The National tribune., 1907-11-21
THE CONGRESSIONAL
OFFICE BUILDING
Continued from page one.)


CONTINUED from page one.)
and ceiling space have been gradually
retinted and repainted- The old doors
Of pine, painted white. have been torn
out and mahogany doors substituted.
Old walnut furniture has been banish-
ed Tremendous quantities of costly
hardwood furniture, often the richest
of mahogany furniture, has been sub
stituted for it.
The Senate Furniture Factory.
The Senate has a furniture factory
of it's own, so that it Is now building
and installing the most costly kinds of
furniture and furnishings of its own
make and design. The cabinet makers
have turned out large product during
the past season. and several rooms
have been furnished on magnificent
scale.
But in the course of few months
Senate and House will each have an
enormous office building for the con-
venience of it's members. The House
office building is now practically COM
plete, and will be ready for occupation
about the middle of December. The
Senate office building IS about half COM
pleted, and Will be ready for occupancy
when Congress comes together next
autumn. CTTedI SuDWdSS COHHeClfiiss
these buildings with the Capitol are
now completed, so that the statesmen
can pass underground from the Capt.
tol elevators to the elevators in the
office buildings.
queer thing has developed in con-
nection with the House subway The
wind rushes thru it at the rate of about
100 miles an hour. The first Congress
man to make that discovery was Rep
20 nf
farmer. who strolled thru the subway
a few days ago as matter Of curiosi-
ty. He found that the wind was al
most strong enough to lift him up and
deposit him at the opposite end.
The architects have been busy de-
vising some scheme for checking this
rush of wind. 1t seems that it comes
in thru the top of the House elevator
shaft, which connects with the House
subway.
There has been much discussion as
to how the 400 suites of rooms in the
new building shall be disposed of among
the members. 1t is a troublesome ques-
ton. The building occupies a square
of ground. One side is next the street
railroad and only one block away from
the Capitol. whereas the opposite side
is one block away from the street rail-
road and two blocks from the Capitol.
Accordingly, a matter of considerable
Congressional travel, and the Govern
ment pays no mileage for it. The rush
for rooms close up to the nearest side
to the Capitol can be imagined.
1t has been suggested that the rooms
be disposed of by lot, which would
make two big biennial drawings. The
other is for seats in the House OF Rep
resentatives. But that does not meet
with as much favor as a suggestion
that each State delegation have adjoin-
ing rooms. That arrangement would
be great convenience for business men
and other visitors who have errands
with their Congressman. Under that
plan the 21 members from Ohio would
all be punched in 21 suites of rooms
in one location, the 80 members from
Pennsylvania would all be in another
locality of the building, on one side and
on one floor, and the 81 members from
New York would be similarly grouped.
| An effort is on foot to exclude all
women from the office building on the
ground that it will preclude any pos
sibility of scandal. Several plans have
been proposed to effect this. one of
which is to put the members on honor
| at a caucus. Whether this will be a
| success remains to be seen. Several
| Congressman employ women steneg-
raphers, and the office rooms are de-
signed for use in receiving ones WIS.,
itors and handling ones correspond
ence.
Few Of the leaders of either legisla-
tive branch have yet arrived in Wash
| ington, but most of them are on the
way. Senators have been especially
slow this year in coming to town: but
that is in part because the President
has been sending fewer messages for
them to come to see him. Generally
by this time of the year the President
4 h. 80 LII
to a considerable number of Senators
and members. but he has been too
much occupied with financial affairs
| this year to give the usual attention to
other matters III mis- message.
| Senator Foraker.
| One of the most noted Senatorial Wis.,
| itors has been Senator Joseph Benson
Foraker, of Ohio, the only Republican
| In the body who has dared to criticize
the President openly. There is feud
between the President and Senator. but
this did not prevent the Senator from
calling around to pay his visit of cour-
| tesy. The President was careful that
no one else should be In the room when
the Senator was there. and accordingly
| no version of their meetings has been
heard. When Senator Foraker emerged
from the White House Offices he smil-
ingly remarked that he and the Presi-
| dent were on del1SntIul terms, ana
that they had talked about financial
legislation.
| 1t is the customary thing for Sem
ators and members on arriving in town
| to call at the White House to pay their
respects to the President The Repub-
licans pay their calls. because they also
have errands on patronage and other
matters. Calls from the minority Sen
ators and members are not so frequent
Most Of the Southerners. who are long
on matters of etiquet, generally pay a
visit to the Presidents offices, but il
often happens that these visits are de-
! layed to some convenient forenoon sew
eral weeks after Congress has convened
The Republicans who have nothing tC
ask of the President often delay thei1
calls. too.
| In every Congress and under every
Administration there are more or less
| Congressman who have had quarre!s
with the President and will not go tC
see him. Several prominent Democrat
ic Senators would not go to see Presi-
dent Cleveland during the last years he
was in the White House. Mckinley
had but few quarrels of that kind. but
Roosevelt has had several Some ol
the Democratic Congressman have beer
especially bitter for things he has done
to them. The most conspicuous exam.
pie is that of Senator Tillman, who has
never forgiven the President for recall.
ing an invitation to him 10 attend state
dinner, because the Senator and hi: