The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-12-10
TEXAS STATE CAPITOL.

very proud of this superb embodiment
 of the wealth, and natural resources of
 the great Lone Star State. It is cer-
 tainly most imposing structure sim
 pie in its architecture and with the
 dlgnly Which is charm in the classic
 buildings of ancient Greece.
 It is the seventh largest in the Uni
 ted States Provisions for it's erection
 were made as early as 1875, when in
 the constitution submitted to the peo-
 pie by the constitutional convention
 Of that year, 3,OoOOOO acres of public
 lands of Texas were set asidee to nro-
 vide the necessary funds for a build-
 ing which would httlngly represent
 the greatness of the state.
 In 1882 the old Capitol was burned,
 and in that same year the construct
 ion of the new building was begun. Threef years later, on March g. the forty-ninth anniversary of Texas's in- dependence, the cornerstone was laid
 and then the work was rapidlv n,Jeh- ed to completion. The material used in the construction is red granite. heWn from the red quarries of Texas, and in the interior are beautiful mar
 bles' also from the nearby quarries.
 The building is located on Capitol Hill, near the centre of the city. in the square which was chosen for the Can 1tol of the Republic of Texas. The main approach is Congress avenue Whichleads from the Colorado River. through the city to the entrances at the front of the Capitol grounds. which are most attractively laid out with lawns, groad paths, trees and shrubberies. The building is 5O6 feet across the front, and it's greatest depth is 2SS feet. The main part of the building has three stories, but in the central portion there is a fourth A stately dome, with encircling colo nades. rises from the centre of the structure to a height of more than 25O feet, and it's pinnacle is crowned bv beautiful statue of Liberty, holding in her uplifted hand the lone star for so many wears the symbol of Texas.
 Upon entering the first floor the yis- itor finds himself in spacious corri- dors leading to the rooms of the diff ferent departments in the state goy ernment Here also are the treasury vaults, built of the finest chrome steel 1 which afford fireproof storage for val uable public records and all moneys, stocks and bonds of the treasury
 Ascending one of the broad stair cases which lead from either side of the rotunda to the second floor, the visitor readily finds his way to the spacious Senate chamber in one wing and the House of Representatives in l the other wing, each with twenty-two committee rooms adjoining, and all in their appointments The state library also has comnodi- ous quarters on this floor, and here. too, is the room where the Governor holds his receptions to the public.
 In the long wings of the third are the galleries of the Senate chamber and the House of Representatives ' while directly above the state library are the Supreme and Appellate Court rooms and the law library.
 The central fourth story has twentv three spacious rooms, devoted to the uses of the various assistants in the 
 More than one hundred and fifty feet from the ground, where the huge pillars form the colonade around the rotunda, there is an open-air prom enade which is uneuualled in any in the world. From this point of vantage a most magnificent view can be obtained of Austin end he outlying country about the city. and the Colorado River as it flows past to the Gulf. It is sight which 10 traveller in Texas should miss, for without it his trip through the state would not be complete.
 The number of Austin's fine build nigs is realized when the visitor looks over the city from the Capitol dome. md picks them out one after another -the stately Travis County court house, the fine school buildings, the State University, the churches. the 2ostoffice and the hotels.
 It is no wonder that Texans are proud of thir bautiful Stat House, for or there are both representative of the rery best of every part of this great tate. The Capitol building cost more han S,7OO,0OO to construct. but it is he center of government of a state whose annual wealth exceeds that News.