Evening Star Newspaper, February 15, 1925, Page 73

ILLUSTRATED FEATURES Part 5—8 Pages WASHINGTON, MAGAZINE SECTION - he Sy Star b. ‘C., SUNDAY FICTION AND HUMOR MORNING, FEBRUARY 15, 1925 Skill of Experts Displayed by Officials of Capitol BY WILL P. KENNEDY. HE United States Capitol Building is the very heart of | the Nation. It is the work- | <hop of Congress, which has sole authority to make the laws, and of the Supreme Court, set | up by the Constitution to interpret the laws. Yet few persons country, even throughout the members of Congress, ®ppreciate what a sizable plant the Capitol and Its accessory group of ®uildings really is. Fewer still ever step to consider th up of earnest @nd eflicient experts, who keep the workshop in shape for Congress and the Supreme Court. While Congress 15 besieged by job hunters and see ers after political patronage—each one of the 435 members of the House and the 96 members of the Senate having his own troubles in this re- gard—it is worthy of note that <ome-Republicans and go-Democrats, or vice versa, no matter which party holds the majority, this group of €hop-management for the Capltol hus been kept uninterruptedly on the job for many years, unaffected by the tides or shifting winds of politics Heading the list is David Lynn, re. crntly promoted to “Avchitect of the to succeed the late Elliott He has been employed in the office for years. Every one around the Capitol has a good word for him, and he recognized as a thorough gentleman John Welch is chief clerk and ac- countant. By law he is acting arch tect whenaver the architect is absent or otherwise disabled. He has worked in the Capitol for 40 year: starting Dec: 15, 1884, Defore Grover Cleveland was inaugurated. ¥or a time he managed the House restaurant, and then mployed temporarily to organize supply depot wnd ncial affairs of the office of the architect. He took that job as a sort of vaca- tion, and at it ever since Every dollar e appropriations for that office since 1900 has been disbursed under his supervision. Up- ward of $25,000,000 has been spent with- qut loss of a single cent, and without | Mr. Welch b bonded also an infallible authority on questions of precedent. As the Senate and HouSe have divided au- thority and there are a hundred or more branches of work that come under this officc, questions are con- stantly arising as to who should do certain work and to what account it should be charged. Mr. Welch knows| the tive responsiblity and the re- lations of one job to another. - Mt HARLES E. FAIRMAN is art cura- for an tor in tha Capitol and on the job is mber a was been of 1t 16 years. He is well known authority on art subjee as former rt critic and art edi- | tor on metropolitan newspapers and | a contributor to the best magazines. | There are 292 works of art in lhn’ aside fr painters, | llection i | Cuvitol 1 mural decorations by famc frescoes or bas- reliefs. Th cludes por- traits by John § Copley. Ben- | jamin West, tuart, Ghester | Harding, Charles Wilson Peale, | Thomas Sully, Rembrandt Peale, John | Vanderlyn, Ary Schefler, John Nea-| gle and John Singer Sargent. Among | historical paintings are works by | John Trumbull, John Vanderlyn, Rob-| ert W Weir, W. H, Powell, J. G.| Chapman. Seth Eastman J Walker nd A, G. Heat Land- scape painters are represented by ex- amples of the work of Bierstadt and Moran; allegorical and decorative painters by works of Constantino Brumidi, Jimanuel Leutze and Filippo Costaggini In sculpture th Causici, | ardi illustr the Those of Greenough, Crawford. Rog- ers, Powers, Me: Stone, Story and Ives show the development of Ameri- can sculptu u r European influ- ence Examples American mes | works of Franzoni, Vincenti and Gagli- Italian sico, te schoo! distinetive sculpture of John | Erastus | Charles Daniel Chester Brooks and Au- Three por- last-named sculp- of more expression in be Palmer y N ench, Ri stus Sai ait busts by the tor are included in this collection. While there has been no intent to establish an art museum, the art works of the United States Capitol form a collection which any art museum would he fortunate to possess. With- out any purpose to record the de velopment of American art, this col- lection contains tmportant examples of the works of sculptors and paint- credit for the pres- art in this country | due. has prepared Dow He Brown, ers to whom the ent standards of 1s unquestionably Mr. Fairman books on this subject. one catalogue and the other a hensive catalogue of all the art works| in the Capitel. with biographies of the artists. He has charge of repair and restoration all works of art in the Capitol. and is in demand as a lecturer on this subject before so- cieties. Arthur Cook, supervising en- gineer of the Capitol power plant, is another important member of the | architect’s staff who has grown up| on the job during 27 vears of service. | VWWILLIAM A. FREDERICK the landscape gardener in chz | the United States itol | grounds. He is a graduate in land- mcape gardening from Cornell Uni- versity, and has had wide experience with municipalities, institutions and estates before coming to his present job. In the proposed development of the Plaza between the Capitol and Union Station and south of the Capitol to the “historic Potomac,” Mr. Frederick will have a consplcuous part. August Eccard, ci appointed In 1900 as an assistant draftsman under his grandfather, August Schoenborn, from whom he got the best possible training. M. Schoenborn had been appointed head draftsman under Thomas U. Walter in 1851 and served continuously for 51 years. It was his design upon which the present dome was built and it is a good example of the won- derful beauty ‘and force found in all his drawings. Mr. Eccard was an apt pupil of his grandfather and also studied archi- tecture during a three-year course at George Washington University. After the death of Mr. Schoenborn he was appointed draftsman and in 1920 was appointed construction draftsman. He was appointed clvil engineer | under David Lynn, now architect of the Capitol, in 1924, from which posi- tion Mr. Lynn was promoted. J. A. Brown is constructor and has been connected with the architect's force for 20 years. His principal lwork was in direct charge of the con- struction of the House Office Build- ing, Columbia Hospital and other buildings erected under the archi tect's office. Albert E. Werner is custodian_of the Senate Office Building and has | two is engineer, was DAVID chatect of the ch}n Lol Ar BB 02 e i LYNN, WILLIAM A .TREDERICK, landscape gerdenar in charge of the Capilol grounds. baen employed more than 20 Michael X custodian of the Housc Office Building and em- ployed under the architect’s office for 12 years. The office of the architect, David Lynn, has as part of its job repairs and maintenance of the Capitol Build ing. What this entails can better be understood when you stop to realize that this building is 751 feet 4 inches long, and its greatest width is 35 feet One floor of the Capitol proper covers 153,112 square feet. The total floor space in the entire Capitol Building, including the terraces, contains 733,494 square feet. In the dome there is ap proximately 2,648,650 cubic feet. The en- cubical content of the building, in- cluding the subbasements, 780,080 cubic feet There are 430 rooms in the Capitol now devoted to offices, committee and storage purposes, and of these 250 are offices. There are 679 window doors, 140 fireplaces, 11 elevators and 14,518 square feet of skylight formed of iron and glass, all of which enter into the daily care of the Cap- itol Building. There have also to the care of the Capitol by Congre at the Capitol for ears. been committed chitect of the the House and | Senate Office Buildings, with the care and maintenance of the grounds, driveways and parks, and subways connecting each of these buildings with the Capitol; the care and main- tenance of the Capitol power plent, supplying heat, light and power for the Capitol, Senate and House Office Bulldings, and light and_power for the Library of Congress, Government Hotels for Government workers, and heat, light and power for the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Botanic Garden, the Washington City Post Office and the Government Printing Office; the care and maintenance of the engine house, Senate and House stables, repair to the District of Columbla Courthouse; heat, light and | power and repalrs and construction, machinery and apparatus of the Co- lumbia Hospital for Women and Lying-in Asylum: also charge of re- pairs and construction of such other government buildings as are from time to time committed by Congress. During the last 20 years the fol- lowing buildings have been erected under the charge of the late Elliott Woods, architect of the Capitol: The House and Senate Office Buildings, with the subways connecting them with the Capitol; the Caplitol power plant; the Court of Appeals Building; a dormitory for the Columbia Institu- tion for the Deaf; Columbia Hospital for Women and Lying-in Asylum; an additional story to the House Office Building; the reconstruction of the District of Columbia Courthouse; removal of 244 houses from the Union Station Plaza, and reconstruc- tion of the central portion of the Capitol, including the formation of 28 rooms in the space previously oe- cupied by the Library of Congress, and remodeling the Supreme Court | chamber and suite and of Statuary Hall, where each State is allowed to place two statues of citizens who | gave outstanding service In the files of the architect are all |the drawings of the Capitol since | 1836, numbering about 25,000, and drawings of all the work on other buildings mentioned. To keep track of these files is a big job in itself, |and they must be gone over often keep the force posted on the ecords. This is included” in Mr. Ec- ard’s job. ok k% HE Senate Office Building, north- east of th Capitol, and - the | House Office Building, southeast of | the Capitol, and both facing the beau- tiful park between the Capitol and the Congressional Library Building, were designed with special reference to their relation to the Capitok Build- ing, architecturally considered. They are both studiously simple in design, without pediments, domes or other strongly accentuated architectural features. The Senate Office Bullding occuples three sides of a square—476 feet on B street, 0 feet on Delaware avenue and 34§ feet 8 inches op C | Architecturally it is classfe in design and its principal facade resembles in treatment the bulldings facing the Place de la Concorde in Parls, the end pavilions being modeled-on . those of the Colonnade du Louvre. The B |street colonnade facing the Capitol is 292 feet 7 Inches long. - Tt con- tains 34" columns, each 29 feet'high. Elsewhere on the bullding are 34 columns of the same size, making 68 in‘all. In conformity with the Capitol, the B street front of the Senate |Office Building shows three stories {above ground, but the grade falls away so that it is really & five-story building. This building has 13 elevators and {7 stairways besides the beautiful | main stairway near the rotunda, which Is one of the artistic features. The rotunda is 57 feet 4 inches In diameter within 18 free standing marble columns, each 24 feet 6 inches high. The rotunda is 75 feet 6 inches in diameter within the inclosing wall. It extends entirely through the build- ing from the street floor to the roof, to a total height of 63 feet. Back of the. rotunda s the main stairway with & double intramural stair of Italian- Renmalssance style, entirely of marble, leading to the great marble conference room, which faces an open court whose perimeter is one-half mile. This is one of the showrooms of the National Capital. It is 52 by 74 feet In size. It is monumental in character, due partly to the materials used and partly to the fact that it contains 12 Corinthian columns, each 27 feet 6 inches in height. This bullding contains 4 office suites of 3 rooms cach. 94 office suites of 2 rooms, 10 single rooms, 8 committee rooms, and a post office, telegraph and telephone office, dining room with kitchen and pantries, bathing room, - barber street. | apitol A gmall arm keep this . ARTHUR E.COOK, V. Swp 0 Lsingoe"ufléfl— Piam.{). ineer o Y of men are required 4o qreat buldin first-class shape. g and grounds 1w CHARLES E. rt duratoro £ 5 JouN W ehief cle g sence of the architect, CH, . rk and ascountanl In the ab- he is acting architect. shop, and offices for the officials in charge of the buflding. The commit- tee rooms are 25 by 50 and 30 by 65 feet. They all have ornamented ceil- ings and marble floors. Each Senator's office contains a mantlepiece with grate and fireset. The electric lighting fixtures in the Senators’ suites are of old silver. All of the office furniture is of mahog- any. So also- is the wood finish throughout the building. The Senate Office Building contains approximately 7,000,000 cubic feet and cost about 50 cents per cubic foot. In addition to fulfilling its function as an office structure for the United States Senate, this buflding is a pub- lic monument, nlways.open for enjoy- ment of visitors to #he Capital from all parts of the count®. It has a total of 340 rooms, and a total floor space of 505,300 square feet: In the floors and roof 2,721,219 pounds of steel were used. It has 515 exterior windows and, 639 interior doors. There are 30 miles of electric conduit, -50 miles-of ‘wire, Ilnd 25 miles of piping. 7,760 electric lamps used im lighting this structure for a Senators’ work- shop. * k %k % HE architectural treatment of the House Office Building is the same as that of the Senate bullding. It has a total frontage of a third of & mile. Its area is 110,500 square feet, and the cubical contents are 10,000,000 cubic feet. This building now has 482 offices above the subway floor, and plans are now being studied for adding 375 more, 80 that each member of Congress may have at least two office rooms. Four hundred and fourteen of the 435 mem- bers of the National House of ‘Repre- sentatives have their offices in this building and 21 have their offices in the Capitol. , Fifty committees, with their chair- men, occupy, 104 of the offices, and 374 members occupy 376 single offices. There are 12 miscellaneous offices for official reporters, rest rooms, the legislative drafting service, etc. The filing for and assignments of There are |rooms in the House Office Bullding is unlike anything of its kind in the coun- try. Senlority in continuous service is the rule. After the election of a new Congress in November, the offices of all the defeated members are listed for filing until March 4 at 12 o'clock, and they are assigned to the senior mem- ber filing. Some members have to file four and five times to get better offices than the ones they are occupying. Dur- ing the session, if a member dies or there is a resignation, that office is listed for filing for 10 days, at the end of which the oldest member in continuous service who has filed gets it. After March 4, the moving begins, and when there is an average of 50 to 100 members moving from one office to another, besides the committees, it en- tails a tremendous amount of work that the public knows nothing about. Great care is exercised not only not to disturb the members’ files, but also in handling the furniture, which is all mahogany. The House Office Building consists of five floors and the length of each cor- ridor is about 1,550 feet. On the first floor are & barber shop with four chalrs, and bathing room With six bathtubs and four showers, & steam room, a static electric room, a gymnasium, police station. On the second floor are a post office, two telegraph bdffices, a restaurant and a legislative drafting room. The third floor has a caucus room seating 450 persons and Is equipped for showing motion pictures. The fifth floor has storage place where members can store envelopes, printed copies of speeches, documents, and other material that would otherwise litter up and clog their offices. There is also a telephone exchange in this buflding, =o large that it requires about 25 operators to handle the enormous traffic. The subway floor is a mechanical workshop. Here are found a carpenter’s shop, cabinet making, an electric shop, a paint shop, a plumbing shop and a large storeroom which handles sup- plies for the maintenance of the build- ing. There is also a. heating room which contains a- refrigerating plant to furnish ice water in every room, and a pumping station to regulate the heat. A large a stationery room and a ® l l [ ] room, where all the waste paper is a fold- 10 to 40 Government & depart- cabinet shop for re- pairing the furniture used by the House | and there are some 12,000 pieces used | The direction. maintenance and cleaning of the House Office Building come under a superintendent, who i | appotnted by the architect of the Cap |tol. The House Office Building and t | Capitol power plant are operated under |the supervision (by law) of the House | Office Building Commission, composed of the Speaker, one member of the major- ity party, Representative Isaac Bacha rach of New Jersey member of th minority party, Representative Finis Garrett, Tennessee, and the architect of | the Capitol | In this building ther. dows, 11 clevators, § staircases, 863 |interior doors and 12 entrances. Ther are 142,044 square fect of copper roof ling and 48,000 feet of heating pipe. | There are 12 electric lamps re- quired. In addition to the offices and com- |mittee rooms, the building contains ifll‘cnmmodnlmr~ for the following: A {conterence with cloak and lounging rooms adjoining: a dining room, and all the little shops quired in a small city * baled up and shipped each day ploys from of the Printing Office, a mail ship lmrnr, and a large | | | ing room which ei persons, a branch room, HE duties the 1 dener, William A |der the office | Capitol | Capitol grounds and a ge | vision of the grounds of the Li of Congress pitol grounds including the ac liately about | the House and fiice buiid- |ings, comprise sc Within | this area are 1 s walks and drivewaysy which caned dail and from whieh is removed lin the Winter The lawns with modern are treated { skill. During {leaves are raked |adjoining reservatic |decay for a periva o they are returncd | tertilizer of exce proximately 15 cayed leaves are | Within the tol grounds |many fine ‘trees and shrubs, o historic interest which constant attention. The | moving deadwood and of decayed cavi in bracing with cab |1imbs of tall trees, is carried all seasons of the The the trees are lengthened cons and the physical conditior | stimulated by |of cavities. Many |of the value or {found on the Capitol tree culturists from |country come to study | Many new of ndscape gar- Frederick, un- architect of the of the consist in maintaining eral supe es imn s Senate « the snow re kept in short grass annuall ith expert Fal the hauled ar nd allowed to vear, when ground as a quality. Ap- his manne of must work of the treatment ddition to the heav re vear. lives of jecided surgical treatment excellent examples work can be grounds, and 1 over the ren ear, an of blooming are planted in tie marbie the terrace about building. The hot and dry weathe | mer destroys much of the grass, each Spring finds the for, |Mr. Frederick busy preparing |spaces for reseeding. with about 125 | bushels of grass seed thus used each vear. Just at and the thou ants Bitlbs rheds and under | present the | department of outdoor | sisting in preparations | guration. The making speclal preparations for many public functions held on the Capitol grounds, including band concerts. The Capitol power plant furnis heat, light and power to the United States Capitol, Library of Congress enate and House Office Bufldings United States Coast and Geodeti Survey. Public Health Service, Bo- tanic Garden, Washington City Post Office, Government Printing Office and lght and power to the Government hotels. Its average output when Con- gress is in on is 57,000 k.-w. hours on a fair day and 70,000 k.-w hours on a cloudy day. The output is about 10,000 k.-w. hours when | Congress is not on the job Besides 16 boilers of 571 power each, this plant has co. ash handling equipment that load and store coal from a |in 30 minutes. The 1.600 tons of coal. The water feed heater has capacity for softening and filtering and heating 25.000 gallons of water per hour. * forces work for this in are the ina employed re in horse- and an ur 70-ton car bunkers can hold * HERE are substations of this plant in the Capitol, Qffice Buildings, Library of ¢ ongress and the Government Office. The City Post Office is fed from the substations at the Government Print- ing Office; the Government Hotels from the Senate Office Building; the Botanic Garden, the Coast and Geo. detic Survey and the Public Health Service from the House Office Build- ing substation The Capitol has five !momr generator sets; the House Office Building four sets and Senate O Building, the Library of Congress and | the Government , Printing Office have three sets each. Extreme care is taken regarding the heating and ventilation of the work- shop for the Congress and Supreme Court. The Capitol Building is venti- lated by 29 electric motor-driven fans aggregating 25 horsepower—¢ of which are used in the legislative halls of the House and Senate and 2 for the Supreme Court chamber. This equipment was installed and the work carried on under the director of Prof. S. Homer Woodbridge, and has been in operation for 2 vears. Hereafter the hall of the House will receive fresh air at the rate of 85,000 cubic feet per minute, when required, which is a rate of supply equal to the net cubic contents of the hall every five minutes. Changes made during the year in- clude a radical alteration in the man- ner of admitting air to the House chamber, by which former trouble- some air drafts have been' eliminated. The steam-pipe system installed 20 years ago for warming the House and Senate wings has been modernized and put unde: a new economy system of valve conirol or'g'vated by Prof. Woodbridge. This improvement be continued while Congress is ab- sent from the legislative halls. The importance of improving the conditions existing within the legis- lative chambers during Summer weather is stressed by the consulting engineer. It is proposed to dry and cool and retemper the air supplied in such weather to the chambers. The rapldly increasing volume of legisla- tive business incident to the growth of the Nation makes the extension of congressional sessions into and through the Summer months increas- ingly probable, if not inevitable. Dur- ing such sessions, discomfort and dis- satisfaction will result unless the ef- fort now being made is successfu] in supplylng cool and Invigorating at- te and House Printing dynamo room, a waste-paper mospheric environment.