The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-02-05

/ the close of his administration Madison and
Dis family occupied the building known as
4 Inc octagon house,n still standing at the
/ corner OF New YORK avenue and Eighteenth
street northwest
/ In 1917 S20. 600 and the proceeds Of old fur
niture were appropriated and spent at once
| GU the reconstruction Of the mansion. In
/ the next year James Monroe moved into
/ It from the octagou house. which he had
occupied on succeeding Madison, and pro-
! ceeded to apply $4,000 more TO finishing
ana refurnishing it. The term Presidents
house" was employed then for the first
time IN the laws relating TO the executive
mansion.
In 1925. when John Quincy Adams
entered, the regulation sum Of $4,000 was
/ allowed for furniture, aud in 1926 and 1927
$4,000 additional was given for finishing
| ana furnishing the east room, used pre-
ytously by the wives and children Of the
Presidents as laundry and nursery.
COST OF THE FRONT PORTICo.
! During Jackson's first term the front
! portlco Of Ionic pillars was added a. a cost
! Of $4,000, and during his second term
| S20.OOU was spent in furniture.
| During Van Buren's term $40 COO was de-
voted to furniture and repairs. Up to that
time nearly all of the furniture was of ma
| hoZanys purchasei abroad, chiefly in Lon
don and Paris. In 1871 wien the wings
rolled into power with William Henry Har-
| rlson, new feature appeared in the laws
| Tor the white house. The sum Of 10000
much less than formerly-was appropriated
for new furniture for the Presidents house,
"of American manufacture, 80 far as may be
| practicable and exi edenu. Herein doubtless
is revealed the fine Italian hand Of Henry
! Clay, as the great protectionist Of that
| time.
The same idea was adopted at the outset
OF Folks administration, the law Of 1S45
! providing Sl4, 900 ''for furnishing the presi-
Dental mansion with furniture Of American
Manufacturer The Polk protectionlsts"
thus went the Harrison protectionists"
even on the language and $4,000 better on
| the amount. II that law the term ''presi-
| Dental mansion appeared for the first aud
last time. -Four years later when Taylor
! came into power, this restrictive language
was dropped, $4,000 being appropriated
! simply for furnishing the Presidents
| house"
! In 1853. when Pierce came In, congress
! voted $4,000 for furniture and 81, $50
more for needed repairs, including the
"whitewashiDgn of the interior. This re-
| furnishing and repairing appear to have
| teen done effectually, for only $40, 900 seems
| to have been needed in the next admins
| tration, Buchanan's.
During Eincoln's first term 700 was
! spent for the same object. Although the
white house in that period was overrun with
| all sorts of people as it had never been be-
fore, it seems that the President was far too
| busy with weightier matters to give much
! thought to the appearance of the place.
! But when Andrew Johnson, the self-made
tailor President came in on the death of
| Lincoln, ample amends. and seemingly more
| than ample, were made for past neglect by
/ decking out the mansion with unprecedented
| splendor. A thorough overhaullng and res
| furnishing were deemed necessary, and in
4 . q 4
| $4,000 was provided to cover the expenses.
In 1857 the further sum of $50 600 was added
| to complete the grand renovation.
IN GRANTS FIRST YEAR.
In 1869, the year Of Grants Inauguration,
| $25, 600 was granted for furniture In
| April, 1870, S25,0 coo more was given for
| furniture and repairs and in July following
| $4,000 more was set aside for the same
| purposes. The next year, 1871, So, 900 was
again devoted to refurnishing and repairing
the executive mension"-so styled gin the
law for the first time-iucluding repairs to
the green houses which had been injured by
| fire in 1866. In 1872 S45, 900
was appropriated for further furni-
ture and repairs. While john
sons administration has been signalized by
| an expenditure pf $lS5 900 on the white
house, Grants ffrst term was distinguished
] by the expenditure of a sum exactly as
! great. Throughout Grants second term
! $4,000 was spent on the white house. OF
| this, Sl5, 600 was devoted in 1878 TO repairs
to the mansion proper, $4,000 to the green
! houses and $40, 900 to furniture while $25,-
| 600 was spent for repairs and furniture in
| 1874, $50, 900 In 1875 and 800, 900 in 1879. At
that time the fuel account, which is not in
| cluded IN these figures, averaged 5000
| year. The fuel now consumed at the white
| house costs only $1,000 year.
| Since Grants administration the expenses
| of the white house have all been materially
1 reduced. During Hayes term $50, 900 was
expended for furniture and repairs; during
the Garfield-Arthur regime, $4,000. q
| considerable portion being for the complete
reftting of the mansion with modern con-
veniences and substituting the present
beautiful screen OF jeweled glass in the
vesuibue for the old wooden partition 4;
| during Cjevelands administration, S74, 000
and during Harrison's, 5000. OF late
years the average outlay has been about
| S25, 600 Il year.
The repainting Of the white house is one
Of the important features of these annual
repairs. Enough white paint has been
| daubed on the portico pillars, for instance,
| to double their present diameter if the old
| paint had not first been removed before the
successive new layers were applied. Like
/ wise in the interior, sufficient paint has
! been spread on the walls of each of the pub
| lie reception rooms to have diminished their
capacity by several feet each way If the
old cracked pigments had not been scraped
off before the new coats were laid on. All
the carpets in the reception rooms have to
be renewed every year, owing to the terri
bic trampling they receive under the feet
| OF the public.
Some of the work on the grounds imme-
diately surrounding the mansion. on the
boundary walls, ratings. curbing, gates and
trees, together with additional fixtures,
stables, extra drainage and thousand odds
and ends, has also been paid out of the an
nual fund allowed for repairs. Up to 1918
the extensive grounds about the mansion
were an unsightly waste, without grass or
shrubbery, but in that year the systematic
Improvements now carried out upon the
lawns were begun, the total cost to date
being 1919, 600
INADEQUATE FOR ITS PURPOSES.
The reader will naturally deem it curious
that building ON which nearly two mill
ions and half have been spent should now
be so inadequate for the purpose to which il
is devoted But the fact is that the white
house is capable of comfortably acoommo-
dating only the President for his offices and
for social receptions. There are only FIVE
bedrooms at the disposal of the mistress of