Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1904-08-17
kept there was not extlnguished; it IN

kept tnere was not extinguisae9; II ~
said, for fifty years. s.s
Charles Bultinch, of Boston; was
architect of the Capitol from 1917 to
1920, and completed rhe building as
shown in the picture of 1885, Under
his direction. the dome rose higher
than in any previous design. the
cupolas were added ut either end and
the familiar western portico and ter
races incorporated into the design.
The acoustics of the Hall OF Represen-
tatives still baffied the government.
and William Strickland, of Philadel-
phia, was called into consultation with
Bultinch to supply n remedy.
The picture of 1885 marks the Sec
ond stage in the evolution of the Cap.
itol. The changes to come gave the
structure substantially its present ap-
pearance. The Capitol of 1885 covered
a little more than an acre and half
OF ground. and was 351 feet inches
long.
New Wings and Dome Added.
In the course of years it became too
Siiull. eHNOIlStCsSlOIiui NJOhIAiNtNV
on Public Buildings advertised, in De
cember, 1850, for plans for an extern.
sion OF the Capitol. From the n,nner
| Gus designs submitted four We're Sc
lected, and the premium equally diyid
ed among the -four architects. The
committee then employed an architect
named Mills 10 prepare design for
the extension of the Capitol, based on
the principal feature of the four Sc
lccted plans. President Fillmore adopt
ed different design. and the corner
stone was laid on July 4, 1851, al ora.
ton being delivered by Daniel Web
ster. Thomas U. Walter, OF Philadel-
phia, was the successful architect. In
1855 the old dome, which was too
"squatty" to he beautiful on the ex-
tended facade, was removed and work
on the present one begun.
During this operation movement
was started III convention of Ameri-
can artists at Washington to supervise
the decorations in the new wings and
dome. The members of the convention
recommended tue appointment of n
| committee for the work. AS named
by President Buchanan, in 1853, this
body comprised Henry X. Brown, a
sculptor, of New York; james r..
Lambdin, a portrait painter, of Phila.
dolphin, and John +. Kennett, a land
scape painter, of New York. Although
these gentlemen took hand In the
work of supervision, they accomplish
ed little. and finally abandoned their
duties when Congress declined to pay
their bills for expenses.
Thus the building was brought to
the condition shown in the picture
made in 1861. A comparison of this
birds-eye view with the Capitol OF 1885
| illustrates in comprehensive way thr
proportions of tile wings as compared
with the size Of the old building in the
middle and the contracted dimensions
of the roof upon which the present
dome was placed.
The statue was raised to the apex
| of the dome in 1863.
The Capitol To-day.
The Capitol to-day contains 43O
rooms With the contemplated addi-
ton IT will have 496 rooms-thirty-
three more for the scnatea and an equal
number for the House of Representa-
tives.
When the extension has been made,
the edifice. including the works of art
which it contains, will have cost near
ly 100000, O00-more money than Con
gress had ever imagined, in n lump
sum, when in thesearly nineties of the
century before last it offered $500 and
II building lot for the hest design fo.
n house for the National Legislature
Philadelphia Ledger.