Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-01-17

ter that the immense amount of the interior de-
coration of the building can be appreciated.
Here may be found scrolls, nymphs. and satyrs.
BIRDS and flower pieces that one might look in
vain for in the building hid away. as they are.
In the angles and arches of the great halls and
lost In the immensely of the structure. Standing
In dark corner or the vault. like ghost peer
Ing out Of the darkness from behind a veil Of
cobwebs. Is the original of the statue Of Hamil-
ton. which occupies q place in echo hall.
statue OF Lincoln stands out from another cor
ner.
AN ART CEMETERY.
"This is the burial place OF dead statues said
the architect. 1.-The Goddess of Liberty-the
plaster cast Of the one on the dome--is buried
here there lots of relics In that pile of pIas
ter-there lies the ashes of art That statue of
Lincoln once occupied a place in the rotunda. 1t
was made by Mr.. Elliot who disappeared after
leaving it here. and we couldn': find him. That's
a bust OF Chase-that one all covered with cob
webs and dust; can you see it? Long side OF
that plaster man. with straw hat cooked on
one SIDE OF his nead-some ones been dressing
him Off. That's some of Stones work. But
come; If We stop here We won't have time to go
through the other vaults. Oh there's the Cod
dess; we had to take her all to pieces to get her
In here. There, that's her shield-its much
taller than you are. That big thing there's her
arm. You can get some kind OF notion how big
she is.'
after taking few turns Its kind of bewiider.
Ing. amt it. Well we havn't gone anywhere
yet. III ] had time l would show YOU all
through. but I've got to get back to my office
ana II left you to 90 on alone you might be
late Tor your dinneri''he added banteringly. Wen
go through soine other time. The space fur
ther or there is full Of newspaper files and
DOCKS from the library; they havn't room above
so they have to store some here. All the space
Under the Supreme Court and the old Hall of
Representatives is used for storage. Then there's
part occupied by the machinery of the heating
ana ventilating apparatus"
HOW THE VAULTS ARE HEATED.
"But isn't it very damp for books9' asked the
scribe
1T used to be very damp, but have man
aged to get it above dew point, and it's as dry
now as any other part of the building. II 1t
were damp and mouldy 1t would be like burial
vault--you look for the bones. But. as I say. it
used to be damp. Not only here; it was damp
on the floor above. and even above that in the
rotnnda. Originally the main part of the building
was not heated at all and I've seen the water trick
ling down the walls in the rotunda and running
out on the floor. The floor was constantly wet
all around for two feet from the wall | never
could get Congress to appropriate money to
neat It, but In one way and another have man.
aged to extend the heating apparatus of the
two houses out this way until now have the
temperature above dew point and all 10 dry
when Latrobe was architect Of the Capitol John
randolph took a dislike to him. and he is quoted
as saying in speech: The very stones of the
Capitol weep for the blunders of the architect
Come some time when you have an hour to
spare. and I'll show you how to get lost In the
Capitol"