Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-31
THE CAPITOL BUILDING
Work of Restoration Rapidly
Going On.
IN SHAPE BY MAY FIRST
statuary Hall to Have Walls in Sand
Stone Finish.
TWO OLD sTAIRwAYs OPENED
Formerly the Most Beautiful Legis-
lative Hall in the World, Purely
Grecian in Design.
TWO OLD STAIRWAYS OPENED

Work has been begun on the restoration
| of the United States Capitol building. -Visi-
| tors to the home of the national legislature
| during the past few days have commented
J on the fact that the marble figures in
| Statuary Hall have been boxed up, scat
| folding erected all over the place and that
| an army of workmen was employed there
| and in other parts of the building. making
| the place not particularly attractive to
sightseers. Considerable adverse criticism
| has resulted from the fact that through a
| misunderstanding the report has gotten
| abroad that the Capitol would be prac-
| tically closed to visitors during the summer
| when. with the jamestown exposition in
| full blast, it is natural to expect a great
crowd of transients in town.
All this criticism is ill-founded. AS a
matter of fact by the list of May the Capt.
| tol Will be in shape for as many sight
seers as can crowd into the building, the
| statues will be unlocked once more the
| ScaffOlding down and the whole building as
| clean as a new pin. More than this, the
| visitors who go up the hill this summer
| will have a chance to see the Capitol on the
road to its eventual restoration.
Work of Restoration.
The word Restoration exactly fits the
case, as Superintendent Elliott Woods and
his capable assistant Mr.. Lynn, working
under authority of an appropriation made
by Congress at the last session, are en-
deavoring to restore the building to the
state. even as to details. originally in
tended Every vestige of the paint now on
the walls of Statuary Hall in imitation of
Italian marble, will be Scraped off and they
will be left in their natural sandstone finish.
More than this, two of the old stairways
which run from Statuary Hall-Which I'M
til 1859 was the hall of the House of Rep
resentatives-to what formally the
mems gallery and the women's gallery
have been rediscovered and opened and
the mems gallery will be restored to its
original condition
One reason why this work has been
undertaken was that the restoring of the
walls of the rotunda to their natural sand
stone finish seems to have met with uni
versal approval from senators, represen-
tat1veS and visitors to the Capitol build
ing. 1t is agreed on all sides that the
rotunda Is very much more beautiful
and artistic place than was the case when
the rose-tinted sandstone was covered with
half dozen layers of paint.
The plans for the restoration of the
Capitol also include the removal of the
paint from the crypt and the pillars
within it.
Purely Grecian in Design.
Statuary Hail.. when used as the cham
Der of the House Of Representatives, was
generally conceded to be the most beautiful
legislative hall in the world. 1t Is purely
,Grecian in its design and decorations, the
outline Of the plan being a semi-circle of
90 feet chord elongated in its vertical diam
eter line by a parallelogram y feet long
OF the entablature blocking is 80 feet and
to the apex of the dome ceiling 81 feet
So far as can be determined by sounding
and testing, the entire wall space is Of
sandstone similar to that in the rotunda
The circular colonnade Is made up of four
teen columns. and two antes of the richest
Corinthian proportions. The shafts
composed of a remarkably beautiful species
of variegated marble called Breccia, in
solid blocks obtained from the banks of
the Potomac, hundred miles or so above
the city This marble is of very re-
markable formation, and the blocks being
of nature which made 1t impossible to
have them turned on lathe as is or
dinarily the case were polished by hand
by slave labor The capitals are of white
Italian marble, sculptured after a specimen
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, whose friezes are
familiar even to every schoolboy and every
schoolgirl in Washington.
Dignity Impaired.
1t has been considered by critics that
the dignity of statuary hall has bee nma-
terially impaired by the imitation marble
paint work which has graced the walls for
some years, and the scheme of restoring
the Capitol as nearly to its originally in
tended simplicity as possible has met with
general favor and approval among those
who are familiar with the details of the
plans prepared by Elliott Woods.
The Capitol, as stated, will be ready
for visitors by May /, when it is expected
the rush will begin. The old stairway to
the mems gallery, which has been opened
up will undoubtedly attract the attention
Of visitors. The steps of solid blocks
of sandstone, and in each one. little to
the left of the center, is a deep cup made
by the going and coming of those visitors
to the House of Representatives who were
wont to listen to the debates of the ~.g
men of the country in the Olden times