Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-04-04

virginia brownstone,
obta med at Aqua creek, few miles down
the Potomac. It has been painted white to
Ct riespond with the two marble wings af-
tcrward erected. AS we enter the great ro-
tunda you notice these two magnificent
bronze tcrs. concentrating incidents in
the life CT Columbus. They are famous
works Of srt ard cost the government $685.
600. The two doors weigh ten TONS.
si'Stand.ng here. as we do, in THE center
of the rotrnda, yol look above you at the
ceiling OF the dome and see Brum.drs mas
terp,ece-tte freseo representing q number
of allegorical groups. That piece of art
cost the government $4,000, and is world
famous. Lowering your gaze. the eye rests
upon another piece of Brumis.s work that
fr.eze extc, ding almost around the rotunda
half way up to the dome. 1t was COM
menced by Brrmidi and is allegorical in
character but the work was interrupted
by his dcsth. Afterward Costagini took It
up. but he OILY did small portion of the
work. For seven years that scaffoldsng
has hung there. an eyesore. while the joint
commit tee ON library is making up its mind
what design shall be accepted for complet-
Ing the work. ..lsI :
II understand that the connecting link of
the picture will be score representing the
joining of the Central Pacific and the
tfIHOu TdC-IC railway IEeS, with Leland
Stanford driving the golden spike
You will observe these eight magnificent
paintings encrcling the walls of the ro-
tunda. -Four of them are by Trumbull. the
others by Weir. Powell and Vanderlyn
There Is a marked uniformity of execut on
In these paintings, due to the fact that
these four artists followed the same gen.
eral line in their work. Trumbull's
four paintings cost sSs6O0 apiece At
the time he was given the commission
John Randolph of Roanoke Objected to an
American artist doing the. work claiming
that no American was Well enough ad-
.vanced In art to do justice to the matter.
while Jol1r' Quincy Adams insisted that
Trumbull should have !t:)Whcn the paint
ings were put UP the tables were turned.
John Quincy Adams sneer!ng at the work,
calling 1t u daub, and Randolph acknowl-
edging the genius of the artist and aiding
rs settlement with the government n,,...
Some IIistoric Places
AS we stand here in the center OF the
retunda. we are on the spot where the bodies
of Garfield. Lincoln and of Logan have
rested in their collins. while sorrow:ng null
titudes passed through and around the place
to pay last tribute to the dead Now we
will go into the Supreme Court For fortv
years the Senate held it's sessions in this
room, and its walls have echoed the elo-
qLence OF Webster, Sumner. Glay and Cass
The Supreme Court in the early days met in
what is now the law library on the base
trent floor OF the Capitol. While we are 60
ing from the Supreme Court room am re-
minded of tact that dug from the records
not long ago, that the shortest term of Of
flee ever held by a Supreme Court Justice
was in the case of Gushing. who was an
pointed by President washingto ton on Tues
DAY, confirmed on Wednesday and resigned
before Saturday.
Here we are in the reception room of
the Senate. This is magnificent apart
!!teht, as you wal observe. and the fresco-
ing ufon the ceiling Is truly work Of art
1t was done by Brumidi. In this figure rem
resenting Washington, Hamilton and Jeffer'-
son in conference. Washington's face is
painted from the Houdin mask Next we
come to the famous marble room OF the
Senate fou will observe that this is a long
apartment, finished in the firiaSt grade of
marble. This IS where Senators NAV invite
Their callers for a confidential chat. Next
TO tins room Is the private room of the Presi-
dent OF the United States. It is only Occur
pied at long intervals, once in two years or
probably not so frequently In the closing
hours OF the short sessions of Congress it is
often the custom for the President to come
to the Capitol so that he can examine and
sign the bills that are passed in the last
moments of the session prior to adjourn
ment, In order to avoid the delay of sending
them to to-, the White House: The Mckinley
tariff bill was signed in this room, and a
NUMBER OF great measures have received the
Presidents sanction here. You see. the
room is magn:fcntly decorated, and fur
III TtSd1 style.
...-., h'DTLs OF Art. .
Il will now take you to the east front of
the Senate wing. Here is another set of
bronze doors, these representing Incidents
In the life of Washington and of the rev.
oiution. They cost $56OGO, and were made
In this country. Proceeding upstairs, We
come to the gallery corridors of the Senate
wing. and here we find q number Of inter-
eStiQp works of Harp is Sfa f1,a of
Franklin by Hiram Powers; this painting
OF the recall of Columbus, by Heaton, and
over the door. here, the portrait of John A.
DIX. By Mrs. Imogen Robinson MorreH of
this city. Dix was the author of that
expression, If any one, attempts to haul
down the American flag shoot him on the
spot" That command was given while he
was Secretary of the Treasury and was
addressed to the captain;of a revenue cut
ter. Here is Powell's magnificent Battle
of Lake Erie, representing Commodore
Perry transferring his flag from one of hts
sinking ships to another vessel, after
which he won the victory over the British
fleet, and gave utterance to that express
sion, We have met the enemy. and they
are ours. This painting cost $4,000, and
the origina. of it is in the state house at
Columbus. Ohio Powell painted that one
for the Capitol. but it was too small for
the space designed. In this corridor we
find the two landscapes by Moran, probably
the two finest landscapes ION canvas In
this country. One represents the chasm of
the Colorado and the other the Grand
Canon of the Yellowstone They cost
$4,000 apiece. These portraits on the wall
are of Webster and Clay, executed from
life by Darby. and on fthe other side por-
traits of Summer and calhoun. The only
memorial of the civil war in the Capitol is
itor and the Merriraac, :, pa iated by Halsafl
of Boston. Here also u.s. the famous paint
ing of the Electoral Commission by Mrs.
FaSsett. e.,
"The only works Of. art lin the Senate
chamber are these busts Of presiding ofli-
GERS Of the Senate, from John Adams up.
You will observe that, they are placed in
inches around the gallery walls We will
not remain long in this chamber. You will
observe an animated discussion is being
waged on the floor between two Senators
on the difference between tweedle-dum and
tweedle-dee. This has been going On all
day, and will only. end when the dinner
hour arrives, and the contest is declared a
draw by the presiding officer.
Washington IN a Young Man.
Out here In the corridor is the youngest
portrait Of Washington in the building. It
was painted when he was forty-seven years
of age, and the artist was Charles Wilson
Peale. Washington gave the sittings dur
ing the winter spent at Valley Forge. This
staircase Is OF Italian marble OF the, finest
quality. At the bottom we find the statue
OF Hancock, executed by Horatio Stone L
want to take you. into the room of the ef,ySo.