Washington sentinel., 1901-05-04
NO A

from In front when it comes from the
rear, to come from behind when it
comes from the side, and, in fact, to
come from almost anywhere except from
the place where the speaker IS standing.
Along the side of the columns support
ing the arch the wall and the columns
make sort Of groove, so that it acts as
a perfect speaking tube, and persons
can talk to each other across the hall
without anv one in between hearing
them. OF course the stones themselves
have nothing to do with the echoes,
which are caused by the curvature OF the
roof.
This hall was formerly occupied by
the House Of Representatives, and il
was there that Adams was stricken with
death 1t is not so very much larger
than the Supreme Court roum, formerly
occupied by the Senate. 1t has balcony
like theatre, but on a small scale, and
is used now for storing books. The hall
itself is utilized as a repository for the
sculptural monstrOsities which States
present to the nation.
When the House sat in this chamber,
1t is said, no one ever noticed the exist
ence Of the echoes; hut when the desks
were cleared out and the tessellated
marble floor was put down the echoes
began to be heard It took a consider
able time to hunt out the stones on
which TO stand in order to obtain the
peculiar effect, and it was not until after
the corps of Capitol guides was estab-
lished that the echoes were definitely
located, and even now there may be
other effects not known. Care has been
taken that the stones shall not be IN any
way marked. so as to restrict the identi-
tcatlon as far as pOss BILE to the guides.
1t is said, however, that the count should
begin from the middle stone; one person
standing six stones in front, the other
should then stand six stones to the rear.
with one six stones to the right, TIE
other should be six stones to the left;
diagonaliy the count should be increasd
to II stones each way. The center stone
is easily recognizable, and many OF the
Others are badly worn by the feet OF the
thousands of people who have tested the
echoes.
Many tricks have been played in
StatuarY Hall by those with a working
knowledge Of the echoes. Several years
ago it was a iavorite amusement Of the
pages to stand in the corridor leading
to the House and when a person passing
through the hall reached the proper
stone a page would dro coin The
echo made it appear as II the coin was
dropped directly IN front OF the passerby
aud a search for the fallen coin usually
resulted
Last session Congress made an appro-
priation for a new roo, for the Supreme
Court chamber and for Statuary Hall,
and the old wooden roofs are to be
replaced with hreproof coverings OF
steel. In order that the acoustic prop
critics OF the hall may be maintained as
nearly as possible the most careful
measurements have been taken, and an
effort will be made TO put on the new
roof as nearly ike the present one as
possible. But the alteration Of the irac
ton Of an inch will change the echoes,
if it does not DESTROY them altogether,
and in spite of the care Of the architect
and the workmen it is highly probable
the daily echoes will soon De a thing of
the past. Should they continue il IS
expected they will be reached by stones
other than now, and a series ofela 5orate
experiments will be made by the guides
Meantime, however, the guides are
making an effort to have the alteration
Of the roof postponed.