The times., 1897-07-04
THE CRYPT OF THE CAPITOL
To BE Reclaimed From NuSty
Air and DampneSS.
IMPROVEMENTS on A BIG SCALE
The Historic Mausoleum of the
Nation. Forum To BE Benovaf Ell
fUr Modern Purposes-Now Used
Ia store Senator's Bikes What
II Looks Like.

The crypt Of the capitol VIII soon De
thoroughly renodeled and restored To
something like a senibIance OF Its former
self, making it a gain d wholesome, If not
attractive, resort for visitors and sight
Eeers.
With It's low arched passage ways and
dark corners stored with books, where
IDusty aif ana danpness might always be
found, i has been, for the most part,
seldom seen 10y any OF the many thousands
that annually visit the home o the nation
lawmakers. Though 1t has occasionally
been suggested as a promising tleId for
odd auG curious articles, In the form or
reiusi It would take a man o fyast iniagina-
tion 10 discover any object OF bygone gen
Grafton there and bring 1t TO light from
theInner Eeoess IS OF this subterranean vault
and its labyrinth OF corridors. The only
thing in this category that may be seen
there now is The bier upon which the re-
mains Of Lincoln, Garfield and Logan have
IeposeG white lying in state
The crypt, or rather, that portion of the
basement Of the rotunda commonly called
such, was originally a vast hall extending
under the whole floor Of the great dome
Its Iow-arched ceiling Is supported 10y
pOnderous, massive-lo0EinE columns Of
sandstone arranged in circular rows around
q common center. giving the whole the
appearance of an Egyptian tomb of tie
tiue Of the Pharoahs Like the greater
part Of the Capitol, it is built Of free
stone, taken from the old Government
QGarries, at Aqua Greek, some forty miles
below the city There is nearly half a
no 90
the crypt and the House and Senate wings
which were added by the present architect,
Mr Clark, thirty-six years ago, and that
IS why there is such "A great difference be-
tween the nature Of the materials used in
their construction In its original form
the crypt was a roomy basement, cooled
by drafts OF air that poured in through the
east and west entrances When the IA
nous Garfield tea party was given in
the rotunda for the benefit Of the Garfield
memorial fund. several booths were erected
in the crypt also.
However, in 1892, when the Toner col
lection cf some twenty-seven thousand
valuable volumes, maps and manuscript:
was added To the already crowded Library
of Congress. il was decided 10 store them
in the crypt and accordingly the four
corners of tie same We're partitioned off
making as many low ding rooms, where
in tie Toner COLLECTION was stored II
remained there until its recent removal tC
the new Congressional Library building
As soon as the space occupied by the
p, ,0O0 volumes was vacated il was again
filled with thousands OF bound copies OF
the newspapers of the United States, he
sides numerous maps and manuscripts.
These will soon lie removed 10 the new
Library, as they are probably most used
Of all the volumes OF the Library; and theI
The regular force OF workmen at the Capitol
under the supervision of Acting Architect
william L. Wood, will begin 10 remove
the wooden and brick partitions thai
have for more than a decade and a hall
cramped the space of the crypt until I
has become little more than two inter
seciing corridors.
These corridors have recently been used
for the storage OF the bikes OF Senator
Tfl.man. Representative Simpson and 9th
ers who ride the wheel. but the advent oi
tile workInen viii soon necesState the
Temporary removal of these wheels to some
other part of the Capitol.
When the partitions have been removed