The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1907-04-27
WASHINGTON LETTER
Especial Correspondence


Woods and his capable assistant. Mr.
Lynn, working under authority Of an
appropriation made by congress at tho
last session. are endeavOring 10 70
store the building to the state. even Pc
to details, originally intended. Every
vestige OF the paint now on the wall,
Of Statuary hall in Imitation Of Italian
marble will be scraped of. and thov
will be left In their natural sandstone
finish. More than this, two Of the OIL
stairways which run from Statuarv
hall-whlch until 1859 was the han or
the house of representatives, what.
were formerly the mems gallery and Tho.
women's gallery have been rpdiscovcr
ed and opened, and the mems gallery
will be restored to its original condi-
ton.
Restoring the Capitol.
One reason why this work has boon
undertaken was that the restoring ~
the walls Of the rOtunda to their nat
ural sandstone finish seems to have
met with universal approval from SOL
atOrs. representatives and visitors 10
the capitol building. 1t Ia agreed on all
sides that the rOtunda Is a very much
more beautiful and artistic place than
was the case when the rose intel sand
stone was covered with half a dozen
layers of paint.
The plans for the restoration Of tn,
capitol also include the removal Of the
paint from the crypt and the pillars
within II.
Purely Greeian In Desiun.
Statuary hall. when used as the cham
Der of the house Of representatives.
was generally conceded to be the most
beautiful legislative hall In the world.
It Is purely Grecian in its design and
decorations. the outline Of the plan be
ing a semiclrcle of ninety-six feet chord
elongated In its vertical diameter line
by a parallelOgram ~ feet long by %
feet wide. The height to the top Of the
entabIature blocking Is thirty-five feet
and to the apex Of the dome ceiling
fifty-seven feet So far as can be de-
termlned by sounding and testing. the
entire wall space is of sandstone sim
liar to that In the rotunda.
Marble Polished by Slaves.
The circular cOlOnnade is made up Of
fourteen columns and two antes Of the
richest Corinthian proportions. The
shafts are composed of a remarkably
beautiful species of variegated marble
called Breccia, In solid blocks, obtained
from the banks Of the Potomac, hun
dred miles or so above the city. This
marble Is Of a very remarkable fOrma-
ton, and the blocks, being Of nature
which made II impossible TO have them
turned on a lathe, as IS ordinarily the
case, were polished by hand by slave
labor. The capitals are Of white Ital-
ian marble, sculptured after a speci-
men taken from the temple Of Jupiter
Stator at Rome. the most admired
specimen Of capitals of this delicate.
beautiful order. The entablature is
after the proportions of that in the
same temple. Ornamented with dentils
and medalliOns, enriched between and
underneath with leaves and roses. Over
the colOnnades springs the magnificent
painted paneled dome.
Uncle Sans Printing Bill.
The government printing bill. which
amounted to a little over $I.'|1.Oh
last year, will drop to about Sj.'11.O"
this year and this I'm spite If the fact
that a number of new bureaus have
been established and several new laws,
including the immigration law, the
pure food law and the railroad rate
law, which entailed an enormous
amount of printing. have come INTO
operation. The congressional printing
commission is working out plans for
still further reduction of the printing
bill This commission will sit here
from time to time during the summer
and fall and when congress meets
again will be prepared to recommend
additional reform legislation.
Public Buildings.
About $6,OOOOOO is to be expended
within the District during the coming
fiscal year in the erection of public
buildings and the continuance OF the
work on such structures now under
way. Such is the amount OF money
provided for those purposes by the ap-
preparation bill which will become Ell
fective the list of July next.
1t is a striking illustration Of the de-
velopment Of the city that this lu-
mense sum Of money to be spent III
brick and stone in order to provide al
ditional housing for the various actiVi-
ties Of the government Is In large part
to be used In continuing the construc-
ton of buildings already begun.
Some Great Structures.
In the list of the appropriations LOT
the coming year for buildings In TINS
city there are three instances OF
amounts aggregating about $l.OOOOOO
each which are merely intended u
complete three structures which are
now in progress. This is a good deal
of money for such purpose. ana !.
enables one to form some conception OF
the size and Importance of the builu
ings referred to-the National museum