Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-05-16
ROOMS OF THE sEcRErARrEs.
The 0f1lces Oceap1ed BY me Member
81 the Cab1moa.


81 the Cabinet.
IA Washington letter to the Chicago
Aeses thus describes the apartments oc-
cupied by the cabinet members: The
apartments occupied By some Of the
cabinet Eival the parlors Of some OF the
most handsome residences. Secretary
Whitney's room IN the navy building IS
the most attractive. It is on the second
door, and its windows open upon the
White House, some 400 feet away. The
room Is the largest Of any used bY cabi-
net officers, being sixty feet or more BY
twenty-five in size. It's ceiling and walls
are frescoed in tho latest style. The
floor is Of five different kinds Of wood
lash, maple, walnut, and mahogany.
cut in triangular blocks and bordcred
with rug, requiring twelve men to lift
It, covers this ornamental floor
during the winter months. 1t
was made in Scotland especially
for the purpose for which it is used The
curtains are of Turkish pattern, heavy
and handsome in appearance. They
cost SO pair. On the walls are por-
traits in oil of past secretaries Of the
navy. The desks in the room are of
walnut or mahogany. That occupied by
the secretary himself is large enough to
fill an ordinary sized room ID an average
dwelling It is of the fiat, table-like
style. On one end is an elevated desk,
at which an official may stand and write.
A large CRATE has been placed at either
end of the room. The mantels above
them arc ornamented with works of
bronze. Off one end of the room is large
bathroom with hot and cold water and
other luxuries.
While not so large. the apartment oc-
cupied by Secretary Endicott in the war
department is as handsome as that in
which Mr.. Whitney conducts public
business 1t is finished in artistic style,
has rugs that also came from Scotland.
and Turkish curtains. A number of
paintings of ex-secretaries hang upon the
walls The collection OF the portraits of
these officials is more complete than in
any other department. Every secretary
of war hangs in the rooms used By the
cabinet officer representing that branch of
the government. Mr.. Endicott sits at a
desk valued at $500. His room looks
upon the Corcoran art gallery. An adj
joining room, used by his private secre
tary, equals his own except in size. Both
have bathrooms. designs in bronze, and
numerous dusky messengers.
Secretary Bayard's room, in the south
end of the state, war and navy depart
ment building, overlooks the Potomac
river, Arlington heights, and the Wash
ington monument One can look down
the river a distance of FIVE or six miles
and see the bend before reaching the
beautiful spot where Washington's bones
are dust, and where guides lie at the
rate of twenty-five cents an hour. The
apartment is neatly furnished, but there
is not that attractiveness about it that
eharacterizes the rooms occupied by the
gentlemen engaged in looking after the
government tubs and the twenty or
thirty men engaged in defending the
United States
Mr.. Manning's room has an elegant
mirror. The apartment is in the south
end Of the treasury building, having the
same view as is presented from the win.
dows in the room of the secretary of
state. It is covered with heavy Brussels
carpet in figures of light color. Both the
secretary and his private secretary oc-
cupy the one desk in the room. Paint
ings of some of the x-secretaries, three
fourths size, hang upon the walls. A
small book case filled with writings on
finance bound in colors to match the
carpet stands behind the chair occupied
by the head of the department.
The room occupied by the attorney
general looks upon Pennsylvania avenue
and the front entrance to the White
House. It is good size and well fur
nished. The plaques and picture cards
and ribbons and moss, etc, that Mr.
Brewster had tackled about the walls
have been removed.
Secretary Lamar's room is not speci-
ally attractive. It would serve very
well as parIor for seconded
It is on the first floor of the interior
building. is small, and crowded with
desks. Mr.. Vilas's Office. in the post
office department building, just opposite
the interior department, is the least at
tractive of the rooms occupied by cab
met officials. 1t is small and has no
ornaments of any kind. One or two
chromos sent out by steamship compan-
les hang on the wall beside steel en-
cravings Of -postmasters- general. The
carpet is red and worn. 1t has been
worn nearly threadbare during the past
week By the one hundred thousand,
more or less, faithful and untried Demo
Gratis who have been laboring with the
head of the department in their own be-