Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-05

rails lying about the place so the 200
odd workmen have been actively on
the job of wrecking the third floor
attic and later on of placing the steel
and tiles
TWO hundred tons of structural steel
have been required for the job,
and only the most remarkable luck
and foresight have prevented the diff
culties frequently found in such con-
struction work. On one occasion, not
so long ago, a steel girder slipped
through the front portico, and but for
the instant obedience of the two men
that remained at their posts a few
yards away they would have lost their
lives. Which speaks volumes for the
discipline of the management handling
the construction work.
Contrary to general impression, no
additional story is being added to the
White House. The temporary roof
that now protects the work being done
beneath it is merely a shield from
the weather, and when removed will
reveal a lower roof of permanent de-
sign. According to William F. Lusk,
the superintendent of construction for
SEVERN Co, the contracting firm that
to date has included the taking off of
the old roof, the lowering of the attic
floor and the utilization of the dead
space that was there to make new
guest and maids rooms.
All this program of reconstruction
has been under the personal suServi-
sion of Col. U. S. Grant, Sd, u. S. A.,
grandson of former President Grant,
the Director Of Public Buildings and
Parks of Washington. His archi-
tects, in the office of Maj. Mahaffey,
U. S. A, Of the Corps of Engineers,
have co-operated with A. n. SEVERN
Of Chicago, the builder who secured
the contract, involving some $500, 900
appropriation from Congress.
The White House differs consider.
ably from many other of our impor-
tant public buildings, in that il has
been occupied almost continuously
since it was first completed, in 1900.
by successive Presidents of the United
States with their families, and is
therefore the center of the social life
of the Nation. Any change in the
structure is of the most absorbing in
terest to the taxpayer and to his wife,
whether they come from Maine or
from Florida, from California or from
Texas, as their eager inquiries of the
White House attendants soon show.
If they are unable to view the inte-
rior of the house, they lift up the chill
dren to look into the basement and
ask, (which room is the kitchen" or
Where are the gardens?" Above all,
they want to know What kind of tree
Is that in front of the White House?"
1t is very unlikely that any other
! Japanese maple in the country re-
ceives the absorbing interest that the
| one close to the north portico of the
Executive Mansion has received in the
f, past months, especially during the in
| fiuX Of Easter visitors. For that mat
| ter, no item is too trivial to escape
! the attention of the traveller inspect
| ing the official home of his President.
In connection with the repairs of the
| building, it is interesting to learn the
means whereby a suitable man was
obtained to handle the actual con-
| structiOn work on the grounds. 1t
was decided that some one with a
! knowledge of local conditions in the
East was preferable to a person from
other sections, and as Mr.. SEVERN had
no one he could spare from his other