The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-04-30
CLEANING THE MONUMENTS.
A Force Sent Gut Upon This work by
Colonel Bingham

Colonel bingham Superintendent OF
Public Buildings and Grounds. has sent
out force of men with buckets and
scrubbing brushes TO clean the various
statues OF the city, and in little while
every monument In Washington Will be
s23tlessly clean. This term in this con
nCction. however, does not mean that the
statues will be made rs bright and shin
ing as a new pin: far from it Sometimes
a very dirty statue is as clean as Colonel
Bingham wants il 20 be There are vari-
Gus kinds Of dirt when it comes to bronze
statues. and the more of some kinds a
monument collects the better the Super
intendeHt Of Public Buildings and Grounds
likes it.
If he can get the bright green from the
bronze of the figure to trickIe down IN a
rfvuIet. and spread out in a broad blotch
of color over a pedestal he is pleased.
And when he finds the back of the horse.
in an equestrian statue, turning i pale
emerald under the influence of sun, wind,
and rain he is satisfied.
Cleaning the statues does not mean the
taking away Of these beautiful hues, but
leaving them on That is the reason why
it requires an expert to DO the work. n
novice is likely to ruin the coloTing Of
many years Of exposure to the elements
with a careless rub of his brush
TIE man with the scrubbing brush and
soap has to know his business Plenty of
bad kinds of dirt collect on the mons.-
nents. The plain dust Of the streets.
blowing about, gets into all the hooks and
corners; and makes little mudpies when
ever it rains.
Birds build nests in every available cor
ner of a monument They like the mouths
of the horses in equestrian statues, and
the tops Of the hats upon the figures OF
military heroes The protection Of the
stirrups is inviting TO them. Recently q
man while cleaning the Hancock statue,
in Market Space, found two nests, each
containing seven eggs
Scrubbing a statue is even more delicate
a business than washing baby. There
are many things to be looked after and
avoided in both cases. Statue washing,
being done only once in year or 50, has
to be done thoroughly. If the slightest bit
Of soap or dirty water is left upon the
figure It shows the moment the statue is
dry. and the job has to be done over again.
It takes a frllI day to clean one of the
larger monuments. IN other years it used
to take two days, but that was when the
workmen used a bucket of water instead
Of a hose. Two men usually work On d
statue. The implements employed are a
moderately stiff scrubbing brush. a cake Of
Sapolio. and plenty OF water The great
est care has TO be exercised in the use Of
the brush. The slightest bit too great
pressure upon 1t IS likely to take away
the covering Of dark brown bronze rust,
which is so much priced, and TO leave
spot of bright shining bronze. IF these
things happen, the statue looks spotty
and less clean than il did at first
Some energy must be used, for the mud
and dirt are hard TO get off, especially
from the exposed parts Of the figures
When, as in some Of the older statues, no
tabIy that OF Jackson, q good coating of
green has formed, the task Of the scrub
Der is even more difficult, for he must IN
der no circumstances disturb the green
coating. He may injure it even as he
walks around upon the figures, for it is
very delicate and likely to crack.
The work Of statue scrubbIng has It's
dangers 1t requires a man Of muscle,
and who is a bit Of an acrobat. Every
part Of the statue must be scrubbed, and
sometimes il means a good deal OF mon
keylike twisting and turning and holding
on, in order that some Of the almost in
accessible places may be reached.
Statues with horses are the most diff
cult to clean 1t requires a whole day to
clean them under the best circumstances
Standing figures can be finished in half a
day. II the work can progress uninter-
rUptedly it viii take little less than two
months TO complete the round Then the
gentlemen and horses in bronze will not
be troubled again for another year OF two