Evening Star Newspaper, September 23, 1928, Page 88

B L L It P THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. €. SEPTEMBER 23, 1928—PART 7.-" = g Soeesom" 1py voay onin, wsEoros. b v mevreveen m wmemr e T D T ‘National Hotel Was Home of Clay and Other Famed Americans one of the daily papers under the * as follows: “One . ving and nénne_ - " making expedients ever introduced, and A i g \Washington. | especially valuable for persons of scanty is the National Hotel at Penn-| means, is the cooking with gas. What sylvania avenue and Sixth street| a worid of labor and trouble and time it northwest, one of our historic land-| sayest Mr. Willard brought one of his marks, h . sheet-iron_broilers to our office some In the past few years several old| gays ago and, having attached a gutta | Tosteiries have made way for the march | nertna®tube to one of the gas pipes, of time, notably the Ebbitt House. at| cooked a couple of chops and a steak in BY JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR. TANDING on the border of an area which will soon Me trans- Fourteenth and F streets northwest, | where now stands the National Press| Club Building. The site of the Capitol at Third and Pennsylvania avenue re- cently gave way to a gasoline station | and the Shoreham at Fifteenth and H streets is being replaced by a large office building. The Franklin Square Hotel (at the northwest corner of Four- teenth and K streets) is down. and on its site is being erected another large structure, while in place of the old Hamilton House, directly opposite. has been erected another Hamilton on a much larger scale. And so it goes—a new city is coming in and the old onc a few minutes, the tenderest we ever tasted, and, what is peculiar to the | process, free from the smoke and fumes which generally rise from broiling meat Anybody can sce the operation any d: in the kitchen of the National Hotel. - JT vas while Guy & Briggs were run- | made sick by ning the hotel that guests here were polsonous sewer gases, | Tesulting in the closing of the place for several months, people even being afraid | tn enter the building. It was during | scare that Col. Franklin Tenney. | ‘ngether with Dr. S. W. Jones, heard of | | the hotel and the fatalit: which hung | n-| about it. and asked to be shown through | the place. An item prinied yvears ago | is passing away. So far as the old National is cor cerned, on the morning of October 2. 1921, just a little short of seven years | ago, it looked for a while as though; r. Tenney examined and leased it. | the day of its passing ha# srived. for| threw open the windows, had the house | the flames which enveloped the Uppe: | cleansed, 278 loads of dirt taken from | stories and roof at times looked fright- | the cellar and yards, put $100,000 worth | fully menacing. As it was, considerable | of furniture into the hotel and was call- | domage was done and had it not been | ed crazy by his friends. The hotel was | for the efficiency of our Fire Depart- | opened to the public, completely reno- | ment, that morning would have ended vated and declared thoroughly free of | the National Hotel. In addition to the the poisonous malaria, December 5, 1857. | serious property damage sustained, tW0 | Soon after it was opened every room Persons lost their lives and there were | was taken and the parlors and salons, | many narrow escapes among the three | where had danced the belles of a quar- hundred and more guests who climbed | ter of a century before, were again filled down ladders or were carried down by with life and beauty. They sold out to | firemen. H. S. Benson of Philadelphia, who took The National must have been begun charge April 1, 1863. prior to 1826, if the statement is true ! “Messrs. Tenney & Jones, receiving | that it was first opened to gu on $100.000 for the hotel, each retired with 1 Washington's Birthday. | a handsome capital and the former,| | Joseph Wood, a portrait painter of 1326, by a parade. succeeded in the eve- ning by a grand ball at the hotel. The first proprietor of the National was John Gadsby, who formerly ran the Indian Queen Hotel in Baltimore. He had co O'Neale hos Hotel, but about 1825 [ 8 change of location and the National was erected especially for him. He took a long lease of the property. and it was during his proprietorship that it was known as Gadsby's Hotel. * % % % MONG the most ments of the early hi hotel is the reference mat John Sessford in hi Yeview of the year 1826, he says: “Grea: improvements have been made to Brown's Tavern” (site of the Metro- politan), “and a new and e; xtensive one. | to be kept by Mr. Gadsby, is now ready | for occupation.” His report for the following ) carries this reference: ' the extensive additions to the Nation Hotel carried up to the square, and W } be finished early in the coming season. which will make it ome of the most commodious taverns in| The following year, M. Sessford savs: “* * * the National nearly completed and in Pennsylvania avenue, front of it, is accommodation r the Bank of Washington.” There is little doubt that the present structure has been added and modi- fied since the hotel was first erected. but in the main it is the same building. In 1844, when Samuel S. Colema charge of the place, John Gadsby ha: ing given up direct control of the bus ness and moved to the Decatur res dence which he had bought, it unde went what was called “a thorough air.” ?h(-' first building erected in the city for strictly hotel purposes that was not de- signed along the same lines as a private house. { The carpentering on the building was | done by Mr. Van Coble and the “bri | work by a Mr. Bender. A list of prices | of building material and labor at this | - Removing furnishing period may be interestin earth, 17 cents a cubic yar building stone, $1.20 a perch. measured in the wall; laying same, 80 cents a perch. Bricks then sold for $5 a thou- sand, delivered. and the laying c» $1.871, with outside arches extra. Sand | was 17 cents a barrel and painters | charged 18 cents a square yard for three-coat work, including materia! Plastering, including material, 29%2 | cents a vard, and the slater for his| work got $11.50 a square. Window sill five feet long, five and one-half inches thick, cost $4.75 each: door sills, six feet long, seven inches thick, $11.72 each, and circular door-heads, six feet wide, r in 1830 describes Gadsby’s as follows: “The edifice fronts 198 feet on Sixth street, 195 on C_street and 140 | on the great Avenue. Under the same | Toof are a bank. a stage office, a wine store and a lottery office; in the paral- Jelogram is comprised an open area of 140 by 80 feet, with a perennial fountain of spring water and grass plots, and wide piazzas are attached inside to the geveral stories. There are 240 apart- ments altogether. of which 170 are lodg- ing rooms and 13 private parlors.” Tt is also said that, following John Gadsby, the hotel business was conduct- ed by Gadsby & Newton, then by Wil- llam Gadsby, son of the former pro- prietor, to be followed by Samuel S. Coleman. ‘After this came a Mr. Blackman and for a time after 1849 it was conducted by Calvert & Co., who were soon suc- ceeded by Dexter & Willard, and then came Guy & Briggs, who ran it until 1857 The Willard referred to was Edwin S. Willard, a brother to the Willard who for so many years successfully con- ducted the hotel business at the corner of Pennsylvania avenue and Fourteenth street northwest. It was while he was interested in the National, in 1855, that he introduced the first gas cooking stelry. known as the Franklin he decided upon ! accurate state- ory of this de to it bv In his me here in 1819, to conduct the | jones and George H. Calvert. Mr. Ten- n took | ___ ity, exceedigly popular and generous to At the time it was built, it was|a | gained much experience in the hotel | ernment, was owned by David Burnes. man buildings, erected by Roger Chew th tove known in this city and referred —S. purchasing and fitting up an_elegant manor at Manchester, called ‘Gale Hall," moved there with his family. Mr. Ben- son died in 1869 and the National again passed into the hands of Tenney & ney bought out the entire establishment, June 1, 1871, and conducted the hotel | vear | for some time after 1871 alone, and then sold a quarter interest to Mr. W. H. Crosby, a gentleman of sterling abil- fault.” Before coming here, Col. Tenney had iness. To quote a sketch of him: ‘After a studious and useful boyhood Mr. Tenney opened the Amoskeag Hotel at Goffstown, now called Manchester, N. H., October 1, 1841. Some time later he started the Eim Street Temperance House in the same town, the only tem- perance house there, and still later started the City Hotel, which flourished and had a splendid reputation. He sold out the latter hotel in 1855 and then | came to Washington.” as before stated. The hotel business is now controlled | by the National Hotel Co., of which | George H. Calvert, jr., is president. The building is on property that, in the early days of the District, when Washington became the seat of Gov- Here, as early as 1816, were the Weight. ‘Weightman, mayor of Washington from 1824 to 1826. Weightman had purchased the property designated as lots 8, 9, part 10, 11 and 12 in square 491, in 1811, 1812 and 1813. Allen C. Clark tells us: “In the corner he had a store where he sold books; but more, the greater es- sentials of life, particularized in an ad- | vertisement, October 2, 1824: ‘Yarns, | plaid shirtings, chambrays, sattenetts, chocolate, sugar, nails.’ The same date, September, 1813, he relinquished his branch store on F street, near Fifteenth. adjoining Mrs. Curtis’ boarding house. “In the Weightman buildings for two ' years prior to August 15, 1820, the mayor and the register had offices; then | they moved to the new City Hall.’ * K ox x AMES CROGGON, who reported for | The Star before the writer was born, | and whose information of the site was largely personal, says the Weightman buildings “were a block of five or six story bricks, arranged for dwell- with store rooms in one or two. Tn. Weightman lived in the corner house and conducted a book and sta- tionery store, which was the center of the literary circle of that day. The general, being a popular officer of the militia, and prominent in municipal af- fairs as a_member of the city councils, and in 1824 as mayor of the city, drew about him the leading citizens, and at his store many members of Congress | Washington about 1800, and apprenticed | Mason and the first candidate to receive | wallach, who was the city father from ‘bnchelor'! hall at the latter’s house at mental activities in the French capital Beau Hickman, Shining Character of a Former Generation, Associated With - History of Hou ed men were wont to assemble. There was one on the night of February 4, attended by 500 persons, Co gress being largely represented. New Hampshire was represented by Senator and Mrs. Hale and daughters and Judge and Mrs. Upham, Kentucky by Mrs Critten-ien, New York by Mrs. Spauld- ing. wii> of the chairman of the wa and means committee. Other gues se. Furnished Well-Remembered Incident of Earlier Days. National has also been the favorite re- sort of professional people, many | of the distinguished actors. including | were Vice President and Mrs. Hamlin, Booth, Forrest, Mr. and Mrs. Charles | B. B. Brabson, Tennessee; Dr. Rabe, Mathews, Adelaide Philiips. Jefferson, | the prominent California Pacific Rau- | Owens, Matilda Heron, Charlotte Cush- | President Lincoln attended his first pub- man and others having stopped there. lic dinner at the National, which was tendered him by Hon. E. G. Spaulding and the New York delegation then in Congress. | “In 1862 a series of grand entertain- | ments, termed ‘The Carnival of Parties,’ | was conducted at the National. where many beautiful women and distinguish- lobbyist; Senator Baker of Oregon, assius M. Clay. Kentucky:, Joha C reckinridge And Gen. Winfield Scott. he daughters of Judge Foote, ex-Com- missioner of Patents, were married &t the National, one to ex-Senator Hen- derson and the other to Mr. Arnold. the weaithy New York merchant. Hon Horatio King's daughter was married at thé National also. Since those day the house has been the scene of ma: | him to the last THE NATIONAL HOTEL. and other Government officlals were wont to gather. There were located here repute, and Samuel Hanson, a clerk in the land office. John Graefl occupied one of the houses as a dwelling and wine store and in another was John Gardner, who conducted a boarding house, at which Levi Barber and John W. Campbell of Ohio, Thomas R. Mitch- ell of South Carolina and other Con- gressmen were quartered.” Mayor Weightman was born in Alex- andria, Va., January 18, 1787, came to himself to Way & Groff. printers. He continued in the “art preservative of | all arts” for some years. He was a the degrees in Lebanon Lodge, No. 7, of this city, on November 24, 1811, that lodge having been chartered on the pre- ceding October 8. He served the juris- diction as grand master in 1833. Another mayor whose life was asso- ciated with this site even before the erection of the National was Richard 1861 to 1867. Like Mayor Weightman, he was born in Alexandria, Va., which city was at that time a part of the Dis- | trict of Columbia. Mayor Wallach's father, also named Richard, moved into Washington at an early date, and.open- ed his law office in his residence, which stood where now stands the Sixth street de of the National, He was a brother to W. D, Wallach, an _early editor and owner of The Star. His marriage in- volved an unusual situation. Mr. Clark e “Mr. Wallach and Walter Lenox kept 1‘ Here, when Southern hospitality was | | 50" noticeable, Chief Justice Taney did | | his receiving, and later Chief Justice | | Chase and his charming daughter were | frequently to be seen at the hotel. Mrs. | the intersection of Sixth and D streets and Louisiana avenue. At Marshall Brown's wedding Mr. Wallach was a guest. Said the groom, unselfish in matrimonial happiness, to his guest, | caused to be struc | of his services. ‘Dick, why don't you select a bride from among these fine ladies?’ Replied the bachelor Dick, ‘No, I will wait until you have a daughter and when she grows up I will marry het’ Thursday was the evening and April was the month and 1856 the year when,, and!the Metro- politan Hotel the place where, Richard Wallach, esq.. proudly stood with Rosa, his bride. The bride was 17 and the | groom was 40.” * ok ok ok ANY notable persons have resided at the National. From the begin- ning. it was a popular congressional stopping place and among its guests, as far back as the Twenty-first Session, were Senator Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire, Senator Charles E. Dudley of New York, Campbell White of New York and Allen Marr of Pennsylvania. President Andrew Jackson was a guest there in 1829 and later on Senator Green of Missouri made it his home. Others who resided or stopped here for brief periods were: Prince and Princess Salm-Salm, ex-Governor Hor- ace Maynard, Robert J. Walker, John W. Stevenson and family of Kentucky, Senator and Mrs. Crittenden, Senators Fitch of Indiana and Brown of Missis- sippi, the Widow Bass of Mississippi, who afterward married the Italian min- ister; Lewis. W. Ross and Representative Kellogg of Tllinois, Judge Nelson of the United States Supreme Court and fam- ily, and Mr. Otero, Spanish delegate from New Mexico. Pickens, wife of the Governor cf Soutq | Carolina, was once among the promi-'| nent boarders. as were ex-Gov. G E. Cole, Secretaries McCrary and Har: lan, Mme. Octavia La Vert, Gen. B. F. Butler during the Civil War, when his | headquarters were in this city; Senator Jim Lane of Kansas, Matt H. Carpen- | ter of Wisconsin, Ann H. Stevens, the | authoress; Senator O. P. Morton, war Governor of Indiana, and ex-Gov. Ham mond of South Carolina. Senator Stephen A. Douglas was also | a patron here before erecting Douglas Row, at Second and Eye streets. Vice | President Ferry, Senator Conger and family of Michigan, Senator Bob Toomb of Georgia, John C. Calhoun of South | Carolina, Senator Mallory of. Florida, | Gov. Bagley of Michigan, Attorney Gen- | eral Tappan of New Hampshire, Gov. | Colquitt of Georgia, Gov. Hamilton of | Maryland, Senator and Mrs. John P.| Hale, Senator Zach. Chandler, Senator | Gwin of California, Mrs. Ashley, wite | of Gen. Ashley, who afterward married | John J. Crittenden in the hotel, and George Bancroft had their names on the register. There were among the boarders also Minister to France Faulk- ner, Gov. Howard of Dakota, Gen. Sam Houston, Gov. Steele of New Hampshire, | and Mrs. Ann Chase, the heroine of Tampico, who distinguished herself in | the Mexican War, when her husband, Franklin Chase, was United States con- sul at Tampico. As one writer put it, years ago: “The AS THE FIREPLACE IN HENRY C HOTEL ONC brilliant events and is constantly filled with guests from all parts of the woric.” * oxoxo* ERHAPS the most noted of the many prominent people who have made the National their home was the celebrated Kentuckian, Henry Clay. Elected to the United States Senate at the age of 29, he soon became one of America’s most noted men. He later became a member of the House of Rep- resentatives, where he wasmade Speaier. He set an example in running for the ‘residency in 1824, 1832 and 1844 which | was later followed by William Jennings Bryan. He was against European in- fluences in America and, in connection with “the Missouri Compromise of 1820, restricting slavery to the States south of latitude 36° 30" N., gained con- siderable renown, as he also did in the somewhat similar “Compromise” of 1850 He had a host of followers, who idolized His remarks to Louis Kossuth. the *inngarian patriot. mad~ on his death bed, are well worth read- i ng. | "'Mr. Clay died in the National in room 32 (now room 116) on June 29 1852, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. His body was taken to his beloved Kentucky, where his ashes were laid {o rest at Lexington. Nine months be- fore his death he made some Sugges- | tion concerning the inscription to be gold medal his friends k in commemoration The inscription as amended by him read: “Senate, 1806. Speaker, 1811. ‘War of 1812 with Great Britain. Ghent, 1814. Spanish America, 1822. Missouri Compromise, 1821. American System, 1824. Greece, 1824. Secretary of State, 1825. Panama Instructions, 1826. Tariff Compromise, 1833. Public Domain, 1833-1841. Peace with France Preserved, 1835. Compromise, 1850." A celebrated character who was al- most a sign post in front of the Na- | tional many years ago was Beau Hick- man. Just how Beau came to stop here is interesting. “After he became short in finances.” as has been written, “and had let some months pass without settling his board bills as formerly, the proprietors of Brown's Hotel (now known as the, put upon a LAY'S ROOM AT THE NATIONAL E LOOKED. Metropolitan), which place Beau hon- | ored with his patronage, informed him | finally that his bills were not aid as | presented, and that, perhaps, he had | just as well step across to the National | and share his patronage with that house. ‘All right, mine host.’ cheerfully responded Beau, and forthwith proceed- ed to the National, where he ordered the best rooms in the house, and, to his astonishment, he was permitted to_ re- main several months before his bills were presented. This unusual indul- gence was occasioned by the ‘mistake of a visitor, who mistook Beau for Gen. Hickman of Kentucky, and the pro- prietor, hearing him addressed as Gen. | Hickman (a mistaken identity which | Beau was very innocent of correcting), | and knowing him to be reputed very | wealthy, was unwilling to disturb his | opulent guest with the usual monthly statement of account.” Official BY J. A. O'LEARY. HE recent purchase by the United States of a prominent corner in Paris as a site for a building in which to cen- tralize all American govern- has served to call attention to the progress being made by this Govern- ment in its aim to provide appropriate and adequate buildings for-its foreign representatives in all parts of the world. The acquisition of this site in Paris is but one of a number of housing cities, In addition to the proposed structure in Pari Others will follow as the $10,000,000 program goes for- ward. Representative Stephen G. Porter of Pennsylvania, chairman of the Fareign Service Buildings Commission, has re- turned to Washington after concluding the purchase of the Paris property and gives an interesting account of what the commission hopes to accomplish in car- rying out the project. The site acquired in Paris is the northwest corner of the Place de la Concorde, and the offer made, and ac- cepted, 1 $1,221,000, or $29.000 less than had been allocated for this pur- projects for the foreign service in vari- ous countries, in contemlation by the ! pose earlier in the year. Final pay- Foreign Service Buildings Commission, | m created by Congress two years ago. In creating this commission Con- gress pledged itsell to a $10,000,000 program, to be appropriated at not, to exceed $2,000,000 annually, in im- proving the buildings in which the diplomatic and “consular agents of the United States carry on the work of the Government abroad. The commission has allocated funds and taken the initial steps to furnish better facilities in a number of foreign ent and transfer of title have been completed. The building on the site is occupied and as soon as the tenancy of the occupants terminates plans will be announced for ccnstruction of the office building. Representative Porter points out that throughout the hearings on the foreign service buildings bill the desire was expressed unanimously to consolidate the business offices of the Government in one business building at each of the large capitals where callers at these Water “Fans” Burning Mountain BY J. W. DAVISON. HROUGH a long line of cliffs from Colorado to central Utah, and then southwest toward Arizona. extensive beds of coal are found, and recent geological investigations into_this coal formation of the far West has developed what may be termed burning mountains,,or coal beds afire with surface indications of constant combustion for ages past. Like other coal-producing States of the Rocky Mountain region, the coal fields of Utah are somewhat widely separated, and even the known fields have been comparatively little explored Therefore, very little is known of their productive area. The edges of these beds come to the surface in these cliffs 1,000 feet above the bordering_desert, and in ages past this coal has burned into the mountain cliffs until smothered by the accumula- tions of ashes and_covering of super- | incumbent rocks. In places, the heat of this burning coal has been so in- | tense as to melt the rocks. From surface appearances. the fires | have gone out in these cliffs, but at e pant in the canyon of Prince | ver, waere the coal is being mined, the rocks are found to be uncomfort- 2bly hot, and the miners were com- elled to retire for fear the fires would reak out Other coal fields lie in the desert west of Green River. At two places mear tributaries of Fremont River the coal is burning, and has been without cessation since the places were discov- ered by the earliest explorer. At cer- tain intervals, as the burning of the thick beds progresses, producing caver- nous spaces in the earth, the rocks cave in, forming vents for the freer cir- culation of air. Then the coal burns more fiercely, and the heat becomes 5o intense as even to melt the rocks. The origin of these fires has been the subject of much speculation. Three explanations are = commonly heard f SMOKE FROM A Bl w | RNING COAL BED. among the Mormons, who inhabit this region where the mountains burn. One explanation is that lightning has by chance struck the edges of these coal beds at various times since these mountains were lifted up. Another is that forest fires raging in the mountains came in contact with ex- posed coal. The more thoughtful point out that the forests in this desert re- gion are too sparse for forest fires to occur. Still another and more common ex- planation, is that the Indians built their campfires under the protecting ledges of the mountains against the coal, and it was thus ignited. They point to the fact that there are ruins of the habitations of cliff dwellers here, and that in their day the coal began to burn. Members of the United States Gieclogical Survey, who spent the past . Summer in the coal fields of Colorado and Utah, speak of the phenomena of subterranean burning coal beds in the Rocky Mountains. The edges of the coal beds come to the surface 1,000 feet above the bordering desert, and far down in some of the Colorado canyons they found burning mines which have the appearance of continuous combus- tion for ages. The action of water in those subter- ranean mines is discussed by a member of the survey: “Among the wonderful things in na- ture, nothing seems more surprising and paradoxical than that water, aided by natural surroundings, should kindle and then augment subterranean fires in beds of coal. Such are actual facts, however, and In the region of the Rocky Mountains, miners have to exercise pre- caution to prevent fires breaking out in dry coal mines It is observed that cater thrown upon lumps of dry coal i1l assist in its combustion. This assistance is given, not in the way of kindling, but as an aid in break- ing up the coal into smaller particles when it is heated. “The water enters the cracks and in- | terstices of the lumps, and when the | heat is applied, the steam generated | breaks and shatters the lumps, giving | more surface, if the coal is exposed to | fire. | “In a simllar way, the presence of water in a coal bed may assist the subterranean fires when once ignited.” Speaking of the bituminous burning | coal mountains in the Far West, Senior | Geologist M. R. Campbell say: “The burning of the coal beds adds greatly fto the attractiveness of the landscape in many reglons, because most of the buttes and ridges are cap- ped with red rocks due to the oxidation of the iron by burning. “The coal, once ignited, will burn as long as it can get sufficient air. In the case of the Sunnyside Mine the burned coal extended in under the Book CIff about 800 feet. “In places the burning allows the | surface rocks to slump. forming a pit| much like the crater of a volcano. A | {man recently described to me such a feature south of Gillette, Wyo., where | the burning of a bed of coal neerty 100 | feet thick had produced great pits in | which the coal is still burning. | “Many persons will ask how the coal was set on fire. There are doubtless many ways in which such fires are; started, the most probable being: (1) By | forest or prairie fires, (2) by lightning, (3) by campers or hunters, and (4) by spontaneous ignition, due to the rapid oxidation attendant on alternate wet- ting and drying. Fires of the latter | mode of origin are common in the | West, and it 1s dangerous to stack large | quantities in piles exposed to the ;'::}.her. as it is almost sure to take oo o PR AT e % 3 in Utah | offices average more than 100 per day. The commission was unanimous, he said, in desiring to have the first ex- ample of the principle of consolida- tion in Paris, where the benefits and conveniences of a businesslike organi- zation would be enjoyed by the greatest possible number of American citizens. At the consulate general alone there is a daily average of 600 callers during the height of the tourist season. said | * ok ok % “THE Place de la Concorde, Chairman Porter in a report just complled, “has been an open center for | a hundred years and will be so perpetu- ated for hundreds of years to come, since the Parisian authorities are alert to protect the open parks and the sky- line of Paris from modernized building and structural encroachments. For ex- | ample, on the very piece bought by our Government there is the requirement that our building shall not exceed a certain height and that it shall gen- | erally conform to the original plan of | the great French architect, Ange Jacques Gabriel, who designed, in the time of Louls XV, the facades now | standing on the north side of this square.” | Representative Porter points out that, | it 1s no novelty for this country to | | follow the plans of distinguished | Frenchmen, citing the precedent set by | George Washington when he intrusted the design of the City of Washington to Maj. L'Enfant. | “We are still following the L'Enfant plan in the beautification of our Capital with the new Federal buildings to be | constructed for the Department of Commerce, Justice and other new build- | ings to be constructed under the $50.- | 000,000 authorization approved in_ the gr The building which now stands on | the site bought by this Government in Paris Is not of the Gabriel style. The United States Foreign Service Build- ing Commission, in the proposed Amer- | ican building, will carry out Gabriel's | ideas, and thereby complete the Place | de la Concorde. While in Paris Mr. Porter called on the supervising architects of the city and was assured they would help in every way to enable the American Gov- ernment to carry out its intention of building on the Place de la Concorde ‘n accordance with the Gabriel plan. “This was very gratifying to me,” the chairman of the building commission reported upon his return, “as some American editorials had expressed sur- prise that the French would be willing to allow us to have such a prominent corner on a square enriched by French national history. It looks out directly on the monuments to Alsace and Lor- raine.” ‘When Congress was drafting the for- eign building legislation, it was shown | that at that time there were 14 agen- | cies of this Government in Paris hous: ed in eight separate places, and in Lon- don, at the same time, there were 10 | American agencies in six locations. | Similar housing problems existed in | other cities in various parts of the world. qHANGHAI, CHINA, is another port| %) where Uncle Sam soon will erect a spacious structure to house various Sovernmental activities, including naval, | public health and shipping board rep- resentatives and the registrar of the | China trade act. The sum of $750.000 has been allocated for the demolition * K kK of the new structure. Preliminary plans by Robert Maurice Trimble of Pitts- burgh have been approved by the com- mission. The municipal authorities at | Shanghal have authorized _construc- tion of an extended retaining wall which will make it possible for this Government to reclaim additional land and add about 4,330 square feet te our present waterfront. An atjractive lawn will be laid off on the river side of the new building, which will be visible to | arrivals at the port. The Government-owned embassy at Yokahama, Japan, which was destroyed by fire following the earthquake there in September, 1923, is to be replaced by a new structurfe in the near future. DESIGN BEING CONSIDERED BY FOREIGN SERVI COMMISSION FOR USE IN TROPIC U. S. Homes in Other Lands Gain in for $30,000. Plans for the remodeling of the interior of the structure are | being worked out. A similar_course is being followed at Nagasaki, Japan, where an existing building has been purchased and plans started to recondition it. Early this year the American Gov- ernment acquired a site in Ottawa, Canada, facing the Canadian Parlia- ment Building. The two brick build- |ings on the property will be demol- |ished, and Cass Gilbert of New York | has been designated to prepare plans | for a new Government office structure. The site at Ottawa was acquired for $105.582. Within the past year funds have been E BUILDINGS This Government has exchanged the land it owned there for a larger lot on the waterfront. J. H. Morgan, an American architect in Yokohama, pre- pared preliminary plans, which have been approved. Working drawings are now being made and construction will start in the near future. Preliminary sketches have been drawn by H. Van Buren Magonigle for a new building at Tokio, to include residences and offices for the diplomatic and con- sular establishments and for cther Gov- ernmental agencies. Two plots of ground have been bought at Calcutta, India, for approxi- mately $153,000, one for an office build- ing and the other for a _residence. Plans for both structures have been prepared and sent to the consulate general there for comment. ! The commission has allocated $63,000% for the construction of a new building at Amoy, China, from plans prepared by Elliott Hazzard of Shanghai, and work will begin upon approval of build- ing contracts by the department. From Lima, Peru, Ambassador Moore | has reported the acquisition of a site { comprising 3.68 acres, opposite the Plaza Washington, for future use. The commission’ at its next meeting will pass upon plans prepared by | Aldrich & Chase of Boston for a building for Managua, Nicaragua. The site already has been purchased. The | | allocated for the demolition of the present Government-owned building at Panama. City, Panama, and the con struction on’the same site of an office building. Provision also will be made there for residential quarters. Plans are being drawn by the firm of Preston & Curtis for a five-story build- ing in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on the Government-owned land adjoining the embassy. The commission has allocated $260,000 for this project. Property at Santiago, Cuba, overlook- ing the harbor, has been bought, and plans soon will be under way for the re- building of the present structure. The United States some fime 2go ac- quired five acres at Tirana, Albania, and construction work has been started | on & building, the foundations of which | are_complete. i With a view to the future construc-| tion of a Government-owned building at Aden, Arabia, the consul there has | been authorized to acquire a site on the | water fron An cxisting building was purchased and remodeled for consular purposes at Penang, Straits Settlements, * ok Kk ok "[HE srowing prominence of the United States among the nations of the world has made it desirable, from the standpoint of national pres- tige, that the Government acquire ap- plans contemplate a central structure to be used as the Minister's residence, connected by colonnades with two smaller buildings for office purposes. | A building has been acquired for lof the existing building and erection consular purposes at Mantan: Cuba propriate facilities for its representa- tives abroad. But the maintaining of Beauty the Nation had increased greatly s the war. Investments of capital other lands likewise had increased. In addition to these reasons, Congress was told while it was considering (he legislation that rentals Ior ‘buildinzs used by the forelgn service had mount- ed in many places following the war period. The House committee which drafted the foreign buildings act re- ported in 1926 that the amount being expended annually for rent at that time was equivalent to 4 per cent :nterest on nearly $14,000,000, whereas the for- eign public buildings act calls for a | capital investment of only $10,000,000, | spread over a period of years. | This building program, therefore, | aims at economy, efficlency and greater | convenience for those who transact | business at the foreign offices of their | Government, as well as to give the Gov- | ernment appropriate accommodations | for_its foreign establishments. | When the present program was au- | thorized by Congress in 1926 this coun- | try had diplomatic establishments in 51 | capitals of the world, in only 14 of | which were the structures owned by | the Government. At that time there was | a total of 584 governmental agen._ies in foreign countries, employing mote than | 4,000 persons. Prior to the enactment of the pressnt $10,000,000 foreign building authoriza- !tion Congress had made several at- tempts to improve housing conditions abroad. In some cases special acts were drawn up to take care of specifiz places, and in 1911 it passed a law authorizing hurchase of diplomatic and consular buildings, subject to such appropriations as Congress might make from time to time, but with the limitation that the maximum cost in any one place should not exceed $150,000 and the maximum | aggregate in any one year should mot i be_more than $500,000. | “Under these prior statutes the Gov- | ernment had acquired embassy and le- zation buildings in a dozen or more | foreign countries, but it was found that the limitations on cost imposed by the 1911 law proved inadequate to permit of acquisitions in many places. The present law is regarded as pro- viding a more business-like procedur= by auhorizing a lump-sum fund ad- ministered by a commission. The com- mission is composed of the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secre- tary of Commerce and the chairman and ranking minority members of the Senate and the House committees cn | foreign relations. * ok “VHILE the State Department is the primary agency in foreign af- fairs, most of the other departments {of the Government have functions to perform abroad, including Commerce, Treasury and Agriculture. One of thc objects of the building program is to provide centralized and co-ordinated office accommodations for these various agencies in those foreign ports where such a_course is feasible. ‘The Department of Commerce has an interest in the problem of appropriate housing for- foreign governmental ac- tivities, because it has representatives in * * |in various parts of the world engaged in the task of promoting foreign com- merce. The method of taking care of th: housing needs in each place will depend upon a study of the local requirments. In a large city like Paris the central of- fice building for various government ac- tivities, separate from the residence of the diplomatic representative, would be national prestige was not the cnly fac- tor that actuated Congress in adop.ing a foreign program. It was | found that comm->ree of building the foreign practicable. In other localities, where governmental activities are limited, combination office and residence stru ture wouid be feasible. ] c-