Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-16
PLASTER FOR STONE
Trouble About the New ST.
600, 900 Hall of Records.
VERY POOR IMITATION
Magnificent Stone is Mixed Up With
the Imitation Mixture.
WHAT DID GOTHAM PAY FOR
Borough Presidents Man Calls It
'Plaster observation-disclosures Others
Call It "Carton Pierre"

NEW YORK. December 15.-The expe-
rfence Of those who set up idols and live to
find that they have feet of clay has been
duplicated in New York, where the citizens,
having been ten years building Hall OF
Records of marble, have discovered upon
| its opening that much Of what they ex-
pected was to be Of that material Is plaster.
Not that It Is all SO. Tons upon tons of
choicest stone have gone into the city's
latest and most costly public building.
which only intensifies the contrast when be-
side it is set plaster painted in imitation Of
marble. For this Is the sight which Is daily
causing visitors to stop and stare now that
the big structure at Chambers and Center
streets Is open for business.
That plaster in quantities is necessary in
every building is recognized, but the effort
to make 1t pass muster as marble to the
eye will send shivers down the backs OF
architects and lovers of the beautiful in an
s.. zoo. 600 project, which was designed to ex-
press the best possible in municipal art. Its
employment in this way not only strikes
the observer as cheap and tawdry note in
the midst of better deserving settings. but
It leads to the Impression that fraud has
been committed in the work, and that COM
position has been substituted for stone con-
trary to the specifications for the structure.
Graft Again.
The observers curiosity is first aroused
as to whether what he sees is marble or
not. Satisfied that 1t Is not, he wants to
know next If the city paid for marble or
for what it got. Two employees at the Hall
of Records decided to settle the first Ques-
ton lately by a practical If not altogether
praisworthy test. One said the material
was marble, the other held that it was
not.
I'm soon show you." said the latter, and
climbing up on window ledge he stuck
the blade of his knife into a crevice. Inn
mediately a chunk Of the material crumbled
off and fell to the floor.
Il told you so,'' said the one with the
knife. Somebody's been getting some
graft out Of this
His inference was natural but incorrect.
The imitation marble is in the Hall Of Rec
| ords by design and not by fraud. How
ever ridiculous the blunder, 1t is one Of taste
rather than one OF workmanship: whose
taste, 1t is impossible to say. because it
came about after such a tangle of history
and after going through so many changes
that it Is doubtful if any of the respon-
sible parties knew what an absurdity had
been introduced in the plans which were
finally put into effect through their au-
thorization.
What Thomas Riley. who represents the
borough president at the Hall of Rec
ords calls plaster enrichments" have been
used with profusion in the interior. of the
building, but the visitor who would see
them in their glory should visit the CORR
doris of the third, fourth. fifth and sixth
with lavish hand, in connection with the
marble trim Of the floors and windows, and
with the apparent idea that they shall be
| accepted as stone by the suffering public.
Real Marble to the Window Tops.
The trim of the corridors from the third
floor I'D is in what is known as c. F. Ital-
| ian. white marble notified with gray
streakings. This has been faithfully car
| ried up as far as the tops of the doors
and windows Above them plaster enrich
| ments'' have been employed as door and
| window heads and in various ornamental
| designs They are above the level of the
| eye in passing. and too high to scratch con-
| venienty with the finger nail, but their
character is evident upon observation, even
! at distance, and in spite of their careful
painting and granting in imitation of the
! marble below.
This material is not. in fact. either plas-
| ter or cement. but composition known as
| carton pierre which is said to be firmer
| than plaster and not so subject to cracking
| as cement Doubtless the material is all
, right in its place. but its place is not along
! side marble, painted to pass itself off as
| such. There is no excuse for 1t as used,
| either, because it is employed for orna-
| mental work solely. which might have been
| left out without detrment and which should
have been omitted unless done in keeping
with the work around IL. Inc present Ell
| feet is shoddy in the extreme.
Nobody is Proud.
| In the third and sixth-fioor CORR doris
| composition is employed over the doors
! leading into the Offices in the shape of
| paneled heads rising a couple Of feet
| further up toward the ceiling. On the
| fourth floor there is a riot of decoration,
| composition having been employed over
| both the doors to the offices and the win
| dows looking into the central court. The
decoration over the windows takes the
form OF a double wreath with shield
| in the center and face on the shield
| The mouth is wide open like fsh's-
possibly In pain over the dissertation in
| which it has been made to play part
Nobody seems proud of the result now
| that the work Is done. City officials when
| questioned about it confess their ignor-
| ance of the wherefore. but fall back on
| the fact that it is according to specifica-
lions. The controllers engineers say they
| have to do with matters of construction,
and not of taste. Even Horgan & Slat-
terry, the architects who succeeded Mr.
Thomas admit that the use of compo-
| sition in connection with marble is a mis-
take, but point to the fact that they did
not have the deciding word.
AS the contract was for less than mill
| lion dollars the municipal art commission
did not have a say and seems glad of it,
Asked about the matter, the secretary
shrugged his shoulders with relief and
replied. We're out of it,"
Nobody in fact has kind word to say
for the plaster enrichments." They have
ords which has been ten years in arriv-
ing