The Republican journal., 1917-05-10

can find seats or standing room, and
often think of my musical friends al
home and wish they might be privileged
to enjoy the treat with me.
On the floor above, the halls are fillec
with collections of rare pictures, books
and manuscripts, map room, and Other
interesting matter requiring weeks OF
ones time to investigate and properly ap-
preciate. There is also a restaurant, la
dies rest room, and all modern convent
enceS.
In the center of the building is the ro-
tunda, or central reading room, which
one enters from the pavilion, but the view
for visitors to get of this magnificent
room, is from an encircling balcony on
the top floor The architectural design
and color scheme, of marble walls and
pillars, with tiers of arches, and balus-
trades, the immense dome with its elabo-
rate stucco work. the large number of
colossal size symbolical statues, the carved
winged figures with gar[ands and torches,
swans, eagles, dolphins, and arabesques,
make an effective and imposing picture
for the eye.
This octagon room is 100 feet in diane
ter, and 1875 feet in height. The pillars
are 40 feet high, the windows 80 feet
wide. The richness of the color effect
lies in the vari-coIored marbles, of which
the dark is from Tennessee, the reds from
Numidia, and the shades of yellow from
Siena. The stucco concentrations of the
dome are finished in old ivory
The bookstacks consist of series of
cast iron frame works supporting tiers
of shelves, and rising in nine stories to
the roof, and now contains something
like 100000 books, with a still further
capacity of 4, 500, 900 more volumes, or
about one hundred miles of shelving
From the reading room an endless cable
runs down to the basement, and up
through the stacks to the top, and down
desk, the slip is put into a pneumatic
tube and sent by the clerk to the book
stack, where another puts the book into
a receptacle, and the automatic book car
rier takes it to the reading room. These
books are not taken from the library, ex-
cept for the convenience of congress,
rbar,
sent directly through an underground
tunnel to the Capitol Washington has
an immense distributing library on 7th
street, where the public may draw out
books in the usual way
The library of congress stands today as
Americas highest architectural achieve
ment, as the architects, painters and
sculptors are all American citizens, and
it is certainly matter for patriotic pride
that this grand building is a product of
wholly American talent and workman
ship.
have tried to place this building plain
ly before your "minds eye," and hope all
my friends may come to Washington
sometime, and enjoy it as we have done,
for consider this one building well worth
Capitol building across the plaza-no
beauty loving American can deny.
Washington, seems to me, to be quite
at the height of its scenic beauty these
days. although | am told the flower dis
play later on is much greater, but it seems
wonderful spring weather Of sunshine
on the shady side of the street, to avoid
profuse perspiration. The trees are in
full leaf, lawns and parks green velvet,
fountains playing, and acres of brilliant
blooming tulips, jonquils narcissuses and
hyacinths. In fact crop of earlier spring
| flowers have gone blythe crocuses and
blooming varieties.
| | have had my first sight of the gor-
geous tulip trees presenting huge bou-
quet of large, waxen flowers covering the
bare limbs before sign of the leaf buds
appear. The Oriental magno1ias in white,
pink and white and crimson and white,
the more common and familiar magnolia,
which has retained it's long, glossy green
leaves throughout the winter, blossoms
later. The grounds of all public build
ings are filled with these beautiful flower
ing shrubs and trees, walks bordered by
beds of tulips. The Botanical gardens
just below the west side of the Capitol
are a sight on which to feast the eyes.
notice the most common and prolific
Towering shrub used all over the city is
the golden yellow masses of Forsythia,
and long to know if it would stand the
winters of Maine
My husband has taken a weeks vaca-
ton before leaving here, beginning yes
terday, and with a picnic lunch we took
the car for Rock Creek Park, a portion of
which is occupied by the famous Zoolog-
ical collection of beasts and birds, under
the management of the Smithsonian In
stitute All animals have been removed
from winter quarters and are ensconced
in the open, apparently most happy in the
| L l.