Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-08

who rose to the height of professional
attainment which distinguishes the lead
Ing minds of today in the field of archi-
lecture. a striking illustration of the in
cyitable response in human intelligence
and attainment TO the necessities of con-
ditiOns in civilization Is the fact that In
the early days of the republic the me-
Chanics were thoroughly trained in the
orders of architecture - Tuscan, DOrlC.
Ionic, COrinthian and composite - and
were thus enabled to carry out the de-
tails of construction with no great de-
parture from correct technical lines.
Or. William Thornton, the original de-
Ssner of the old Capitol, the Octagon and
other local buildings. with few other
men, did most of the early work of the
city, Perhaps the first really trained ar
Chitect of this city was Latrobe,-s who
completed the construction of the Capitol
after the designs of Dr. Thornton, and his
influence was felt for many years after
his active days of usefulness. At this
Period the White House and treasury
were prected-at d time when practically
all woodwork was done by hand, and ma
chine work entered little into construction
OF any sort All bricks We're made by hand
md so extensive, efficient and thorough
was the handicraftsman share in con-
etruction that inevitably individual char
acteristics were emphasized in architecture.
As machinery took the place of handwork
a gradual decrease In the use of the finer
holdings became evident. The Older order
/ place appeared men who represented mere
Is the new order of machine construction.
Stage of Transition.
This transition stage In the processes Of
construction was responsible perhaps for
tn worst examples In the architectural his
tory Of the city. 1t evidenced "a loss of true
sense Of proportion, and a tendency to
adorument at the cost OF sound construc-
tIon. But the period from 1850 to 1876 rep
resented. In its entirety, the poorest con-
structiye work ever known in the District
In 1876 the buildings at the centennial at
PEi,adelp hia were constructed by men OF
advanced architectural conception, and that
celebration gave an impetus 20 a new order
OF things Tn which beauty, strength and
just proportions We're combined. From this
period may be rcCkoned a steady advance
s. the profession OF architecture About
this time II. II. Richardson began TO make
his work felt throughout the country, and
examples Of il in this city are the Hay and
Adams residences on 18th and II streets,
the former WJEder residence on h street
aud the Anderson house at X and 10th
streets
Richardson's influence was so strongly
impressed that undoubtedly many archi-
tacts e-sayed the Romanesque style. and
while few compared with Richardson. his
influence was all toward advancement. In
the eighties the theory Of house building
g. rows became a prominent feature, ana
unfortunately for the beauty of the city,
for Individuality WAS thereby essentially
sacrificed.
Next came the era of the speculative
builder. whose theory of construction was
10 build as cheaply as possible and sell at
the highest price possible. He wanted a
tile vestibule and tile bath room; the rest
was not matter of grave consideration
While this class were doing INTELLECTUALLY
as much harm as possible many persons
OF means from different sections of the
Union Were coming here 10 build homes
and their residences illustrated much
higher architectural standards than had
heretofore prevailed. There is every rea-