Evening star., 1921-02-27
ME- United States Treasury
building. which. from time to
time. has been added to and

my Department., is about to undergo
another change, the nrst to. AFFECT. ma
terially its general outward appear,
siice since the completion Of the pres
efit: structure over nifty years ago.
The attic, which has served as
vtoreroom for old files. with a rev
efYfces and a laboratory operated BY
the internal revenue bureau, is short
ly to be made into q full story. cover
fnr the entire building. which will
then consist Of four fioors. in addition
10 the basement and subbAsement. The
plans for this work have just been
completed. and 1t Is expected that
the remodeling will begin early In
the spring. Walls for the new floor
will be erected within the 'balustrade.
at distances from it OF four to ave and
. half feet, thus making the general
appearance conform more closely to
the Treasury annex. across Pennsyl-
Sania avenue to the north. the top
door of which is also OF lesser di-
unensions than the rest OF the build
ing. 80 -.
Considerable difficulty was expert
enced in making the architectural
designs for the new hoof, through
inability to locate the earlier draw
tngs upon which to base the new de-
well as Of those who designed sub
sequent changes and additions. were
not to be found, and II became neces-
sary to make actual measurements
before the new drawings could be
made.
Some Of the leading architects. Of
their day have been employed In the
ptecemeal. construction Of this build
ing, and it's growth, stretching back
oyer almost century, is an interest
Ing story. especially to the many
washington admirers OF tne eiesn-
e1t, classic lines Of the building.
THE first building to house the
Hreasury upon the removal of the
o8pital from Philadelphia. to Wash
1hGton, IN 1890. was designed by an
Eagiish architect. Georgia Hafneld.
and located at the northeast corner
61 the present site. It was completed
IN ~. but had one glowing defect; !;
q vas not freproof. It wss partially
destroyed by dre In 1901. ard In 1873
the burning was completed by the
aleS having been consumed with the
bui1ding. -. a..
stiu the government had not learned
It's lesson, though there was. some ex-
cuse over 4 century ago. when nre-
proof construction had not advanced
20. its present stage. The next Treas
ury building went the way of its
predecessor in 1888. but this time IT
was possible through the heroic eI-
forts of the Treasury empioyes 70
save practically all Of the reeords. =.
These records are today stored IN
the present Treasury building. The
Gaf3y files antedate the card and
cross-indexing systems Of the se-caH-
Cd .efieiency engineers OF modern
business. Nevertheless. and In spite
O. the -hasty rescues. many eti irnese
ofd. records will from. time te time
come to light. Notable in this ltns is
the.recent finding OF . rsFt a 1ss1a-
min FfankHn's exbsnse accounsP cav
eYfng his ministry as one OF Shs com =
x,dssioners> OF the United StA$es TO
rrance. in 1875. =
Evidently, government asesAs in
those days were granted unlimited
expense accounts. Many OF the items
Included and the enorrnity OF the Dins
presented and paid BY Uncle sam
would shock present-day oainials NO
reached by Franklin's bill ,fos car
riages There were such fAheeAd ftens
as tailor's bills. hundreds OF doflaf$
spent for table linen for Miss -
and others: wines. dinners and nlahS
items wholly foreign to preseut-day'
expense accounts. not negfectinE sal
aries to arouse envy evenF In the
hearts OF plumseekers tcdAy< II Is
quite. apparent that the neW SSpublfc,
did NOT mean to be outdos9e ny r1yAf
countries. and zen 4yoHtt 10, spell
Diplomacy with . big Hspitaa sEp.r =:
Y more recent years yhen ass bad
Documents OF. historic. interest, they
were transferred to the Ltbrary Of
Cdngress for. safe keeping as cusioA
50 for the reference Of htstorians
1T Is generally admitted, however,
sn:s ssrs !. ys' much sa. of ,S M
paftment and the many einaccessibls
eernersof the precautionary build
inE. .f.,i..,t' = :
The third attempt 70 build . Treas
ufys building called for .hreprd0f con-
. nucleus for the present building.
Otherwise it is possible few of the
old records would have been preserv ed
TO posterity and the, historically
curious. >
Following the burning of the sec-
end Treasury buiidfngssconsress ap-
8ropriated $1oo.oog .,f6t the COM
mencement OF, q nrepreof structure
Unlike the custom Of Congress today,
no limit was set for the total expehI-
tture. There was tone regard In
which the Congress. however. did
compare favorably with that of to-
day it was able to devote itself TO
argued that the new building should
be SO located .in. tho vicinity OF the
former. buildings. as to permit Of an
uninterrupted view along Pennsyi-
van1a avenue from the Capitol to the
White = House. Robert Mills was,
the congressional committee: in 1885.
he intimated how the site was finally
determined when he, said athe. pre-
else position Of the building was de-
termined by the positive directions
Of the President"-President Jackson.
awaiting the deterunination- Of COM
naitiees. He had unhonnded faith in
his own Judgments. was without fear
aud possessed boundless energy: All
Of which lends probability TO the
story Of the final. selection Of site.
Becoming impatient at the, delay.
the President Is said to have walked
over the ground one morning and.
planting his cane In the northeast
corner. said: Here. right here. /
want the eorney stone laid" And
there the corner stone was laid.
But Jackson was $50 President
attempting to rule without having a
Congress in agreement with his poll
else. In March. 1873. = Philadelphia
architect. Thomas q. walter. was Sc
cured by the committee on public
buildings and grounds and q report
Il al to hA
newly begun building not only as to
lo<z ias hI,f an To X1aa and ma Aei al