Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-18

! Gen. Raum, the late commissioner OF pen
sions. on the 14th instant sent the following
letter to Secretary Smith:
/ think it proper. in the interest Of the pub
! lie service, that should invite your attention
particularly to the effect which the use Of tn
| pension Office building for the ceremonies o
the reception to the President and the inau
gurai ball on the night Of March 4 had upon tn
business of the bureau.
1t is proper to state that after the honorabl,
Secretary Of the Interior granted permission
to the Inauguration committee to use the build
ing every facility was granted to the committe,
and its employees and contractors to fully pre-
pare the house for the ceremonies.
The active work of decorating the building
began about the 18th OF February and con.
tinued. with a constantly increasing force, unit
the work was completed. Four divisions on tn,
first floor vacated their quarters on the 2Stl
Of February, and the work Of removing thu
$50 file cases from the court. and re-
moving the desks from the rooms OF
the mail division. the southern division
the middle division and the eastern division
began on the morning Of the lst of March
The decorators had already been given pos
session of the commissioners front room and
the rooms of the appointment division. On
the Cd OF March the commissioner vacated his
quarters and the work OF the Office was pract-
cally suspended, but the entire force Of the
Office not dismissed until noon of
March 8. and the committee had control of the
building until the morning of March 8, when
the work Of removing the decorations began
and was continued without interruption until
the 18th, when the house was practically
cleaned.
From the time the decoration of the house
was a constant pressure Of sightseers to enter
the building. The effect of all this
was to seriously interrupt the business
Of the office. The salary account OF
those Immediately employed in the bureau
is about $4,000 per day. have carefully esti-
mated the lost time as the result of this use of
the building. and have decided that it was not
less than eight :uli days for the entire official
force. amounting to-say $4,000.
The receipts Of the committee from the sale
of tickets of admission to the reception on the
night of the 4th Of March and to the various
concerts which we're given on Monday and
Tuesday following amounted to something over
$4,000. These receipts constituted fund
sufficiently large to cover the entire expense
incurred by the committee for the Inauguration
ceremonies.
While it is true that the pension Office build
ing is the only house in Washington city well
adapted TO the accommodation Of an assemblage
of l2O0O or 600 on an occasion OF ceremony,
it seems to me that such disturbance Of the
public business as the result of such use would
hereafter cause the honorable Secretary Of the
Interior to decline the use Of the building To-.
such purposes.
1t is proper to say that the Inauguration
committee ard its employees and contractors
were exceedingly considerate IN the perform
ance Of their work and produced a minimum
amount of disturbance. and nothing occurred
from first to last of disagreeable character.
venture to bring this subject to your atten-
ton now, so that the question of providing a
building for great mees sings and occasions of
ceremony at the national capital shall be taken
up BY the government or some of the enter
prising people OF ;his city.