Evening star., 1909-03-04


| by the first Japanese minister to the
United States in 1853
In the Great East Room.
| The east room, the apartment with
which the public is better acquainted than
| any other room in the Executive Man.
sion, occupies. as its name implies, the
| entire eastern wing of the White House.
The walls are covered with wood paneling
enameled; the ornamental ceiling Is done
| in stucco, and set in the walls are
| twelve low-relief panels of sculpture, the
| subjects taken from AEsop's fables. On
| the east and west sides of the room are
two mantels of colored marble, with large
mirrors above them. and candelabra on
| the shelves. Three crystal chandeliers OF
exquisite beauty form constituent parts
| of the decoration, as do also four bronze
standards bearing electric lights. which
| are placed at the four corners of the
| room.
| The window draperies are of heavy yell
| low silk damask; the banquettes are
| gilded and carved and are covered with
| silk velours. Four beautiful console
room Velvet cushioned seats or settles
| surround the walls. but there are no
| chairs in this room and the walls are
bare of pictures. In the east room, as In
| the other state rooms on the drawing
room floor. except in the hall. where stone
is used, the floor Is of highly polished
| hardwood.
The "Gold" Piano.
In the east room stands the gold"
grand piano, splendid instrument en-
tirely covered with gold leaf and valued
at s22 500. On the inside Of the cover, and
exposed to view when it is raised, is
painted in oil a picture of the muses. ex-
| ecuted by celebrated artist. This piano
was presented the White House several
| years ago by an American firm of piano
makers. in celebration of an anniversary,
| it being the one hundred thousandth in
strunlent made by the firm. 1t is used
| in the concerts so often given in the
east room during the season. -s-
| Two beautiful blue Sevres vases stand
ing on cabinets set against the east wall
of the room were presented in commemo-
ration Of the laying Of the Franco-Amer-
ican cable during President McKinley's
administration. They are valued at 5000
each.
| The east room is the largest apartment
in the White House. being forty by eighty
| feet, and twenty-one feet from floor to
ceiling 1t is used as general assembly
sometimes for the reception by the Presi-
dent Of small parties Of visitors. 1t is
the one room Of the White House that
| is always open to the public between the
hours of am and 2 pm, except on
Sundays and on extra occasions.
During the recent repairs, when the
plaster had been removed from the east
room. traces Of the fire when the British
burned the White House in 1914 were
plain. Many names, evidently those of
workmen employed on the new building
between the years 1898 and 1900 were
found cut in the stone walls.
The Second Floor.
Leading from the east wing Of the main
corridor is the main stairway to the Sec
! k,ia to Axal ~ y;,,{,,
rooms of the Presidents family and con-
tains also his private Office and library.
The stairway is of Joliet stone. and con-
sists of broad flight from the main floor
to the landing where 1t divides into two
flights. The railing is of forged iron and
brass. with hand rail covered with velvet
A double gate Of wrought iron which rolls
back into pockets in the walls stands at
the foot of the staircase. The walls above
the landing are painted and paneled. Fac
ing the head Of the stairs is the door to
the Presidents private of1ce and study,
which was formerly known and used as
the cabinet room. The apartment. which
has windows commanding fine view Of
the south White House grounds, the
Washington Monument and the Potomac
river in the distance. The Presidents
desk. of richly carved mahogany and nat
topped stands nearly in the center of the
room. The floor is Of white maple highly
polished. Around the walls and in the
spaces between the windows are set low,
open bookcases.
Once Used as Cabinet Room.
A beautiful marble mantel. with open
fireplace, stands in the room, the mantel
bearing the following inscription:
This room was first used for meetings
of the cabinet during the administration
Of President Johnson. 1t continued to be
so used until the year MCMII. Here the
treaty Of peace with Spain was signed
a door from the study opens into the
library, which Is an oval room the same
+, size and directly above the blue room
on the main floor.
t AS on the main floor below. the family
| floor" has a large corridor, richly carpet
ed, running east and west, connecting two
large sitting rooms, one on the east above
! the east room, the other on the west
above the state dining room, and COM
| municating with the bedrooms. There
are seven bedrooms. each with bath
room adjoining, fitted in the most APPROX
ed and modern style. Four of these bed
| rooms, those in the southeast northeast,
| southwest and northwest corners of the
building, are unusually large apartments
dressing rooms. A narrow stairway leads
| from the northwest corridor to the pri-
vate dining room on the floor below. An
electric elevator. running from the base
| llienl 10 t0e dlllC, dUJOillS lulS STAR way.
! The entire eastern half Of the attic
| floor is used for storage purposes. as is
also section of the extreme western
portion. The middle western space is
taken up with the servants bedrooms,
| six in number. There Is but one bathroom
| on the attic floor, located on the south
side. and having windows looking out
upon the roof of the round portico.
Refurnished Many Times.
Since 1870 the White House has been
redocarted and refurnished frequently, ac-
cording to the tastes Of the times and
within the limits OF annual appropria-
| tions. varying from $4,000 to $4,000.
Until 1902 the sums available have never
been sufficient to accomplish a thorough
reconstruction. Referring to the changes
made that year, the President in q mes
| sage to Congress said:
Through a wise provision of Congress
at its last session. the White House.
which had become disfigured by incongru-
GUS additions and changes, has now been
restored to what 1t was planned to be by
| Washington. In making the restoration,
| the utmost care has been exercised TO
come as near as possible to the early
plans and TO supplement these plans by a
careful study of snch buildings as that Of
the University Of Virginia, which was
built by Jefferson. The White House is
| the property of the nation, and SO far as
Is compatible with living therein 1t should
be kept as 1t originally was. for the same
| reason that we keep Mount Vernon as II
originally was. The stately simplicity of
It's architecture Is an expression of the
| character In which ii was built. and Is
In accord with the purposes 1t was design