The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-24
MOURNING EMRLEMS.
The Black Draperies on the Public Buildings
To Be Removed To-NIorrow.


Washington Special
On Friday next the black draperies which,
since the day following the death of the Vice
president, have impaired to the government
buildings a somber and melancholy aspect, will
be taken down. These public edifces will then
have been in mourning" the conventional period
of thirty days This will make sixty days in
all that the departmental buildings have been
draped this year. circumstance which has no
parallel in the history of the government that
can be recalled by well-informed persons. The
draperies which were used for the mourning oc-
casioned by the death of General Grant had been
taken down and slowed away or disposed of
otherwise, and in almost every instance new
materials were purchased by the different de-
par:ments.
The Capitol was draped with cheap black
calico. which cost five cents yard There were
about one thousand yards used, which did not
make much of show when distributed over the
columns and facades of that vast structure 1t
was the same calico used to commemorate the
sorrow of the legislative branch of the govern
ment when Grant died, and will be stored away
in the Office of the architect of the Capitol for
use the next time some great man of the govern
ment shall pass away.
The Department of Justice was the most
| meagerly draped of any of the public buildings
here. The material used cost ten cents yard,
rusty weather beaten appearance, and had evil
IDENTIFY seen service before.
Ten Of the Treasury building columns were
draped, at cost of SIT column. sort of cheap
Grape which cost about forty-fve cents yard
was the material used
The White House was, like Mr. Garland's
quarters rather scantily draped, but it was done
in excellent taste what there was of it. The four
front columns of the main entrance, or portico
were wrapped in Grape to the top and a strip of
the same material, about three feet wide, extend
ed along the front of the mansion, Just
below the lower windows. This, with the
addition of the wrapping of the columns at the
two main entrances to tho White House grounds,
constitute the mourning dress of the Executive
Mansion. 1t was confined TO the north front, and
there was no interior draping Probably the
most tastefully arranged of all the habiliments
of mourning in the city were to be seen on the
beautiful Willard building. on street, in which
the Geological Survey is housed
gentleman who Is in a position to know
what he is talking about, said to-day to your
correspondent that the Grant and Hendricks
mourning combined cost the government in this
way something over $40, 900 in Washington alone,
He further said he thought the mourning busi-
ness was being run into the ground. as the
custom was being carried to extreme here,
and was altogether nonsensical one. Still, he
thought the day would not come in our time at
least, when this observance would be discon-
tinued "a custom with sense back of it, said
he, varies with the varying needs of the public
custom without sense in it never changes but
is held on to simply because it is a custom"
This gentleman was disgrunted about the
matter because the mourning for Grant and
Hendricks had added considerably to his "offi.
cialn duties