Bisbee daily review., 1909-11-18
REMODEL BUILDINGS
WHITE HOUSE AMONG THE MA TONS STRUCTURES CHANGED.
Home of the State, War and Navy De- partments Alone Withstands AL
 terations Officials Prefer ,, Small Rooms for Business.


 government buildings in Washington have been in progress on a big scale during the vacation season, which means better and more commodious quarters for the official chiefs when they return. There is hardly depart mental building that has not been overhauled in some part.
 The great porte-cochere under the White House is filled with Intricate staging. Workmen have put fresh coats of paint on the old building, in- side and out The office building, of to the west of the White House, Is also surrounded with staging, but since August it has grown from a modest little square house to big square house. A few years ago it cost a great sum to build that little house, something like $260, ,000, when it was expected to cost no more than S60 ,0OO Now the interior has been all torn out and complete new ar engagement perfected, S1d the offices of the president are imposing and more or less magnificent.
 New officials coming into office like to remodel their quarters. They are as bent upon that 2S the average householder is on changing the ar engagements and the furnishings of his dwelling So this autumn nearly every cabinet officer has had lot of partitions pulled down and new con- veniences installed. Some have had
 
 furnishing of headquarters. This pre- vails in the older buildings. The in- terior department is an example. Sec retary Ballinger is to have his assist ant secretaries located a little nearer his office, and there has been consid- erable tearing down and putting up in his corner of the interior building. As a rule, a government building is in considerable measure rebuilt about every 25 years by these frequent re1 yodelings and rearrangements to suit the changing official tenants. The state, war and navy building was so substantially built of granite and iron that it cannot easily be changed, and it stands to-day practically as it was erected. So solid and satisfactory are the rooms and apartments there that it would seem almost sacrilege to de stroy a single partition. But the emf. nent tenants of that building shift around. They put desks first in one corner CT another, or move from one big office to another.
 There is a big. pretentlous office room in that building for the secre- tary of state, one for the secretary of the navy and one for the secretary of war. The secretaries of war and the navy grew tired of their big rooms some years ago and each moved into adjoining rooms. much smaller and, although less grand, more cosy. The big offices were made ante-rooms, to which the public was freely admitted. These ante-rooms were decorated with splendid flags and other articles of patriotic interest, so that they resem- bled museums. Secretary Meyer de cided that he did not like the little 1 office room and moved out into the big office, Secretary of War Dickinson still does business in a small office, the one that President Taft occupied when he was secretary of war.
 The postmaster general has big and pretentious office on the fifth floor of the tall granite departmental building, but most of his time is spent in a smaller office to the side. It feels snugger there. The secretaries of the treasury long ago discarded the big office in the treasury building, and have been transacting the important business of that great department in little hole of a place. When he came into that department, Secretary Cor telyou put decorators and painters and furuishers to work beautifying walls and ceilings and making modern fire places. Public officials in Washing ton have a great inclination to fine fTeplaces, and the government has spent hundreds of thousands of dol lars. probably, in the last ten years re furnishing old freplaces. making new ones and buying fireplace furnishings The fires built in them are ofte1 works of art, requiring particular kinds of wood, split in a particular kind of way, and laid in upon the and irons by very precise methods.
 The interstate commerce commis sioners have been among the most ex tensive official remodelers of quarters Soon after the rate law was passet