Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-06-05

and which at the back is level with the
| lawn and forms almost a third story to the
mansion. You all know that the White
House is of a dazzling, CHASTITY white, but
| it has not that rich, mellow tint of white
marble, and its color is produced by white
lead. The building is made of sandstone,
and it has been painted again and again,
until in some places, it is said, the white
lead upon it is actually a quarter of an
inch thick The building was modelled
after castle in Dublin, and with repairs
the total cost of 1t to-day is something like
| $1,000, 900.
How to Get Into the House.
The entrance to the mansion is worth a
| description. The porte cochere has root
upheld by great stone columns, each as big
around as q -four barrel and it covers a
stone platform or porch so large that it
would furnish the foundation OF the ordi-
nary seaside cottage. In the middle of this
porch, between two great windows are the
front doors of the White House. These are
double doors of highly polished walnut and
into each door is set an oval piece of plate
glass with panels of Mosaic glass about it,
and through these the doorkeepers can see
who wish to enter, and if they are danger
GUS cranks, can refuse to open the doors In
one of these door plates card hangs. This
tiers is painted
Open 10 A. NJ.
Closed P N.
The White House is always closed to Wis
itors after p NJ, and after this time if you
have important matters and must see the
President, YOU must use the doorbelL The
doorbell is of bronze and like the door
knobs it was especially designed for the
White House These door-knobs are each
as big around as baseball and they have
screaming American eagle cut into each Of
their brass faces.
AFew Contrasts in Materials.
Passing these doors you come into the
vestibule, and this is a vestibule with a
capital V. 1t is so big that you could turn
a wagon load of hay around in it without
touching the walls, and the ceiling is so
high that the man who drove the wagon
could stand up and his head would not
Craze it. At the back of it is a wall OF the
finest of glass Mosaic. 1t is made OF precious
stones and colored glass and crystal, and at
night it shines like the jewels OF the palace
of Monte Cristo The floor is of Mosaic
and these beauties come out in striking con-
trast to some of their surroundings. There
is for instance at the further door of the ves-
tibule. through which you pass to 60 to the
Presidents office; 81 walnut UNI
brella stand, and the wood work of the room
you see is grained to represent black walnut
and is bv no means genuine. Against the
wall there are couple OF So wick
er chairs in which the messengers sit, for
this room is for half the day public prop
ertv.
The parlors of the White House are on
the ground floor, though there are enough
rooms on the second floor to give place for
~ ho lad
and SO airy and have such beautiful views
that any ordinary mortal could sit in them
without getting tired
Biggest Parlor in the Country.
OF the parlors below stairs only the East
Room is shown to visitors, and it is here
the President holds his moo receptions.
This is perhaps the biggest parlor in the
United States, and it is a wonder of magnii-
cence. Its walls are Of silver and gilt, and
in them are set eight massive mirrors, each
OF which is as big as the tops OF two billiard
tables placed side by side, and your foot
sinks almost up to the ankle in the rich vel
vet carpet which covers the floor. This
room is 80 feet long and 40 feet wide and it
takes more than 400 yards to carpet it.
The furniture is cushioned-not with ex-
celsor-but with genuine hair. and it is
co, cred with the finest of satin. This room
is now lighted by electricity and there are
in the nelghborhood of a Thousand incandes-
cent lights in the mansion. The chandeliers
in the East Room cost S., 900 apiece, and
each contains 5000 pieces of the finest
Bohemian glass. Historic paintings hang
upon the walls, and the portraits which look
down at you have cost Uncle Sam in the
neighborhood of S25 an inch.
Rooms Pap~red With Satin.
Most of these parlors of the White House
have been greatly improved since the Presl-
dent was elected. The Blue Parlor has
been redecorated bv Tiffany, and the entire
wall is now draped in a blue-gray silk fine
enough to make ball dress tor million
aires daughter and this silk was made at
Paterson, n. j. Silk curtains hang at the
windows, and there is a dado about the
lower part of the wall which is shand-paint-
ed, and the holdings are tinged with gold.
The ceiling has been entirely worked over
by Tiffany, and the chairs and sofas are of
gold upholstered in satin. The room has
the same blue tint that it had before, but
under the electric lights it looks far finer
than it did when Dolly Madison used to re-
ceive within it and when Harriet Lane here
held her receptions
In addition to this is the Red Par,or,
which is furnished throughout in red and
has fine furniture and many curious pieces
or rare brlc-a-brac. TnS Green Room has
been rsdecorated and the pink of the
peachbiow and a touch of gilt has been
added to it The furniture is of gold and
satin. and the long promenade corridor with
its portraits of the Presidents of the past has
been made more beautiful than ever. The
Blue, Red and Green Rooms open into this
corridor and also the East Room, Conserve
tory and State Dining Room.
Put Ten Thousand in Ons Room.
1 don't know how much 1t cost to furnish
it, but you may get some idea of the money
spent on the fixing up of the White House
by the fact that the decorations and the
reftting of the East Room during this ad-
ministration are said to have cost more than
1000. 1t would indeed be an extrava-
CANT woman who would object to such fur
nishings, and the wives of the various can
didates will not need to bring any pieces
from their homes in order to help out the
White House.
This is equally so as to the dinner table
arrangements. Mrs. Harrison has improved
the looks of the State Dining Room, and
the private dining room is good enough ior
any family. The State Dining Room is an
immense apartment and on the nights of