Evening star., 1897-02-27
Has the City optgrown the Nations
Building?
WHAT THE GROUNDS ONCE WERE
The Introduction of Gas and Water
and Other Improvements.
F IFTY ETA RS WITH


prise has made more advance than has the
general government in it's Improvement Of
the Capitol and grounds. Although so
great changes have been made outside the
Capitol grounds that localities of old are
totally unrecognizable to those who knew
them half century ago. or even less,
there are many who doubt the correctness
OF the statement. These, while acknowl-
edgirg that the government In olden time
was. to say the least, careless as to i'm
proving the public grounds. and knowing
that en- one occasion Congress attempted
to have some of the public grounds i'm
proved by the corporation of Washington,
by turning over to the municipal authori-
ties certain portions of the Mall, believe
that the government is now we'll up in the
Improvement Of the Capitol and surround
ings.
One of these old men some few days ago,
heppening TO find copy OF the Guide to
the Capitol Executive Offices" by Robert
Mills architect, published in 1913, fell into
reminiscent mood, after a hasty glance
through It, and said: Il can go back but
few years beyond this unless l take the
hearsay of older persons / heard when
boy. Even before the extension of the
building it was looked on as the finest
on the continent and the old dome was the
pride OF the boys of that day. have been
to the top many day, for though boys,
rnaccompanied by an older person. Were
supposed to have no business there, old
Mr. Scrivener who directed visitors, was
kindly disposed to well-behaved youths,
and passed them up. l remember that
while there was at the top a balustrade TO
prevent persons falling off. there was no
protection for the skylight. The glass in
the skylght was supposed to be thick
enough to bear an ordinary person, but
young lady proved this idea fallacious by
stepping Cn and narrowly escaping a fall
to the floor of the rotunda. AS may be
supposed. protection was soon in place.
The Capitol Grounds.
"The grounds, at that time, were bound
ed by the A and 1st streets, excepting that
the western boundary was formed by a
circular carriageway, partly paved with
cobbiestones, extending from 1st street to
the lines of North and South Capitol
streets. There an iron railing set on
stub wall. inclosing the grounds, and gates
We're placed at the avenues. At the prin-
cipai gates were lodges for watchmen,
whose duty included locking them at sun
set ana opening them at sunrise but gen
orally they We're not locked until 10 o'clock
pm. couple of fountains, in the basins
of which were gold fish, and three or four
beds of flowers We're in the western part
OF the grounds. In the square the east
side there We're, besides the fish poad, two
groves. and 1t was the general impression
that they were intended for barbecues. one
for the democrats and the other for the
wings. There were placed through the
grounds wooden benches, for the tired pc
destrian, but rude as they were, they were
the favorite seats for.love-sick couples, and
many initials were cut on them. AS there
were orly dozen or so lamps to light the
grour DIS, and these were for oil, there was
little opportunity for the observation of
couples. The late Coon" Kaufman then
was the lamp lighter, and he filed this DO
sition till his death. few years ago. The
plaza at the east of the building was then
unpaved.s excepting that cobble stones COW
cred a portion Of It, The footways in the
grounds were. of redstone tiles, fanked
with gravel, and l have lived long enough
to see some of the tiling worn so thin that
1t would barely hold together. The colos-
sal statue of Washington, by Greenough.
was then in its present locs ton, hay-
Ing been removed from the center of the
roturda. in which it was first placed
1t was customary then to cover this statue
from the weather by frame building
which was put in position late each fail,
to be removed in the early spring
The Naval Monument.
In the basin at the west front was the
monument erected by the naval officers to
commemorate the services of Sorners Cald-
well. Decatur, Wadsworth, Dorsey and
Israel who fell in the siege of Tripou. This
monument was in 1905 placed in the navy
yard. then in the BASIN and some few wears
ago was removed to the Naval Academy at
Annapolis. Outside of the building at the
east front. there was but one of the groups
of statuary on the blocking of the portico-
The Discovery of America 1t Is called but
the popular name at the time was 'Colum-
bus in the Bowling Alley The group for
the other block was then being chiseled
by Greenough. To sum it up, within the
iron railing the work of establishment had
barely commenced, and the surroundings
were in keeping with the exterior of the
building, then of hue almost yellow for
1t was not painted white till six years later
Thus was the Capitol and Its grounds fifty
q md null
that despite the corporation laws to the
contrary, cattle browsed quite close to the
grounds. The contractor for the Senate
and House mails, few years before nloued
and worked in corn for his horses vacant
land and much Of the street; taking off only
the ear and leaving the fodder to the pub
lie, he conduced to the milk business.
Now look at the buildings and grounds
the raflings removed, fifty OF more foot and
carriage entrances. plants and flowers kent
IN the highest state of cultivation, and
think Of what was the condition half a
century ago. L don't think that you will
say the capital has outstripped the Capitol.
Development of the Building.
''Now, take the building ITSELF" continued
the old man, land consider its history
comparing the old with the new. The ro
tunda, at that time Ohis part of the build
Ing having been completed In 1920 had a
height Of ninety-six feet to the first dome.
This. first dome was to some sauatty
structure and to the laymen was not in
good proportion with the building, although
many professional men. including the archi-
tect, Robert Mills, claimed that the second
covering or dome, which rose to a height of
145 feet. was out of all proportion, and num-
bers of attempts were made to do away
with 1t. Take look at the present mag
nificent DOME and compare it with the old.
as also with the difficulties of making the
ascent, and then imag gine while standing In
the rotunda, viewing the Apotheosis of
Washington or ias McDougal of Califor-
MIA called it, washington and the Canter-
bury Girls with all the panels filed with
appropriate paintings how it looked in the !
olden time. Then the interior of the first
dome was laid offin bookings and some of
the panels for painting were vacant. 1t Is
no use to describe the old Senate and
House Of Representatives hall, for they are
now known as the IAited States Supreme
Court room, and the National Statuary
Hall. and excepting for the changes made
in the removal Or rearrangement of furni-
ture, there has not been much change in
them. Then the entire building was heat
ed by f1replaces and furnaces, wood being
mostly used andfin the fall season of the
year there was at each end of the building
q. small-sized woodward, with an industrious
force of sawyers. The lighting was by oil
or candle. and in the larger halls and