Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-11-30
That of the New Church for st.
Matthew's Parish.
CARDINAL GIBBONS OFFICIATES.
An Imposing and Impressive Scene
Witnessed by Crowds.
MGR. SETON'S RMON

The corner stone Of the new church edi-
flee for st. Matthews parish was laid to-
day. The stone. which Is a massive piece
of granite, rested on four heavy blocks
of wood at the northwest corner of the
transept of the new building. In the space
beneath Cardinal Gibbons at the proper
point in the ceremony spread mortar with
trowel. Father Lee, the pastor Of the
church, laid in the cavity in the lower
stone a lead box and then the workmen
began to turn the handles of the derrick,
the wooden supports were removed and
slowly but surely the great stone came into
its place and the beginnings of the great
church edifice which ii is proposed to erect
on this spot were fairly inaugurated. This
scene and the attendant ceremonies were
watched with interest by the spectators,
who formed a fringe about the wide and
deep excavation which had been made in
preparing for the foundations. The people
also crowded into the foundations and
in fact they were everywhere to secure
good view of the ceremony.
An Impressive Scene.
There was enough of life and movement
in the display to make 1t effective from
scenic point Of view, and those who
were no nearer than the windows of the
adjoining houses had their interest held
as they saw the throng standing in the
bright sunlight of the clear fall day and
watched the priests and the acolytes in
their robes of varying hue and color pass
ing and repassing through and about the
foundations. Then above the hushed hum
of the throng could be heard the voices of
the priests as they chanted and intoned.
The time for the ceremony was set for
the rather early hour of 1890, and some of
the priests, especially those who came from
Baltimore and other places out of town.
did not have much time margin in their
arrival. AS the priests reached the grounds
which are located on the north side of
Rhode Island avenue, a hundred feet or
so east of Connecticut avenue, they were
shown into the large double house which
stands high above the street and which
was known in former years the home OF
Gen. Williams, the Attorney General under
Gen. Grant, and later as the residence of
Gen. Mckee Dunn. In one of the rooms
the priests put on their vestments, while
group of altar boys and acolytes, with
their red and white gowns, stood in the
hallway and watched the dignitaries come
In. On the steps outside and all the way
down the flight to the street were arranged
in double rows the members of the escort
of the cardinal. The escort was composed
of representatives from the various Catho-
lie societies and churches of the city, and
wore on the lapel of their coats as a dis
tinguishing mark a badge of red. Under
the direction of MIR. E. J. Hannah and
Frank J. McQuade the members of the
escort attended the cardinal in his move
ments about the grounds. Some of the
members of the escort were jeremiah
Crowley, James E. Derry, NJ. ]. Depnoci,
David Murphy, John T. Crowley, Il. 5.
Purcell. W. c. Downey, Joseph A. Geir,
NJ. Cannon. ]. ]. Flanagan. J. S. Green,
George Callahan, Carrot Fitzgerald, Thos.
Heany. c. j. Faulkner Pierce, Joseph Null
lory and W. H. Smith.
Pictures of the Interior.
In the room where the clergy vested were
displayed on the wall two framed pictures,
ieI,
attention, for they were photographs show,
Ing the interior it will be when the edi-
iice is completed and the other was the
outline of the ground plan OF the building.
The new building is of such size and i'm
portance that all the details are being COM
pleted slowly and the architects, Messrs.
rteln and La Fargo of New York city, have
only completed thus far an elevation of the
front. However. the entire building is not to
be erected just now and so there is no hurry
for the &C mpleted plans. Still this explains
why the pictures as they were displayed
attracted so much attention. There has
been good deal said about the new build
ing, tut even among the clergy there has
not teen very clear idea of what the fu-
ture structure was intended to be-
The sketch of the interior, which accom-
panleS this article is taken from a photo
graph that was displayed today for the
benefit of the clergy. The general public
did not see this picture, but they wandered
! through the grounds and looked at the
foundations which are already far adj
vanced. If establishment was expressed at
the great size which the excavation indi-
Gated the new building is to be. it is not
to be wondered at. Only a portion of the
foundation has been land and it is mat Dor
ton which will be under the TRANSIENT
The new edifice is to be cruciform with
four cEapeis at the four ends The nave
is to eXtend to the front of the grounds
The general style of the building will be
what is known as the classical renaissance
and, may be seen from the sketch the
round arches and heavy pillars are the
prominent features. For the present the
chapels at the end of the transept will NOT
be built SO that the foundatio are only
for the portion Of the transept which will
be covered with the dome. 1t is proba bile
that the dome will not be finished at once
The spectators saw enough of the outlines
of the building to convince them that it was
to be an immense affair, and from this day
the new church edifce will assume q more
|. tangible form in the minds of many of the
Catholics of the city. a platform had been
erected at the northwest corner of the
building over the site where 1t is proposed
that one of the chapels shall be built.
EscOrtinE the Cardinal.
The front of the stand was draped with
the American colors, and the folds of the
| papal flag moved in the breeze at one cor
| ner. The procession Of priests and acolytes