The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-10-30
PAGES
9 to IL.

To be marked by tremendous interest.
Oh the former there is no doubt. and
the latter is proving itself by every
new discovery.
Some one suggested burning tho hide.
Gus paint off the senate chamber fire.
place. and To the delight OF the com-
mittee there came TO light the original
delicate coiors i'm which the founders
delighted which had been hidden by
generations OF useful but inartistic
paint.
When the architect took hold OF tho
work of the second floor. which was
given over To the City chapter OF the
ID. q. r., and whose restoration has
been finished by them. he was con-
fronted with problem that might
have baffled many less keen and perse-
vering This was restoring the nusty.
divided council chambers 10 the stately
banquet hail where mingled the social
and official greatness of colonial days
cLriousy enough, no description could
possibly be found Of the hail, even i'm
the descriptions OF famous banuuets
held there.
And where 90 you think they found
their clew? In the celebrated Chew
house in Germantown. whore the battle
OF Germantown was fought
And here is the way they worked IL
out. A late writer recorded that CHIEF
Justice Chew was so impressed with
the great architectural beauty OF fina
colonial arch leading from the ban
quoting hall that he was having IL re-
produced in his new home. cliveden.
then building. Ii only takes few
minutes 10 get To Germantown. and
there was the house. there was the
arch, there was the clew, and enthusf-
asm boiled up and over in the hearts
of architect and committee.
Then the architect discovered an old.
old man living near him at Devon. who
owned up that when young fellow he
had worked at alterations i'm Independ-
ence hall. Could he remember any
thing? Well, he thought he could. They
took him to the building. and he i'm
sisted that iireplaces were i'm certain
portions of what seemed solid walls.
lie persisted in his statement. and the
workmen examined the walls. There
were the firepaces. i'm all their original
masonry and brickwork-even the very
smoked backs and hearths just as
when they We're last used, And a clew
To the character OF the mantels was
found i'm white carved wood imbedded
i'm the masonry.
In the loft of the statehouse they
discovered a heap of square tiles that
had fashioned the hearths. and they
now are fitted into their old places.
They also found the original floor OF
the second story, which had grievousy
saggcd under the newer supported
flooring put in when Peale's museum
taI
are the original ones. Every day dis
covers lovely trimmings. facade and
even marblework overlaid by thicken.
ed ugly coats of paint
Probably one of the most interesting
and available discoveries TO the arch
itect Is the preservation of all original
material where recent changes have
been made. The original starcases
were removed, but preserved. Even
portions of the mantels remain as the
heads of doorways. The entrance to the
quarter sessions court is a part of the
original Congress hall
'One of the most obvious conditions
in the examination of the whole
structure is the sedulous care while
adapting 1t to preserve intact the origi-
nal work of the building" is the most
remarkable fact Mr.. Keyser points out
in letter To Mr.. Warwick
When window sashes were required
10 make the rooms more comfortable.
they were placed within the old win
dows and the sashes and panes OF the
old construction preserved. where they
now remain. When the shingle roof fall
ed. IL was covered over, but left un-
disturbed and uninjured. and the tin
roof laid over it. but entirely separated
from 1t. The original shingle roof re-
mains there now. When the old fire.
places were disused. they were left un-
disturbed and bricked over. so that they
now appear i'm the restoration with the
drching and the backs blackened by tha
wood fires. as they were left When
the old clock faces and works were re-
placed by the present ones. the works
were placed i'm the care of one OF
the churches. to he used and return
ed when required by the city. The VAIN
scoting of the lower rooms i'm Inde-
pendence hall mainly remains as origi-
nally placed there. The parts taken
down from the chamber of the Declara-
tion in 1923 were stored away and.
when better taste prevailed. restored in
great part as IL now remains. The
whole statehouse, as originally con-
structed, rafters, joists. plaster. fire
places. roofs. floors, windows and frag-
mcnts of tiles in fireplaces. being as
originally made. Underlying all the
modern work. there remains the old
statehouse of the colonial times and the
Revolution"
who knows what's i'm the air from
this work of the restoration?" says
writer. commenting on the restoring OF
Independence han. I'VE may be on the
verge OF a Revolutionary furor, as we
have just passed through a Napoleonic
one VIII il bring back knee breeches
and cues? VIII the jewelers. display
gorgeous snuffboxes. and will men and
women return to the stately manners
of last century? VIII the minuet take
the place OF the waltz and old English
be regarded as better than phonetic
spelling? Who can tsllT
Many people eat altogether too much
-aIt The ppSult is that the skin and