Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-03-22
LIKE WASHINGTON
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT WILL OF
 FICIATE SATURDAY. APRIL z.
Cornerstone Laying of New House of Representatives Building Cere- mony Same as That of 113
 Years Ago.

ASoO0ovSAS VIII IdhC pdi ' III IuC idy- ing of the cornerstone of the new office building for members of the house of representatives on Satur- day, April z, at which time the cere- mony will be almost identical with the laying of the cornerstone of the United States capitol by President Washington nearly one hundred and thirteen years ago. The Federal Ma sonic lodge, which had charge of the ceremony over century ago, will have the honor of directing the swinging of the cornerstone of the house annex into place. Walter A. Brown, the grand master of the Ma sonic lodge of the District of Colum- bia. will superintend the exercises and addresses will be made by the president and Speaker Cannon.
 When the capitol cornerstone was laid President Washington was act ing grand master of the Masonic lodge in Virginia and by virtue of that office he was in charge of the ceremony. At that time the Federal lodge was under the jurisdiction of the grand lodge of Virginia, but q
 
 lumbia Masons were organized into a separate Jurisdiction and conse- Quently the District organization will have charge of the ceremony. Three thousand invitations will be issued to prominent men throughout the United States. The cabinet, di- plomatic corps, senators, members of the house, the United States supreme court, governors of the various states, prominent army and naval of ficers and other government officials will attend the ceremony. The Ma rine band will escort the Federal lodge to the site of the new building immediately south of the capitol grounds and will play during the laying of the cornerstone.
 In accordance with tradition the stone is at the northeast corner of the building and its location corre- spends with that of the capitol cor nerstone. Since the original capito! was built, wings have been added at the north and south ends, so ths keystone of the building is now we'll toward the center of that great structure.
 The foundation of the magnificent new office building is completed and the floor beams for the first story are now in place. Upon these a temporary floor will be laid and seats provided for the guests who will view the ceremony. The high wooden fence which now surrounds the foundation will be partly torn away that a view of the ceremony may be had by persons who cannot be provided with seats.
 In accordance with Masonic tra- ditions the ceremony will be in the open air and the persons who par ticipate In it will have no protec- tion from the weather. regardless of what conditions may be. Simplicity will mark the event and all preten- sion will be avoided. In every de- tail it will correspond as nearly as possible with the ceremony in which President Washington participated. The articles placed in the corner stone, as far as practicable, will be identical with those deposited in the capitol stone by Federal lodge, and as both President Roosevelt and Speaker Cannon are members of the Masonic order the occasion will in every way harmonize with the spirit of the ceremony directed by the Vir- ginia Jurisdiction.
 The senate office building, which is in course of construction immedi- ately north of the capitol grounds, is not so far advanced as the house building and its cornerstone cannot be laid at the present session of con- gress.
 These two buildings. when com- pleted, will take the place of addi- tions originally proposed to the cap itol building. but which were object ed to on the ground that they would mar the architectural scheme of that structure. Each of the new build- ings will occupy a complete square of ground and they will be magnifi- cent white structures of classic de- sign to harmonize with the capitol and library of congress.
 September 19, 1793. was the ex- act date of the laying of the corner stone of the main capitol building by President Washington. The wings of the central building were completed in 1911 and were par tially burned by the British in 1874. The entire central building was fin- ished in 1927 The cornerstone for the extensions at the north and south ends of the main building were lad by President Fillmore. July |. 1S51s when Daniel Webster was the ora tor. The extensions. which contain the present senate and house cham bers. were first occupied in 1857 and rsSQ