Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1907-11-08
WASHINGTOKS NEW
PASSENGER DEPOT
Special to the Herald.

Special TO the Herald.
Washington, D. c., Nov. Sit has
been announced that beginning Sun
day morning, November II, all South
ern Railway trains entering and leav-
ing Washington, d. c., will use the
new wenty-million-dollar passenger
station, affording the travelling public
an opportunity of inspecting one OF
the worlds most elaborate and costly
passenger terminals. The trains will
enter the city of Washington over the
company's new double-track steel
bridge, across the historic Potomac
river, which is nearly a mile wide at
this point, and proceed above grade
along Maryland avenue to First and
South Capitol streets, at which point
they enter a double-track twin tunnel
under Capitol Hill, at the northern
end of which the trains enter the new
terminal station, connections being
made with diverging lines for all
points east and west.
This new station is the finest and
most important result of the agitation
for better station facilities at the ma
tional capital which was begun in
1901, in keeping with plans for a
more beautiful and symmetrical de-
velopment of Washington. 1t is the
result of a mutual agreement between
the railroads entering the capital city.
An advantageous site with plaza
100 feet wide by one thousand long
near the capitol was selected because
of its many advantages as a distribut-
ing point for passengers, and numer-
Gus streets, no less than nine, center
ing at this point Through these con-
yerging avenues large bodies of peo-
pie can arrive or depart without in
convenience.
The plaza also affords affords ample
room for massing troops and specta-
tors for those imposing public cere-
mones which take place at the gate
way of great capital.
The plaza itself, sloping gently away
from the station, will be decorated
with balustrades and fountains, and
terrace separating it from the fore
court about 100 feet wide surrounding
the entire building.
The station building proper is built
of white granite. The three entrance
arches, fifty feet in height, far exceed
in scale their Roman prototypes.
These central doorways lead into a
vaulted open air vestibule and thence
into the main waiting-room. The 40
foot arches of the end pavilions are
~hs@S s2niase entrances. The one to-
ward the east is for official use, and
leads to a suite of apartments exclu-
sively for the president and the
guests of the nation. The central YES
thule and end pavilions are connected
by an open-air portico or loggia with
railway offices in the second story
above. The portico and the vestibules
together constitute a continuous COW
cred porch running along the front of
the entire building, affording at every
point protection from the elements.
No matter at what point one approach
es the building one can at once be
under cover-no insignificant matter
in a building measuring LOO feet on
the sidewalk line of the front and two
ends.
The general waiting-room, with a |
clear width of 100 feet and length of !
220 feet is covered by Roman barrel |
vault 80 feet high and decorated with
sunken Golfers or panels after the |
manner of the baths of Diocletian. 1t
is lighted by semi-circular window
rs feet in diameter at each end, and
by five semi-circular windows of 30 |
feet diameter on each side. Not even
imperial Rome, at her greatest, pos
sessed a hall of such proportions.
Around this hall are grouped the din
ing-room, lunch-room, telephone, tele-
graph, parcel-room, smoking-room and
waiting-room, while the tick
ct offices and babbage-room are on
sides of lobby so feet wide
and SIS feet high opening directly from
the waiting-room.
The cost of this entire improvement
Including approaches, will be about
s2O, OOO, 900.
No man can work well with a tor