Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1891-04-04
~ First Visit to the alton S
Capital
BY JOHN CoCKINGs.
Concluded.


through two or three rooms my com
panion gave out with fatigue, so
placing her in a street car sent her
to our lodgings for rest, while |
returned to the gallery and spent
couple Of hours more among the
wonders Of art On the outside are
marble statues of Durer, Raphael,
Phidias, Angelo, Titan, Rubens,
Rembrandt, Crawford, Canova,
Murllo, and DeVinci. Two bronze
lions are at the entrance. The first
floor contains busts, bronzes, ceram-
les, antique and modern sculptures;
second floor statuary, picture gal
lery, American portrait paintalngs
Here il the original "Powers Greek
Slave" the most superb among the
whole collection.
And now, 10 hasten matters, 90
to the Treasury Department, and
after inspecting the 'Rogue's Gal
lery," where are the portraits of the
noted counterfeiters male and
female, and many specimens Of their
work, | proceeded to the vaults
where Uncle Sam keeps bis change.
People talk Of money being scarce;
why, saw Sg,O75, OGO silver dollars,
1895, 900 fractional sii er, all ~
boxes, 1900 in box, piled up like
boxes of soap. | walked all around
the pile but didn't discover any
leaks. Besides this (but not open
to vistors) were 57,500,OOO silver
dollars, 26,000,00O gold com aud
100000 for redemption and daily
use, and 290,0OO,OOO reserve; 22O,-
900, 900 IN bonds to secure National
Bank circulation. The weight Of
COIN is about 1900 tons, and accord
ing to my iigurcs, allowing twenty
feet TO a team and wagon (which Is
very close drlving) 1t would take
stnug Of wagons seventeen miles
long each containing a ton, aud
there would De twelve wagons ia
the eighteenth mile. Imagine the
procession reaching from Darling
ton through Mineral Point aud
away beyond Speusley's furnace.
And this is coin only aside from
groenbacks. But had to leave it
all behind and come out no richer
than when 1 entered.
Leaving the Treasury, ON my way
home took ~ the Panorama of the
Second Battle Of Bull Run, but hav-
ing before seen those of Gettysburg
and Shiloh this was rather lnsipid.
After supper dinner went to the
House of Representatives; the last
night Of the session; just got inside
n door of the gallery and stood on
step. There was tremendous
jam Every seat, alley and doorway
was crowded; it was hot as hades,
and Paudemonium relgned. | stood
it until 1000 O'clock, and then ex-
tricated myself from the seethlng
cauldron and sought much needed
repOse.
ednesday, March 4th. This is
the day of all the days the most to
be remembered The sun shines
out brightly, with a strong bracing
wind. We Take the cable cars for
the boat landing, and at 10000 >. IN.
leave the wharf and steam down the
river. After passing the Washing
ton barracks and the mouth of the
Anacoslla, the steamer touches at
Alexandria, passes the lighthouse
ut Jones Point, touches at Fort
Foote, Md, au abandoned earth
work of the war of the rebellion,
and Fort Washington, an old stone
case-mated work; aud thence to
Nj. Vernon on the opposite side of
the river. On our way down the
old and oftrepeated sentence Of
war times seemed TO be continually
sounding IN my ears, "AIl quiet on
the Potomac while the Nation
waited IN suspense for some move
ment.
But now W. set cur foot on this
renowned spot where once trod the
stately form of the great father Of
MIS- COUNT y A'lNNf y eNANA"Ais WV
winding path, we reach the "Iomb
of Washmgton,' which is built of
stone and entered 10y an iron gate.
way Of perpendicular bars. On the
right as you look IN Is the white
marble coffin containing the remains
OF George W Washington; ON the left
a similar coffin with the remains of
Martha Washington his wife; be.
w cen the cohius door leads into
the vault containing the ashes OF
other mrmbpr, of the family. -Four
monuments IN front OF the tomb
inform us that ). a. Washington,
Judge Washington and wife, Mrs.
Conrad and Eleanor Parke Lewis
are buried here also. We now
ascend to the summit of the hill and
find ourselves at the mansion, into
which We enter and pass on through
the various rooms. We saw the
relies of the General suit OF