The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1900-12-16


ana improvements that have been
@pade In the capitol building during the
eecess. which give each branch Of con-
gresS IL additional committee rooms.
They are likewise loud In their praises
Of Assistant Architect Woods and mar
vel that the work could have been
done SO thoroughly In so short . space
OF time. Toward the close OF the last
session . Joint resolution was adopted
which provided tha4 ''the rooms and
space recently occupied by che Eibrary
of Congress in the capitol building shah
be divided intaAhree stories, che thirW
story Of which shall be fitte9 up and
used Ror 0Reference Nibrary Cor che
senate and house 81 representatives
and that hortion OF che OTHER AwO
stories north of a line drawn east aTs
west through the center OF the Btunda
shall be used Cor such purpose as may
be designated by the senate Of che
United States and that portion of the
first and second stories south of said
line shall be used for such purpose as
may be designated by the house OF
representatives"
An indefinite appropriation was made
by the resolution and no limit fixed on
the expenditure, full discretion being
lodged in the architect of the capitol,
Edward Clark. AS soon as Mr.. Clark
received the authority Of congress for
the work he turned the whole matter
over to Elliott Wood, the assistant
architect OF the capitol. who prepared
the plans and supervised the work. All
contracts were approved by the secre-
tary of the interior and disbursements
made through that office. The cost has
been about 100000.
The work was begun on Aug. 20 and
since been pushed vigorously day and
night. At the outset a difficulty was
encountered Of quite a serious charac-
ter. When the old structure was torn
away and the foundation for the new
work was about to be begun upon
plans drawn for the occasion, 1t was
found that the windows and doors of
the old building were not true" This
necessitated changes in the working
plans and considerable additional labor.
Solid masonry was put in, about 30O,-
600 bricks being used. There are H.
600 square feet of thing in the work
and $500 lineal feet of marble base.
Altogether there are % apartments,
occupying two floors. thus giving each
body. IA additional committee rooms.
Nearly all the rooms are light and airy
and some of them Of ample dimensions.
Each apartment has fireplace, with
marble mantel, American marble being
used. The rooms win not be decorated
until next summer, but are finished in
white at this time. The woodwork in
the doors is solid mahogany, and every
thing about the place is of the best
quality. The main entrance to the
apartments is reached from the rO-
tunda in the same way as the Library
of Congress was formerly entered. The
little lobby between the rotunda and
the new committee rooms is highly or
W. Win
carved capitals, support a marble cell
Ing. The side walls are also of marble,
and a marble balustrade surrounds the
stairway leading to the lower floor.
Many improvements Of minor char
acter have heen made about the capitol
building since congress was last in ses-
sion. The room of the senate commit
tee on foreign relations has been redec-
GRATED in an elaborate manner and new
furnishings put in to match the decora-
lions. Green and gold work is the
color scheme. and the effect is strik-
ing. The room of the house committee
on foreign affairs has also been newly
ornamented. as well as some other of
the committee rooms. Two new cleo
trio elevat RS have been placed in the
house wing OF the capitol to replace the
slow. and cumbersome old machines.
New thing has been put In the base