The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1886-04-15
WASHINGTON, D. c., !
April 5, 1886. {

here, and believing that short de-
scription Of some Of these places
which are controlled by the Govern
ment would interest some of my
Jackson friends, | thought l would
attempt to describe what | have seen.
/ will commence with the Capitol.
This is an immense building, being
over $50 feet in length. When you
enter the Capitol from the east, you
pass through door which cost sever
al thousand dollars. This is called |
the front entrance. The House OF
Representatives is i'll the south end Of
the building, and the Senate Chamber
is in the north end Both these places
are open to. the public during the fore
noon, but when Congress convenes lat
- o'clock the doors are closed, and
all who are not members or employees,
have to go to the galleries. spent
part Of the afternoon last Saturday in
the gallery Of the House of Represen-
tatives, while they were discussing
the arbitration BILL There are
many very fine pictures in the rotun-
da of the Capitol. The stairway lead
ing to the dome of the Capitol is
winding, and an attempt to ascend it
fast makes one very dizzy. When you
get to the top of this stairway, you
can 60 out on the dome and have
good view Of the entire city. The
grounds around the Capitol are very
beautiful. just west Of the Capitol
grounds is the Botanical Garden.
This garden is composed of several
greenhouses, which are open to the
public every day from s o'clock in the
morning till 5 o'clock in the evening.
They keep all kinds of flowers and
plants in these greenhouses, and
when | went through there on last
Saturday, saw a large banana tree
which had bunch Of green bananas
on it.
A few squares west Of the Botan-
ical Garden is the National Museum.
I think this is one Of the most inter
esting places l have visited since I
came here. When | entered the build
ing | first came to the cases in which
are kept the relics Of George Wash
ington. In these [ saw his army suit,
his easy chair, and the cooking uten-
sils he used while in camp. A person
can see something new at each visit
to this museum. In the animal de-
partment you can see every kind Of an
animal that ever lived, from a small
pocket mouse to a stuffed elephant.
The Washington Monument is direct
ly west of the National Museum. I
have not been very close to it yet, but
it is so high that you can see it for
miles, When we were coming to
Washington we could see the top of
the monument and the dome Of the
Capitol long before we reached the
city.
The Treasury Building is ON 18th
street, and can be seen from the Cap
itol, as it extends out to Pennsylvania
avenue.
Just west Of the Treasury is the
White House. This building presents
fine appearance from the street, as
it is perfectly white, and is kept very
clean.
Just west of the White House is
the War and Navy Department. This
is large gray stone building. and
looks as though there would be room
for a great many Offices in it.
| visited Corcoran's Art Gallery,
which is just across the street from
the War and Navy Department. Here
| saw large collection of fine pic
lures The one which attracts the
most attention is called "The Helping
Hand" 1t is representation of a
fisherman and his little daughter in
boat. 1t looks as though there was
great storm approaching, and the lit
tie girl has her hand on an oar with
her fathers, as though she wanted to
.help him escape the coming storm.
There are several sympathetic pictures
in this gallery.
The Patent Office occupies two
squares, extending from 7th street to
9th street, in length, and from F.
street to G.. street, in width. The
model room of the Patent Office is
very interesting place, as all the mod
els submitted with applications for
patents are kept there. l saw some
very odd looking printing presses
while going through the model room.
The Patent Office is only open to the
public from 10 o'clock a. M till
o'clock p. m. My father works in the
Issue and Gazette Division Of the Pat
ent Office. He is a proof reader.
The Pension Building occupies only
one square, extending from 4th to 5th
streets in length, and from F. to g.
streets in width. This is a new brick
building, and looks very nice. Capt.
P. B. Dickerson, formerly of Ports
mouth, Ohio, and Charles Matthews,
formerly of Gallia County, Ohio, work
in this building. Mr.. Matthews is a
brother of T. S. Matthews, of Jack
son.
Lincoln Park is only square from
where we live. The grass in this park
is beginning to look green, and l