Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1892-08-04
TIE STARS AND STRIPES.
Proudly They Wave Over the Sem
ate Wing Of the Capitol
a Talk with the Men Who Raise che
Eiag of Their Country Every Day
Congress Is in Session u Capt.
CIancey's Perilous Task.
Especial Washington Letter.


To the right of the corridor, at the
head of the marble staircase, whose
wall is adorned by the celebrated paint
ing of the battle of Chepultepec, above
the western entrance to the senate wing
of the capitol, there is door the knob
of which is often tried by visitors, but
which never responds to their touch. 1t
is mysterious marble and iron com
bination, and strangers wonder where
ut leads to. Some of them even comics
fure whole dramas and tragedies in
which secret passages in the capitol
walls largely figure.
To-day, Just a few minutes before
twelve o'clock, saw a man with
great key approach that door, unlock
1t, and disappear up dark, winding
iron staircase. just a couple of min
utes later, standing upon the floor of
the senate, and looking upwards at the
transparent roof / saw the figure of
man walking in the sunlight dragging
a body of some kind after him. At
least such was the picture spread upon
the glass roof of the senate by the rays
OF the MONDAY sun.
/ called the attention of venerable
Father Bassett to the shadows on the
roof, and he said: 81 came here sixty
one years ago, and was appointed as a
little page by Senator Daniel Webster
At that time 1T YVES the custom to raise
the flag exactly when the senate was
called to order and to lower the emblem
when the senate adjourned. The Gus
tom is as old as the government and is
still maintained. The shadows you OBJ
serve are made by the man and the flag.
AS the vice president calls the senate to
order, you will see, by the shadows on the
roof, that the flag is running up to the
peak. The deliberations of the United
States senate are always carried on be-
meath the starry emblem of liberty"
The work of raising the flag is done
by Mr.. w. j. Reed, of the sergeant-at-
arms force. Let US accompany him on
one of his midday trips to the roof, and
see for ourselves the manner in which
the public is informed that the senate is
in session.
Opening the door, round which an air
of mystery has seemed to hang, we pass
into dark corridor, the great iron bar
>rier TO our freedom closing behind US
with q snap not at all reassuring Up
IS spiral fight of stairs we go, and with
a few steps further in another direc-
ton, we are looking down from the
glass ceiling of the senate to the
floor below where the lawmakers are
already beginning to congregate.
ALI around us are gas jets, but hap
PLY, the day being a bright one,
they are not lighted, and we do not feel
any great heat. This system of illumi-
nation by means of two layers of glass
with the gas between them is the most
perfect of its kind in existence Passing
up slender ladder we are upon the
roof with the sun shining down upon
us and the thermometer at ninety de-
grees. From this point we obtain
magnificent view Of the surrounding
country. 1t is a beautiful scene green
walled by the hills of Maryland and
Virginia to the north, east and west;
while to the south the broad waters of
the historic Potomac glisten in the
golden sunlight. Right above us rises
the flag staff to a height of twenty feet.
The ordinary flag, which is hoisted by
means of two sets of ropes. is twelve
by twenty feet, and requires handling
by strong man, especially in windy
weather.
Nov this is the way it is DONE" says
Mr.. Reed, getting the flag into a posi-
ton where he can easily raise it, and