Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1893-02-08
Iag ECHOES Of sIATUARY rALL.
The curisus Properties of ths old nsp-
 rsseataflses' cbNmber.

 The curisus Properties of ths old Rep
 rsseataflses' cbAmber.
 statuary hall was for many years occupied hy the house of representa- tives previous to the completion of the great south wing of the Capitol where tho representatives now meet annually. It is a semicircular room. Is this old hall of representatives, and very peculiar place. For come reason which no one has been able to explain it is an echo hall, posseased of remarkable acoustic properties There are certain blocks on the tiled floor which echo to other blocks. @ that whea q Capitol guide familiar with these hloelSs hs standing seven ty-fiye feet from you he wiu address you in an ordinary tone of voice and the sound win come from the floor beneath you or seemingly from the air above your head.
 Under the eagle there Is an exit. and any one standing in the door back of those marble pillars can talk 2 away across the hall to the opposite entrance and startle strangers as they enter the room Some of the newspaper men have learned the lo- cation Of th,,se echo stones and take great delight in p,lzzling visiting friends or new men on Newspaper row
 The natural teiephone Is one of the wonders of this wonderful hall Away over in the corner you can stand and whisper. while your friends may be at a similar corner on the opposite side of the room and hear every syllable as plainly as though you were standing face to face. The sound goes upward pre- Suniably, md comes down on the other side. hut how it is connected DO one knows This ia the most wonderful acoustic puzzle in Amer ica "a gTeaf deal more inexplieabls than the well known echo at the top of the dome. es h
 It was npt the intention of the architect to make an echo hall Ik was to build room in which speech making would be easy and agreeable. Instead he buildel a beautiful hall m which all conversation was veri- table jargon How the gentlemen ever managed to make their speeches and continue their debates no one now can imagine. Yet Daniel Web ster. Henry Clay. John c. Calhoun and Hayne. of South Carolina. 1eliv- erel some of their finest oratorical efforts beneath this roof
 There k one block about the tenth one on the floor from the base of the column ovrr which the eagle pre- sides which is called by the guide the centIssl block" That is because it tloes not carry it's echo to any other block tn the room. but brings hack to whoever stands upon it his own voice. If you were b stand upon the central block and utter your name you would hear the voace ringing in your ears your own yoice-like the ruaring of a thousand people shout ing in unison and calling you, lt seems that this block is the acoustic center of the hall. and every sound made upon if Is reflected hack from every cIanny of the noou.
 What q terrible place it would be for an orator to stand and listen to his own words as they came bound ing back and reverberating with thunderous moekeryl It is stated, however. by the oldest inhahitant" that when the floors were eaTpeted the echoes were not so pronounced, but nevertheless the members of the house complained constantly of the bad acoustic properties of the hall.-- Washington Cor Rochester Post-Ex- press