The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1921-12-04
WY HEN Wasningtonians and the
" hundreds Of Thousands OF
other Americans who visit

wv HEN Neutrality-suspicious. and the
" hundreds Of thousands OF
other Americans who visit
the National Capital behold such
massive stone structures ~ the
Union Station, It u difficult for
them to understand that every de-
tail first was sketched with a long.
thin. yellow. sharply pointed pencil.
and that later each single block Ut
stone and piece of steel was drawn
on paper to accurate measure. Tho
lay beholder sees the whole, com
pleted mass; the architect knows
that interminable calculations of
stresses, coefficients of safety and
q thousand and one other technical
details marked the progress Of the
structure. The first man to see
such a building Ii the designing
architect. He sees 1t months before
the ground il broken. for the foun-
dations and then the little yellow
pencil begins its miles upon miles
OF travel over the surface Of manila
paper.
This wonder story 10 told in more
detail than probably ever before in
Charles Moore's two-volume work
on the life and achievements Of Dam
lei H. Durham. The work u just
off the press Of the Houghton Mif-
hin Company. Of Boston and New
York. and perhaps a. clear Q way
az any to describe its te1tual ade-
quacy. as well AZ it's profusions OF
portraits. photographs. drawings
and diagrams. many CT them in
color, IL to use the commercial index
of price. which, in this case. 10 $50.
EvEN such eminent architects
as Daniel Burnham do not
spring full armed from the class
room. America knows Burnham
as the master who produced the
Union Station at Washington, the
Worlds Fair buildings at Chicago.
the Flatiron building In New York.
the Masonic Temple a: Chicago
with scores of other great struc-
lures. and who was the principal
consultant In the planning Of the
Lincoln Memorial. the Mall and
the general plan. fostered by SEN
ator Mcmillan, for the beautifica-
ton of the National Capital. Yet
Burnham passed through obscure
struggles before attaining this sue
cess. Mr.. Moore here tells q story
which vies with the tales Of the
Beacx Arts architects Of Partisan
ateliers in romantic interest.
In 1873 when young Burnham
formed q partnership in Chicago
with John wellborn Root. they did
business. he said, with six thumb
tacks and one stick Of india ink
between them. They could not afford
to buy . whole roll OF paper at one
time. They took some Of their pay
in clothing. They wrote their
specifications in long hand on odd
scraps Of paper and. curicusly
enough, the forms of specifications
and building contracts the two
poverty stricken young men wrote
on the backs Of envelopes have be-
come the standard for the profess
sion and the principles laid down
In their contracts have been in
corporated into building law. In
those days q full meal was an
event.
THE story Of Burnham . associa-
ton with such eminent art
lists as McKim. Mead and White,
Augustus St. Gaudens. Theodore
Thomas and practically every other
great figure In the American world
of art and architecture Is Of alb
sorbing interest. He was one OF
the fathers OF the skyscraper and
a pioneer In the use Of steel con-
struction. The wide range Of his
abilities IL shown when beside the
purely commercial oliver building
in Chicago Is set the Washington
Cathedral now building here.
Washington owes much to Daniel
Burnham. With Senator McMil-
Ian he stoutly resisted all efforts to
sacrifice the beauties and advan-
tages OF a general plan for the city
of Washington.
Much Of the work on which Mr..
Burnham's ultimate fame will rest
has not fully emerged. His pen
Gil encompassed . wider scope than
single buildings merely. He plan
ned cities. Besides the work. sup
Elemental to l'Enfant's in the plan
ming of Washington. Mr.. Burnham
has made extensive plans for Cleve-
land, San Francisco. Manila and
Chicago. These gradually will be
worked out. In fact in some OF
these cities the plans have been
largely executed.