The morning times., 1895-08-25

or the 225 or more church edifices in
Washington and its suburbs, not one is
| the original structure in which the found
ers first worshiped and sang the praises
| OF the Creator The Oldest is the West
| Street Presbyterian Church, on + street
near Thrty-first street, Georgetown, which
was built in the year 1882. Closely fol
| lowing the erection OF the West Street
Church, came Holy Trinity, Catholic,
| Georgetown, erected in 1892; Christ Church,
! Episcopal, G street, between Sixth and
Seventh streets northwest, i'll 1895; Dunbar
ton, Methodist, Georgetown, in 1875; St
| Patricks, Catholic, Tenth street, near G
street northwest, in 1897; and First Pres
byteriau Church, Fourth street, between
C aud d streets northwest and st. Theresa,
Catholic, Anacostia, in 1897.
During the five years Immediately follow.
ing no new churches were erected. The
| quarter OF a century, following, however,
| marked a period OF church building; for
within this time nearly a hundred new
buildings, representing every religious de-
| nomination, were erected.
1t iSnot however the early establishments
| but the architecture OF the various churches
| OF the city that is most interesting A tour
| OF the city will show that in the erection
! OF the churches no especial style of archi-
| lecture has been followed, but in many in
stances there will be found combination
OF several kinds. And in none viii be found
a strict adherence TO any one style ofancient
| architecture.
Though by no means one OF the largest
! or Oldest, the Gunton Memorial Z resbyterian
| Church, corner OF Fourteenth and X streets
northwest, is one of the prettiest and most
| artistically constructed religious edifices
in the city. Both inside and out, it has a
| unique appearance, produced by a har-
nonious blending of colors in its architec-
! tural design. Here is found combination
OF the Roman and Gothic styles.
The interior, Hnobstructed by columns,
creates an impression of extensive space.
LIKE ENGLISH CHURCHES.
Conspicuous among the churches of the
| city are those modelled after the style Of
| Wrens English churches, the predominant
features of which are the tall, massive
spires, mute sentineIs guiding the thought
| OF man heaycnward.
OF this class may be mentioned the
Luther Place Memorial, Calvary Baptist,
the Church of the Ascension, the New
York Avenue Presbyterian, the Metropoi
tan Methodist and many others. In all of
| the Gothic style of architecture predOmi-
mates, while in some instances, as in the
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church,
the classic is combined TO relieve the
monotOny.
The classicism of the old st. Matthew's
is its distinct feature, and is at once
| striking by the symmetry and elegance of
its Tuscan porticO, and the almost per-
feet propo. ions of its pediment. To the
| classic eye IN architecture the effect was
sadly marred by the spire, a thing unknown
in the early and severer of temple building.
Its not rema rSa ble, of course, thatin such
| a variety OF styles or want of styles there
should be some keen and interesting con-
trasts. There are two instances at least
i'll the city in which buildings presenting
these contrasts are very near each other
AN INTERESTING CONTRAST.
For instance, on G street there are the
| Church of tue Epiphany and Foundry NJ. f.
Church. Epiphany is a rather pleasing
| example of the later Gothic There is no
finer entrance in that style to be found here.
1t is the lancet arch pure and simple, pre-
senting an instance OF perfect architectural
| beauty aud proporiety. The whole facadeis,
in fact, attractive by reason of its regular
| ity and consistency with the Gothic order.
| A critic, perhaps, might find fault with
| the too frequent recurrence of the Gothic
| window in the tower-like spire.
A few steps from this fine old church is
| Foundry. The facade of this is composite.
! With the exception of one feature, the or
| namented Gothic is much in evidence The
| excepted feature, however, is one that will
| not fail to catch the eye. 1t consists of
| three perfect r oman arches above the
| vestibule. Two of the supports out of
| which the arches spring are columns so
| slight that the visitor gets the impress
sion that they can uphold the immense mass
| above only by a trick of the architect The
! weight, however. of the front is not TO
| bear with undue force on these singularIy
slender columns.
TWO NEIGHBORS S COMPARED
Two other ncighbors of the same archi-
tectural family which present individual
contrasts are st. Patrick's and the First
| Congregational Church, which are within
| half Il square of each other N Tenth street
| northwest
st. Patrick's is very impressive Its
facade gives the impression of massive
ness and genuineneSs in type. 1t is a fair
example of the castellated gothic, but with
the exception of the towers on either side
there is but little ornamentation. The
gothic door, the gothic window, and the
gothic roof, severe aud simple, speak of
its antiquity.
The First Congregational Church sug-,
gests TO the observer, at hasty glance,
| the idea of incompeteness. 1t, too, ex-
| hibits in its main features the castellated
gothic. On the east side there is finished
castle or tower, while the west tower ap-
pears TO be unfinished This, however,
is really not fault as many of the finest
churches have their spires detached from
the building proper, and the single fin
ished spire, or tower, is the distinct feature
of this rather attractive front.
One of the most conspicuous pieces OF
| church architecture in the city is the bell
of tho Cburob r tho on