evidently the present generation have no personal knowledge of one of our most re- nswned citizens. Ishisl Towns is not a name to be forgotten in New Haven Arch iteot of the Center church, of the Trinity church and of the State House in New Ha- ven, of the United States custom house (uo~ the United States treasury), corner of Wall and Nassau streess, of the old Merchants exchange (now the United States custom house) in Wall street, New York, and of multitude more of both public and private buildings in all parts of the United States Ithiel Town may be said to have erected his own monument, Rs was long ago recorded of Sir GhriEknnkar WP6D aTHhIkack 04 St plH1'a in London, where one reads to day on the simple slab of black marble which marks his resting place: 'Si monumentum requiris, circnmspice. Of you sack his monument, look about you.
 ''But MT. Town was much moro than an architect, in the strictest sense of that term. He had the trus spirit of art and was all his life zealouR student or the fine arts and an industrious collector of books aud prints, as well as of curious bric-a-brac, ssch ob jects are now called. To accommodate his constantly increasing collections Of books and epgraviugs he built, about 1882, the house on Hlllhouse avenue now owned by the Sheffield family, consisting originally of the center and two adjoining wings. but since much enlarged. Tho upper portion Of tho center was open gallery, devoted to Mir. Towns library and print cases, opening into smaller apartments in the wings, where vera pictures and objects of art. There WAS no
 
 tims in this city or State, and in the direc- tion of illustrated works in art and especial ly in the vast collection of prints there is no private gallery in the State to-day surpsssing it. It was opened with the greatest liberality to students who wished to avail themselves of it's treasures, and beyond donbs gave di- rsction and culture to many who were 90 for tunate as to avail themselves of it's resources.
 ''But Mir. Towns name is connected in- perishably with the history of bridge build ing, the inventor of Q system of oonssruc- ton of truss bridges, which for long time was almost exclusively in in the United States This was the so-called lattice sys- tenn, sn example of which may yet be seen in the bridge crossing the upper end of Whitney lake. As early ss 1921 Mir Town published an article in Sillimans Journal of Science (vol. III, p. 15S) describing his im- provemept in the construction of wood and iron bridges, and illustrated with copper plates engraved by $. s. Jocelyn of New Haven. In l84U much more elaborate de- scription of MT. Towns system of bridges was published In volume 38 of the same journal, D. p. 276-297, and what is more this system was for long time almost the exclusive kind of bridge used over a wide area in the United States It had the sup port of such eminent engineers as Mr. Mon cure Robinson of Philadelphia, David Ste- venson of England aRd other eminent engi- neers. The great bridge over the James river at Richmond for the use of the Rich mond and Petersburg railroad was built by MT. Robinson on Mr. Towns plans. It was Z, 900 feet span and 16O feet between the | piers forty feet above the water, and at the l time of it's construction was an unrivaled l work. 1
 ''The object of this article is simply to l call the attention of those who never had the | pleasure of personally kno~ing this modest | and talented man, to the fact that we once | had in New Haven a man who was master of | his art as an architect and engineer, and to l whose good taste, judgment and skill we are indebted for many things not to be forgotten In the hall of the Art school, near the door of entrance, is bust in marble by Chauncey | Ives, also a New Haven man, which is an excellent likeness of Ithiel Town"
 To the foregoing sketch of Mr- Town we make some additions. His remains lie buried In the Grove street cemetery, over which Is small slab with an inscription as annexed;
 ITHIEL TOWN,
 ARCHITECT.
 DIED
 June F, 1914.
 # 50.