The Savannah morning news., 1904-02-21
SEAL OF STATE
FIRST TO GO
READY TO RAE EXCHANGE.
HISTORIC OLD BUILDING WILL
SOON BE LEVELED.

| and Contract for New City Hall
VIII BE Formally Signed This
Week-City OhHcers Packing Up
and VIII Move to Police Head
quarters This Week-Coat of Arms
of state Will Go TO Some Society.
During this week the City Exchange
will probably be vacated. Already the
city officers are packing up and within
month the historic old building will
be a thing of the past
| Mr.. S. S. Leonard, the contractor for
the new City Hall. received a tele-
gram yesterday from the New York
surety company to which he made ap-
| plication for the bond required by City
! Council. notifying him that the bond
had been issued. He expects to re-
ceive it tomorrow.
AS soon as the bond is formally ac-
cepted by Mayor Myers the city Off
Gals will vacate the City Exchange
building and move to police headquar-
| ters. The Exchange will then become
the prope -ty of Mr.. Leonard and he
will at once begin tearing down the
building preparatory to laying the
foundation for the rev City Hall.
Much of the material in the old
building will be used in the founda-
ton of the new one, and the flooring
and ceiling will be utilized for scat
folding. Mr.. Leonard thinks that he
can realize quite a sum on the brick
and timber taken from the old struc-
| ture.
Foundation TO He Laid March 10.
He says he will have the
City Exchange torn down, and will
be ready to lay the foundation of the
new building by March is. He has al
| ready given the order for the steel and
other material to be used in the foun-
dation, and expects to have it on the
ground before the old building is de-
molished. He says the test made by
Architect Witcover was sufficient to
demonstrate to anyone that the foun-
dation is firm.
All material to be used will be side
tracked at the rear of the building and
unloaded from the cars. This will save
considerable time and expense in haul
ing the material. Mr.. Leonard says it
is his purpose to give his personal SUI
pervision to all the work and will rush
the building to completion at the earl
lest possible moment. On account of
the delay occasioned in awarding the
contract it will require good work to
complete the building during this year,
but Mr.. Leonard will endeavor to have
the new building ready for occupancy
before the first of January.
To Lay Corner Stone in April.
1t is the intention of the contractor
to be ready to lay the corner stone of
the new home of the city government
not later than April l. Arrangements
will probably be made by City Council
for appropriate exercises on this occa-
sion. 1t is contemplated to have sew
eral distinguished speakers and the
business, fraternal and military organi-
cations will be invited to take part. The
corner stone will be laid by Mayor My
ers.
Much interest is being manifested in
the history of the City Exchange which
has housed the city officials of Savan-
nah for over hundred years, and there
are many who regret to see the old
officials have expressed a desire that
another collection of historical docu-
ments be collected and placed in the
corner stone of the new City Hall with
the documents which are now deposited
in the corner stone of the present build
ing.
Historical Coat of Arms Removed.
The coat of arms of the state of
Georgia, which is fastened in the top
of the post of the stairway that leads
to the offices on the second floor of
the building, was removed yesterday
by Mr.. j. Robert Creamer, clerk of
Council, to determine if any documents
were deposited in the stair post.
1t had for long time been thought
that several important documents of
historical interest were deposited in
this post, but when Mr. Dreamer re-
moved the seal he found nothing. The
seal was placed in the post nearly
hundred years ago, and the brass
molding which held it down bears the
following inscription, "W. Sawyer,
stair builder, Savannah, Ca
The coat of arms is covered with
thick glass and shows the coat of arms
Of the state of Georgia in several col
ors. This valuable historical souvenir
will be presented to some local histori-
cal society.
An Historic Structure.
No building in the state has more
historical memories clustered around it
than this edifice, which will soon be
torn down for the modern and up-to-
date City Hall. In the infancy of the
building the bellies and beaux of the
little city danced therein, and at sew
eral times rooms were granted for
school purposes to worthy pedagogues
of limited means.
The long room, used as the Council
chamber, has been utilized on many
occasions for public meetings, for the
reception of distinguished visitors. and
as a suitable place where the honored
dead might lie in state. Three Presi-
dents of the United States, Monroe.
Polk and Fillmore; Aaron Burr, Henry
Clay, Daniel Webster and other great
men of the early history of the repub-
| lie there met an received the homage
of the Savannahians of the ante bel
lum period.
Corner stone of City Exchange.
The corner stone was laid June 5.
1893, by the Right Worshipful, the
Honorable William Stephens, grand
| master of Masons in the state of Geor-
gia. on the spot where the former Ex-
change, destroyed by the fire of 1896.
stood. The inscription plate contained
49, .s..s ss.ss.