The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-20
N D IN WASHINGTON.
NOTHING rs SACRED I THE RELIC
HUNTING FIENDS.

Eternal Vigilance Necessary to Keep Them
from Dtapoiiing Beautiful Decorations
and Contiy Works of Art-'rhc Most
watehiui Guardians Eiudrd nt Times
Prom the Chicago Inter. OCEAN.
wAsuiNGToS, u C., Dec. Tile question
as to whether the inauguration hall shall OF
shall not he held in the new Congressional lie
brary building Is attracting much attention..
Those who have felt an especial interest and
pride in the magnificent new building are natus
rally opposed to 1t. They fear the building
will 10 damaged by the enormous thronR Of
people. many Of whom will come from n as
tancc. and while they will feel less rest faint
and local pride in the structure, will the more
prize any relies and souvenirs of the occasion.
The very delicate carvings on the balustrade1
and in various parts Of the building wouldG<
a great temptation TO this class of people. De,
sides. thore would be danger OF the carvinG1
AMI decorations being damaged in the putting
in position OF the flags and drnperles witt
which all national events of this kind are a4.
comranied. In addition TO this. anv mishab
among tho thronR Of peo2le might produces
similar results.
Another noint which Is urged Is that while
the halls. when reached, are 81 acious and nRa4
~nifcent. the passage ways reaching to them are
insufficient In width to accommodate the
throng OF people who are expected TO attend.
1t Is In the matter OF vandalism. however,,
that the, friends of the building fear most. In
such a throng individuality large y disappears.
had to do with the pnblic strv ctures In Washi
ington that the average siGlltIscer Is on the
patriotic and self-respectiug citizen.
A New York lawyer once paid a nne Tor chip5
n The - Z plfGs %, m man Sia rto% and thS only SHn a few "
weeks sss9 4 .%yisi,inS minister from New
S %as here tem on IN his 'n wed hnhas , ri 'n nnd 0 in court be
blamed his wife for Shat he had done. She
wanted n relic in the form Of a piece of the mar.
brclln to ~disfigure the big shaft. But he Jared
no better than offenders who were supposed 10
no executions in cases of this kind, and fined
him $40. These are only two OF the many
as ~vandals, and Judge Kimball as well as the
police can sec no reason why others should
not follow in their footsteps.
In other buildings, especially tn" National
Museum and the Smithsonian. the men on
S gisitSrs Are fTom kept 5re SnsE at e ali 5ime' or TO cp prsysns
away lnemontGs OF their viSit to The capital.
the Washington. Monument, as well ms at other
public buildings where crowds cougreEata. are
almost unanimous in the opinion that constant
ism. AS one veteran employed put it:
You have to watch everybody, and even
Ing up some little thing as u relic and walk
lar have suffered from the thoughtIessness of
relic hunters. Tho furniture and curtains in
1 Nh E"s! M RoGm r Are ee hay. c Sasn oni t frn1p ,sa
hanginKs. and it IS n common practice for visit
ors to try to unscrew the knobs
on the chairs aud sofns.
The Washington Monument has also sui.
fered severely from vandalism. in. spite of the
quisite memorial stones have been broken or
otherwise damaged. All the raised letters on
all hut one of, the raised letters on the swiss
t na1leh;. This V,. dnmaHe was GspaiTed as cI MeIl az
nieCaS from the monument outside and in. not
withstanding nil the watchmen eau do.
Whenever detected these thoughtless people
payment of a small fine. In one case a man
frou. Tt las was seen to break n piece from the
but he was discharged by the police court
Judge from lack of evidence"
A remarkable EXAMPLE of this kind of work
can be seen in the Senate waiting room. which
is perhaps, In decoration. the most beautiful
and perhaps not less beautiful than any in the
world. On one of the thick French plate-glass
little meaning. with a thousand flourishes.
which cover the entire window. This yandal-
ism la , Is at 2 m point I more re f FIRE sSSIIgid by fhs e P }nss
where a Waterman would be likely to see tho
vandalism committed. but no one did see IL;
himself. He had glorted in a diamond ring. and
he took pleasure in digging deeply into the
The most wonderful pair of doc RS in the Unit
ed States are those hung at the east entrance
of the Capitol. 1t would seem to be a very
risky business for any one to tamper with the
delicate and artistic ornaments giving n sculp-
tural history of tho country. from It's earliest
settlements which adorn these remarkable
doors of bronze. These doors were secured
not only of the Capitol building. but OF the
city OF Washington.
The vandals have not overlooked them. The
stirrups of soldiers. the swords of the miniature
warriors. and various delicate parts of the Or
nalnentatiun have been. knocked off and car
ri"d away 10 the homes.of the vandals in vari-
Gus parts Of the country. in order that they
might have u relic If the great building. These
relics are exceedingly costly TO the GoveFn-
mcnt. as TO a considerable eX tent they mnr the
expenditure of large sums CT money in order
To procure them.
The statuary that adorns either side of the
east entrance, which, from lis prominent po-
sition. would seem to be comparatively safe
from the barbarous relic hunters. has not es-
capped Injury. The sculptors have been called
upon a number OF times since those statues
were put in place to patch on fingers and toes
as neatly as possible, TO cover UP the injurious
work of the vandals.
money every year. the ugliness of this vandal-
ism can be painted out or by rerails removed so
that II Is not highly conspicuous. But il
the Capitol building could no tor ten years
without having one piece of vandalism occur
ring during that period removed from sight, It
destructiveness that seems TO dwell In a GER
tain class OF visitors.
Many people think that this vandalism IS tho
work of the rag-tag. IL may he 40. but II so.
hats and patent leather shoes, attired in a seal
skin coat and accompanying elegance. as II is
to be found dressed in shabby clothing. II ia
lot the poor or the rich that do this work of de-
structiOn. but the vandals at heart. in whatever
station they may he found. l