The age-herald., 1899-09-03
Renewing Paint and Making Re-
 pairs on All Buildings, WHITE HOUSE OVERHAULED All Tapestry Replaced With New
 and Fresher Design. WORK GOING ON AT THE CAPITOL The Freizs Representing the History of the Nation in Allegory Has
 Never Been Completed The
 Scafiold Still Standing
WORK GOING ON AT THE CAPITOL

Washington, September 1.-(Special)- Uncle sam's house-cleaning month Is on and every department and public building in Washington, the venerable old gentle man with host of scrubbing women, painters and upholsterers is busy from 9 o'clock until with their brushes, pans and Jacks. These are the hours which the government clerk has to work and the scrub women have the same. If the la borers about the buildings were. asked to stay later there would probably be a wholesale strike. The work of renewing tine paint of the capitol building itself has been going on pretty much all summer, but nothing is ever done in the treasury, war slate and navy and tine old patent office until September. The older public buid- ings have to be renovated once year for sanitary purposes if for no other. The walls are very old and muster and it is only by constant painting and frescoing that they are kept dry during the wet months and the buildings kept in sani- tary condition
 The white house has undergone a thor ough overhauling during the absence of in president. The celebrated blue room has been made over. The old tapistry has been replaced with a newer and fresher design, and the furniture re-guilded and upholster ed. The east room, where the public is ad- mitted, and where the receptions are held, has been touched up with paint and new carpets are to be laid this month This Is the largest room in Washington, and it requires a very large sum to recarpet 1t.
 The most extensive work has been done on the capitol. The ventilating system has been greatly improved and the elec- tric lighting extended to every dark nook in the building The house of representa- tives has been torn up and recarpeted and frescoed. The corridors of the house and of the capitol which have always been of a heavy dull grey, are being frescoed and when finished will rival the beautiful corridors in the senate end Each branch of congress has the saying as to how much ornamental work shall be put upon their respective ends of the capitol, and each makes its own recommendations for ap- proprations. The senate has been ex- travagant in its decorations. It has set aside every year a large sum of money with which to fresco its committee rooms
 
 of the capitol in the senate end is beauti- fully frescoed and every committee room upholstered. The house has been stingy to itself and has never appropriated any money for self-beautifying but once, that being when it was decided to freseoe the walls of the ways and means committee room.
 since then this oon1noittaa haS hean called the aristocratic committee of the house or sometime the "frescoed favorite." But the house has gotten no thanks for its economy and its walls have remained an eyesore to each succeeding congress. But the house is now undergoing repairs which will make it a rival in beauty to the senate. The corridors and halls in the base ment of the house end will remain in their unfinished state. however for the mem- brs could not be got to see the necessity of frescoing places which were not con- stantly on review. The great rotunda and dome are being tuoched up but very little will be done to it until it has been deiin- itely settled just how the freize which ex- tends around the entire circuit of the dome will be Anshed.
 This freize is in monocrosses of black and brown and represents in gigantic out line the history of the government in al- legory. It has never been completed About ten feet remain to be done. Three fresco painters have lost their lives, hay ing fallen from that height to the floor of the rotunda, where they were instantly killed. The wood scaffolding still hangs propped against the wall, waiting for some painter to draw in outline another period in American history. During each ad- ministraton an attempt has been made to have the president represented in some way on this freze, his friends being anx- ious to pespetuate some signal deed of his in this way. But up to the present time it has always failed, The friends of Garfield wanted him placed in the freze on account Of his tragic death, but conservative opn- ien prevented such a ridiculous thought being put Into execution. Then the friends of Harrison wanted to chain his there The suggestion which came nearest being car ried out was that to represent President Cleveland touching the electric spark which set the machinery of the worlds fair irl motion,