El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-12-02

VHE preparations for the opening
of congress begin just as soon as
the preceding session closes, and
| from that time until about three weeks
| before the opening there is busy
| force OF men around the capitol. 1t is
during this interval that the sergeant
alarms of the senate, the chief clerk OF
| the house and the superintendent of
! the capitol begin an annual spring
/ cleaning vast in its proportions and
! interesting in it's details The superin-
tendent Of the capitol has charge of
| the buildings of the capitol group,
! with the exception of the library and
| ne looks after their preparation for
| the next session. The sergeantatarms
| OF the senate and the chief clerk of the
house have charge of the furnishings
OF the TWO houses of congress and their
respective office buildings.
| Last year congress gave superintend-
! ent Woods an appropriation of about
| $4,000 TO be expended in furnishing
! the interior of the senate office build
Ing and some $4,000 for similar work
! in the house office building With
| this he has been prosecuting his task
all summer. In addition, he has all
| the buildings to clean and dress up
afresh- This means their exterior as
! well as their interior. fire engine
/ from the city fire department is press
| ed into service and for several days
throws continuous stream of water
on the exterior walls. When this semi
annual bath is completed the capitol
and its associate buildings are as
| bright and clean as new pins
! Much Painting and Decorating
Ihere is an endless amount of paint
l ing and decorating to be done. Every
| Few years the big steel dome of the
capitol claims a fresh white dress and
I TO furnish it is no small expense. 1t
| takes 700 gallons of white lead to COM
1 plete this dress of white paint Occas-
| ionally the Goddess of Liberty needs
a new bonnet. The bonnet must be
| trimmed with platinum points These
| platinum points are good conductors
| OF electricity. and the goddess thus
equipped is able to make a plaything
OF every thunderbolt that comes her
way. She breaks them up into thou
| sands of electrical spIinters and sends
them to the ground.
1t is said there are four names CHS
eled on the base on which the goddess
stands The name of Abraham Lincoln
was placed there because he was pres
ident at the time she assumed her high
position. That Of Crawford is there
| because he is the sculptor. Meigs' name
is there because he was superintendent
of construction when the dome was
built. These names were all put there
in the ordinary way of sculptors. But
Rigger Ports, who placed the goddess
In position, and who was assigned the
task of adjusting her bonnet and 9TH
erwise acting as her bodyservant,
chiseled his name there, too Ports
died only about two weeks ago.
Thousands of Details.
In each room of the capitol and the
two office buildings every piece of fur
niture must be newly polished, every
window examined, every door investi-
gated and a thousand details looked
after so as to insure perfect condition
when congress arrives. The buildings
making up the capitol group house
population of some $500 souls, and Ii
will be realized that the task Of pre-
pairing for the annual visitation is a
vast one. Every autumn before con-
gress comes laboratory examination
Of the air in the senate and house
chambers is made. The officials Of the
public health and marine hospital SER
vice assist superintendent Woods In
making these examinations
The air in the two chambers often |
works some unexpla Unable tricks. Re- /
peated tests have shown that the pur-
est air in the senate chamber finds its !
abiding place around the dais of the /
vice president On the other hand, the |
worst air in the whole house of repre- /
sentatives is down in the well around :
the speakers chair. Tt is thought that |
the frequent swinging to and fro OF !
the doors of the house may partially /
account for this and that the cross
currents caused thereby cause back |
up of contaminated air in the, vicinity |
of the speaker.
RansdelI Starts Early.
The sergeantatar1ns of the senate. /
Col Dan Ransden, who wears an arm |
less sleeve in testimony of his SER |
vice to his country, begins his spring I
cleaning just as soon as he says good /
bye TO the last departing senator He
plans to have the last of his work i
done at least three weeks before the
senate comes back, and his men never |
fail him. Just as soon as the senate /
leaves he has every carpet taken up /
and carried to the cleaners. After be- !
ing thoroughly cleaned they are put
away in moth proof places to wait for
the time to relay them. Every four
years Col. Ransdell is confronted with /
the job of buying a new carpet for the
senate floor. 1t takes $40 yards and l
every big carpet merchant in the coun-
try wants to furnish it. They send
their representatives to the capitol,
where they study the color scheme and
plan a design which Will harmonic
with the chamber in every way. After
they have mapped out their designs and |
submitted them, Col Ransden calls
upon his wife and daughter. and 9TH
women of good taste who will visit
the capitol, and gets the concensus of
womanly opinion. Then he decides
what carpet he will take, and it always
must be a fine five-frame Wilton. The
carpet selected is usually q green one.
The house requires more than double
as much carpet as the senate and it
does not wear so long.
StandardlzinG the Furniture. /
For years the sergeantatarms of the
senate and the chief clerk of the house
have been working in the direction of
standardizing the furniture of the cap
itol. OF course the furniture in the
two chambers always has been of har-