New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-12-25
TT WILL BEIN THE CELLARSOON
OF THE ASSEMBLY STAIRWAY AT
ALBANY.
PART OF THE WORK DONE UNDER THE MOTTO
RLoUs CEILING CONTRACT SEEMS LlhELf
TO FALL-THE CEILING ITSELF WILL

RLOUS CEILING CONTRACT oEE"o "i"H"i
TO FALL-THE CEILING ITSELF WILL
SHORTLY NEED NEW REPAIRS
,r,ov THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRIRrNr.l
Albany Dec o4-The Assembly stairway In the
oon,,o, scems obont 10 fall into the basement THIS
l. the sandstone stairway upon inc mort" S''o Vi ."o
b,i1dng which was included III inc "o'o''o"' ->
scmby Chamber ceiling Job, ana IL scch' ',"' Nv POI
~ the contract was executed faithfully Inc ce'nie
was made of papier mache the IRON WORN wa.
and now II seems that the stairway Itself was not
actually repaired. .,,
vben Iobn snaith undertook the work OF taxing
do,r, tbe stono Assembly Chamber ceiling ana re-
rIacing it with a wooden one. ana OF rcparis t'e
sandstone stairway, he made L s"o'o'""a't VIZ
T,norhy D. sullivan to repair the stairway ~ ""'
the oplnon OF Isaac G.. Perry, the new ,oP"oi '''.
missioner that the staircase could not be rep'uu
that It must be taken down, its foundations rcaiu
and then the stairway should be rebuilt but oulu
van knew better-Or mt least thought nc wv" i
bereved that he could save the stairway-ahd
make far more money for hmseu-by pa''ns
the lower part of 1t upon !achs' anu
then relaxing that part of the foundation "hch seeeu
N ret upon the most insecure foundations lie car
ricd ont this plan, which was rather pcTiious one l"
tbe vorlxmen engaged in it. The weight OF a large
mart Of the pondcrous staircase rested for many DAYS
uno, narrow iron beams and slender iron JACKS anu
,reoucnv these supports were shifted to enable inc
workinemen TO get at the different parts OF the STAR
caso The work went on night ana day. SUNNY al
,,idirg the worhingmen. He had high personal
motive for wishing to make the work success AIN
ing if is said to make 100000 upon the jOb
Iyhon he had completed his work it did seem-for
few months-that he had been successful IN MS pia7'
There stood the white sandstone stairway WIN It's
columns and carved balustrades beautiful 40 ever
and 30 solid apparently, that it might last thousand
wears, But alas. like many other restordtloh' inc
restoration is not success Even WhIe MI quinn "
VA, displaying the stairway To the Assembly, ieh III
lao "A, a part OF the Assembly ceiling coh''ao'
which would stand the fire of public eritl-
c,m a large crack suddenly appeared III oHo
II tbc base stones Of a column Of the stairway ana
,otbor bic crack across the face Of large landing
,o,c in the second story of the stairway. And since
then the fragity Of Mr.. sullvans Work mas Deen
clearly eXposed Cracks have appeared IN every part
# the stairway. The work Of restoration mas Doeh 7"
niece of imposture great an imposture as te p"P
mache ceiling itself. From the present appearance
az the stairway. no would suspect mat 1t f Oo
rcccntly rcpaired Indeed it Is plain to the most
.ual ,n.pcclor Of the stairway that Capitol Commits
i,ocr pcrry view was the correct one, the structure
mu, he torn down and reconstructed from It's loudd-
ton stone 10 II, summit.
Nconwhl, John snath Is suing the state 10 recover
40 900 VIII the courts grant him this money ate'
learning hi manner Of fulfilling his contract d'e
looking upward AZ the PAPER nache 'clIi- du W.
ward al tie sandstone stairway iH'c J. -
10 think that the PAPER maohc ceiling lt'c Nun"
year or two will need repairs; but the SoHuluDn "a
lie stairway j. apparent To any ono VINO VIA
Meanwhile Capitol C.iuml--lOufr IcIIt Ia, =,
showing what honest workmanship can 40 III W
west end of the capitol he has been bhldlhe si'c ny
Legislature Adjourned what viii be te most DvdleI.
stairway in America IL Is a double stairway oI az
pr,portlons winding upward from story 10 sl"H VI u
western end of tie capitol II Is butt ~ the DcdnlIi
red Medina sandstone and red Corse nm sGotiandi
aran.te The stairway wa designed by H. H. Richard-
son Of Boston Mr. Richardson showed MS atu9 I
,onlu. i'm every line Of TIL, stairway AH9IEh II i
npy b,cn raised A. far the second story III j. SUI
ierf az study with the architects Of this city.
COMM ..ioncr Perry also has idnsf rihcl my" Il
bcau,,fu room the courtroom Of the second DlFsloh
Of the Court OF Appeals, on IN" hOlth Side 81 INC
D,utol which six months ago lnd q most barren az
uo,rlncc Tho ceiling II this room u 81 chrVep oth,
the work OF hufaO arts :. VINO "eie e"P''9eN "
Uut the most valuable w0rk done By commissioner
Perry mas been brtn. fresh air mo tne
| C,pol lie ha, put veu'ilIting tubes mo ever
portion oi the great building. mere Ia w.
hole, through massive walls ID order 10 Put III ,
yentlatlng tubes. Then Governor Hin mas Deen sup
nIed with a fireplace. Visitors 10 the Executive nam
Der may have fanc!cd. when they "a" tny uis r 10
| rroJ ticy would see a IRE blazing there But thcv
| vonlS not up T. The present time. poNeThoI
luif 4 fire I'm that fireplace IN l-eo ara CVus'cn ~
,Nnrf thrcc day~ after hc tried no experiment .
rhin.ry al not go 10 the roof of the Capitol bl,
tnr.1 short af tive hoor above that Of the Exec
| Cber,hpr Now NJ. Perry has made chahhel Iol
Tho smoke IA rs, from the IRE in The Governor room
10 one ~ tie chimney, on the ROOF, ny ''St ' ,s
ms. dov. Governor I'm has had fire In his rooms
! ,|d nov can invite all good Democratic " boys 20
oe In and warm their toes If the weather should nap
| peu 10 De colo.