Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1923-02-24


region came tosthe legislature with
the site of the capital in his pocket.
de had purchased the land between
Tue two northermost of the four lakes
and proposed to have the place, then
uninhabitated, made the capitol of
the state. by ajudicious distribution
of corner lots he secured the vote
and the site he had selected was
chosen. The place was named
Madison in honor of President Mad
son whom DOty strongly admired.
A curious thing happened in the
selection of tue capitol Several
other locations were proposed, but
/ when any of them was TO be voted
upon, the secretary's count showed
six for, and seven against 1t. When
I Doty's choice came up for consider
alton, there were seven votes for it
and six against 1t.
| After this mOmentous matter was
settled, the question was to begin
"A
let for the construction of the leg
lslatiye building for which Congress
mad made small appropriation. In
| order to bring teams and workmen
TO the site, the contractor had first to
cut road from Milwaukee to the
four lakes. He also had to induce
, family from Blue Mounds TO move in
and start boarding house for his
men. Thus the first dwelling in
Madison was boarding. house.
Work on the capital progressed
rather slowly, and when the legis-
lature met in the fall of 1898, this
lime as law-making body of a state
instead of territory, the building
was in rather poor shape. 1t had
been built of stone quarried at Maple
Bluff and carried across the lake in
scOws. The first story was up and
the senate and assembly rooms had
been boarded up with green oak cut
from the woods near by. Not having
had time to be properly seasoned, the
boards soon began to shrink and
when fire was started in the old
fashioned stove, they shrank so
much that great cracks appeared in
the walls and floor.
This was before Emerson wrote his
Compensation" but the senators of
those days very satisfactorily demon
strated that there is a compeusating
feature to every i'll. When arguments
became too heated, it was simple
matter TO reach a cane through
nearby crack and punch the pigs
uich found shelter beneath the
building into squealing activity. BY
the time the commotion had subsidized
the senators might find another
speaker claiming the floor.
The winter which came on soon
after the legislature convened was an
unusually cold one, and despite a
roaring fire, sap excluded from the
boards and froze ON the walls. 1t
was hard to be patriotic and public
spirited enough to continue making
laws while sitting with ones feet
over a crack in the floor with sappy
icicles hanging over one s head, and
the Legislators gave up after two or
three weeks of trying to work under
such difficulties
Tho aaaasnp ,r,ou 70 ~
February. but in the meantime
committee was to see what could be
done to make the building more
liabitable. The committee brought
in several loads of hay and spread it
OF the floor and then spread carpets
over it. When the legislators came
back in February, they found the
building warm enough so they need
no longer set an ink bottle Oh the
stove before they could write.
There was a great deal of difficulty
about the building of the capit-l and
it was some time before it was finish
ed. One governor adjourned legis-
lature for several months for fear
they might appoint an investigating
committee, which they threatened to
do, and find that his partner who also
was the contractor, had made away
with most Of the funds
When the capitol was fini. he'd it
was not such a bad looking building
The dome Of the present capitol
covers the site Of the old capitol
building, which WAS a rather squatty
looking structure surmounted with
dome 50 closely resembling wash
bowl that it was commonly spoken Of
as Governor Doty's Wash Bowl. "
The legislature Of 1857 made All
appropriation for enlarging and i'm
proving the building. The Civil aar