The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1904-01-07


nished by an architect from Spring
field, Illinois, who died before the
building was completed. The Iowa
capitol is much like the capitol at
| Springfield, and has been considered
one of the great capitol buildings OF
the union. There have never been
cracks of the wall caused by the set
Ting Of the structure. The state OF
Iowa appropriated sz5O,OO0 per year
for the erection of the building and
/ towards the conclusion OF the work
extra appropriations were made to
hasten it's completion. The corner
stone of the state house is made of
an Iowa boulder, the most enduring
stone known. 1t was obtained in
Buchanan county and was presented
by David Armstrong of that county. !
Corner Stone Laid In 1871.
The laying of the cornerstone took
4 place with imposing ceremonies on
the 23d day of November, 1871, when
i addresses were made by several dis
tinguished gentlemen.
The central dome of the capitol
which was threatened with collapse,
4 has been the pride of all Iowa, being
visible for miles out from the city Of
Des Moines as one of the landmarks
of the capital city. This dome was
!, covered with a gold leaf at the cost
of $4,000.
j The house of representatives which
81 rs Quilted by the fire, was a mag
ii N cent room, IA by 81 feet 4 Inches
: in extent and ceiling which meas
E ured AZ feet 8 inches. The senate
ell chamber was as we'll proportioned a
!, room, though not quite sos Spacious.
r 1t measured So by 81 feet r6inches in
ell extent, with ceiling Al feet>5 inches
in height -
al The length of the building ~, \,
north south Is 9 &c IS 8 5 iHcn
r. from east to west, 246 feet IL inches
= This includes portcos. The height
e to the top of the dome balcony, just
Y below the painted clouds, is PIG feet
n l inch The height to the top of the
e ball lantern, which is poised above
the center dome is 259 feet from the
ground. This is where visitors al.
Y ways climbed to secure the fine view
l. of the city and surrounding country.
e Supposed to be Fireproof.
r While the state capitol was general
e ly considered to be built entirely of
Y stone and steel and therefore abso-
S lutely fireproof, the fire there demon
4 strated there is a large quantity of
e combustible material used in the
nnn cfFI10 A t..
e where it was impossible Tor the fire.
Q men to throw water and where the
!, fire crept slowly and surely from its
: starting point in the house gallery,
there were located numerous large
g wooden beams. These fed the flames
: and as the fire slowly forced it's way
/ along between the ceiling and the
/. floor above the house chamber of the
;. legislature, it found plenty of ma
Q terial to feed on. This was slowly
/ consumed because there was no VEN
|. tilation to it and no air to fan the
flames to violence. All through the
building, from garnet to the founda-
4 ton, there is hidden away much of
. this woodwork, and the fact of its be-
, ing thus hidden by the steel pillars
and plaster made the work of the
8 firemen all the more puzz1ing.
5 The Irony of Fate.
1t was the irony of fate that the re-
cent expenditure of nearly $125, 900
X in improving the building should have
: probably contributed largely to it's
!, destruction. The recent expenditure
was chiefly for the purpose of INSTALL
ing an electric light plant and wiring
the building with electric wire con-
duits, and also to revolutionize the
heating system by installing what is
known as the fan system of heat and
. ventilation.
There were those who shook their
heads when it was proposed to aban-
don the present system of gas light.
which serves very acceptably for the
small amount Of night work. that
takes place in the state house The
, dangers of electric wiring were men
: toned and were laughed down by
those who were more progressive 1t
now appears, however, that the fear
was well founded, as It was probably
, an electric wire that started the fire
and the system OF ventilation and the
huge fans used to blow the hot ana
cold air through the building consti-
tuted so many great fiues for fan
ming and drawing the flame to expe-
dite its spread through the building.
: