The Saint Paul globe., 1897-06-07

mitted to sleep until the close of the
tIfty-fourth congress, on March 4,
1897. Nothing has since been done in
tnls matter and nothing is likely to be
done for an indefinite period of time
Ihere are four entrances to the ro-
| tunda and on each side of these en-
frances are beautiful corrugated marble
pillars. They are not only disgracefully
dirty, but they are reminders of the
| neglect of the nobody who is respon-
sible for the condition of the capitol
building. Three of them have been
recently cleaned from the floor to such
helght as tall man may reach
by standing on tip-toes and rails
ing his hands. These cleaned spots
| emphasize to the eye of the behoder
the disgracefuI carelessness and the
| reckless Indifference of the nobody who
is in charge of the capitol building
After many years of consideration
and discussion the congress finally
| made an appropriation in 1888 and au-
thoriZed the building of an immense
marble staircase for the west front of
the capitol, to take the place of the
narrow and unsightly sandstone steps
which had long been in use. The archi-
tect of the capitol, with the assistance
of the supervising architect of the
treasury, devised plan whereby the
staircaseS and contiguous terrace walls
should be arranged for committee
rooms Consequently beneath the stair
| cases and the marble terrace, along
the entire west front Of the capitol
/ there are many committee rooms set
| apart for the use of the senators; and
they are used particularly for pur-
poses of correspondence by the states
men with the aid of their stenogra phi
erS.
The staircases leading to the capitol
from Pennsylvania avenue and from
ed that pieces of cement have fall
len out, and now one can almost lay a
hand in the crevices between the stones
of the stairs. Through these places
the water runs and seeps every time it
rains, and the result is that the cell
ings of the committee rooms of the ter
race are constantly moistened and are
| often very wet, thereby rendering the
entire place damp and unfit for human
habitation.
| 1t must be remembered that this con-
| dition of affairs is the fault of nobody.
The main floor of the capitol is 50
well constructed that it is constantly
penetrated by the light Of day; and the
/ senate chamber and the hall of the
house of represen tatives are also we'll
! supplied with the cheerful light of ma
| ture. The ground floor of the capitol,
! however, is so constructed that but
| little light can penetrate it's walls. corri-
,
| tol building is well supplied with gas
(! fixtures and also splendid electric
| plant, so that artificial light could be
! furnished easily all the time through
| the negligence of nobody the ground
floor is usually left in gloom. There is
] no necessity for excessive economy
! either in the use of gas or of electricity.
! The Ea1s are dangerously dark, because
OF the negligence or pure cussedness of
! noEG1y.
/ TIE labcrers of the capitol carry
! bCe ks, pamphlets and all manner of
I literary merchandise through the cor
: riders of the ground floor of the capi-
tol en- heavy trucks. Because they
! have not proper supervision, they fire.
quently leave those trucks in the mid
: ole of the corridors or halls where it
i is so dark that the dangerous obstruc-
tiCns cannot be. seen, and accidents
1 fIequartIy occur. About a year before
his retirement from congress- the fa-
12ous orator, Wit and statesman, Sisn-et
Cox. fell over one of these
: trucks and narrowly escape 1
hTeak.rg his neck. On that occasion,
TIC e~'igent workman who had left
t =. t''clS in the way was dismissed;
h,=t the habit still continues. These
tiucizs and other obStructions Of a SINH
lar nature which are left in the corri-
Gurs of The ground floor of the capitol
are particularly dangerous because Of
the darkness there.
Underneath the sandstone steps of
the east front of the capitol the rooms
are filled with lot of secondhand
furniture, niled in an indiscriminate
manner so that if any good pieces of
frrriture are sought here, it would be
like hnn.ing fer them in q labyrinth.
Snnle day there viii be somebody who
VIII GisrCse of all of this truck and
c,ean mp tie rooms so that they can be
used for some committee room of the
} he slse or serate.
Tho gel cries ar2und tie statuary ha /
a~e rilfd with .hookshelves and cover q
W I. books. which have rot heen dust
Cd Fer a generation. This hall was
fc'1,efry I rsed by I horse of renf Sc
Is iN es. ard would be Il beau .if,sl lace
but fdf is disf g!ar n ent aty he storir g,
]. CT. hoelxs IN the ga'laries. where they
do not belong and Mher they cugat OF.
&c be, permitted to say.