Evening Star Newspaper, June 10, 1935, Page 43

THE EVENING STAR, WASHIN - e =~ =z = S 4 s e~ )’,\‘i' Ze<< GTON, D. C, JUNE 10, 1935. e e New Projects Nearing Complction in the City’s Development Program Lnable the Visitor to Visualize the Scat of Government of the Future, Planned Along Lines to Make Washington the Most Beautiful Capital in the World. home, the White House has come to be also the cxeculive oftices of the Government The corner stone was laid in 1792 On the west side is the wing accommodating the Cresident’'s oflices: on the east Is a great inclosed colonnade aifording entrance way for wsiting public or attending dignitaries at execntive functions. The north front has a portico of Ionie colunns, forming a porte cochere: the south, a colonnaded balcony Cive more well known rooms ot the White House are the exst room, or state parlor, where thie receptions are held: the blue room, which is ust as the President's reception rom; the groen room and the red room. The state dining toom (s also an interesting place to see, the U.S. Treasury Building T IS said that the architect of the Treasury Building wished it to be set amid grounds commensurate with it in dignity and beauty, tnstead of placing it upon the Capital's busiest thoroughtare The story goes, however, that Proestdent Andrew Jackson, becoming impatient at the long delaved choosing of a site, finally stuck his cane into the ground one morning and said, “Build it here!™ It is the world's greatest depository of money and the Government's “pin money” vault. Objects of interest are shown in the corridors swed from Pennsylvania avenue, Among these are: Keys used before the invention of combination loecks: mutilated currency restored by Mrs. A. E, Brown, who spent 40 vears in this work; Presi- dential, Army, Navy and other medals; illus- trations of the process of making notes and coins; specimens of the macerator pulp: war- rant and draft for payment to Russia for Alaska, with the famous Spinner signature; three warrants for payment for Panama Canal strip, 40 millions, one million and nine millions, and the flag that draped Lincoln's box in Ford's Theater on the night of the assassination, ent Art Galleries Plans at present under way promise to make Washington the greatest art center in the world, although the Capitol has already a large share of the piciure treasures of the world. Three galleries, the largest of those in Wash- ington, should be mentioned, and the visitor should arrange to see one of them at least: Corcoran Art Gallery contains Washington's largest and most valuable collection of sculp- tures and paintings. Its value is estimated at more than $3,000,000 and includes old masters As well as rugs, tapestries, laces and pottery. The Freer Gallery of Art, adjoining the Smithsonan Institution, is remarkable for its Whistlers, and is dedicated to the work of American artists The National Gallery of Art, located in the Smithsonian Institution, contains a varied cole lection of old masters, American art works, ancient eeramics and jewelry, and includes the famous Josephy Gellateley collection of objects drart Mount Vernon N THE Vi miles south of Wa ginia shore of the Potomac, 16 hington, is Mount Ver= non, npen to visitors daily—Sunday from 2 to 4. Admission, 25 cents, The Mansion House. built in 1743 by Law- rence, half-brother to George Washington, is of wood he main hall of the house extends through from front to back: the six rooms on the first floor are: Banquet room, music room, west paclor, family dining room, Mrs. Washing= ton’'s suti oom and the library, Some ot the interesting relics and memorials fn the mansion are: Key of the Bastile, sent by Lafay:tte to Washington after the capture ot the prison. wrought iron, 7 inches in length; three of Washingtion's swords, which he willed to his nephews: discharge papers of 8 soldier of the Revolution signed by Washington; ecard table on which Washington and Lafayette played whist, and numerous pieces of furniture owned by Mrs. Washington, 5 o e Beauty spot of the Nation’s Capital. View taken from an airplane over the historic Potormac River, showing the new drlington Memorial Bridge at lower right and the Lincoln M emorial with its reflecting pool in the center. Beyond is the Washungton Monument and in the distan D. A. R. Building The D. A. R. buildings, just south of the Red Cross unit, consist of Memorial Conti- nental Hall, completed in 1910; the administra- tion building, containing the national offices of the organization, completed in 1920, and Con- stitution Hall, completed only a few years ago, having an auditorium seating 4,000 for public lectures and concerts, Alexandria Long before Washington was thought of as a city, Alexandria, Va. (6 miles up the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway along the opposite shore of the Potomac), was a flourishing town. George Washington's life was very thoroughly fdentified with the life of this quaint city. His country home was at Mount Vernon, nearby, but his town house was in Alexandria. His best friends lived there, and it was there that he organized the Friendship Fire Cormpany and presented its first engine, and there he be- Night view of the illuminated fountai and the Union Station. The majestic flood-1 throwgh the spray. ce may be seen the stately Capitol, came the first worshipful master of the Masonie Lodge. At Alexandria the visitor should see the Carlyle House, Gadsby’s Tavern, Christ Church, the Presbyterian Meeting House and the Shrine :\f, the Unknown Soldier of the Revolutionary ar. Franciscan M onastery Reproduced with painstaking care beneath the Franciscan Monastery are the mysterious catacombs of Rome, recalling the early Christian martyrs. Here are crypts and chapels, with their altars, priceless carvings, paintings, mo- saics, grottoes, ways of the cross and shrines whose religious significance and poetic charm are one of the sights of the Capital. l Library of Congress Of the more than 100 libraries in Washing- ton, no other, of course, compares with the Library of Congress. It contains a myriad of corridors and rooms n in the park plaza between the Capitol ighted dome of the Capitol may be seen —Star Stall Phote, —Fairchild Aerial Surveys. Ing, beside the vast central reading room, wherein hundreds of thousands of visitors and scholars from every corner of the world come yearly to read and study. Besides containing the third largest collection of books. prints, rare manu- scripts and documents in the world, it is noted for its fine mural paintings on the walls of staircases and hallways, its spectacular central pavilion and grand staircase. Here are those most priceless records of American history and independence, the Cone stitution of the United States and the Declarae tion of Independence, enshrined in specially guarded but easily accesible cases. Special exhibits of the constitutional fathers of the country are on display in side wings. Folger Library One of the show places of Washington, and considered by foremost authorities the ‘‘most artistic building in the world,” is the Folger Shakespeare Library, It is unsurpassed in its collection of material relating to Shakespeare and his writings, cone taining the discriminating results of a lifetime of study and collection by Henry Clay Folger, scholar and philanthropist. It contains, also, an almost exact replica of the Globe Theater of London, wherein were shown the poet’s masterpieces during his lifetime. Memorial Bridge- The $10,000,000 Arlington Memorial Bridge, constructed as a tribute to George Washingtan and war heroes, is 2,150 feet long and reputed to be the largest drawbridge in the world. I6 connects West Potomac Park and Arlington ety, converging with the new Mount non Memorial Highway, considered the finest piece of roadway construction ever completed, The bridze is 90 feet wide, has nine segmental arches ot 155-foot span at the ends, spreading graduaily to 184 feet in the central arch. Naval Observatory For a squint at the stars on clear nights isit the United States Naval Observatory. It is open Thursday from 8 to 10 p.m, with the superintendent’s permission, Airports Washington Airporf, the Capital's air trange port terminial, is reputed to be the world’s third busiest airport. More than 100 airplanes land and fake-Off here daily, most of them in come mercial secvice. It s the terminal for foue Continued on Page 10, »