Evening star., 1948-02-01
By John cIogett Proctor

which was erected in 1906 only for
temporary use.
Up to 1929, according to Bryan's
history, Three years of the second
term of Monroe passed before the
south portico of the White House
was built so that the members OF
the Presidents family could reach
the garden without going down
into the basement. The east room
was still unfinished and the grounds
on the north side of the house only
improved in part. The range of Of
fees on the west was used for the
stabling of COWS owned by the Pres
ident, while at the end of the
range on the east was the stable for
eight horses. Along the stable wall
near the Treasury Building were a
number of sheds used by clerks in
the Treasury and State Depart
ments, living at distance, to keep
their horses during the day"
The north portico was not added
until some time during President
JackSon..S nrst term.
Adams Used the River
So far as we know it was many
years before the occupants of the
White House enjoyed the luxury of
a bathroom or, especially, bath
tub, though 1t would seem that the
old washtub, still recalled by many
an early Washingtonian, answered
this purpose for the Saturday night
bath.
President John quincy Adams
was wont to arise IN the summer
months at am, walk to the bank
of the river nearby, leave his clothes
on the shore, and frequently swim
three -fourths of mile. At one time
he was in the water for one hour
and half without touching bottom.
Upon another occasion. when "Old
Man Eloquent" went for a swim
with his son and his steward An
tome, he set off one morning to
cross the Potomac, which at this
time extended almost to the White
House grounds. They took off their
clothes in the boat, intending to
dive and swim in the river. A sud-
den gust of wind blew practically all
the garments down the rivery The
steward, with very few clothes, re-
turned to the White House, while
President Adams waited Gin gnat-
bitten misery for two hours hidden
in the bushes"
The White House got its first
supply of drinking water from wells
dug on the premises, and water for
other purposes was obtained from
pits in the ground, from rain water
and from the Tiber nearby. And it
does seem remarkable that the early
presidential families had to suffer
so many Inconvenience when the
Van Ness mansion. at Constitution
avenue and Seventeenth street (the
Pan American Union Building, and
which was completed and first oc-
cupied in 1916 by Gen. and Mrs
Van Ness, had hot and cold water
in every chamber, and was said tt
be the first dwelling in the Unior
with these luxuries."
Springs Furnished Water
In 1884 water from the springs iE
Franklin Square was conveyed ir
iron pipes to a reservoir on Thir'
teenth street between I and x
streets, and thence to the Executive
Mansion. 1t was not until 1876!
that Potomac water was piped tt
Washington, coming from the Little
Falls Branch, the conduit then be.
ing so far completed as to turn the
water from the receiving reservoir
into the mains then available Or
December 5, 1868, the conduit being
entirely completed, Potomac water
from Great Falls was available. This
source of supply was zealously
guarded by Federal troops during
the Civil War.
AS to the heating of the White
House, this was done with fire.
places and CRATES and many and
irons exist today as relices of ante
bellum days, when oak and pine
trees were plentiful in and arounc
Washington, and wood was cheaper
than coal. Incidentally, bituminou'
coal was first mined in this country
on the south side of the James Rive
in Virginia, in 1750, and was brought
to this city from Richmond at least