The Washington critic., 1888-06-23
THE VISITORS GUIDE
siscis Of Interest In aud About the
National Capital.
THE GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS,
Parks, Squares, Statues, Gardens
and other Points of Attraction.

Parks, Squares, Statues, Gardens
and other Points of Attraction.
Washington has already become the
most attractive city Of the country. AS
,the Capital of the Nation 1t presents
f'more objects Of interest to the visitor
than any other on the continent. and a
brief directory of It's prominent points
Will be of service to the vast number OF
persons who annually resort to the po.
iiiical metropolis. For II is estimated
that over three bundled thousand
strangers pay visit every year to this
4 city to behold the varied objects Of in
terest which so thickly stud the his
toric Ten Miles Square"
I THE system OF Numbering HOuses.
Numbers are displayed over the entrances TO
4 all houses, and, the. decimal system, as
III adopted In Philadelphia, is snsed--one hun
Ilp dred numbers being allotted 70 each square
" or block-commencing at First street west,
II rnnni1g west, First street east, running
n eesf, a street north, running north, and A
street south, running south The odd num-
! bers are always on the righthand side go
on s tbe efband b side anu The he cty y Is "dVI divided
into four quarters or sections snortheast and
northwest, southeast and southwest, the
hlTttlh DclTV utS1HDdltu uCtuTuluVlNs LUOSB
running north and south numerically. and
those running east and west by the letters
Of the alphabet, the dividing lines being
North and South Capitol streets, running
on a line due north aud south from the Cap.
itol and East Capitol street, and continue
A tion on the same west of the Capitol, run
ming due east and west.
N The Capitol.
u 1bis great building is the central point of the
1D original District, and Is the largest edliice
N in the country. It's centre marks the Me-
Eidian e @ washington, TIE middle portion,
FIRST built. Il was, partially destroyed By The
BiitiAhip 1874. but was eompletely rastolcd
by is inslSs,sa the y ths he
4 placed, the Library of Congress for which
4 handsome new edifceis being built just east
L tunds, tSe Old REPRESENTATIVE % Hal, now low the
X Gallery Of Statuary and the heoldSeuateChanl
A ber,noy the supremeC eCourt,roofnTh The old St-
Il occupied by the Law Branch OF the Library.
The cornerstone of the Capitol extension
the north and southlwines--was laid July
h of the occasion from the balcony of the
Library. The south wing contains the
House Of RepresentatiyeS and the no,th sl
!! tihgaishe1 for ts.historic paintings, for the
I famous Sr9nse sas d9ors With their In tss bss
III Hall Of Statuary the are natural pictures of
III Potomac marble, representing faces. of scer-
II tain .Mmeiican statesmen-a picturesque
ii lreaH OF nature. tTOInIne fllLlle lOJuuud.
II Immediately north Of the great rotunda, the
H staircase 70 the top of the dome begins its
winding way. From tho toporth dome, OF
as far as the visitor can ascend / the view
y OF. the surrounding country Is. magnificent
The Capitol grounds which formerly were
homely and formalir appearance, have been
| transformed into O beautiful park and are
most exquisitely beautiful. The east base OF
the Cakitol Is 6951 feet above ordinary. low
4 tideinthe Potomac. The total height from
"a east base to the top Of the temple covering
III the edome s26S feet: the statue of the God,
dess of Liberty, 1oIf feet, making the total
height 10 the crest of the statue 301h feet.
gate Of the grounds, and 597 feet above low
Y tide inthe Potomac. or 24S feet lower than
the apex OF the Washington Monument,
Is 7Si feet long 6y 81 wide and covers sX
! acres. 1t is the finest and largest public
eHSag s6gsst n hs sS T0Tha saS S papy rsgsSs
WstE vi EGSa sSsas & rs s beauty aR and Sdfnssya interest,"
The original Capitol, or. centre building,
tati9s sssSs though 81 l slaylss yas Sas
fromtbe west porteo at night, when M the
the lights of the city illuminate the dark
tnresque In the world and Is well worth
journey OF a tho usand miles TO- see. The
wste s faSs ans sdseS srsy srs
the appearance Of that front of the Capitol,
and sas q t6e psst ,se Y not tGs sa iness sss
WORK OF the Klnu IN tDiS country. Ine cars
and herdics running on Pennsylvania ave-
nue., the brown cars of sthe Belt system,
and'the F,street ears ali pass the Capitol.
is,Fhe; white House.
From, the west palcony o. the Capitol, looking
down Pennsylvania ave-, the White House
i seen rearing is wSiis s1oHe
like a gigantic Gala lily Ssspringlng np amid
entodiRg green blades We're y .nGt 1or the
Vipxy of the Whlta House from the CaDitO
would be full and complete. The White
House, is the center Of .up.town," as = the y.
i sRB sRBeautiiuiiy E located, The view from tlis
south windows covering the whole south
ern front Of the city, as the view from !, ths
the hest part OF the Northwest section tc
tho gaze. The White House Isl q copy oi
\ the palace OF the Duke of Leinster at Dub.
lin, with the addition Of large porch on the
north front, which was added during An
drew. jackson 3 administration. The reser
walton in whiohit stands embraces nearly
north, reached by the Pennsylvania avennt
cars. 1t is two stories high on the north
is built OF white free;stones 10 feet Ions
by Sc wide. II contains ON the first foo
~ the famous Green, Red, Blue and Eas
rooms, the. state Dining Room and the greai
GonservatGies The Blue Room y ths fresl N
ing-room OF the ladies of his family Z The Eas
Room, originally designed for banque
~ hall and SO used as late as 1887, and in tn,
latter part of the century used as drying
room for clothes by Mrs. President Adams
Is the largest and most noted room in TN
and 70 wide. It Is s open 5 70 visitors Ss' ever ,S
day except Sundays Upstairs are; TIL,
Cabinet room. the private Offices, the Presi
apartments. All these rooms except tn
latter are open to visitors, by special perms
sion, at suitable hours.
The, Washington Monument.
Immediately south OF the White House stand
/ the Washington Monument, the loftles
structure erected by man, and the mos
Imposing obelisk ever constructed It |
built Of marble, $50 feet high above u
base, which Is ~ feet aboye tlde,water: II
cornerstone was laid July 4. 1913, and th
cap-stone, forming the apex, was placed !
Position peSembe5 SnS y issi' In a it are LIZ y
Total cost viii be over S1,35O0O0. 1t Is sit
| uated In what will ultimately be a beau
tiful park. Inside the Monument Is q larg
hvdranlio elevator, used TO raise the block
L of stone during Its erection. Wbea an al
preparation is made, which will probably b
4 done by the Fiftieth Congress, this elevate
will be iitted for passenger use, and the Il
4 terror of the Monument lighted by electric
\ ity and opened TO the public. In the ape
~ of the Monument are eight windows, CLOSE
by marble shutters, affording an unsu
~ passed view of the city and surroundin
conniry, at present no one Is admitted
the Monument.
y Lafayette square.
~ Immediately north OF the White House
4 Lafayette Square, the first public reserva
"a tion In Washington that was improved
contains the equestrian statue of Andre
M jackson, by Clark Mills Many Of its tree
W are old forest monarchs, hundreds of yea
~ old. II Is IN part "a specimen OF the old 70
NAL landscape gardening so fashionable
| England two hundred years ago, sty
that was imported INTO this country. La
ayette Square was, one hundred years az
part Of graveyard that inGlosed Il
square north, on which 81. Johns ChurC
1 "a md ha "a Auaf yclinh
situated the Attorney. Generals Office (fo
merly the Freedman's Bank), the Surgeo
! [ 10 nfAo ur