The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1900-05-02
FIGURED BY NATURE
PORTRAITS IN THE WALL OF THE
FAMOUS MARBLE ROOM.

A Slab of stone In the Treasury De-
partment That shows Perfect
Profile OF Queen Victoria aud other
Interesting Pictures
The often repeated statement that
Uncle sam Is without sentiment Is H.
Illustrated In Il measure In the treasury
department The famous marble room,
which cost the government 100000,
although still Il place of beauty, Is no
longer an ornamental chamber only.
The room around which tradition has
woven many II curious tale, the room
In which General Grant received the
guests who attended his first inaugural
ball, Is now used as "A cash room.
Long years ago, when the architect
who planned the interior of the room
saw his dream realized, when the
painters and decorators had compiet.
ed their lahors aud visitors were al
lowed TO gaze upon Its magnihcence, Ii
was declared TO be the finest room In
the country, Men and women OF ma
tional and international fame have
danced upon the marble floors where
desks. The pretty gallery In which sat
the famously beautiful women of those
days, where society gossiped and bellies
and beaus carried on fllrtations, Is stu
retained. But II is empty, and no one,
unless 1t be the spirits of those who
once adorned the room, looks down up
on the small army of employees who
handle S2G2, 100000 each year before
It is distributed throughout the United
States.
This famous room of the treasury de.
partment has been used for this pur-
pose for number of years. The grow.
Ing demands of the department made
this necessary, but the place has not
lost reputation even II 1t has become
one of the governments workshops.
The marble room of the treasury dc.
partmcnt Is known far and wide and
Is feature of interest to visitors on n
tour of inspection Of the building. The
Interior Is constructed OF marble
brought from sunny Italy, from France
and from Vermont.
Il. II. Spinner was treasurer when
the room WAS built w. II. West was
chief clerk and a. b. Mullett was the
supervising architect. Hugh McCul,
loch was secretary of the treasury. and
his assistants We're W. IL. Chandler
aud j. L. lInrtly. This information is
proclaimed by two marble slabs placed
above the doors All the marble IL
without doubt the most magnificent
that could be obtained. One of the
squares, however. Is particularly re-
markablc. II Is Il beautiful specimen
Of blnck Vermont marble. A crack
runs through the middle of this square,
the most remarkable one In the whole
room. on it, as though drawn by an
artist, Is picture of Queen Victoria,
full life sized figure of an old Quaker
ess and the hend and shoulders of q
French soldier, with his little round
cap set jauntily on the side of his
head fastened with cord that runs
down the side of the face and under
the chin.
The discovery Of the faces and 1lg
ures OH the marble was made by Mes
sengcr W. r. Elliott. One day, while
seated In front of the square, he was
startled ny The lines of alternate black
and white forming the figure Of the old
Quakcress \ fun side view of the old
woman Is shown. The traditional poke
bon. Is pictured, n shawl covers the
slightly dropped shoulders. and the
hands are folded eomplacently In front
of the body 1t needs no steady gaze
to bring ont the picture. 1t IL as per-
feet as though drawn by master
hand
The face OF Queen Victoria IL also
remarkably true to life. 1t requires
no effort of Imagination TO draw out
the contour Of her face. Only the pro-
file and q small portion of the shoul.
ders are displayed. The face OF Queen
Victoria on the marble has given the
officials no end OF amusement Several
years ago. while a number of young
English women who had visited this
country for the purpose Of attending a
Christian Endeavor convention were
being taken through the treasury de-
partmcnt, they were shown the face OF
their beloved queen. They were great
ly amazed Mt the likeness and many
ordinations of love and veneration
were expressed While admlIing the
queer designing of nature one OF the
young women declared that the Eng
llsh government should purchase the
marble squire.
The picture OF the French soldier Is
shown In the lower right hand corner
OF the square The figure Is half life
size and Is In profile, like the other two.
The shoulders are thrown back just rs
they are drawn by famous French
military artists. Nothing could be
more truly drawn than the round cap
which IL set half over the left ear.
There are other faces and figures TO be
found on the square. Dogs, birds and
countless grotesque figures can easily
be traced by following the lines
Washington Post.