Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-05-07
SOME FAMOUS ECHOES.
Queer Tricks Of Sound in the Old Hail Of
Representatives..

Queer Tricks of Sound in the Old Han OF
Representatives..
WHERE TIE ECHO SPOTS ARE-THE sKcRKrs OF
THE ORACLE REvEALED-PRANKs PLAYED BIT
vrsrroRs-TEE PICTURES OK TUE PUDDING
STONE PILLARS
The old hall Of Representatives. or as IL is
now called, statuary hall, is the curiosity shop
OF the Capitol 1t was original part of the
present building, erected soon after the de-
| struction of the old Capitol by the British in
the war OF 1912. The design was the work Of
Iatrobe, after the theater at Athens But the
malediction Of the old Greek architects seems
to have followed the appropriation of their de-
sign, for the wallis are haunted by such a troop
OF echoes that as an auditorium it has always
been complete failure. Or it may be that
the quarry up the Potomac, whence the mar
bic columns Of the hall were brought, was the
home OF some old Indian powwow
who resented the invasion OF his re-
treat, and still mocks tho decorators
OF his abode. However that may be, the
echoes are there, and form one OF the chief
attractions to visitors in that part Of the Capt.
tol. They sound uncanny enough now when
pointed out by an everyday authorized guide,
but one can easily picture what a sensation they
will create when, some 5000 years hence. they
| are rediscovered by some enterprising Ameri-
canoiogist who comes to unearth the buried
Capitol OF the long forgotten American repub-
Tic. If old time Is only kind enough to leave
the roof on this part of the building it is safe
to say the old Greek ghosts who now gibber so
huently among the arches will wake up again
and fairly laugh the psychologists out OF their
job
As the more remarkable echoes have been
located from time to time the tiles OF the pave
ment from which they can be most distinctly
heard have been noted and handed down orally
IRON generation to generation OF guides and
employees. The other day obliging employe
went over the ground with a STAR reporter and
pointed out SOME of the acoustic curiosities Of
the hall.
IN FRONT OF THE ALLEN STATUE.
The first white tablet in the floor directly in
front of the marble statue of Allen of Ohio is
one of pair of echo tablets. Its companion
lies at the intersection of two perpendicular
lines drawn from the pedestal of the marble
Garfield on the south side of the hall and from
the bronze figure OF Phil kearny on the west
10 one standing on the first named tablet and
facing the statue of Allen words spoken from
the other tablet seem to be uttered bv Allen
himself. This trick of sound being the product
OF the model Of a Grecian temple would seem
TO offer very clear explanation Of the speak
ing oracles at Delphi and other well-known
centcrs of classical fakirism
The placing OF the Garfield statue in the hall
destroyed one OF the well-known echo combi-
nations. tablet which that statue now covers
and another near the door of the clerks Office
on the north side of the chamber were re-
ceiying stations. Persons standing upon them
received simultaneously the sound of words
spoken from third tablet of the west OF the
hall near the Phil Kearny statue. though the
message was delivered in voice SO low as to be
lnaudlble at any distance from the speaker ex-
cept at the two points named
Another pair of echo tablets is found by tax
ing stand on the seventh white tablets north
from the base of the Allen statue and posting
companion on the eighth white tablet aest of
that Each speaker in this case receives the
voice of the other though it came from
above and behind instead of directly in front
of the listener.
ANOTHER CONDENSATION.
All the aboye-named echoes come to the
listener from an unexpected direction and
close at hand, but turning to the statue of
Lewis Cass one can locate a combination Of a
different sort Stand upon the fourth white
tablet counting outward from the base of the
statue toward the center of the hall and listen
10 the voice OF a speaker standing upon the
tenth tablet. counting out in a similar direc-
ton from the statue of Collamer of Vermont.
faint halloo seems to be carried upward into
the air and is heard by the listener as coming
directly from the apex OF the dome.
One OF the most perplexing illusions is the
echo heard when coming into the hall through
the rotunda doorway, over which rests the
famous FranZoni clock. Stopping upon the
tenth white tablet from the door one receives
the echo of a voice from the doorway on the
House side of the hall as coming not from that
door at all, but from the door beneath the
clock. 1t is a favorite amusement with the
pages on dull day, when the hail is still and
not many visitors are about, to ambush them
selves In the doorway toward the House and
start up disrespectful conversation with the
first rural visitor who stops on the fatal tablet
to admire the clock. The fun comes in when
the affronted party starts off in Numerically
the wrong direction to find his tormentor.
Directly under the center of the great arch
which spans the hail on the south is what is
known as the individual block. 1t is q white
tablet, easy to find because marked with a
small hole in one corner. Standing upon this
and facing the door toward the rotunda one
receives the echo of his own voice in a cavern
GUS whisper from beneath the pavement behind
him. Face round toward the House of Repre-
sentatiyes and speak and there il no echo
heard at all
THE TELEPHONE.
The only other notable acoustic properties
of the hail discovered up to date are the ..tel-
ephone pillars" the two rectangular columns
upon which the main arch of the hall abuts.
n
face of one OF these is heard by all ear placed
close to the other pillar over a hundred feet
away, but is inaudlble to any one standing in
the line between the two points
In the old days when the hall was occupied by
the House the echoes fairly laughed the legisla-
tors out of DOORS A committee was appointed
to investigate the matter scientifically and to
see if by means of wires and screens the sound
waves could not be broken. Maps and plans,
with imaginary focal lines and angles of defiec-
ton, were prepared and experiments were
tried, but in vain The spell Of the old Greeks
was too strong for such contrivances, and the
maps we're consigned to the library where they
still rest, while the committee, like the north
wind OF .'Hiawatha,"
.Retreated, bafiied, beaten
Hearing still the gusty laughter.
Hearing still the hooking echoes,
Singing oh, ye LEGISLATORS,
Ie are but our fellow mortalsn
THE PICTURED PILLARS.
The breccia columns, vuIguIarly called
pudding stone" which support the dome of