, 1923-01-11
FEDERAL CAPITAL IMMENSE
Dinsmore Writes at Length On Washington. Work
Of Congress Done in Committees. Capital
Contains Many Beautiful Hemes

lures built only q few years ago and
are modern in every detail. Each
Senator and Representative has an
office suite of from two to three
rooms, and is by law allowed ample
clerical assistance. These buildings
are reached by underground pass
ages leading from the Capitol. In
the Senate passage is an electric
railway Of the monorail type which
carries passengers between the two
buildings. The Representatives have
no such convenience, the assumption
being that exercise has never yet
House.
The city Of Washington contains
more beautiful buildings than any
other city in the world. Hundreds
of millions Of dollars gathered from
the taxpayers of the forty-eight
States have been spent to make the
National Capitol the most attractive
on earth. Among the well-known
buildings and memorials. three in
my estimation are deserving of spe-
cial mention. The Library of Con-
gress, the Lincoln Memorial, and the
Union Railway Station, the latter
being built by the railroads, the gov
eminent, and the District OF Co
lumbia.
The Library, located opposite the
Capitol on the east side, is from an
architectural and classic standpoint
one of the most beautiful buildings
in the world. It cost nearly seven
millions when ccmplet.d. It has
over forty-four miles of book shelly
ing, accommodating two million
volumes. 1t Is n of the most COM
plete libraries in the world. A pro-
life source of accession has been
afforded by the copyright system
which requires that two copies of
every copyrighted book be deposited
here. An ingenious mechanism de-
livers books from the stacks to the
Reading room. From the Reading
Room an endless cable runs down to
the basement and up through the
stack to the top and back again. To
1t are attached book carriers. When
a book is called for at the desk, the
slip is sent by pneumatic tube to the
clerk in the book stack. he puts the
book into q receptacle. from which II
is taken automatically by the book
carrier and carried to the Reading
Room, the whole process consuming
but a few minutes. For the CON
venience OF Congress books are sent
directly from the Reading Room to
the Capitol through a tunnel.
In direct line with the Capitol and
Washington Manument, and on the
banks of the Potomac River. is the
Lincoln Memorial. 1t is of imposing
size and exquisite beauty. Simple OF
plan and Of direct appeal, 1t has a
singularly impressive effect on the
spirit of n who, withdrawing from
the turmoil of the town, comes here
as to a shrine to pay his reverence
and to receive the benediction OF the
place. Only three features are in
side the Memorial. A statute of the
man, a memorial OF his Gettysburg
speech and n OF his second inaug-
ural address. II will be Of interest
to those OF the West 10 know that the
marble for this Memorial is from
Colorado. 1t was chosen in competi-
ton with the famous marble of Yer
mont, and cost the Commission near
ly a quarter OF a million dollars in
: freight charges alone. The Lincoln
Memorial is also the official begin
ming OF the Lincoln Highway. which
crosses the continent and ends at San
Francisco (passing through the
metropolis OF Rawlins. Wyoming).
The Union Railway Depot has beer
constructed but a few years. 1t il OF
magnificent proportions. The length
Is $50 feet and the width 343 feet