The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-12-08


use of them will efTectually cure this
/ troublesome and dangerous disease.
sions even until 1928. Ladies were excIud-
ed from the galleries for some years.
The first Supreme Court session held in
the Capitol began February .. 1901. in one
of the Senate committee rooms, on the
! west side of the north wings basement
fioor
When the British Army marched into
Washington in 1914 the Capitol WIS still
unfinished. Only the two wings were
standing. and these were still connected
/ by the sheltered bridge OF rough boards
constructed across the foundation of the
rotunda. The British troops, on reaching
the Capitol first fred several yoileys into
| the windows. A regiment marched into
the House of Representatives Pine boards
| torn from the bridge between the wings
were piled upon the floor and strewn over
with valuable books and papers taken from
the Congressional Library. Army rockets
were discharged through the roof of each
| wing. The soldiers then marched upon
/ the White House and committed similar
! dep7edations there A heavy rainstorm
setting in an hour later extinguished the
| flames before the walls of the Capitol had
been destroyed
Z
Hotel, at Seventh and streets. after
the burning OF the Capitol In 1916 a
| building at the southeast corner of tzary-
land Avenue and First Street northeast
was leased. Meanwhile the rebuilding OF
the Capitol had commenced under the
direction of Architect Latrobe, who. how
| ever, was succeeded by Charles BIZ uch
Of Massachusetts,. in 1917. EGlfnch re-
manned architect Of the Capitol until
7 IL baI
| ried out by him.
Whisper Galleries Echoed Secrets.
The Senate floor. which. before the fire.
/ had been level with the basement, was. IN
! the course of these repairs, elevated 10
! the height Of the main floor. The base
ment space thus provided beneath IL. and
now the law library, was thereupon &C
cupied by the Supreme Court. The House
! OF Representatives, now Statuary Hall.
was reconstructed along finer lines. The
/ peculiar acoustic properties which carry
| the feintest whispers across Its entire
| length soon developed to an embarrass-
| ing extent The political secrets OF fac
| tions silently eonspiring in remote COR
1 ners of the hall could be distinctly over
heard by innocent rivals sitting at re-
! spectful distances.
| The two wings were connected for the
| first time by the central rotunda. sur
mounted by a low dome 145 feet high,
| constructed of brick, stone. and wood,
/ and sheathed with copper. The main hall
| of the Library of Congress was erected
west OF the rotUnda Thus, not until 1927
was the original Capitol, at total cost
/ Of s. 433 S14. actually completed
! Beneath the centre OF the rotunda was
/ built the crypt, subterranean chamber.
! in which, when the rotgnda was designed,
| it was proposed TO place the body OF
/ Washington A galleTied opening was to
| be left in the centre Of the rotunda floor.
! and through this the sarcophagus con-
| tanning the sacred remains was 10 be
| viewed in the crypt. Mrs Washington,
| who had consented to the removal of the
remains from Mount w rnon died before
| the proposition was carried out. Wash
ington's heirs then entered objection and
! the project was abandoned in 1882.
I keeper of the crypt" by order of Con-
gress. kept light burning In the vault
/ until the civil war. Up to that period it
| had not been extinguished for fifty years.
A larger Capitol became necessary in the
middle of the century. 1t was thereupon
! decided to add greater wings to those al
/ ready built. Thomas ". Walter, wEo had
| built Girard College, Philadelphia, was ap-
| pointed architect. On Independence Day,
| 1851. President Fillmore laid the corner
stone of the extension and Daniel Webster
| delivered an eloquent Grafton. The mate
rial for the walls of the new wings was
white marble, slightly variegated with
| blue. It was Guarried at Lee, Mass. The
| columns ad0rning the wings were cut from
| single blocks OF marble quarried in Cock
eysvlIIe Md IN 1856 the old low dome
was removed and the construction of tae
new one begun The latter made of iron
/ castings bolted together and painted white
/ required nine years for construction, and
] cost 81, 250, COO. It weighs 1876 tons. The
/ bronze statue of Freedom surrounding 1t
/ was modelled by Thomas Crawford and
| cost nearly So. 900. 1t is Nineteen and one
! half feet high and weighs 1885 pounds.
It's torEnost point towers 22g feet above
! ground. When the larger Capitol was
completed In November 1867. me total
cost, Including the original building and
| extension, amounted to nearly 1900 GO0.
/ In 1860 the Supreme Court removed to
/ the hall which the Senate had Just vacat-
! ed for its new chambers IN the north mar
4 bic wing. The court has since retained
/ these quarters. those (Which 1t vacated be-
ing occupied by the law library OF Con-
/ gress. as stated
| Architect Walter having resigned in
/ 1855, his former assistant. Edward Clark.
! of Philadelphia. succeeded him and COM
/ pleted the porticoes OF the new wings, the
grand Stairways. and the imposing marble
| terraces approaching the west front Mr.
| Clark. at venerable old age, still retains
! his Important Office When Congress as
| serabIed Iast Monday 1t discovered the
! most recent Of his improvements upon the
| old structure This was the subdivision of
/ the space vacated a few years since by
f! the Congressional Library into handsome
committee rooms. Architect Clark has
| completed plans for still greater Capt.
/ toll. These include q new marble front
! covering the original sandstone face of the
I old Capitol and adding an imposing yes
! Thule to the rotunda. Another feature is
! q grand portico thrown out froTa the east
! front to properly balance the portieoes of
/ the wings. behind which the present main
/ portico retreats. This improvement would
/ bring the total cost Of the Capitol to 49,
| 23s, 600.