Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1910-12-13
The New State House and Things.

ing trolley roads and thus put 1t on tn
map. was about the most way off
and inaccessible place in the state. An
that's no joke, and never was.
Numerous times, being headed for th
capital of the great state of Maine, hav
pulled into the wilderness of Yal
mouth Junction just in time to see tn
smoke of the disappearing easi-boun
train on the. other road. And az
whiled away the waiting hours | resolve
that IL | was the state government
would add to the already strong arm q
the railroad commissioners the power t
compel the railroads to make some con
nections that would accommodate tn
people. 1t was nothing unusual to hav
10 use six hours getting from SouiI
Paris to Augusta, and il you started OF
the Afternoon train you couldn't get Il
Augusta BY any route till the next day.
But now things are different, thank
quite largely to the trolley road fron
Lewiston to Gardiner, on which througl
cars leave Lewiston every hour TO
Waterville via Augusta. There ar
other ways of getting there, but this Il
the one quite largely patronizsd b!
travellers from this part of the stat"
| There's only one real trouble with u
and that is that in cold weather they'r'
"A little too much afraid of burning on
coal in their heaters.
Now that Augusta is really on the map
we in this part of the state have n
particular fault to find with the fac
that il has been fixed as the capital o
the state for all time, as far as the pres
emit inhabitants of the state are con
cerned. The peace of our borders will
not be disturbed by any state house
fights that any of us need worry about
Two things have done this, the rebuild
ing of the Augusta House and the re
building of the state house. The frs
named cause isn't excessively effective
because it doesn't fully supply the need
but the other has clincbed it.
Two big construction jobs now about
completed in Augusta are OF general
interest to the people-not OF 30 much
interest as the jobs there will be there
after the first Wednesday in January,
nevertheless they appeal to the public
One is the elimination of the Rnes Hill
crossing, and the other is the remodelin..
of the state house.
The first named ID may not seem Ia
be- of general interest, but 1t is, for
several reasons. In the frat place, II
was without any question the most
dangerous railroad crossing In Maine,
and one of our legislators was liable t.
get tipped over there at any time, IN
fact. the senator from Oxford County at
a recent session came within less than al
ace of being struck by an engine at thai
point. In the second place, in tho
process OF eliminating it the people ct
the state contributed quite slice, and
the CITY of Augusta put in another slice.
IL was a pretty expensive job, as the
Maine Central particularly found out
before it WAS done. The construction
work alone, which was estimated IN
advance by engineers at Sl35 200, panned
ont AS estimates sometimes do, and cost
Sl65. 900, in addition to the other items
uf cost.
The Maine Central track now runs
through the hill, between retaining
walls of concrete, and steel bridge
over il carries the street travel and the
trolley cars. Work on the job is just
being finished.
AS to the other job, the remodeling OF
the state house, there's no question
about that being good job well done.
You may have heard that from Repuoll'
can stump speakers during the late cam
paign. Well. it was true then, and it's
inst As true now, even though the afore-
said speakers have become members OF
the minority. And here is good place
to voice the testimony of those who
know about it, that the large part OF the
credit for the success of the undertak-
iny. i'm all its features, belongs TO Charles
s Hichborn. a we'll known business man
.of Augusta, and member of the stste
bouss commission. He has put his time,
his enthusiasm, and his best endeavorS
into it. And if he wanted to build him
self a monument, he couldn't have build
ed better.
As far as the external appearance is
concerned, there are simply two wings
added at the north and south ends OF the
capitol. and the dome is rebuilt larger
and higher than before. The additions
ara INTELLECTUALLY in harmony with the
old building, and its undeniably impos-
ing appearance has not been lost. In
side. however, there has been an entire
transformation. There is NEUROLOGICAL
story of Somebody Or other who built
maze and a fellow who didn't want to
get lost in it tied the end OF ball OF
Irvine at the outside and carried the ball
with him, so that he could follow back
along that string. The old state house
somehow reminded you of that story:
II YOU were not pretty we'll acquainted
with the building, you might start fol
thu hole in the wall which was the house
gallery. and land in the executive
chamber, or stumble over some steps
and land in closet, and there were some
catty-coruers that the stranger could
never find without guide.
In the new state house, the arrange
ment is simplicity almost to the point OF
of severity. From the rotunda corri'
doris run straight through the middle OF
the wings, north and south on each moor
clear to the end of the building, and the
several rooms and stairways open from
that. You can no more get lost thar
YOU could in a railroad car.
Another thing about the structure, II
is built for utility, not for luxury. 1t Is
fireproof throughout, in the ordinary
accep,ation of that term, but there are
no ONYX walls or even elaborate stucco
work Doubtless before it IL finished
considerable paint and gliding will go on
but if the decorations accord with the
rest of the building they will be suct
as to make a good appearance at
reasonable cost. -,
Besides the quality Of the job itself
those in authority also congratulate
themselves on two other points-that 4
will be done within the appropriation o.
$3.50. 900, and that it will be done or
time. On the former point, the figure!
will show later, but if there was an.
considerable over. expenditure, those IL
charge would not be SO free to expires:
themselves as they do. As to its belns
done on time, there will likely DO quite
an aroma of fresh paint pervading tn
halls of legislation and administration
when the Democrats take charge, bu
such few workmen as remain at ina
time won't be much in the way.
Now it's too bad to put an anti-ciima'
on this story, but there are two criticism
that suggest themselves-both not ma
terial, but artistic, from an untraine'
layman, aud possibly both wrong In IN
light of authority.
First. the dome. had seen picture
Of the building, both from drawing
and photographs, without dlscoVer'n
ANYTHING wrong about the proportions