Evening star., 1923-09-23
Continued from Third Page.)

tOOnIlnueu from TnlrQ PaEe,)
desk from the rest of the room. More
commodious offices for the repre-
sentatives are needed. 1t is unlikely.
however. that they will be built dur
the Coolidge administration, which
will follow the same policies of gov
ernment economy as were advocated
and executed so earnestly by the late
Warren G. Harding.
y
II reapportionment is officially coun-
tenanced, the Butler building, adjacent
to the Capitol and now occupied by a
branch of the Treasury Department.
will probably be requisitioned for over
flow Offices by Congress. Benjamin
Butler. a former representative in Con-
gress from Massachusetts,. built this
building out OF granite which was con-
demned as unsatisfactory for use in the
State, War and Navy building when
that structure was raised. Mr.. Butler
purchased the discarded material at low
prices and used it in the construction
Of the building, which he later sold to
Uncle Sam. A bill introduced by the
chairman Of the building and grounds
committee to erect a new House Office
building on the square south of the
Congressional Library and east of the
present House Office building has not
yet been officially sanctioned by both
Congress and the Senate. Such a build
ing. however. will have to be built In
the future to meet the needs of our
growing Congress.
Since Congress adjourned last spring
the clatter Of repair and rehabilitation.
the hustle and confusion of renovation
have echoed and re-echoed through the
halls and corridors of the mammoth
building. The structure has reacted
most kindly TO the cleanup energies of
both soapsuds and science.
X
The telegraph and telephone systems
are in apple-pie order. There are $50
telephones. There are BARRIERS, mas
seurs and even a gymnasium, as well
as a small natatorium, to delight the
legislators. Cabinetmakers. upholster-
ers. plumbers, carpenters. blacksmiths.
a hardware dealer and whatnot in the
world of mechanics are prominent
among the marvels OF the structure.
There are a restaurant. a stationary
store, laundry, a disbursing office.
clock shop, a forest Of furniture, thous-
ands and thousands Of square yards of
valuable carpets and rugs. supply rooms
rich in office fixtures and other features
which space limitations render impos-
sible of description here.
Well may washingtonians call David
Lynn, the superintendent and architect
Of the Capitol, "the Mayor of Capitol
HILL" Never was there a mayor of any
minor municipality who had more to
look after than does this gracious gen.
tlenan who has been employed at the
Capitol for more than twenty years.
Among his added Jobs are such assign
ments as member of the Zoning Com
mission. Public Buildings Commission
and Commission on the Enlargement of
the Capitol Grounds. He also has SUI
pervision over the Columbia Hospital,
which was built by his office.
There has been seven Capitol archi-
tects since Uncle Sam took up his resi-
dence in Washington. The others
Messrs Thornton, Bullfinch, Latrobe,
Walters, Clarke and woods-served In
sequence from 1898 to 1928. Elliott
Woods, who preceded Mr.. Lynn as ar
chieect. came to the Capitol when nine
teen years of age and remained in the
government service continuously for
thirty nine years.
Twice each year the Capitol is scrub
bed and bathed on the exterior, the
shower bath being one of the most
novel which any Washington building
ever enjoys. Several companies of the
District fire department, with hose
wagons. visit Capitol Hill for ten-day
stay. They attach their lines of hose
to neighboring hydrants and then turn
on the water. The water, under high
pressure, scours the dirt and dust from
the sides of the building.
The old part of the Capitol is built Of
Virginia sandstone, quarried at Dunn
fries, Va, about thirty-flve miles down
the Potomac from Washington. 1t was
a standard building material when the
huge government building was started.
1t was used in building the original
Capitol.
Investigations latterly made by
Uncle Sans national engineers dem
onstrate that this particular building
stone weathers easily and deteriorates
rapidly. Were it not that the Capitol
has been coated every year or two
with protective blankets OF water
proof paint, the sandstone part of the
structure would long since have
crumbled.
Seven aluminium spikes tipped with
platinum tower above the statue of
the Goddess of Freedom that orna-
ments the Capitol's dome as scientific
protectors against the bolts of Jove
which frequently are hurled from on
high. The interior skeleton OF the
gigantic dome Is q maze OF metal
composed OF hundreds Of tons of iron
and steel Buring electric storms.