Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-04-19
The Artistic and the Practical
in the Home of The Star.
A BRITON'S PRAISE
A MONUMENT IN KEEPING WITH
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.
Surprise Awaited q Tourist Who Had
Been Satiated With Shocks
in America.

Fred A. Mckenzie In the Caxton Magazine, London.
There are two things in Washington you
must see If you only remain here for half
day." friend declared to me, as emery
ed one autumn morning from the Pullman
sleeper Of the New York night express.
''One is the new Congressional Library and
the other is the office of The Star
And why The Starr"
at is the finest newspaper Office on earth.
sir. bar none"
I was skeptical. My friend was a man
who has a reputation for saneness I'm inter
national politics. but 1 suspected that for
once his local enthusiasm had led him
astray. Truth to tell. had seen so many
finest things on earth" since stepping off
the deck Of the Oceanic three days be-
fore that my appetite was dulled- 1 had
gone over great newspaper offices, twenty
six stories high. and with batteries Of Hoe
machines and regiments of linotypes which
for size and number left Fleet street be-
hind. though maybe Fleet street could
teach them something in economic manage
the American interviewer. and, after not
ing the result had lost all further capacity
for wonder. What new thing in newspaper
dom could come out Of Washington?
The Star Stands Alone.
But for once my suspicious were wrong.
The Washington Star is. in equipment. the
finest and most splendid newspaper office
have ever seen. For size 1t will not COM
pare with any Of a dozen homes OF the
press in New York. 1t is published but six
days week, it has no monster Sunday
edition and its circulation is only about
5000 a day, as compared with claimed
circulations Of from 10000 to 1,0oo.000 for
the most popular New York papers. Yet for
perfection Of technique. for beauty of build
ing and for comfort, convenience and splen-
dor Of offices, 1t stands alone
Its exterior proclaims il, and is worthy
Of city that contains, perhaps the finest
public buildings on earth. 1t is a fine ex-
ample of French Renaissance style, in
smooth-faced marble, and ma ssive and solid
use of the spaces and by the preservation
Of the piers. 1t is difficult to speak Of the
carving of the marble without seeming ex-
trayagance. The building is nine stories
high, its top is 100 feet above the street
level and it is 30 feet wide by 126 feet deep.
The only other office known to me which
can be compared with it for outward ar
tistic effect is the marble palace of the
New York Herald Both of these give a
sense of power and of purpose which the
gigantic sky-scrapers Of Park Row news
paperdom lack.
Interior in Harmony.
The effect of the outside is maintained
within. Throughout the building. from the
newsboys' distributing counter in the base
ment to the composing room at the top,
the thoroughness of finish is the same. A
few days before my arrival a New York
newspaper man came on a tour Of
inspection. He examined story after
story and at last reached the fiat
roof. There he looked at the mar
BILE pillars that form the balustrade
This, you know, is a great waste OF
money" he said to the member of the staff
of inc n a
want solid marble here? You could have
painted wood or metal for a fraction of the
cost, and no one would have been able to
tell the difference from the street below"
But II We had painted wood, it would
not have been the office we wanted" re-
piled the head of the company.
The Business Office"
The entrance hall is marble chamber
worthy the finest palace in the land. Lofty,
deliberately carved and with abundant
bronze work in keeping with its marble, 1t
gives a fitting idea of the whole. 1t seems
almost proclamation to use ii as an adver-
tisement and subscription hall. Around the
walls is series of seven symbolical fres-
Goes, painted by Mr.. Frederick Dielman
best known, perhaps, as the painter of the
frescoes in the new Congressional Library.
The illustra tons of the frescoes which are
given here will afford some idea Of their
beauty. They figuratiyely tell the whole
story Of the press. Mosaic floors and fine
counters complete the whole.
On every floor it is the same. Wherever
opportunities are afforded for fine carving
sumptuous metal work they are used.
You walk along a hallway and suddenly
find yourself under a bright illunainat ted
dome. You open a door and enter a room
fitted, down to minute details, like an old
Dutch sitting room of 200 years ago. This
is the proprieterial consulting room. You
pass into another room and find yourself in
an atelier that calls back old days of the
BouP Mich in Paris. Artistic taste seems
to have poured itself on this place. l was
not surprised to learn that per cubic foot
it is the most costly Office building in the
world. The effects showed that.
Provision for the Workpeople.
But to me the most impressive part was
the provision made in the parts used by the
humblest workpeople. The newsboys are