Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1904-08-10

PcONtOoN
building. The legislative wings were
reconstructed and occupied in 1919,
and the central pavilion III 1927, the
entire structure costing So. 700, 0OO.
Latrobe made minor notifications In
the Thornton design. His are the IA
nous corn columns" beneath the old
Senate chamber new American or
der. He increased the height Of the
dome, but the drawings were never
executed. Latrobe also changed DR..
Thornton's semi-circular portico to the
rectangular projection which now or
raments the central structure.
The floor Of the Senate chamber was
elevatedto the main floor, the Supreme
Court moving into the basement be-
meath, and the hall of the House as
sumed form which was meant to re-
semble that Of an ancient Greek thea
ter.
Beneath the center Of the rotunda
was built subterranean chamber,
called the crypt, in which it was I'M
derstood that the remains of Washing
ton were to lie, in stone sarcOpha gus,
exposed to the view Of the multitude
His widow was not adverse to the plan,
but his heirs objected to the removal
of the coffin from Mount Vernon, and
SO that project was abandoned Nev-
ertheless, watcher called the keeper
Of the crypt, was employed by Con-
gress up to the Civil War and light
kept there was not extinguished, it IS
said, for fifty years.
Charles Bulfinch, Of Boston, was
architect of the Capitol from 1917 to
1929, and completed the building as
shown in the picture Of 1885. Under
his direction, the dome rose higher
than in any previous design, the
cupolas were added at either end and
the familiar western portico and ter
races incorporated into the design.
The acoustics of the Hall of Represen-
tatives still baff1ed the government,
and William Strickland, Of Philadel-
phia, was called into consultation with
Bulfinch to supply 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
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
small The Congressional Committee
on Public Buildings advertised, in De-
cember, 1850, for plans for an extern
sion of the Capitol. From the numer-
Gus designs submitted four were Sc
lected, and the premium equally divid
ed among the four architects. The
named Mills to prepare design for
the extension Of the Capitol, based on
the principal feature Of the four Sc
lected plans. President Fillmore adopt
ed a different design, and the corner
stone was laid on July 4, 1851, an 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 be beautiful on the ex-
tended facade, was removed and work
on the present one begun.
During this operation a movement
was started in convention of Ameri-
can artists at Washington to supervise
the decorations in the new wings and
dome. The members Of the convention
ia 10 oiy,ty, ,op+ 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-
delphia, and John F. Kennett, 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
bird s-eye view with the Capitol Of 1885
illustrates in a comprehensive way the
proportions of the 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 1868.
The Capitol To-day.
The Capitol to-day contains 43O
rooms. With the contemplated addi-
ton it will have 490 rooms-thirty-
three more for the Senate and an equal
number for the House Of Representa-
tives.
When the extension has been made,
the edifice including the works o. art
which it contains, will have cost near
ly soc, ,OOO-more money than Con-
gress had ever imagined, in lump
sum, when in the early nineties OF the
century before last it offered $500 and
building lot for the best design for
q house for the National Legislature
Philadelphia Ledger.