The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1897-06-01


gallery forSan hour or more until the;
old man who 5kse us N pictures UP here,
learned their entire history Finally, he
remarked :ts.tHello, Mr. Blank, how d.
YOU do ~ Come up here ON top OF this
picture and see me- We keep lunch up
here for all Il Ohio folks, especially for
lovers from Fost oria. :" The young man
was frightened almost to death, but his;
girl actually tainted in his arms. The
surprise was SO complete and over
whelming that the old man did not dare
to tell them anything about it, nor ex-
plain to them the whisper gallery as he
used to do with visitors, after he had
played with them. SIS 81
5558Ss5 Another story is told concerning two
colored men who had climbed to the
dome and We're standing there talking
about their home in Lynchburg, Va,
and wishing that Jim, John and Jake.
Sallie and the rest of the people would
come to Washington and climb the
dome, when they We're startled to hear
q voice, sounding in their ears as though
from q spirit in the air saying: The.
policemen are aware Of your presence
in this city and you will be captured as
soon as you go down stairs. That was
coWardly murder which you committed
in Iynchburg, and you need not expect
to escape. You will be taken back and
you will be hanged Both these darkies
went tumbling down the winding stairs
Il
Very few minutes. They were probably
the worst frightened fellows who ever
climbed the dome. 45
s In addition to the regular policemen
WHO patrol the main floor Of the Capitol
building and who take note Of the fact
every time any person or couples or
groups Of people go up to the dome and
when they come down. there are three
policemen placed at intervals along the
stairway which leads to the dome, to
protect visitors and see that nothing i'm
proper occurs. These policemen have
probably made no arrests in the last
twenty years, because their presence
prevents wrong doing. Before the stair
way leading to the dome was properly
guarded by the policemen. however
q great many purses and watches were
snatched and stolen from visitors. The
principal duty of the policemen at pres
ent Is to prevent visitors from defacing
the dome by writing their names upon
1t or chipping off pieces to carry away
with them. The roof, you know, Is un-
covered, and men used to sneak up and
steal strips of it, so that it was really
difficult to keep the dome under cover.
The policemen have nothing to do but
sit still and watch the people and study
the various phases OF humanity One
or them is quite an elderly man. who
mas been on the landing in the dome so
long that he has become quite a philoso.
Pher. He can tell many stories abotf
odd people and peculiar characters who
nave passed in there, ana the many
IooliSh questions they ask, as we'll as
the self Importance OF some of them.
Some OF the people insist upon going
out on the balcony, where there is no
raining, and such persons frequently
give him great deal Of annoyance and
trouble. He says thatEo on one occasion
there was Very stylish and dudish
1elioW who came there and insisted upon
going out on the forbidden gallery with
his wife, claiming his right as "a dis
tlngushed citizen. He said 50 many
times that he was n DISTINGUISHED cit
izen and had a right 10 go wherever
ne pleased. thai finally the policeman
sad The mpsi distinguished man in
ms country Is no: permitted 10 go out
on that balcony, and certainly Won ca
not 90. l have here 4 picture Of the
most distinguished man in the county,
ana nave again and again refused
MN permission To go out on that ba l.
conY, just as have YOU Here is a
picture OF the mos; distinguished man
III the country, said the policeman ani,
ne TOOK hand mirror and held it in
front OF the pompous visitor The stran-
ger SWoTe a little. while his wife laughed
until she almost died
saw very handsome elderly lady
sitting upon one of the Settees in the
rotunda one afternoon last week. and
ascertained from one OF the C,onitol
suiues that she was a chaperone for a
Young couple from Baltimore. She sat
there alone for about two hours. while
me young couple climbed the dome. The
cha perone weighed about 200 pounds,
was very fat and good natured lady,
and was Drobab bly, selected,by the Young
iaoy for her immense avoidrupois. That
Is the kind of q chaperone to have.
Whenever any girl comes to Washington
Win a lover in the party, the lady who
IS selected TO chaperone her should be
seiected from the heavy weights of the
city or village. No fat person can
climb the dome, and it is one of the finest
places for Irritation on the face of the
globe The guides tell me that there
are from ten to thirty big fat chaperones
sitting round the rotunda every day.
waiting Tor the return Of the girls whom
they are watching