Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-11
CAPITOL At HARTFORD
One of the Most Beautiful of
Public Buildings.
LIKE ENGLISH TOWN HOUSE
Built Within Limit of Time and Ap-
preparation.
SET IN PICTURESQUE GROUNDS
Some Interesting Exhibits-The Old
State House-Scene on the Famous
Ozark Day" Recalled.
SET IN PICTURESQUE GROUNDS
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.

d. "LLLiAs SCni
Special Correspondence OF The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald.
HARTFORD. Conn, July 9, 1yv7
The capitol of Connecticut, one of the
most beautiful public buildings in the
world. is almost unique In one respect at
least. 1t shares with the Congressional
Library at Washington the distinction of
having been erected within the limit of
time and within the limit of the appropria-
ton. Indeed, an unexpended balance of
$4,000 was turned back into the state
treasury after the building had been COM
pleted and furnished. the grounds had been
laid out and embelished. and drinking
fountain for the refreshment of thirsty
Nutmeggers had been set up in the ro-
tunda which was not called for in the
specifications. The attention Of the legis-
lative commission that is investigating the
expenditures on the state capitol of Penn
sylvania is politely directed to these facts.
The Congressional Library is the only other
public building Of Importance that l know
of which cost less than was intended and
was finished before the expiration of the
time allowed.
The Hartford capitol cost altogether. in
Guiding land. furnishings and every other
expense, up to the date 1t was occupied.
81, S42. $50 7:}. of which the city of Hartford
paid S1.9GO.0OO and the rest OF the state
81. 3s2 $50 73. The building itself cost
81, 534.O24 46. and the furniture, carpets.
chandeliers and other gas fixtures cost SSo,-
TAO. another fact which will be of interest
to the Pennsylvania investigating comma
tee. for I understand that the chandeliers
alone down at Harrisburg cost almost as
much as the entire capitol at Hartford.
Another Item worth noting is that the
commissioners who had charge of the build
ing received. all told. the sum of S15,OO0 for
their services. covering period of eight
years. L have forgotten what the Pennsyl-
vania commissioners received, but it was a
very large amount.
Resembles Bradford (Eng.) Town Hall
The Connecticut capitol was designed by
an Englishman. Richard Michel Upjohn.
son Of a celebrated English architect. He
came to the United States in 1853. settle1
in New York to practice his profession, and
built number of churches in that city.
Brooklyn Boston. Albany and other places.
He designed several of the most important
schOoihOuSes in New York and several ho-
tells and business blocks which have since
been torn down. The monumental gateway
to Greenwood cemetery in Brooklyn is one
of his best works. He is said to have been
the first architect to use beams and other
building material of iron. His greatest
work was the capitol at Hartford. and 1t
is due to his watchful care and thorough
economy that it was completed within his
estimates.
The building is one described as modern
Gothic as thirteenth century Gothic mod
jfied.'' and it closely resembles the town
hall at Bradford. England. which was built
by Mr.. Upjohn's father. Its extreme length
is 296 feet. the central part is 1S9 feet wide
and the wings are 102 feet inches. The
material Is white marble. with compare
lively little decoration. The dome. which is
the only In this country built of ma
sorry, is 2G0 feet high and SO feet in diam
eter. 1t is reached by 2I5 steps from the
aro tIa tt,D
of the most beautiful in the world. The
valley of the Connecticut river can be seen
for fifty miles around.
The legislative halls are not particularly
I'M .essive. They are square, plain and Sc
we're, almost entirely without ornament,
and are finished in panels of wood in nat
ural color. The senate chamber is 30 by 40
feet in size and the hall of representatives
81 by SO feet. Both senators and represen-
tatives sit at desks during the sessions. as
at the National Capitol.
Two Interesting Objects.
The senate chamber contains two very in
teresting objects, large chair beautifully
carved of wood from the Charter Oak. and
Stuart's original portrait of Washington,
which was painted for the state Of Connec-
ticut In the year 1900 and cost $500. There
is good deal of statuary and good many
portraits be seen about the building,
chiefly of men who have been conspicuous
in Connecticut events. The state library,
which Is an imposing room. contains the
portraits Of nearly all the governors Of the
state from the first settlement and one or
two original copies of the famous Connec
tcut charter granted by Charles III to the
colonists in 1862 In the governors room
is a portrait of Maj. Gen. Israel Putnam
and in the Office of the adjutant general is
another of that gallant son of Connecticut,
Gen. Nathaniel Lyon. who was killed at one
of the first battles of the civil war. Put
MANS tombstone is also preserved. 1t Is
badly battered, but the inscription is per-
fecty egble and near it is the fgurehead
Of Farragut's flagship, the famous old
Hartford
Upon a pediment over the eastern en-
trance are heroic marble statues of Roger
Sherman. a shoemaker, lawyer, judge, rep
resentative in Congress and United States
senator and one of the authors Of the Con-
stitution of the United States; Rev. Thomas
Hooker the founder of the colony of Con-
necticut: Jonathan Trumbull. governor.
whom Washington called Brother JON
athan,' and who held almost every office in
the gift of the people Of Connecticut and
John Davenport. another famous Nutmeg
ger of the seventeenth century, the founder
of New Haven.
Beside them on either side are marble
medallion portraits of Noah Webster who
was born in Hartford in 1853 and wrote his
spelling book and dictionary here, and the
Rev. Horace Bushnell. who preached in the
North Congregational Church of this city
from 1893 to 1876 and was the most elo- |
quent influential and popular clergyman
Connecticut has ever known
The Capitol Grounds.
Horace Bushnell has a better monument |
however. more appropriate and more en-