The Saint Paul globe., 1897-10-25
TON A MOST WONDERFUL
STRUCTURE.
THE PAINTINGS OF BRUMIDI.
THE WALLS AS SIMPLE
FRESCOES.
FORTUNES IN THE BRONZE DOORS.
Many Features of Interest Pointed
Out by the King of the
Guides.

Special to the Globe.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 23.-Mr. How
ard P. Kennedy is called the king Of
the guides at the capitol. He has ac-
quired eminence and prominence in his
profession by hard work. He has only
been in Washington during the past
four years, and by dint Of hard study
and close, careful observation he has
become the best posted of all the
guides, and is able to give minute de-
Scriptions Of every corner and crevice
of the marble building on the hill. The
records Of the office of the supervising
architect of the capitol contain histort-
cal data Of great interest, but Mr.. Ken
nedy is the only guide who has taken
time to delVe in those records and
CLEAN from them accurate information.
1t is not a difficult matter to stand
around, listen to others talk and grad
ually acquire information concerning
the edifice, but to get right down to
studious research and burrow in books
is different. 1t is, however, the only
way to become accurate and reliable.
Mr.. Kennedy is a man Of rotund figure,
forty-two years old, about five feet
five inches in height, neat and cleanly
always, and gentlemanly of address.
1t is interesting to see him in the
rotunda offering his services to stran-
gers as they enter the handsome CEN
trail room Of the magnificent structure.
The guides wear badges showing that
they are authorized to conduct Stran-
gers about and entertain them, yet it
often happens that timid visitors fear
te trust them and decline their serv-
ices. A gentleman and lady entered
from the east portico this afternoon
and, when Mr.. Kennedy politely spoke
to them and offered to conduct them
through the building, the gentleman
rudely refused. The king came over
near the picture of De Soto discover
ing the Mississippi river, and said:
THAT stranger is an Englishman. He
is just over and has not been in Amer
lea more than a week. No, I never
saw him before, but have been accus-
toned to seeing people and reading
them like books, so that I don't need
diagram of mans pedigree in order
to know who and what he is. That
man is an Englishman, and he will be
discover in very few minutes that
he needs me-"
THE painting of Brumidi, who was
enthusiastically employed for a life
time in beautifying the capitol with
his brush, is best displayed in the
state committee rooms on the District
of Columbia and on military affairs;
and in the house committee on agri-
culture. In the latter room the artist
displayed the old style of cutting grain
with sickle on one side of the room,
and on the opposite wall he has paint
ed the new style of reaping by ma
ehinery. On the north side of the
room is a picture Of Putnam, being
called from the plow, and on the
south side is a painting representing
Cincinnatus called from the plow. The
greatest of all Brumidis paintings,
however, is the presidents room in
the senate wing. The great plaster
painting of the canopy over the dome
will warrant a separate letter for it's
description. In passing, L will say,
however, that it is the only true Ital-
ian frescoed canopy in America"
Sure enough, inside Of ten minutes
the stalwart gentleman accompanied
by the lady returned and looked
around the rotunda. as though seek
ing something lost. Mr. Kennedy was
looking for them, and quietly walked
towards them. The gentleman imme-
diately engaged his services, and off
they went for tour of the building.
This evening, Mr.. Kennedy said:
"The most conservative foreigners are
the English. They always refuse the
services of a guide, because they feel
they can take care of themselves. But
they soon find that they are in the
most wonderful building on earth,
and, because they are intelligent, they
seek a guide. After going all over the
capitol and seeing the wonderful work
of Brumidi, the painter, as well as the
skillful results achieved by the archi
tects, they invariably declare it to be
the greatest building on earth"
Mr. Kennedy gives interesting de-
tails concernig the building. For ex-
ample, he has aScertained that there
are 8,909000 pounds of iron in the su-
perstructure Of the dome. The build
ing is $50 feet long. The height, to
the crown of the goddess of freedom,
is 3071a feet.
Concerning Statuary hall, Mr.. Ken
nedy saws: "The floor of that room
was six feet lower than it is now when
the house held it's meetings there. In
January, 1859, when the house moved
into it's new quarters, the floor was
covered with concrete and raised six
feet to a level with the rotunda, and
the mosaic tiling, laid upon that solid
concrete, increased the echOing quail
ties of the room. The reason that
there are no statues here from the
Southern states is that, by resolution
of congress, passed in July, 1864, the
room was devoted to statues Of two
heroes from each state then in the
Union; and consequently the South
ern states have no place in the hall.
Captain Jack Decker erected all of
these statues, lifting them upon their
Dedestals by the crudest machinery,
because the architect will allow no
derrick or other modern machinery in
the house.
'sMr. Decker is the man who also
lifted the statue of freedom, weigh
ing $4,000 pounds, to the top of the
dome. He discovered the crude use of
the telephone When the Workmen
were hammering all around the iron
dome, making bedlam, and no sound
could reach the workmen, Jack Deck
er discovered that by talking at one
end of the rope his vioce would be car
ried to his Workmen Two hunoreo IeeI
in the air.
'The great bronze doors which now
stand in the east entrance to the ro-
ty1nda used to be at the south entrance
to Statuary hall. These doors cost
s28 500. weigh ten tons, and are copies
of the celebrated Ghiberu doors at the
Raptistry Of Florence, Italy; except
that the Ghiberti doors are commemo-
rative of Biblical events, and the cap
itoJ doors mennonite Of events in the
life of Columbus"
The king went on to the senate wing,
and showed something which nobody
wo,1Id know, or could know, without
learning it from one who knows all
ahoIIt details. The bronze doors at the
east door of the senate wing of the