The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-12-20
Especial CORRESPONDENCE

STATUARN HALL.
term, serving only six weeks. but long
enough TO break all rec ords and to set n
precedent which has never since been
cqualed.
There arc instances of mon represent
ing two states i'll the senate, and it is
said one other man has represented three
states Ill one or the other branch of con-
gross, but General Shields is the only
man who ut different times in his career
has represented three states in the SEN
ate. a man who could win fame in the
Mexican war, afterward serve with dis
tinction i'll the war between the states.
and so commend himself to the people
of three commonwealth as to receive
from them seat in the upper branch of
congress, certainly deserves place in
the national pantheon.
Funny Incidents.
The old hall of the house is not only
one of the most beautiful, but one of the
most interesting spots in the great CAPT
toll. Lateabe, the architect of the old
capitol, designed it as type of the an
Gent Greek theaters, and he succeeded
admirably in his purpose. To help him
perfect the design and embellish the audi
forum, he imported number of Italian
artists. After the British soldiers had
partly destroyed the hall with their van
dial conf1agration, Lateabe repaired it
and made it finer than ever adding the
marble columns and other ornamentation.
The hall always had one great defect.
Its acoustics were imperfect. In some
manner the roof formed an cchoing gall
lery, and those of our forcfathers who
served in the American house of com
mons We're not long in discovering that
from certain points within it the most
resonant voice was dwarfed TO ii whs-
per, while ut other spots the gcntlest
tones We're swellcd to II mighty roar.
In the old days some exceedingly fun
ny incidents arose from these peculiar
properties of the hail. The orator who
was not cautious enough to remain in
one spot during the delivery of his adj
dress found the acoustics of the hall TAX
ing strange liberties with his elocution,
transforming his crescendo sentences into
comical sQucals, or causing his pianissi-
mo phrases, his stage whispers, to shrek
and wall as he moved to and fro from
one echo point to another. An old writer
quantity said these acoustic pranks were
lucky circumstance, for without them
the noble army of fault finders would
have found the chambers SO perfect that
nothing would have been left for them
to do but to hang themselves from the
galleries.
Dust and Cobwebs.
To this day these echoes are one of the
most attractive features Of the hall. The
capitol guides know every one of them,
and always have lot of visitors in tow.
The beautiful chamber is pre-eminently
the show place of the capitol. 1t is spec
tacular in every way. It's architecture,
its decorations, it's memories, the statues
of the great men of the republic, all
carry one back to the days of the dim
past. This effect is heightened, though
perhaps unfortunately, by the economy
of the congresses of the present, which
do not appropriate enough money to keep
the ceiling in repair, and in many spots
the paint is scaling off and the dust and
cobwebs arc accommodating.
Now that congress is again in session
the number Of visitors to the capitol has
vastly increased. Statuary hall is al
ways thronged. Here the guides find
their best customers, for every one wants
to know all about the strange echoes.
Every ono wants to go into the corners
known as the whispering galleries."
where a family spoken sentence is echoed
from one side of the hall to the other
without loss of distnctness Every one
wants to see the brass tablet in the floor
which marks the spot where John Quin-
cy Adams fell fatally stricken after near
ly half century of public service. While
some visitors are gazing sadly at this tab
let OF at the statues of tho martyrs Lin
coin and Garfield, Others are laughing
at the echoes. Old men and women and
bridal couples abound. This is not only
the hall Of statuary-it is also tho hall
of contrasts.
This effect of contrast ia unpleasantly