The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-09-15
CPErLICHTS fHHHl 456.se, lA lANNATIONAL { III
 . CAPITAL .tsS


 The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul is it's official name. But everybody refers to it as the Ca thedral of Washington.
 It Is destined to be. Che wonder church of the western hemis- phere, and one of the four great churches of the world.
 The apse of the great cathedral is completed. Rising from among the oaks of Mount Saint Alban, 1t is a thing of beauty. It rivals the dome of the capitol, the Washing ton monument, the Lincoln memo rial.
 It is destined to be one of the wonder of the modern world.
 George Washington dreamed of church for Washington to be typical of the nation, great shrine in beauty and dignity to be in keeping with his dream If this city as whole.
 Years and years later, however, when the first president and the architect, LEnfant, were dead, the beginning of the church was ua- dertaken by the passage of an act of congress. The first service. an open air service, was attended by President Mckinley. President Roosevelt witnessed the laying of the corner stone.
 Services were held following the conclusion of the Spanish Ameri- can War, and during the recent conference for the limitation If armament. The next service will be September 27 in connection with the eonsecration of Bishop of Washington. the Rev. James E. Freeman.
 The cathedral will cost $10,00O,- . 900. Five million dollars were ex- pended in completing the apse.
 While sponsored by the Protest ant Episcopal church, the con- struction is aided by contributions from members of all churches and many who have no active connee- tions It is announced that of twenty eight donations received one day recently, two were from Unitarians, one from a Baptis:, one from a member of the Dutch Reformed church, two from Chris tians Scientists and one from q Je wish Rabbi.
 Work was suspended during the war. It is now again in progress, and the noble edifice will be com pleted, according to estimates, five years hence.
 Its general architecture em- bodies the finest traditions of the Gothic school as applied to the cathedrals of the old world. But the architects did not attempt to copy any particular cathedral of England or the continent, but their plan was to reproduce the Gothic style itself in its best periods and in the spirit of the old masters. Hence 1t is in design and model a vivid reminder of whatever ca- thedral with which one is familiar, whether that be Canterbury, West minister Abbey. York, Lincoln, Co., logne or Rheims.
 It is not to be a singularly large cNA ASt0A IL VIII OC SllSAtlN smaller than the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, but larger than St. Paul's in London, and notably larger than Notre Dame in Paris. There will be standing room for 27,o00 and space for more than 5000 seated.
 The cathedral arch will be ninety feet high, the two side arches fifty feet, while the great central tower will rise to height of 262 feet. In its unique location, 400 feet above the Potomac, it will com pletely dominate the landscape ot Washington.
 There are enough Interesting features connected with the Wash ington, cathedral to occupy a full page in this newspaper. It will all be written in course of time.