Evening star., 1897-03-04
Gil M B T H e D o M E
An Opportunity That the sight-Seer Should
Not Miss.
The Way to Get Up and Something
You Reach 1t.

never been there before, it would be an
unparlonable omission to go home without
doing SO, and If you have made the as
cent upon previous visits to Washington
it will be worth while to repeat the trip.
There are many people living in Washing
ton who have never ascended the home.
That is their misfortune. perhaps. II you
should not go it will be your fault.
1t would be difficult to give directions in
print how to reach the entrance of the
stairway leading to the dome. The best
thing TO do Is to enter the rotunda and
ask a policeman. He will direct the Wis
itcr to the stairway and then there is
nothing mere to do but to follow your nose
and the stairs.
Do not think for moment, however.
that this in itself is a small matter. 1t is
quite considerable one, and grows more
portentous the higher you ascend. 1t is
| not necessary, however, to have a guide.
| That is, unless you aould get one who
could operate a sedan chair. Before you
| reach the top the longing for sedan chair
or an elevator. something of that kind
| grows into a burning desire. You think
| you never wanted anything so badly be-
| fore in your life.
The Pathway Up.
You start nin,bly up a pair of dark. wind
ing, iron stairs. In feC minutes you
| emerge upon a Sdltefy anu cliIlD Il sel
| of zig-zag stairs. ending in a steep fight of
steps with hand rail. This leads you to
| a door, which opens into the dome, a
| level with the Brumidi-Costagini frieze.
| which you had noticed from the floor of
| the rotunda. 1t seemed quite a long ways
| up then, but now as you direct your glance
| upward it seems that you still i'm
| measurable distance from the top.
| Keep a-climbing. however and soon you
| come to the first outside gallery encircling
| the dome, neIrly half way up. No one
stops here, however who has the breath
and the strength to go further Take an
| other hitch in your waistband. draw a
| good breath and start bravely up the next
| flight. You don't remember much about
| this stage OF the climb. afterward. 1t
| comes back to you in a dim and confused
| recollection of long lines of stairs. of
| tLrnings. twistings. heart-thumpings and
| that general tired feeling.
| At last you come to the uppermost gal
| lery of the inside of the dome. You are
now under the frescoed canopy which
| forms the roof of the rotunda. You peer
over the rail- and hundreds of feet below
appear the people in the rotiInda, moving
| around like great bugs. This is a dizzy
| height, and one inyoluntariy takes firmer
| hold upon the balustrade. If you should
| fall over there would be nothing but a
grease spot and some rags on the marble
| floor beneath when they came to shovel up
| the debris.
More Steps TO Come.
But there is still another climb to make.
A narrow iron stairway leads upward.
| above the canopy, and this you ascend,
| passing amidst mass of great iron and
| steel girders and beams. At last you reach
the uppermost landing place in the dome
| and pass cut upon the gallery which en-
circles it. When you have made the round
of the gallery you feel well repaid for all
| efforts. You are now nearly 800 feet from
the base line of the Capitol building. and
| Immediately beneath the bronze statue of
the Goddess Of Liberty, which is nineteen
feet six inches high and weighs 1855
pounds.
The view from the gallery at this point is
one Of enhancing beauty and interest. As
| you emerge from the gallery. the first OBJ
ject that strikes the eye is the broad Po-
tomac, stretching away southwark like a
great silver sheet, for miles at your feet.
1t narrows in the perspective until II
seems to disappear at the base of Fort
Washington, ten miles down, where the
river makes a sharp turn to the west. The
stone battlements Of the fort can be clear
ly observed upon a fair day, and the an
cent town of Alexandria seems almost
within a stones throw, half way down.
You follow the river northwestward until
it disappears again in the gorge formed by
the steep and rocky cliffs beyond George
town. The FURNISHED silver of the noble
sheet of water is crossed by bar Of sable
the historic Long bridge, spanning the
waters. and over which the Union troops
marched to the invasion of Virginia at the
outbreak of the war.
Beautiful View.
Just north Of the Virginia end Of tho
Long bridge is Arlington. and the grea,
yellow pillars of the Lee mansion stand ou,
clearly against the sky. Away off against
the southwestern horizon the sharp point
of the steepie projecting above the sur
rounding forests marks the location OF
Fairfax Court House. Looking toward the
southeast you see the navy yard. the great
| gun foundries, where the government turns
out the modern death-dealing engines OF
war, and beyond the buildings of the old
ship yard Is the Anacostia bridge. which
spans the Eastern branch of the Potomac
| This. Is the bridge over which the assassin
| Booth, galloped In his mad flight on thai
i fatal evening when he had shot down Pres
fdent Lincoln at F6rd's Theater You car
lplainly. discern the white road mounting
0cod Hope Hill which resounded to the
.clattern OF, his horses hoofs and q few
hours later to the thunder of the pursuing
. .icav4lgy mtEellowed. fast upon his heels
Turning again you look upon East Wash.
l,fngton spread out like . map At your feet
the streets radiating from the Capitol Ike
L the apokeD from the hub Of n wheeI Yor