The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1886-07-30
WASHINGTON GOSSIP.
LOOK AT THE PENSION BUILDING
AND ITS CURIOSlTlES.

Revolutionary Relics and Bushels Of
Bibles-The Biggest Brick Building In
tho World-CoI. Bayne on Blaine's Pop
ularity-Stories of Hugh j. Jewett.
Especial Correspondence.l
WASHINGTON, July 27-The interest In
nension matters has increased with the presl-
dents vetoes, and have received number
of inquiries lately about the pension bureau
and its business. 1t IS one OF the largest
bureaus of the government, and 1t employs
over 800 clerks. 1t disburses about as much
money every year as Jay Gould is WORTH ana
n does its business in the largest brick build
ing in the world !.
The new pension building is curiosity in
tho wov Of modern architecture. 1t is mod
eled after the old Roman palaces of the Fiji
teentb century, and is the only building of
;ts kind in America. Most of the other gov
eminent buildings Of Washington are after
the Greek, and the interior department has a
nortico which is an exact reproduction or the
parthanon at Athens This new pension
building covers about two acres of ground,
opd If consists of q series of large rooms run
ninr around a great central court, and sur
mounted ut tho top with glass roof. IL has
tbrae stories of rooms, and the court III us
confer, is as big as d one-acre field. 1t was IN
tbis rreat court that the inaugural ball was
hold and here will be held, in all propaplilty,
the Inaugural balls of the future THIS court
reminds one of the grand square of st. Marks,
in ycnice. 1t has arcades or clolsters running
oronnd It's bic floor which make you thlnk Oh
| the Grand promenade which takes pace
NIGHTLY around the piazza OF st. MARX s, In
the arcadcs by which it is bounded. buo 81
| Mark's has only the Italian sky to ROOF H.
| while this pension building is covered by
| civ Of class, and can be lighted on the darkeso
| nirht by the blaze of the electric lght. lhis
| roof is supported by massive columns, each
CONTAINING enough brick to build three two
| story houses. They rise seventy-five leet
fro,n the floor. and it would be Good-slzed
hall bedroom indeed which could De oullo
] around one Of them.
These columns will probably stand when
I time has thrown the rest of the building INTO
| ruins. and it may be that they VIII DE tne
| subiect of antiquarian study IN the future.
| Professor Merrill, the scientist VINO mas
charge of the building stones OF the Natiolai
museum. tells me that there IS no mauerlal
| eoual to that of brick for endurance, ana that
brcl, will outlast marble or granite. 1t Is
cortain that many of the ruins of Rome CON
tain bricks which are in as good preservation
as they were when that city ruled the world
| and If NAV be that these bricks or the new
npnsion building will be fighting the weather
| . OOO wears from now, when perhaps the Gap
IDOL and the treasury and the Washington
monument will have crumbled into nothing
ness
The outside of the pension building is OF
this red pressed brick, with beautifully carved
pieces of frieze here and there, ana with
brick columns at the corners, as smooth as
tbougb thev had been cut out by sculptor.
The doors are capped with line mouldlngs,
and the kevstones of them are the faces OF
METEOROLOGICAL characters Clear around the
| sacond story. lust under the windows, there Is
a wide band of yellow frieze, made up OF carved
fq11res representing the many scenes OF army
and naval warfare The figures of this frieze
ore ful of action and are wonderfully life
like Here is a column of infantry marching
olong. loaded with guns and llnapsacks. Next
comes the cavalry, the horses champlng the
hit and their riders fourishing sabers'
Then the artillery drags its heavy cannon
and in the next section you may see brave
sailors dashing through the waves at The
storming of q port. At another place horse'
are pulling ambulances, mules are Hauhnt
simply wagons, and, in short, for the l,2U
feet surrounding this building there Is ON
continuous changing picture, in bas rellef, o
war scenes This frieze is three feet VIDE
and it we'll represents the life Oh uhose ~
whom the building was built.
A great many of the employees OF the pen
sion dcpartment are old soldiers, and quite
number of them hobble to their work o.
, c,ntches. MANY soldiers widows are EN-
| A oic1ppy
rlantiful sorinkling Of women in deep mourn
mo and cripples, among the hundreds VIII
rnsb forth at the close of their work. Com
missioner Black is himself badly cut up wit
wounds though none of this shows in his fac
or his fr1re. He is a very straight man,
, nodiun size. with hair and beard which WEI
| once dark. but are now fast becoming 81
vered. He has pleasant face, bright, blu
owe and q rather stiff address. He Is SAID
he a man of fine business ability, and there
no Doubt but that he gets as much work OF
of the pension office clerks as any of the con
: n,issioners of the past. He is now 40 yea
old. is a Pennsylvania by birth, and hi
beer nm Illinois Democrat for about twent
veors. He has never held public office b
fore. but has been candidate Tor cohgre
several times.
The pension office is full of relics, and
records CONAN many curiosities. l locke
i tha OTHER day at the pension papers OF Jam
G. Blaine's great-grandmother, winch ga'
Sarah E. Blaine u pension OF 500 yea
from fho .,th of March. 1913, for the servic
Of Blainc's great-grandfather in the revol
tionary war l read land warrants, glvl
John A. Logan, III 1913, 100 acres of land L
his services in the Mexican war; and look
at other land warrants granted about u
time TO Abraham Lincoln, Frank Pierce,
& Grant William T. Sherman and jeff u
Wis Grant was second lieutenant the
Abe Lincoln was n poor Illinois lawyer; J'
Davis was, think, secretary OF state at |
time his land warrant was granted, and
cunsch Sherman was aslbordinate oiilcer
the array with not the best Of prospects. 4
: Lincoln's claim is written in his own nan
, writing, and he received his land warrant l
his services in the Black Hawk war. RODE
f. Lee. who was then at West Point, recelv
II 100 acres of land for his services in the Me
lean war, and saw also the papers OF Gt
q Scott asking for bounty lands for his SERVE
| in the war of ISL.
"a The revolutionary relies of the pensl
Office would be a valuable addition to a
y museum They consist of orderly books, dIar
n and old Bibles which have been sent here
q substantiate the claims of revolutionary S
81 diers for pensions. The Bibles are number
n by hundreds, and there must be from flve
r ten bushels OF them. They contain the ia
X ily records of soldiers and their heirs, and {
n used to establish the identity of the pensi'
p ers. In revolutionary days ii was the cust'
e with our grandmothers to prick with nee'
. their family history on cloth, or to embroi'
IL ON canvas in what were called sample
Ge There are many of these here, and dot
;, no. the descendants of the people who 5,