Evening star., 1952-03-24

Visitors Praise
Renlode|ing Job
Al White House
Lawmakers Express
General Approval
After Inspection Tour
By IsobeIIe Shelton

By Isabelle Shelton
Congress went sight seeing at
the renovated White House yester-
day. and liked what it saw.
Democrats and Republicans alike
had enthusiastic praise for the re-
Description Of Newly Dseoroted White
House. Pose BIB
modelled building. Words like
beautiful, @fine," wonderful"
and lovely" came from members
Of both parties. Not even the most
economy minded members had
any complaint about how the
nearly So million Congress appro-
priated had been spent.
The unanimous approval was
almost too good to be true" said
Representative McGregor, Repub-
licah, Of Ohio. one of the four
members Of Congress who are
members of the Commission on
Renovation of the Executive Man
sion. which supervised the rebuild
ing.
Maybe wen get some blasts to-
morrow on the House and Senate
floor" he added.
The commission invited all the
members OF Congress. the SUI
preme Court and the Cabinet and
their wives to inspect the build
ing yesterday, while q large crew
Of workmen still labored To- apply
the finishing touches. The Tru-
mans expect to move back TO the
executive mansion from Blair
House next week end.
696 Persons In Tour.
Despite a cold rain which con-
tinued almost up to the time the
tour was to start, guards clocked
696 persons through the East
entrance. Several congressman
brought their children, and al
though the invitation read for
member and spouse only, the
guards were not disposed TO argue.
Associate Justices Burton and
Reed and their wives came from
the Supreme Court. and from the
Cabinet there were Attorney Cen
eral McGrath. Postmaster Gen.
eral Donaldson and Secretary of
Agriculture Brannan and, their
wives.
Senator Johnston, Democrat. Of
South Carolina, hailed "the fact
that there was no material
change in the architecture.
Johnston said he thought the
money Congress appropriated had
been 'well spent"
Representative Nicholson, Re-
publican. OF Massachusetts de-
clared: ''It has all the charm OF
Versailles and Fo1tainebleu. !
enjoyed it even more"
IAN Bi-Partisan Smiles"
Florida's Senator Holland. DEM
ocrat, found it lovely indeed. ]
did not see one unfriendly face.
It was all bipartisan smiles. ]
think this Is one place In the
country that ought to be credit
able to the last word. And it is"
Representative Miller. Mary
land Republican, who was q fre-
quent visitor to the White House
during the Theodore Roosevelt
administration, as q classmate of
Roosevelt's son Archie, declared:
''It Is q better job than ! would
have believed possible. ] for one
am so glad they retained the old
flavor and charm"
I'VE got our moneys worth, I'm
sure, ! said WiSconsin'S Senator
Wiley, Republican.
Representative Vursell, Repub-
lican, of Illinois said: They have
done q very magnificent job"
Has Is Bathrooms.
Most frequent comment was
approval for the commissions
success in preserving the atmos-
phere Of the "old White House"
Next to that. the Congress MEM
bers seemed fascinated with the
number and large size Of the
bathrooms. One said he counted
up to II. then got tired and quit.
actually, there are 16 full-sized
bathrooms, plus three small lava
tories.) One complained "If I
lived there I'd bathe myself to
death"
The mammoth stainless-steel-
equipped and white glass-walled
kitchen won by far the most ia
vorable comments from the ladies.
followed by the bright colors. spa
cious closets and use Of old floor
boards for pine paneling.
Mrs. Charles B. Hoeven, wife OF
the Republican Representative
from Iowa, while approving the
big kitchen, said she did think it
was "too bad there isn't . coy
little kitchen where the Presi-
dents wife could whip herself up
q cake"
The only controversy. according
to q member Of the renovation
commission, was on the painting
over Of the dark flmed oak wood
work in the state dining room to-
match the green walls.
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Candidates Absent.
Conspicuously absent were most
Of the presidential hopefuls in
Congress. who might have been
expected to have q special In
terest In the house at 1900 Penn
sylvania avenue.
They were all too busy trying
to get to live in the White House
to have any time to inspect 1t.
Democratic Senator's Kefauyer Of
Tennessee and Kerr Of Oklahoma
were In Nebraska, where they are
pitted against each other In that
States forthcoming primary. Re-
publican Senator Taft of Ohio was
ID wisconsin, where he faces q
stiff q. o. p. primary. Senator
Russell Of Georgia. pride Of the
Southern Democrats. spent the
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