Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1900-04-28
FIGURED BY NATURE
PORTRAITS IN TRE WALL or The
FAMOUS MARBLE ROOM.

partment THAT shows N Fcrfcct
Profile of Queen Victoria and other
| interesting Pictures.
| The often repeated statement that
| Uncle sam is without sentiment Is IL
Illustrated in a measure in the treasury
/ department. The famous marble room,
which cost the government 100000.
/ although still a place of beauty, is no
! longer an ornamental chamber only.
! The room around which tradition has
woven many a 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 complet
| ed their labors and visitors were al
| lowed to gaze upon its magnificence. Ii
| was declared to be the finest room Ia
] the country. Men and women of ma
| tional and international fame have
| danced upon the marble floors where
/ today stand prosaic counters and
| desks. The pretty gallery in which sat
the famously beautiful women of those
/ days. where society gossiped and bellies
and beaus carried on flirtations, is still
| retained. But ii is empty, and no one,
| unless it be the spirits of those who
/ once adorned the room, looks down up
/ on the small army of employees who
! handle S262, 100000 each year before
| 1t is distributed throughout the United
| States.
! This famous room of the treasury de-
partment has been used for this pur-
| pose for a number of years. The grow
! ing demands of the department made
! this necessary, but the place has not
| lost reputation even IL it has become
! one of the governments workshops
| The marble room OF the treasury de-
| paTtment is known far and wide and
| is feature of interest to visitors on a
| tour of inspection of the building. The
| interior is constructed of marble
brought from sunny Italy. from France
| and from Vermont
f. +. Spinner was treasurer when
| the room was built w. H. West was
| chief clerk, and A. b. Mullett was the
| supervising architect. Hugh McCul-
| loch was secretary of the treasury. and
! his assistants were W. Il. Chandler
and ]. +. Hartly. This information IS
| proclaimed by two marble slabs placed
| above the doors. All the marble is
without doubt the most magnificent
! that could be obtained. One of the
squares, however, is particularly re-
markable. 1t is beautiful specimen
| - IL l,Ia A arly
runs through the middle of this square,
| the most remarkable one in the whole
room. On it., as though drawn by an
artist, is n picture of Queen Victoria, a
full life sized figure of an old Quaker
ess and the head and shoulders of a
| French soldier with his little round
cap set jauntily on the side of his
head, fastened with a cord that runs
down the side of the face and under
the chin.
The discovery of the faces and fig
ures on the marble was made by Mes
senger w. r. Elliott One day, while
| seated in front of the square, he was
startled by the lines Of alternate black
and white forming the figure of the old
! Quakeress a full side view of the old
woman is shown. The traditional poke
bonnet is pictured, a shawl covers the
| slightly dropped shoulders, and the
hands are folded complacently in front
| Of the body, 1t needs no steady gaze
| to bring out the picture. 1t is as per-
feet as though drawn by master
| hand
The face of Queen Victoria is also
| remarkably true to life. 1t requires
no effort of Imagination to draw out
! the contour of her face. Only the pro-
! file and small portion of the shout
ders are displayed. The face of Queen
| Victoria on the marble has given the
| officials no end Of amusement. Several
| years ago, while number of young
| English women who had visited this
| country for the purpose of attending
| Christian Endeavor convention were
| being taken through the treasury de
| partment they were shown the face Of
| their beloved queen. They were great
| ly amazed at the likeness. and many
| ordinations Of love and veneration
were expressed. While admiring the
| queer designing Of nature one Of the
young women declared that the Eng
lish government should purchase the
marble square.
The picture of the French solaier 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 as
they are drawn by famous French
military artists. Nothing could be
more truly drawn than the round cap
which is 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 Ines
Washington Post.
Mightier Tribe,
Once upon time the Rev. Thoma'
X. Beecher of Elmira, n. Y, brother
to Henry Ward Beecher, got into some