The morning times., 1897-02-08
THE PLANS MAY Be CHANGED
General Wilson Inspected the
New POStoffice Building.
MORE LIGHT is NECESSARY
Supervising Architect Aiken Said
to Have Made Alterations With
out Consulting the Building COM
missioners-COntr May Re-
turn to the Original Designs.

There is reason to believe that the tour
OF inspection through the new postOffice
building, made by Postmaster General
Wilson, Saturday afternoon, has something
to do with notifications of the plans of
the building. As bids have been already
advertised for according to the PFC ent
changes to be made should be made soon.
The construction Of the building is under
the control of a commission, consisting Of
the Postmaster General, the Secretary Of
the Treasury, and the Secretary OF the
Interior. The first supervising architect
was w. ]. Edbrooke, who was appointed
under the Harrison administration, and
who prepared the original plans for the
structure. j. O'Rourke was appointed
under the present administration. The
only important alteration he made III Mr.
Edbrooke's plans was to substitute smooth
cut stone for rock face above the second
story. Mr.. O'Rourke was succeeded by
the present supervising architect, w. M.
Aiken.
Mr.. Aiken has made a very radical change
in the interior plans Mr.. Edbrooke had
provided for large corridor fifteen feet
wide, running all around the court, all the
ROOMS in the building to be between the
corridor and the street. Mr.. Aiken changed
this by locating rooms along the court and
running a narrow corridor between tie
rooms facing the court ana the rooms facing
tile street The corridor, being largely shut
out from natural light, will have to be arti-
fiaia E,rI,tA tAI -l,nr 4,
more rooms, they will not be so pleasant
and commodlouS.
1t is stated that Mr. Aiken made this
change in the plans without consulting
the commission, and that they think it bet
ter to return to the original plan Of a cor
ridor along the court, thereby making fewer
suites Of rooms, but larger and more com.
Portable ones. While the Postmaster Gen
eral would not say anything about the at
ter, it is probable that this Is the reason he
inspected the building, having a natural de
sire to see for himself which would be the
better arrangement.
AS to the suggestions that the general
postoffice might be moved into the build
ing, that is a matter which the coming
administration will have to decide, and
from present indications they VIII have
plenty OF time to do it. While it has been
announced that the ground floor VIII be
ready for the local postoffice by July I,
it is safe to extend the time six months
beyond that, while the remainder OF the
building viii not be ready for occupancy
for several months thereafter.
The present arrangement for the upper
portion OF the building is that it shall be
divided between the Interstate Commerce
Commission, Civil Service Cummissi on,
Bureau of Education, Geological Survey,
and Bureau of Indian Affairs. fit is de-
cided to put the general postuffice into the
building, and use the one now occupied
as an annex TO tie Interior Department,
it Will neccssitate an entire abrogation
of the present arrangement.
There is plenty of room for the general
postoffice, in fact, ore than it Will need
for number of years to come. The floor
space in the building, without including
the attic or the ground floor, which will
be used for the local postoffice, is 23S,OOO
square feet.