^o Ac:^/^'^^ Z-^^^'^o /\!i^^\ o^^ *??;• A *^°^ /"\ '^^ ti '^^<^ \.^^" . % t^ /^ ^^ *-'VCT»' A " tr . A wooden passageway connected them across the space now occupied by the basement of the rotunda. The expenditure up to that time had been $787,000. When, A TOUR OF THE CAPITOL. 17 & B a c: i< a £ c «(-. a o n 0) -*-; -t-^ L- ■-1 ^_> o 3 c 05M OT3 D e §i J^ oo Ph .3 CO S5 S3'' a ° S S o'— ' c.£ *-■ c n c c^ « o o IJ c -'Hog' cj i a cj r:^ C ^ - * »-.i-.©ic*oi^c*cicoooco gM d o £ g o g &(V tn M>«^ «■ *-"" 5 =^ o--i o "2 ■^ 1: .K o >5 Jrlf a «5^.£ -^tlfj^ K B— o C '^ 3^1^° < ^ -- — O 4J ^ r *" = £ S "'^ c tt^ :: a = c o t s ' i; " " G-agla '51.5 O £ S'SmS'S S g S o| 5^gE^ EorG H Kw5o CK?:o o ^ 00 CO CC CO W <^0 LQ ^ "£^ o-| § c ~ r; •< to — X — B ''.:: tf a 5 t- « ^ >» in D c c to a tl;B S 3 rS o 5 O O 18 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHESTGTON. in 1S14. the British captured the city, they entered "tiie legislative haHs, held a mock session of Congress, and soon the building was in flames. In 1815 Congress authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow foCK.i.(>Xt to begin repairs (.for the walls stood), and in iSlS undertook the erection of the central part. B. H. Latrobe took the archi- tectural sui)erintendence of the restoration, while the new central structure was planned and supervised by Charles Bulfinch. The original building was completed in 1827. at a cost, including the grading of the grounds, repairs, etc.. of not quite $2,500,000. A fire in the library compelled the rebuilding of the western front in 1851. when additions were made, and the same year the comer-stones of the extensions, now known Cost. as the House and Senate wings, were laid : but these were not completed until 1859 (at a cost of nearly 19.000. 000). Meanwhile the low wooden dome which had temporarily covered the rotunda was removed in 1856, and the erection of the present iron dome was begun. Add to the sums above noted a million doUsBTS for additional space for the grounds and the obtaining of water, two mUlions for improvements of the grounds and terraces, another million for repairs and improvements on the building itself, and various other items, and the cost of the Capitol approaches $15,000,000. The original and proper front of the Capitol is the eastern, and the city has grown behind rather than before the statehouse of the nation, as it was expected to do. This contingency has been met by improvements at the rear of the building to increase the stateliness of its approaches, so that the Capitol now has two faces, different but substantially equal in merit. The western front, although on the side from which most visitors approach, requires a long, toilsome climbing of terraces and steps: whereas the street cars carry passengers to the level of the basement on the south side, and on the north side almost to the very entrance. It is therefore easier, as well as more proper, to begin one"s survey of the great structure at the architects original front door. This eastern front is imposing from every standpoint. One of the most satis- factory views of it is that obtained from the little car-passengers' shelter on the north side of the grounds. The massive and classic proportions of the Senate East Front, ^ing are near at hand, and its ornamental front cuts deeply into the dome, whose supports sink away in grand perspective to the Representa- tive wing, while the majestic dome itself rises tier upon tier of columns and circling architraves to its convergent roof and statue-crowned tholus. There is a wonderful feeling of breadth and grandeur, yet of buoyancy, in this oblique aspect of the noble pile — all sunny white, save the color in the folds of the flag. The Capitol is 751 feet long. 350 feet in greatest width, and covers nearly four acres of ground, with 153,112 square feet of floor space. It is 1-55 feet high to the cornices of the main roof, or 2^ feet to the crest of the Liberty statue. The dome St^ k and is of iron, weighs nearly nine million pounds, and was completed in 1865, Dimensions, replacing the earlier wooden dome. The architecture is modified Corin- thian upon a rustic base, plus a dome, and the material of the older central part is Virginia (Aquia Creek) sandstone, painted white, but the newer wings are built of Massachusetts marble. In front of the building stretches a broad paved plaza, and three flights of broad steps lead up the central entrance and to each wing, lending a very effective appearance of breadth and solidity to the whole mass, whose walls are largely hidden Crawford's by the rows of monolithic, fluted columns of ilaryland marble that Group. sustain the three broad porticos. The porticos of the wings have each twentv-two columns, and ten more columns on each of their northern and western fronts. The pediment of the southern wing, which contains the House of Representatives, has no statuary, but the facade of the northern wing, where the Senate A TOUR OF THE CAPITOL. 19 sits, is doubly adorned. The tj^mpanum is filled with an immense group by Thomas Crawford, emblematic of American progress, which has displaced the Indians with the arts of agriculture, commerce, and industrial production, supported by the sword. This is considered the chef-d'oeuvre of this talented American sculptor and will repay careful study. Crawford was paid $17, 000 for the models, and the cutting of the marble (from Lee, Mass.) by several skilled Italian carvers cost $26,000 more. The grand central portico, which dates from 1825, is 160 feet wide, and has twenty -four columns carrying a pediment of 80 feet span filled with an allegorical group cut in sandstone, after a design by John Central Quincy Adams when Sec- Portico. retary of State. It was executed by Luigi Persico, a prominent Roman sculptor, who had many commis- sions here. This group represents the " Genius of America." America, armed, is resting her shield upon an altar, while an eagle perches at her feet. She seems listening to Hope, and points in response to Justice, who holds the Constitution, inscribed September 17, 1787 (the date of its adoption), and her scales. From the level of the portico extend two great buttresses, each adorned with pieces of colossal statuarj^ in marble. That upon the south side represents Columbus, and is entitled "The Discovery of America." The sculptor was Persico (1846), who exactly copied the armor from a suit worn by Columbus, yet preserved in Genoa. The opposite group (north) is by Greenough, and represents an incident of frontier life as typical of "Civilization, or the First Settlement of America." Each of these groups cost $24,000. The inauguration of Presidents of the United States has taken place upon this portico since the time of Jackson. A draped staging is extended outward to accommodate the high officials who form a part of the ceremonial, and here the oath of office is adminis- tered by the Chief Justice in full view of a multitude of citizens. In the center of this portico is the great Rogers bronze door which opens directly into the rotunda under the dome, and is among the most interesting objects at the Capitol. It was designed in Rome in 1858 by Randolph Rogers, who received S8,000 for his plaster models, and was cast in Munich, in 1861, by F. Von Mliller, who was paid $17,000 in gold, then at a high premium. It is nineteen feet high and weighs ten tons. The leaves or valves of the door, which is double, stand in superbly enriched casing, and when opened fold back into fitting jambs. Each Rogers leaf is divided into eight panels, in addition to the transom panel under BfOnze DoOf. the arch. Each panel contains a complete scene in alto-relievo. The scenes portrayed constitute the principal events in the life of Columbus and the GREENOUGH'S "THE RESCUE." Central Portico. 20 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. discovery of America, with an ornate enrichment of emblematic designs. On the key of the arch of the casing is the head of Columbus, and on the sides of the casing are four typical statuettes in niches arranged chronologically — Asia, Africa, Europe, and America. The remainder of the casing is embellished with a running border of ancient armor, banners, and heraldic designs, and at the bottom, on either side, an anchor, all in basso- relievo, and emblematic of navigation and conquest. On the frame of each leaf of the door, set in niches, are sixteen statuettes of the patrons and contemporaries of Colum- bus, given in the order of their association with the announcement and execution of his theory of geographical exploration. The first eight figures are associated in pairs when the doors are closed, and divided when opened. All are labeled. The sixteenth is Pizarro, conqueror of Peru. The panels illustrate the career of Columbus, the third scene being his audience at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella. Between the panels are a series of heads, representing the historians of the voyages of Colum- bus, prominent among whom are Irving and Prescott. Niches on each side of this imposing entrance hold statues of Mars or War (on the right — a noble figure of a Roman warrior) and of Ceres or Peace (on the left — a female figure with flowers and fruits) modeled by Persico and costing together $13,000; while above the door is a bust of Washington, crowned by Fame and Peace, which was sculptured by A. Capellauo in 1837. Capellano is not known bej'ond his carvings here. Passing through the bronze doors, we enter the Rotunda. It occupies nearly the whole width of the center of the building, and is unbroken to the summit of the dome. It is 96 feet in diameter and 180 feet high to the canopy. Its center is the center of the Capitol. The pavement is of sandstone, and the walls are plas- tered and broken into panels by engaged pillars, above which there is a broad entabla- ture. This is surmounted by a gallery (which has as good a "whispering" Rotunda. echo as that of St. Paul's), formed of Corinthian columns connected by a balustrade; and this gallery and the Rotunda are lighted by a belt of large windows, outside of which is the circular row of columns that form the external visible supports of the dome. From the entablature carried upon these pillars springs the con- cavity of the dome, arching inward to an opening 50 feet in diameter, at the base of the lantern, called the eye. This opi'ning is encircled by a gallery and canopied by a painted ceiling, consisting of a circular piece of iron, covered with stucco, 65 feet wide. In the vast and somewhat obscure space of this immense apartment only a colossus, like the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor, would seem a fitting ornament. It was pro- posed to cut away the floor in the center and erect Greeuough's figure of Wasliington, now on the plaza, upon an elevated pedestal approached from the crypt ; but this was THE ROGERS BRONZE A TOTJE OF THE CAPITOL. 21 not done, and all attempts at decoration have been confined to the walls, except the placing of a few statues. Four dooi's open out of the Rotunda, and over each is a marble panel carved in high relief. That over the eastern, or main, entrance and exit is by Enrico Causici of Verona, a pupil of Canova, and represents the " Landing of the Pilgrims"; that over the northern door is by N. Gevelot, a Frenchman, and pictures William RotUnda Penu making a treaty with the Delaware Indians ; over the southern door Doors. is another group by Causici — "Daniel Boone in Conflict with the Indians" — in which Boone's face was copied from a portrait by Hardinge, and over the western door THE LANDING OF COLUMBUS AT SAN SALVADOR John Vanderlyn, Rotunda. is Capellano's "Pocahontas Saving the Life of John Smith." These sculptors were all men who worked here about 1837, and each was paid $3,500. Each of the lower wall spaces carries one of the big historical paintings (18 by 12 feet), familiar to everybody through innumerable reproductions — even upon the paper cur- rency and Columbian postage stamps of the Government. All are by American artists. Each has attached to it a label and key -picture, RotUnda giving the names and positions of all the persons represented by carefully Wall drawn portraits in its groups. They fall into two classes —" Early Paintings. historical" and "Revolutionary." The former are to a great degree imaginative, particularly the DeSoto ; but the latter are accurately true to the times and scenes they purport to represent. In the first class is the "Landing of Columbus at San Salvador," in 1493, painted in 1839 by Vanderlyn, who was paid |10,000 for it in 1843. The "Discovery of the Mississippi" by De Soto, in 1541, was painted by Wm. II. Powell in 1850, and the price was $12,000. The "Baptism of Pocahontas" at James- town, in 1618, is nearer the truth, since the artist, J. G. Chapman, did his best to represent the portraits and costumes of Rolfe, Sir Thomas Dale, and other Virginian colonists and Indian chieftains, who may be supposed present at the ceremony. Its cost was $10,000, and its date is 1836. The last of this colonial series, by Professor Weir, 22 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. date 1840, price $10,000, is a picture of the farewell service on board the unseaworthy Speedwell, before it sailed from Delft Haven (the port of Leyden. Holland) for America, bearing the first colony of Pilgrims, who were finally landed on Plymouth Rock by the Mayflower. The four Revolutionary paintings are by Col. John Trumbull (1706-1843), who was son of Gov. Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut. For several months the young officer was aid and military .secretary to Wasbington. After the war he studied in Europe, and conceived an ambition to produce this series of national paintings, in which each face is drawn from life, so far as sittings could be obtained, while others are copied from approved portraits. This faithfulness of detail interferes with the best artistic results, giving a certain hardness to all parts, but increa.ses the historical value of the composi- tions. They were painted between 1817 and 1824, and cost the nation |32.000 — a large sum in those da3's. Beside each picture is a "key," by consulting which the names of most of the persons may be learned. The first is "Signing the Declaration of Independence" in the Old Hall in Phila- delphia in 1770. the arrangement of the group of figures having been made as Jefferson, Franklin, and others of the fathers described it to him. The presiding officer is John Hancock. The "Surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga" to General Gates is from sketches made by Trumbull on the spot, 0<;tol)er 17, 1777. The artist was also present at the " Surrender of Lord Gornwallis at Yorktown," portrayed in the third painting, where the British are marching between the lines of the American and French allies. The fourth of the series is "The Resignation of Washington" as commander-in-chief of the American armies, which took place, closely as depicted, at Annapolis on Decem- ber 23, 1783, where Congress was then in session in the old Maryland State House. The commission he then surrendered is preserved in the Department of State, and the coat worn by Washington upon this occasion may be seen at the National Mu.seum. Above each of the eight paintings are panels with arabesque designs by Causici and Capellano, containing medallion heads of the four great pioneers of American discov- ery — Columbus, Raleigh, Cabot, and La Salle. They were done in 1827, and cost $9,500. The frieze, ten feet wide, just beneath the gallery, was left blank for many years, 1)1 It in 1878 the talented Brumidi began a series of paintings intended to encircle the room (300 feet) and to carry out the historical theme to which all the Rotunda rotunda decorations conform. They are chiaro.scuro drawings in distem- Frkzc. per — that is, expressed merely in light and shade and painted with a glutinous medium upon the plaster. A procession of somewhat conven- tional figures in strrmg relief, imitating the alto-relievos which the architect had intended to place here, beginning over the western door and progressing to the right (nf>rth) and so on around, marches through the cardinal scenes in American progress. Brumidi had completed le.ss than half of the circle when he died, in 1880. The work was then continued by his Italian assistant, Costagini, but is not yet completed. The estimated expense of so decorating this frieze was $10,000 — the favorite congressional figure for ai't pieces — and it has oft^< 'perity, is dis of tbe series, agriculture der gov foster- care. Peace and Pros- played in the last where arts and flourish un- rnmeut's i ng GOVERNMENT.— By Elihu Vedder. Passing on, now, to the North Hall, the marble stairway descending to the basement and the door of the Librarian's room are first encountered. The Librarian's office is a cozy, luxuriously furnished apartment, forming the Librarian's private office of the Librarian of Congress ; it is finished in oak and Office. extiuisitely decorated by Mr. Holslag and Mr. Weinert, the prevailing tone of color being a delicate green. This room is not open to those who have no particular business with the Librarian. The North Hall is opposite the south one, or at the left of the Pearce staircases as one enters the front door, and contains a series of seven Paintings. wall paintings, by Charles S. Pearce, representing the occupations of the civilized mind. The most important fills the great panel at the east end, and depicts an idealization of The Family, tinder such circumstances as the poets imagine exist in Arcadia. The father has returned from hunting, and the mother holds out the baby for hia greeting, while other children and the aged parents cease their occupations to join in the welcome. On the south wall is one picture only — Rest; while opposite, read- ing from left to right, are four, entitled: Religion, Labor, Study, Recreation. An exquisite border at the end presents artistically an apothegm of Confucius: "Give instruction unto those wlio can not procure it for themselves." The whole idea is of a quiet, rational, uplifted manner of life, and the names accompanying these scenes are those of the great educators of the world — Froebel. Pestalozzi, Rousseau, Comenius, Ascham, Howe, Gallaudet, Mann, Arnold, and Spencer. 60 PICTOEIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTOIST. The corridor extending from the east end of this hall to the Northwest Pavilion is richly decorated by a series of idealizations of the Muses, seated figures painted with singular brightness of color and interest of composition, by Edward Simmons' Simmons. Beginning at the south end, over the entrance door is : *' IMtlses.** 1. Melpomene, muse of tragedy, enveloped in a swirl of red drapery. 2. Clio, muse of history, with a helmet signifying heroic deeds. 3. Thalia, muse of comedy and gay pleasure, beside whom dances a little satyr with Pan's pipes, and who has Pope's lines : Descend, ye Nine, descend and sing ; Wake into voice each silenl string. 4. Euterpe, muse of lyric poetry, the patroness of the song, as suggested by the flute. 5. Terpsichore, muse of the choral dance, who strikes the rhythmic cymbals. Beneath her is the couplet : Oh, Heaven-born sisters, source of art. Who cliarm the sense or mend the heart. 6. Eraio, muse of love poetry, is nude and has a white rose, 7. Polyhymnia, muse of sacred song, holds an open book ; and beneath is written the third of Pope's coup- lets : Say, vi\\\ you bless the bleak Atlantic shore. And in the West bid Athens rise once more I 8. Urania shows herself muse of astronomy by her instruments. 9. Calliope, muse of epic poetry and eloquence, is symbolized by a scroll and peacock feathers. The Northwest Pavilion, to which this corridor leads, is finished Dodge's Pom- in a prevailing tone of Pompeiian red, decorated in panels by floating pdian Dan- figures of Roman dancing girls drawn by R. L. Dodge. Pompeiian bor- tiilg Girls. ders, and a series of signs of the zodiac, placed in the six window bays by Mr. Thompson, complete the mural decorations. From this pavilion one enters the large hall on the north side of the building, corre- sponding to the Newspaper and Periodical Room, which is devoted to the storage, con- sultation, and exhibition of maps, charts, and geographical things generally. Map-room. The library possesses an enormous collection of these, and is bringing them together as rapidly as possible, and preparing proper furniture and cases for this extensive and beautiful room, so that the maps and charts may readily be made use of by students, and so that the most interesting among them may be put upon public exhibition. Second Story Rooms and Corridors. Some of the finest parts of the library are in the second story Ascending the stair- cases you find yourself in abroad arcade surrounding the hall. This is all in white marble of the same Corinthian style. Lofty coupled columns, with elabo. Corinthian rate acanthus capitals, support joint entablatures, whence spring the Arcades. groined arches of the ceiling. North and south doorways admit to magnificent exhibition halls ; the west windows open upon a balcony overlooking the Capitol grounds and a large part of the city, and on the east a beauti- ful stairway leads to the uppermost galleries of the Rotunda. A long time may be spent in admiring study of this superb hall, whose details are elaborate in every particular, varying constantly in small points of ornamentation, yet ever consonant with the classic model, and keeping an artistic uniformity without monotony. The ornamentation of the ceilings, composed of stucco in high relief set off with gold on the eminences and bright color in the recesses, is also admirable, and becomes very striking when applied to the vaulted canopies of the great side halls. The THE LIBKAEY OF CONGRESS. 61 THE FAMILY.— By Charles Sprague Pearce. decoration in relief here is all the work of Mr. Martiny, and consists mainly of little figures (geniuses), exemplifying various conceptions and pursuits indicated by conven- tional symbols, such as the shepherd's crook and pipes for Pastoral Life or Arcady, a block of paper and a compass for Architecture, and so on ; also many cartouches and tablets bearing the names of illustrious authors. Here the spaces surrounding the well of the staircases are spoken of as corridors, of which there are four — North, South, East, and West — each decorated with brush or chisel by some special artist under a harmonious plan. Certain features are continued from one to the other, unifjing them. The floors of all are mosaics, but the patterns vary. The ceilings are alike, barrel vaults with pendentives, the ornamentation of which is similar yet varied, while to each is assigned a special orna- mentation in paintings. The color scheme was suggested by that of the CorridOfS. greatly admired library at Siena, Italy. The colors employed are alike in similar parts throughout, and a uniform arrangement of the minor decorations, trophies, name-tablets, spaces for mottoes, etc., makes the whole design coherent, while admitting of constant local diversity. The motive is renaissance. Each corner of the rectangle of corridors is brilliant with two Pompeiian panels, bearing the floating figures painted by George W. Maynard to express the virtues. There are eight in all, and it will suffice to name and localize Fompeiian them. Beginning at the left in each case they are: At the northwest Panels. corner Industry and Concord; at the southwest corner Temperance and Prudence; at the southeast corner Patriotism and Courage; at the northeast corner Fortitude and Justice. Another of the constant similarities is the series of Printers' Marks, which run around the whole circle of the scheme, in the penetrations between the pendentives of the ceiling. They are the "engraved devices which the old printers used in the title-page or colophon of their books, partly as a kind of Printers* informal trade-mark guarding against counterfeited editions, and partly .Marks. as a personal emblem." Similar marks have been adopted by many modern publishers, and these are represented as well as the old ones. It would require a long time to describe each one of the fifty-six here shown, but they arc worth careful examination, and some are artistic and beautiful, while others are highly fanciful or whimsical, containing a pun on the printer's name, or an indication of some legend. These marks are drawn in black, and are enclosed in varying ornamental devices. The North Corridor contains the brilliant paintings of Robert Reid on the north wall and in the vault. For the former purpose he was given four circular panels, which he has 62 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. filled with compositions entitled Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, and Philosophy, are also by Mr. Reid, and the subjects are typified by women of rather more Reid serious mien, who are distinguished by easily understood symbols, the Painting^S> Greek temple in the background of the last picture reminding the ob- server that philosophy began among the Greeks. The same artist has taken the Five Senses as his theme for the ceiling pictures, occupying octagonal spaces in the arabesque design of the vault. Taste, Sight, Smell, Hearing, and Touch are represented in order from west to east, by delightfully composed figures of young women that seem to be supported upon cloud banks in the sky. Taste is surrounded by the foliage and fruit of the grape and is drinking from a shell. Sight smiles at her image in a hand mirror (as well she may) and beside her is a gorgeous pea- cock. Smell is ensconced in flowers and inhales the perfume of a rose. Hearing prettily listens to the roaring of a seashell held to her ear by graceful hands. Ttuch, beside whom sleeps a setter dog, is holding herself quiet and feeling the titillation made by the butterfly that walks along her bare arm. But these are only the centerpieces of this highly embellished ceiling. Small rec- tangles are filled with sketchy drawings illustrating in a classic style the games and rec- reations of ancient times — Throwing the Discus, Wrestling, Running, Ancient The Finish, The Wreath of Victory, and The Triumphal Return — in Games. order. In addition to these are the Printers' Marks, here of American and British publishers, and a long series of trophies of science and industry contained in medallions. Geometry is marked by a scroll, compass, etc. ; Meteor- ology, by the barometer, thermometer, etc. ; Forestry, by axe and pruning knife ; Navigation, by sailors' implements ; Transjiortation, by propeller, piston, Trophies. headlight, etc. Above the west window are the two faces of the Great Seal of the United States, and two of R. H. Perry's Sybils, sculptured in low relief, these two being Greek and Oriental. The former (the Delphic Oracle) dic- tates her prophecies to an aged scribe ; the latter (a veiled or occult per- Perry's son) tetters them to prostrate adorers. Sybils. Mr. Maynard's Pompeiian panels contain, at the east end, Fortitude and Justice ; at the west end, Industry and Concord. COURAGE. FORTITUDE. JUSTICE. Pompeiian Panels, by G. W. Maynard. PATRIOTISM. THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 63 Many inscriptions are written. Those in panels over doors and -wir.r jws are : The chief glory of every people arises from its authors.— Dr. JoJuison. There is oue only good, namely, knowledge, and one only evil, namely, ignorance.— 5ocra?es. Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.— Tennyson. .Visdoni is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting get understanding. Proi'erbs iv: 7. Ignorance is the curse of God, Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to Heaven. -67ioA:spere — 2 Henry VT. How charming is Divine Philosophy. — Milton. Books must follow sciences and not sciences books. — Bacon. In books lies the soul of the whole past time.— Carlyle. Words are also actions and actions are a kind of words. — Emerson. Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man. — Bacon. Tlie ceiling inscriptions are from Adelaide Proctor's "Unexpressed" : Dwells within the soul of every Artist No real Poet ever wove in numbers More than all his effort can express. All his dreams. No great thinker ever lived and taught you Love and Life united All the wonder that his soul received. Are twin mysteries, different, yet the same. No true painter ever set on canvas Love may strive, but vain is the endeavor All the glorious vision he conceived. Ail its boundless riches to unfold. No musician, Art and Love speak; but their words must be But he sure be heard, and strove to render, Like sighings of illimitable forests. Feeble echoes of celestial strains. In the border of the arch over the west window : Order is Heaven's first law. Memory is the treasurer and guardian of all things. Beauty is the creator of the universe. Opening from this north corridor is the great exhibition hall, occupying the whole breadth of this part of the building and looking out toward the Capitol on one side and into one of the courts (with a good view of the north book-stack) on the other. The ceiling is an elliptical barrel vault, twenty-nine feet above the floor, divided by double ribs springing from pilasters, and set, as elsewhere, with square coffers of stucco colored red and gold. Red, indeed, is the prevailing color here, emphasizing the arabesques on the walls and adapting itself to the theme of decoration, as does the blue of the corresponding exhibition hall on the south. The special decorations consist of two great wall paintings filling the arched ends of the hall above the doors, where spaces 34 feet long by 93^ feet high form the fields for single compositions by Gari Melchers — War and Peace. W(ir, at the north end of the gallery, confronts the spectator as he enters. A triumph- i^lelchcrs' ant, laurel-crowned chief of fighting men of some primitive time and " War and place is leading home his victorious band, the " dogs of war " straining Peace." at the leash in advance. A herald blows a poean of victory, but the horsemen ride over bodies of the slain, weak men fall by the wayside, and in the very foreground of the scene their own los.ses are suggested in the dead captain borne home- ward. Thus the dread as well as the glory of war is depicted. Peace is the subjec.of the painting at the opposite (south) end, and it is equally bold in conception, drawing, and color. The time and scene, as before, are carried back to that prehistoric state of society which is regarded by the poets as Arcadian in its simplicity and virtue. With no fear of hostile interruption or anxiety of mind, the inhabitants of a village have come in religious procession to a grove wherein resides their tutelary deity, whose image they are reverently bearing; and while the priest chants a litany they bring forward the supplicatory gifts or the thank-offerings each means to lay at the feet of the goddess. The fattened ox may be meant for a sacrifice, but it is also a suggestion of rural prosperity and feasting. PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. The names inscribed here are those of the world's most famous soldiers: Wellington, Washington, Charles Martel, Cyrus, Alexander, Hanni- bal, Caesar, Charlemagne, Napoleon, Jackson, Sheridan, Grant, Sherman, William the Conqueror, Frederick the Great, Eugene, Marlborough, Nelson, Scott, Farragut. This hall is devoted to an exhibition, in glass table-cases, of a great number of rare and curious books representing the beginnings of printing and bookmaking, especially as relates to North American discovery and history. The display of early printed Bibles and missals, and specimens of famous special editions of Bibles, is / also large. A great number of these Early Books, prints go back to the fifteenth cen- tury, and some of them are of great value on account of their extreme rarity. All are laid open, usually at the title-page, and can be examined as closely as is possible with- out taking them in one's hand. This collection is added to and changed from time to time as new books of curious interest are acquired. The northern door of this hall Northwest opens into the Northwest Pavilion. Pavilion, occupying the northwestern corner of the library. This room is among the most beau- tiful in the building. The ceiling is richly coffered, colored, and gilded around a central dome occupied by a painting. The walls j are broken by pillars, and are ornamented 1 with stucco work, including a series of four carvings, one in each of the \ Pratt's pendentives, which delicately *' Seasons." represent the Seasons, and are from models by B. L. Pratt. These are repeated in the three other corner pavilions, as are the general features of decora- tion, while the frescoes are individualized. The special artist whose work is seen in this pavilion is William de L. Dodge, who has made Ambition the subject of his painting in the dome, and has filled the four tympanums of the walls with allegorical scenes, remarkable for the number of figures they include. The dome picture represents •,, the summit of a mountain which may be called Success, to which have climbed a series of persons along the various paths, noble and ignoble, of human W. de L. Dodg:e endeavor. The Unattainable Ideal leaps Painting^S. away into the air beyond their reach, never- theless, though trumpeting Fame clutches at bridle. The struggling crowd displays types of many forms of Ambi- tion, and a Jester stands one side and laughs at the useless strife. Mr. THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 65 Dodge's wall paintings depict Music (north), Science (east), Art (south), and Literature (west). Each includes a group of figures about the presiding genius of their art, and illustrating clearlj- by their attitudes, occupations, or implements its characteristics and development. Thus in Music musicians, ancient and modern, are plajing before Apollo, the god of song and harmony. Science, an ideal winged figure before a temple, has summoned the representatives of Invention, and the scene is filled with suggestions of scientific discovery — Franklin's kite that began modern progress in electricity, a teakettle as a reminder of the origin of the idea of the steam engine, etc. Art displays the painter, the sculptor, and the architect at work. In Literature a graceful group illustrates education, the book, the drama, poetry, the fame that crowns the successful author, and so forth. Several large table-cases are placed in this room, containing manuscripts, autographs, and curious prints relating to the political history of the United States in great variety Many of these are proclamations, oliicers' commissions, and similar papers signed by Colonial Governors and early Presidents and statesmen. There Historic are also many letters, diaries, account books, etc., of statesmen and AutOSraphS leaders in the time of the Revolution, and of the more recent wars, and IMSS. including that with Spain, which resulted in the freeing cf the West Indies. Perhaps the most curious relic is a manuscript volume of the drawings of the United States lottery of 1779. The hall along the north side of the building, opening out of this pavilion, occupied by special collections, must be passed through in order to see the Northeast Pavilion. This pavilion, sometimes called the " Pavilion of the Seals," occupies the octagonal northeast corner of the building. Gilding prevails upon its walls and ceiling, and sets off the illustrative paintings of W. B. Van Ingen personifying the Executive Departments. The Treasury and State departments are typi- Northeast fied in the west tympanum ; the War and Navy in the south; Agriculture Pavilion. and Interior in the east; and Justice and the Post Office in the north. All of the details are symbolic and easily understood, except the cj-press trees, which are merely decorative, and stand in jars copied from those made by the Zuni Indians. The seals of the departments are cleverly introduced, and in the dome the great seal of the United States forms the center of an elaborate and Van Ingcn's beautiful circular painting by Garnsey, framed in an inscription from *' Seals." Lincoln's Gettysburg address: "That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom ; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Other sentiments inscribed here are : 'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world. — Washington. Let our object be our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country.— Webster. Thank God, I also am an American.— ire^s/er. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political — peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations — entangling alliance with none.— Je^<;rso?i. The agricultural interest of the country is connected with every other, and supe- rior in importance to them all.— Jacitson. InSCriptiOnS* Let us have peace.— ffranf. The aggregate happiness of society is, or ought to be, the end of all government.— TroA/i/ngffon. To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving pe&ce.— Washington. The visitor may now return to the Main Entrance Hall and devote attention next to the West Corridor. This is immediately over the Entrance Vestibule, and has been dec- orated in a very interesting manner by Walter Shirlaw, who has found his motive in The Sciences. Says Mr. Small : 5 66 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. " Each science is represented by a female figure about li feet in height. The figures are especially interesting, aside from their artistic merit, for the variety of symbolism by which every science is distinguished from the others, and for the Shirlaw subtlety with which much of this symbolism is expressed. Not only is Painting^S. each accompanied by various appropriate objects, but the lines of the drapery, the expression of the face and body, and the color itself, are, wherever practicable, made to subserve the idea of the science represented. Thus the predominant colors used in the figure of Chemistry — purple, blue, and red — are the ones which occur most often in chemical experimenting. ... In the matter of line, again, the visitor will notice a very marked difference between the abrupt, broken line used in the drapery of Archaeology, and the moving, flowing line in that of Physics." The list of these paintings, beginning on the west at the left, is as follows : Zoology, clad in a pelt, and with the lion of the desert beside her ; Physics, typifying and expressing in color and flowing form the reign of fire and electricity ; Mathematics is almost nude — the exact truth ; Oeology has gathered specimens and fossils from the rocks. On the east : Archaeology, in Roman costume, consults history, and has beside her a vase made by Zuni Indians; Botany seems analyzing a water lily; Astronomy suggests her study by globe and planet and the lens of a telescope, and Chemistry is accompanied by symbols of her investigations. Agreeably to this motive, the names of distinguished men of science are emblazoned upon the wall : Cuvier the zoologist, Rumford the physicist. La Grange the mathema- tician, Lyell the geologist, Schliemann the Greek archaeologist, Linnaeus the father of botany, Copernicus the astronomer, and Lavoisier the chemist. Three medallions in the ceiling are filled by W. B. Van Ingen with sketchy draw- ings idealizing the Arts : Sculpture chisels at a bust of Washington ; Painting is employed at her easel ; and Architecture is busied at the plans of a building. The Printers' Marks here are German. The inscriptions on the ceiling and over the windows are these : The first creature of God was the Hght of sense ; the last was the hght of reason. The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not. All are but parts of one stupendous whole, Whose body nature is and God the soul. In nature all is useful, all is beautiful. Art is long, and Time is fleeting.— Long/eZZow,'. The history of the world is the biography of great men.— Carlyle. Books will speak plain when counsellors blanch. — Bacon. Glory is acquired by virtue but preserved by letters.— PefrorcA. The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.— Z>io?ii/siMS. <, The South Corridor, at the right of the staircase, is especially characterized by Ben- son's bright and dainty paintings. The Four Seasons occupy circular panels upon the wall, and excite universal admiration. "Each is represented," says a Benson critic, "by a beautiful half-length figure of a young woman, with no Faintingrs. attempt, however, at any elaborate symbolism to distinguish the season which she typifies. Such distinction as the painter has chosen to indi- cate is to be sought rather in the character of the faces, or in the warmer or colder col- oring of the whole panel — in a word, in the general artistic treatment." Mr. Benson has also found space among the rich arabesques of the ceiling ornament THE LIBKARY OF CONGRESS. 67 for three hexagonal paintings, given to the Graces, in which the use of white is most skillfully and pleasingly made prominent. Aglaia is here regarded as the goddess or patroness of husbandry and pastoral life, and characterized The by the shepherd's crook ; Thalia stands, of course, for art, and by her Graces. side is seen a lyre, suggesting music, and a Greek temple as a symbol of architecture ; while Euphrosyne is the grace of graces — Beauty — and holds a mirror up to her own features. Near each end of the vault :^HIiBHHIHibs are rectangular IModeiTi panels representing a "scrim ball, and a baseball game games as compared with depicted in the North bas-reliefs are contin- hei'e, in two subjects prophecy. One is the sibyl — a fearsome old a sibylline scroll an an- of her applicants — a general and a nude woman. in similar pose, represents a or vala of the Norsemen, peiian panels in this corridor and Courage at the east end, and Prudence. AGLAIA. By F. W. Benson. mage " at foot- Games. — modern the ancient recreations Corridor. Mr. Perry's ued at the west end also expressing ancient Cumsean or Roman woman who reads from swer to the questions Roman The other. Perry's 'wise woman" Sibyls. Maynard's Pom- show the Virtues, Patriotism and at the west end Temperance The Printers' Marks are French ; and a series of trophy medallions corresponds to that of the North Corridor, showing the crafts of the Potter, Glassmaker, Carpenter, Blacksmith, and Mason. The inscriptions here read : Beholding the bright couutenance of Truth in the quiet and still air of delightful studies. — Jtfiifo»i. The true University of these days is a Collection or Books. — Carlyle. Nature is the art of God. — Sir Thomas Browne. There is no work of genius which has not been the delight of mankind. — Lowell. It is the mind that makes the man, and our vigor is in our immortal soul. — Ovid. They are never aloue that are accompanied with noble thoughts. — Sir Philip Sidney. Man is one world, and hath another to attend him. —Herbert. Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks. Sermons in stones, and good in everything. — Shakspei'c — As You Like It. The true Shekinah is man. — Chrysostom. Only the actions of the just Smell sweet and blossom yi the dust. — James Shirley. Man raises but time weighs. Beneath the rule of men entirely great The pen is mightier than the sword. The noblest motive is the public good. A little learning is a dangero«s thing ; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. — Pope. Learning is but an adjunct to ourself . — Love''s Labor Lost. Studies perfect nature, and are perfected by experience. — Bacon. Dreams, books, are each a world ; books, we know, Are a substantial world, both pure and good. —Wordsworth. 68 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. The fault is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings. — Shakspere — Julius Ccesar The universal cause Acts to one end, but acts by various laws. — Pope. Creation's heir, the world, the world is mine'. — Goldsmith. Vain, very vain, the weary search to find That bliss which only centers in the mind. — Goldsmith. te Wide doors admit from this Soutli Corridor into the exhibition hall corresponding to that on the north in its shape and plan of decoration, except that the prevailing tone here is blue. The two great mural paintings are the work of Kenyon Cox, who has taken as his subject for the south end the Sciences and for the north end the Arts. ' The composition and grouping of the two are / somewhat alike — the central figure in both being seated upon a kind of throne, supported by a classic balustrade extending each way to the limits of the canvas, along which the sub- ^ ordinate figures are displayed. Cox's In The Sciences, which faces *' Arts and the entrance, the central figure Sciences." is Astronomy, with Physics and Mathematics, distinguished by conventional symbols, at her right ; be- ^^• yond them geometrical figures seem merely symbolic accessories until close attention shows thit they spell the artist's name — ^"^ Kenyon Cox. At the right of the panel Botany and Zoology approach, and behind ■ them are seen shells, minerals, etc. In The Arts, at the north end of the room, Poetry sits enthroned in the center, in an attitude of exalta- tion, which is communicated to two little gen- iuses at her feet. At her right are a musician and an architect, while at her left sit Sculpture and Painting — all typified by women, graceful and dignified in mien, lovely in face. The coloring of these paintings is particularly rich and harmon- ious with the prevalent blue and gold of the room. This room is devoted to an extensive series of prints illustrating the processes and development of the graphic arts — etching, photography, and printing of photogravures and half-tones ; and the names written upon the wall tablets are those of men distinguished in science and art — Leibnitz, Galileo, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Dalton, Hipparchus, Herschel, Kepler, Lamarck, and Helmholz for the former Wagner, Mozart, Homer, Milton, Raphael, Rubens, Vitruvius, Man- sard, Phidias, and Michaelangelo for art. South of this hall a great door opens into the Southwest Pavilion, which 'J*. THE LIBEARY OF CONGRESS. 69 has been styled "Pavilion of the Discoverers, " from the theme of its decorations. Like the other corner rooms it is octagonal and its ceiling has a dome, the disk of which is decorated by George W. Maynard with an allegorical design Southwest embracing four stalwart female figures typifying National Virtues Pavilion. — Courage, roughly mail-clad and armed with shield and war-club ; Valor, a warrior of more refined type, with a sword ; Fortitude, an unarmed figure bearing an architectural column as a symbol of stability ; and Achievement, wearing the laurel crown. Each of these figures is related in thought to one of the four great tympanum paint- ings, also by Maynard, in which are idealized the succession of Adventure, Discovery, Conquest, and at last Civilization. The series begins at the east side with Adveuture. and each consists of three splendid female figures whose Maynard action and accompaniments express the artist's conceptions. It will be Paintings. noticed, too, that it is not adventure and conquest in general which is portrayed, but that which led to the discovery and civilization of America, and conse- quently all the accessories are English and Spanish, and the many names recorded are those of the adventurers, navigators, soldiers, priests, missionaries, and statesmen who successively figured in the development of North America from Spanish and British colonies to the independence and prosperity of the United States. In addition to this very fine series of paintings, the pendentives here (as in the other pavilions) bear a notable series of circular plaques in low relief, expressing by seated, nearly nude, female figures, the Four Seasons, modeled hy Bela L. Pratt. Spring sows seed, her garment blown by the vernal winds ; Summer, PlaQUes. older, sits quiet among the poppies ; Autumn, now mature, nurses a child ; and Winter gathers fagots to warm her aged body. The garlands over each cor- respond to the season. The orderly manner in which the decorations of this and the other pavilions, both painted and sculptured, have been made to correspond with one another and with the architectural requirements of the room, and to carry out and enforce by every detail the central idea belonging to each, makes them among the most remarkable examples of decoration in the world, and merits care- ful study. This pavilion is devoted to exhibition cases for the display BOOk of the growth and development of book illustration from the first rude Illustration. efforts in illumination and in wood-cutting to the finest modt-rn examples. The eastern door of this pavilion opens into the Exhibition Hall along the south side of the building, which is quietly decorated in plain tints, and devoted to an extensive exhibit of the art of making pictures mechanically. It is known, therefore, as the Print Room. Here one may see a great series of prints, illustrating the devel- opment of lithography and the processes a lithograph goes through, whether printed in monotint or in varied colors. Also early and fine modern examples of every sort of engraving upon wood, copper, and steel. In addition to this the library aims to show an example of the work of every prominent American etcher and engraver. This hall is illuminated by skylights. The Southeast Pavilion, called "Pavilion of the Elements," is at the Southeast eastern extremity of this room and is decorated by li. L. Dodge. In Pavilion. each of the four tympanums he has painted a representation of one of the four Elements— to the east, Earth; to the north, Air; to the west. Fire; to the south, Water. Each consists of three figures, and the allegory and u , |v . , symbolism in each case are readily interpreted by the beholder. In the „ p * ^ „ dome Mr. Dodge, in conjunction with Mr. Garnsey, has expressed the t'lcn'eniS. same idea in another Avay, figured by Apollo and the Sun for a centerpiece, surrounded by medallions and cartouches for the elements. 70 PICTOEIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. The series of handsome but not especially notable apartments along the eastern front of the building are at present occupied on the south by Music and on the north by the Smithsonian collections. Returning to the Hall, the East Corridor and Entrance to the Rotunda Galleries remain to be considered. The East Corridor, crossing the head of the staircases, has penden- tive figures by Geo. R. Barse, Jr., illustrating the topic Literature, and com- prising Lyrica (Lyric poetry), Tragedy, Comedy, and History, on the east wall ; and Love, Erotica (poetry). Tradition, Fancy, and Romance, on the west wall. They are simply expressed in the forms of attractive women, each having the well-known conventional symbols. The center of the vau^lt exhibits three more striking medallion paintings by Wm. A. Mackay, giving ^,,^^,^^^=21^ — ~-^ t^^ three stages of the Life I>1ain Entrance. Barse Paintings. of Man as represented Lachesis, and Atro becomes plainer the accompan- tions. Thus Clotho, by the Fates — Clotho, pos. The allegory when one reads ying inscrip- beneath the with her COMUS. — By H. O. Walker. distaff and the baby upon her knee, spinning the thread of life, are the words : IMackay*s "Fates." For a web begun God sends thread. Lachesis, the weaver, is seen in the second picture, with shuttle and loom. The child has become a man, the stream a river, the twig a tree of which the man is gathering the fruit ; and we read The web of life Is a mingled yarn, Good and ill together. Then comes Atropos, severing with her fateful shears the old man's life thread as he pauses beneath the withered tree to gaze at the setting sun ; and here are written the words of Milton in " Lycidas " : Comes the blind Fury with th' abhorred shearo. And slits the thin-spun life. The Printers' Marks are those of Italian and Spanish houses ; while the names of American printers, type founders, and press builders are to be read upon the mural tablets : Green, Day, Franklin, Thomas, Bradford ; and Clymer, Adams, Gordon, Hoe, and Bruce. The Entrance to the Rotunda Galleries is from the middle of this East Corridor by a branching stairway of marble. In the bays beside it are two charming paintings by W. B. Van Ingen, illustrating Joy and 8ad7iess as suggested by Milton's poems "L' Allegro" and " II Penserose." The former is a light-haired, cheerful woman, among flowers and happy in the sunshine, near which is quoted : THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 71 Come, thou goddess fair and free, In Heaven ycleped Euphrosyne, And by men, heart-easing Mirth. Paintings. Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee \&n In^Cn Jest and youthful jollity. Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles. Nods and becks, and wreathed smiles , Such as hang on Hebe's cheek. And love to live in dimple sleek. The other, a dark-visaged woman, expresses in her pensive face, mien, and surround- ings sadness and introspection : Hail I thou Goddess, sage and holy 1 Hail, divinest Melancholy ! ***** Come ; but keep thy wonted state. With even step and musing gait, And looks commercing with the skies, Thy rapt soul sitting in thine eyes : There, held in holy passion still, Forget thyself to marble. . . . At the head of the stairs, on the wall landing, is Elihu Vedder's colossal mosaic (in glass) of Minerva — Goddess of Wisdom — perhaps the grandest single object among the library decorations. This mosaic forms an arched panel, 15i^ feet high and 9 feet wide, bordered by a design of laurel branches. The figure of The Yeddcr Minerva is that of a magnificent — almost masculine — woman, a IMosaic. chieftainess whose armor has been partly laid aside, and who now addresses her mind to the arts of peace. The sun of prosperity is bursting through the ^^r:^---ylins retary of War, who also Statue. has a small park named after him in the rear of the War Office, where this monument was first erected. This statue, which is of bronze, after de- signs by J. Bailey, cast in Philadelphia, from rebel cannon captured by Grant's armies, was erected in 1874, and paid for ($13,000) by friends of Rawlins, who died here in 186i). Good modern buildings and fine stores line the avenue from here on to Fifteenth Street, especially on the northern side. At BRONZE STATUE OF JAMES A. GARFIELD. Southwestern Entrance to Capitol Grounds. By J. Q. A. Ward. 00 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. Ninit Street another north-and-south artery of street-car traffic is crossed, and the Academy of Music appears at the right. Tentji Street, the next, is historic. At the left, past the market, is the principal en- trance to the Smithsonian grounds ; and on the corner is the office of a lively morning newspaper, Tlie Times. The open space here is decorated with Plassman's Franklin Statue of Benjamin Franklin, looking shrewdly down upon the trafficking Statue. throng, as that eminent man of affairs was wont to do. It is marble, of heroic size, represents Franklin in his court dress as Minister to the Court of France, and was presented to the city in 1889, by Stilson Hutchins, an editor and writer of wide reputation. The assassination of President Lincoln occurred in the old Ford's Theater on this Tenth Street, in the second block north of Pennsylvania Avenue, and the buildings made sacred by the event are still standing. Ford's Theater, which during the Civil War was the leading theater in the city, has long been occupied by the Government as offices. Here, on the night of April 14, 1865, President Lincoln, with members of his family and staff, went, by special Ford's invitation, to witness a play in which the actor J. Wilkes Booth had a Theater. principal part. During an intermission, Booth entered the box in which the President sat, shot him in the back of the head with a revolver, and then leaped to the stage. At the same time, other assassins made attempts upon the life of the cabinet officers — that upon Secretary Wm. H. Seward nearly proving suc- cessful. Booth leaped to the stage, and, with the other assassins, made his escape, but all were soon recaptured, brought to Washington (except Booth, who was killed in Maryland), and incarcerated in the military penitentiary at the Arsenal, where four of the leaders of the conspiracy were tried and hung. Ford's Theater was at once closed by order of the Government, which purchased the building in 1866. It was FROM THE CAPITOL TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 89 OLDROYD LINCOLN MUSEUM. remodeled and appropriated to the uses of the Record and Pension Division of th(*War Department, and on June 9, 1893, suffered a collapse of the floors, which cans .1 t«ie death and maiming of many clerks. During all this time the proscenium i)illar, next which Mr. Lincoln sat -when he was killed, had been preserved in place, properly marked ; it survived the disaster of 1893, and can still be seen. The house in which Lincoln died (No. OldfOyd .j16 10th Street, between E and F) contains Lincoln the Oldroyd Lincoln memorial collection, Wluseum. begun by O. H. Oldroyd in 1860, and now comprising three thousand objects connected with or relating to the martyred President. Among them are the following ; Family Bible in which Lincoln wrote his name in boyhood ; log from the old Lincoln home ; stand made from logs of house in which Lincoln lived, 1832-36 ; rail split bj^ Lincoln and John Hanks in 1830 (with afHdavit by Hanks); discharge given to one of his men by Captain A. Lincoln, Black Hawk War, 1832 ; picture of Springfield House ; flag carried in Lincoln and Hamlin campaign ; office chair in which Lincoln sat when he drafted his first Cabinet ; farewell address to neighbors ; articles of furni- ture from the Springfield home ; autograph letters ; life-mask and cast of hands by L. W. Volk ; bill of the play "Our American Cousin"; 250 funeral sermons ; 63 marches and dirges; 263 portraits, including the earliest known; 209 medals; the spur and flag which plaj-ed a prominent part in Booth's leap from the bo.x in the theater. At the corner of Eleventh Street is The Evening Star, opposite which, filling the whole square from Eleventh to Twelfth Street, is the Post Office, elsewhere described. On the corner of Twelfth Street stands the lofty Raleigh Hotel. The ^wo pretty little parks at Thirteenth Street are confronted by hotels, rectaurants, et^ and the National Theater, which is among the foremost places of amusement in the city. The handsome home of The Post, the leading morning news- Twelfth tO paper, is just beyond. On the south side of the avenue is seen the head- Fifteenth quarters building of the Southern Railway system ; and at Thirteen- Streets. and-one-half Street, just beyond the ruins of a railway power-house, is the terminus of the Washington, Alexandria & Mount Vernon Electric Railway. Fourteenth Street is the most important thoroughfare, north and south, in this jiart of the city, extending from the Long Bridge, at the foot of Maryland Avenue, north- ward to Mount Pleasant. The Belt Line cars run southward upon it from Pennsylvania Avenue to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and so on around to the Capitol. At the right (northward) the street slopes steeply up the hill to F Street, and this block, as far as the Ebbitt Hou.se, is known as Newspaper Row, because filled with the offices of correspondents of newspapers all over the country. Opposite them, occupying the northwest corner, is Willard's Hotel The block opposite Willard's is devoted to business houses, and has the Regent Hotel. Around the corner to the left, on Fifteenth Street, are the Grand Opera House, the armory of the Washington Light Infantry, the house of the Capital Bicycle Club, etc. This brings us to the end of the avenue, against the southern portico of the Treas- ury, and in sight of the impressive Sherman memorial. Turning to the right, up the slope of Fifteenth Street, we pass the busy terminus of F Street, and go on to G, where the Riggs House forms a dignified corner-piece. A few stejis farther, the broad avenue in front of the Treasury opens the way northward, and brings us to that goal of patri- otic ambition — the White House. VI. AT THE EXECUTIVE MANSION. The Executive Mansion, more commonly called the White House, has gained for itself a world-wide reputation in a century's existence. George Washington was present at the laying of the corner-stone in 1792, in what then was simply David Burns' old fields stretching down to the Potomac (for this was the first History. public building to be erected), but John Adams was the first President to live in the building (1800), which was still so new and damp that his wife was obliged to have a literal house-warming to dry the interior sufficiently for safety to health. Its cost, up to that time, had been about |250,000. The architect, James Hoban, who had won reputation by building some of the fine houses on the Battery in Charleston, took his idea of the mansion from the house of the THE EXECUTIVE OFFICES. Irish Duke of Leiuster, in Dublin, who had, in turn, copied the Italian style. The material is Virginia sandstone, the length is 170 feet, and the width 86 feet. The house stands squarely north and south, is of two stories and a basement, has a heavy balustrade along the eaves, a semicircular colonnade on the south side (facing the river and finest grounds), and a grand portico and porte-cochere on the northern front, added in Jack- son's time. Its cost, to the present, exceeds f 1,500,000. In 1814 the British set fire to the building, but heavy rains extinguished the conflagration before it had greatly injured the walls. Three years later the house had been restored, anil the whole was then painted white, to cover the ravages of fire on its freestone walls, a color which has been kept ever since, and is likely to remain as long as the old house does, not only because of the tradition, but because it is really effective among the green foliage in which thw mansion is ensconced. It was reopened for the New Year's Day reception of President Monroe in 1818. 91 AT THE EXECUTIVE MANSION. 93 President's Grounds. Door- keepers. first public of the The President's Grounds consist of some eighty acres sloping down to the Potomac Flats. The immediate gardens were early attended to, as is shown by the age and size of the noble trees; but only latelj' lias the more distant part of the groiuids been set in order. This part, as also the park nearer the liouse (locally known as the White Lot) is open freely to the public, under the e3'e of policemen; and here, in warm weather, the Marine Band gives outdoor concerts in the afternoon, and the people come to enjoy them. At such times fashion gathers in its carriages upon the winding roads south of the mansion, and assumes the formal parade of Rotten Row or the Bois de Boulogne. It is here, too, on the sloping terrace just behind the White House, that the children of Egg-roUing. the city gather on Easter Monday to roll their colored eggs — a pretty custom the origin of which has been quite forgotten. Lafayette Scjuare ought also to be included as practically a part of the President's Grounds. Admission to certain parts of the White House is almost as free to everybody as it is to any other of the people's buildings in their capital. Coming from Pennsylvania Avenue by the principal approach, along the semicircular carriage drive that leads up from the open gates, the visitor enters the stately vestibule through the front portico, from whose middle upper window Lincoln made so many impromptu but memorable addresses during the war. Here will be found door- keepers, who direct callers upon the President up the staircase to the offices, and form visitors, who wish to see the pu])lic rooms of the man- sion, into little parties, who are conducted under their guidance. The apartment visited is that on the left as you enter, occupying the eastern win building and called the Ea.st Room. This, which was originally designed for a banquet hall, and so used until 1827, is now the state recep- tion room. It is 80 feet in length, 40 feet wide, and 22 feet high, and has eight beauti- ful marble man- tels, surmounted by tall mirrors. Its embel lish- ments arc renewed every eight or ten years, reflectini; the c h a n g i n i; fashion in decora- tion; but the crys- tal chandeliers, which depen d from each of the three great panels of the ceiling (dating.with their supporting pillars f rom Grant'stime) are never changed ; and whatever the IN line on A reception day.— At the white House. 94 PIOTOKIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. PORTRAIT OF WASHINGTON. — In East Room. style, the profusion of gilding and mirrors gives a brilliant back- East Room, ground for the gorgeously arrayed assemblages that gather here on state occasions, when the hall is a blaze of light, and a garden of foli- age and flowers from the great conserva- tories. Full-length portraits of George and Martha Washington are conspicuous among the pictures on the walls. The former used to be thought one painted by Gilbert Stuart, but it is now known to be the work of an obscure English artist who copied Stuart's style — a " very feeble imitation " Healy pronounced it. " Every visitor is told," remarks Mr. E. V. Smalley, who explained these facts in The Century Magazine, "that Mrs. Madison cut this painting from out of its frame with a pair of shears, to save it from the enemy, when she fled from the town [in 1814] ; but in her own letters describing the hasty flight, she says that Mr. Custis, the nephew of Washington, hastened over from Arlington to save the precious portrait, and that a servant cut the outer frame with an ax, so that the canvas could be removed, stretched on the inner frame." The portrait of Mrs. Martha Washington is a modern composition by E. B. Andrews of Washington. A full-length jDortrait of Thomas Jefferson, also by Mr. Andrews, and one of Lincoln, by Coggeshall, also occupy panels here. The East Room is open to anyone daily from 10 to 3, but the other official apart- ments are only visible by special request, or when, at intervals, a custodian leads a party through them. Adjoining the East Room, at Its southern end, is the Green Room, so named from the general color of its decorations and furnitui'e, which are traditional. The tone is pale gray green. The ceiling is ornamented with an exquisite design of Green Room, musical instruments entwined in a garland with cherubs and flowers, and there is a grand piano. There are touches of gilt everywhere upon the ivory-like woodwork, and the rococo open-work in the tops of the windows, from which the curtains hang, is noticeable. Here hang several notable portraits. One of these is a full-length, by Huntington, President of the National Academy, of Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, which was presented by the Daughters of the American Revolution, of whose society she was president. Another notable iwrtrait by the same artist is the full-length of Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes, presented by the Women's Christian Temperance Union, commemorating Mrs. Hayes' courage in maintaining the cold-water regime at the Executive Mansion. Three other portraits are hung here by friends. One is of Mrs. James K.Polk; another, of the second wife of President Tyler, and the third, of the wife of Major Van Buren, son of President Martin Van Buren, known in his time as ' ' Prince Harry. " Blue Room. Next to this is the'somewhat larger (40 by 80 feet) and oval Blue Room, which bows outward in the center of the colonnade of the south front of the building, and whose decorations are in pale blue and gold. The ornaments AT THE EXECUTIVE MANSION". m THE EAST ROOM. THE BLUE ROOM. 96 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. are presents from the French. The mantel clock was a present from Napoleon to Lafayette, and was given by the latter to the United States; and the fine vases were presented by the President of the French Republic on the occasion of the opening of the Franco-American cable. It is here that the President stands when holding recep- tions, the ceremonial of which is described elsewhere, and here President and Mrs. Cleveland were married in 1886. The Red Room, west of the Blue Room, a square room of the same size as the Green Parlor, has a more home-like look than the others, by reason of its piano, mantel ornaments, abundant furniture, and pictures, and the fact that Red Room. it is used as a reception-room and private parlor by the ladies of the mansion. The prevailing tone is Pompeiian red, and the walls are covered with portraits, as follows . A full-length of President Arthur, by Daniel Huntington, N. A. A full-length of Cleveland, by Eastman Johnson. A full-length of Benjamin Harrison, by Eastman Johnson, 1895. A half-length of James A. Buchanan. A half-length of Martin Van Buren, by Healy. A half-length of Zacbary Taylor, by Healy. A half-length of John Adams, by Healy. All these rooms open upon the corridor running lengthwise the building and sepa- rated from the vestibule by a partition of glass, which President Arthur prevailed upon Congress to order, to replace an old wooden one. "The light coming through the partition of wrinkled stained-glass mosaic makes a marvelously rich and gorgeous effect, falling upon the gilded niches where stand dwarf palmetto trees, the silvery network of the ceiling, and the sumptuous furniture." In this corridor hang several portraits of Presidents, including a full-length of Washington, by an Ecuadorian artist, THE RED ROOM. AT TITE EXECUTIVE MANSION. 97 Cadena of Quito, and presented by him ; and of Polk, Garfield (by Andrews), Hayes, Fillmore, Tyler, Grant (by Le Clair), and Jackson — one of Andrews' early efforts. Many of the older ones are by Healy, who painted portraits of Presidents J. Q. Adams, Tyler, Jackson, Van Buren, Taylor, Fillmore, Polk, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, and Grant. Each President is supposed to leave his portrait here. The State Dining-room is at the south end of this corridor, on the left, in the corner of the house. It measures 40 by 30 feet, and is in ^**^^ Dining- the Colonial style, the prevailing colors being a dull yellow, meant rOOm. to light up warmly under gaslight. "The ceiling is surrounded with a frieze of garlands, about 3}4 feet wide, with medallions at intervals. From these wreaths and vines run to the chandeliers. Beneath the cornice is a heavy frieze about four feet in width, which blends into the wall, with garlands of native vines, leaves, and fruits. . . . The general character of the work is known as 'applique relief,' which is produced by blending transparent colors on a light ground, . . . the effect being greatly increased by the fact that the various colors and figures are 'edged up' in relief to imitate the corded or raised work in applique. . . . State dinners are usually given once or twice a week during the winter, and are brilliant affairs. Lavish use is made of plants and flowers from the conservatories, and the tahle, laden with a rare display of plate, porcelain, and cut-glass, presents a beautifid appearance, forming an effective setting for the gay toilets of the ladies and their glittering jewels. The table service is exceed- ingly beautiful, and is adorned with various representations of the flora and fauna of America. The new set of cut-glass was made at White Mills, Pa., and is regarded as the finest ever produced in this country. It consists of 520 separate pieces, and was especially ordered by the Government for the White House. On each piece of the set, from the mammoth centerpiece and punch bowl to the tiny saltcellars, is engraved the coat of arms of the United States. The execution of the order occu- pied several months, and cost |G,000. The table can be made to accommodate as many as fifty-four persons, but the usual number of guests is from thirty to forty." The western door of the corridor leads into the conservatory, which is alwa^-s in flourishing beauty ; and opj)osite the state dining-room is the private or familj^ dining- room, a cozy apartment looking out upon the avenue. The private stairway is near its door. A butler's pantry, a small waiting-room at the right of the vestibule, and an elevator complete the list of rooms on this main floor The basement is given up entirely to the kitchen, storerooms, and servants' quarters. The business oflices of the President and his secretaries are on the second floor, at the eastern end, and are reached by a stairway at the left of the vestibu)". At the head of the stairway sits a messenger who directs persons into the large ante- room, which is in reality a hallway of the house, and to the door of the President's oftice of the Secretary to the President, who occupies the corner room Office. southeast. The President's office is next to that of his private secretary — a hirge, plain, com- fortably furnished room, lined with cases of books of law and reference. His great desk is at the southern end of the room, and the President sits with his back to the window, which commands a wide view down the Potomac. The massive oak table here is made from timbers of the Resolute, a British ship abandoned in the Arctic ice while searching for Sir John Franklin, in 1854, but recovered by American whalers; it is a gift from Queen Victoria. The Cabinet Room is next bej'ond, immediately over the Green Room — another plain, handsome, rather dark apartment, with a long table down the center surrounded PlCTOHtAL GtriBE TO WASHINGTON. by armchairs. The President sits at the southern end of the table, with the Secretary of State on his right, the Secretary of the Treasury on his left, and the Cabinet others farther down the table. The more or less valuable portraits of Room. several past Presidents look down upon them from the walls. The Executive Mansion is well guarded. A large force of watchmen, including police officers, is on duty inside the mansion at all hours, and a continuous patrol is maintained by the local police of the grounds immediately surrounding the mansion. As an additional safeguard, automatic alarm signals are fixed in different parts of the house, and there are telephones and telegraphs to the military posts, so that a strong force of police and soldiers could be obtained almost at a moment's notice. The inadequacy of the White House as a residence for the President of the United States has long been recognized. It is crowded, inconvenient, and whcUy unadapted to such dignity and occasions of public ceremony as the nation demands A New of its chief. There is not even accommodation for visitors, so that guests White House, of the nation must be sent to a hotel. Many suggestions and more or less elaborate plans have been made for a new and proper President's residence, which should be entirely separate from the Executive offices, for which the present White House might properly be reserved. Most of these proposals contemplate a magnificent edifice on Meridian Hill, 200 feet in elevation, at the head of Sixteenth Street. One such proposition, designed by Mary Henderson Foote and Paul J. Pelz, is illustrated herewith. It proposes a building in an ornate American adaptation of the Roman classic style of architecture, and constructed of white marble, with grand approaches. The west wing would be devoted to the home of the President's family, and the east wing to suitable accommodation for the nation's guests; while the central part, and the ground floor of the east wing, extended by elaborate conservatories, would be devoted to a series of state apartments, in which grand ceremonies and entertainments might be adequately arranged and carried out. 1 1' -tmrfTffwi I li ^tn . ^ ' ^% - . fSr-tYf^tn jiilFrfiiT-f^fiitfe^ PROPOSED EXECUTIVE MANSION. — Paul J. Pelz, Architect. VII. THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS. The Executive Departments are those over which the Cabinet officers preside, and in which the daily administration of the Government is carried on. There have not alwaj's been so many, nor have they always been known by their present names ; and it is only recently, under the law of 1886, prescribing the order of succession to the Presidency, that any authoritative sequence could be observed in the list, which is now as follows: The Department of State, presided over by the Honorable the Secretary of State. The Treasury Department, the Secretary of the Treasury. The War Department, the Secretary of War. List of The Department of Justice, the Attorney-General. Departments. The Post Office Department, the Postmaster-General. The Navy Department, the Secretary of the Navy. The Department of the Interior, the Secretary of the Interior. The Department of Agriculture, the Secretary of Agriculture. All these are situated in the immediate neighborhood of the Executive Mansion, except those of the Post Office, Interior, and Agriculture. The Departments are the business offices of the Government, and "politics" has much less to do with their practical conduct than the popular clamor would lead one to sup- pose. The occasional shirk or blatherskite makes himself noticed, but the average employe, from head to foot of the list, faithfully attends to his business and does his work. This must be so, or the business of the nation could not be carried on ; and otherwise, men and women would not grow gray in its service, as they are doing, because their fidelity and skill can not be spared so long as their strength holds out. Year by year, with the growth of intelligence and the extension of the civil service idea and practice, "politics" has less and less to do with the practical administration of the business of the nation at its capital ; and year by year, better and more economical methods and results are achieved. No civil pensions have yet been established as the further reward of long and faithful service. The Department of State stands first on the list, and occupies the south and noblest front of the State, War, and Navy Building — that towering pile of granite west of the White House, which has been so honestly admired by the populace and so often condemned by critics. The architect was A. B. Mullet, who had Department a great fondness for the "Italian renaissance," as is shown by the post of State. offices of New York and Boston, and by other public edifices executed while he was supervising architect of the Treasury. This building is 471 feet long by 253 feet wide, and surrounds a paved courtyard containing engine-houses, etc. It is built, outwardly, of granite from Virginia and Maine, and the four facades are substan- tially alike, though the south front, where space and slope of the ground favors, lias a grander entrance than the other sides. The building was begun in 1871 and not wholly finished until 1893, covers four and a half acres, contains two miles of corridors, and cost $10,700,000. It is in charge of a superintendent, responsible to a commission com- posed of the three Secretaries occupying it. 99 100 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. All of the apartments of the "foreign office" are elegant, and one fancies he sees a •rreater formality and dignity, as certainly there is more of studious quiet, here than in any other department. The Secretary and assistant secretaries occupy a foreign line of handsome offices in the second story, looking southward across Office. the park, among which is the long and stately room assigned to confer- ences with representatives of foreign governments, or similar meetings, and hence called the Diplomatic Room. An opportunity to inspect this should be accepted, if only to obtain a sight of the likenesses of the past Secretaries of State, with which its walls are almost covered. All of these portraits are by men of talent, and some are of superior merit : That of Clay, by E. D. Marchant, and those of Fish and Frelinghuysen, by Huntington, are especially praised. Lord Ashburton is here also, beside Webster — his great coadjutor in the adjudication of the boundary between the United States and Canada. This room, the furniture, rugs, and hangings of which are dark and elegant, is said to have been arranged by Secretary Hamilton Fish. Near by is another elegant apartment — the Diplomatic Ante-room, where foreign dignitaries await audience with the premier. The show room of the department, however, is the library, in spite of the fact that several curious objects formerly exhibited there are no longer on view. The precious original drafts of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitu- tion were disintegrating and fading under exposure to the light, and have been shut up in a steel safe, after having been hermetically sealed between plates of "State" glass, which arrangement, it is hoped, will stop their decay. A precise Library facsimile of the Declaration, made about 1820, hangs upon the library and Relics. wall. The Great Seal and certain curious early treaties of oriental and bar])arous states are no longer exhibited. Here may be seen, however, the war sword of Washington — the identical weapon he was accustomed to wear in camp and campaign ; and the sword of Jackson, at New Orleans — broken, to be sure, but mended by a skillful armorer, and not by himself at a blacksmith's forge, as the old story relates. Jefferson's writing-desk (at which, tradition says, the Declaration of Independence was drafted), Franklin's staff and buttons from his court dress, a lor- gnette given by Washington to Lafayette, a copy of the Pekin Gazette, which has been printed continutnisly, as a daily newspaper, since the eighth century, and several other personal relics and historical curiosities will reward the visitor. The library itself is a very notable one, equal to those of the governments of Great Britain and France in importance as a collection of books of international law and diplomacy. Cognate works, such as biographies, histories, and travels of a certain sort, supplement this central collection, and the whole now includes some 60,000 volumes. Its purpose is to serve as a reference library for the department. It also includes a great quantity of the papers of public men of the past, which have been acquired by purchase or otherwise, and are distinct from the correspondence archives of the depart- ment. For the papers of Washington (bound into 330 volumes) $45,000 was paid in 1834 and 1849 ; for the ISIadison papers (75 vols., 1848) $35,000 ; for the Jefferson MSS. (137 vols., 1S48) $20,000; and for the JMonroe papers (22 vols., 1849) $20,000. More recently have been accjuired the papers of Hamilton (65 vols.), of Benjamin Franklin (32 vols., $35,000), and extensive records of the Revolutionary army. The War Department has quarters in the same great building, occupying the west- ern and part of the northern front, as is indicated by the cannons lying upon the but- tresses of the porches. The Secretary and Assistant Secretary of War, War Office, the General of the army, and several military bureaus have their offices there, but none of them are open, of course, to the casual visitor. At the head of the staircase, near the northwestern corner, are models of certain arms and 102 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. ordnance, and of wagons, ambulances, etc. , and also two showcases of life-size lay fig- ures exhibiting the uniforms of various ranks in the Revolutionary army. The wall of the staircase is embellished with portraits of past Secretaries, and in the corridor and ante-rooms of the Secretary's office are other paintings, including grand portraits of Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, by Daniel C. Huntington. The Washington portrait here is one of Stuart's copies from his original study. The old Winder building, on the opposite side of Seventeenth Street, erected many years ago by Gen. Wm. H. Winder, an army officer who distinguished himself in the early part of the War of 1812, and commanded the troops here in 1814, was intended for a hotel. It was taken for offices of the War Department, however, and has been so occupied ever since. In it General Halleck had his office and the staff headquarters of the army during the Civil War, Secretary Stanton's office being in the building demol- ished to make room for the present structure. General Grant's Headquarters, when, after the war, he lived in Grant's Washington in command of the army, were in the large house with the Head- high stoop on the opposite or southeast corner of Seventeenth and F quarters. streets. It is now a private residence. McClellan's headquarters during the early half of the war were at the northeast corner of Lafayette Square, now the Cosmos clubhouse. The Navy Department has possession of the remaining third of the building, with an entrance facing the White House, signified by anchors upon the portico. The Secretary and Assistant Secretary preside over ten bureaus, whose chiefs are detailed officers of the navy. These are : 1. Bureau of Navigation, having the practical control of the ships and men in actual service, and including the Hydrographic Office and Naval Academy at Annapolis, but not the War College at Newport. 2. Bureau of Yards and Docks. 3. Bureaus of Bureau of Equipment, which has charge, among other things, of the the Navy. Naval Observatory, the Nautical Almanac, and the Compass Office. 4. Bureau of Ordnance. 5. Bureau of Construction and Repair. 6. Bureau of Steam Engineering. 7. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, under whose supervision is maintained a Museum of Hygiene, in the Old Naval Observatory, which is interesting to specialists. 8. Bureau of Supplies and Accounts (but the Navy Pay Office is at No. 1729 New York Avenue). 9. Office of the Judge Advocate General — the department's law officer. 10. Office of the Commandant of the Marine Corps, who is responsible directly to the Secretary of the Navy. By the time a ship is built, equipped, armed, and manned, she has gone through every one of these bureaus, and must have had a good pilot if she escaped being dashed to pieces against some of their regulations, or crushed by collision of authority between their chiefs. The models of ships, on view in the corridor near the entrance and on the next floor above, form an exhibit of great interest, graphically displaying the difference between the early wooden frigates and line-of-battle ships and the modern steel IModelS. cruisers and turreted men-of-war. These models ought not to be over- looked ; the library, also, is well worth attention, on account of the por- traits of departed Secretaries, as well as for the sake of its professional books. The financial department and the actual treasury of the Government are housed in the imposing but somewhat gloomy building which closes the vista up Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol, and which nearly adjoins the White House park on the Treasury east. This structure, which, suitably to the alleged American worship Building. of money, has been given the form of a pagan temple, is of the Ionic- Greek order of architecture modified to suit local requirements. The main building, with its long pillared front on Fifteenth Street, was erected of Virginia 104 PICTOEIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. sandstone, after plans by Robert Mills, and completed in 1841. Some years later exten- sions were undertaken under the architectural direction of Thomas U. Walter, which enlarged the building greatly, produced the magnificent granite porticos at each end, and resulted in the beautifully designed western fagade. The whole building, completed in 1869, is 4G6 feet long and 264 wide exclusive of the porticos, incloses two courts, and has cost about $10,000,000. The Treasury is a place every stranger visits. The building is open fi'om 9 till 2 ; and between 11 and 13 and 1 and 2 o'clock, persons who assemble at the office of the Treasurer are formed into parties, and conducted to the doors of certain rooms, where the guides volubly explain the work in progress there. Thus you may see the girls counting and recounting the sheets of specially made paper upon which all the United States bonds, notes, and revenue stamps are printed ; this is the beginning of the long routine of " money making," and not one must Paper for go unaccounted for. This paper is made of components and by a com- SecuritiCS. position which is a secret between the Government and the manufac- turers at Dalton, near Pittsfield, ]Mass. It is especially distinguished by the silk fibers interwoven with its texture, and, as a part of the monopoly of the manu- facture of United States money retained by the Federal Government, the possession of any such paper by private persons is prohibited under severe penalties, as prima facie evidence of intent to defraud. The packages of 1,000 sheets, each of the proper size for printing four notes, are deftly counted and carefully examined by young women, whom long practice has made wonderfully expert. When every imperfect sheet has been picked out and replaced by a good one, the packages are sent to the printer (see Bureau of Engraving and Printing). Next you may be shown the large room to which piles of similar sheets, printed with the faces and backs of notes of various denominations from $1 to $1,000, have been returned, to receive here, upon small steam presses, the red seal, which Treasury completes the value of the paper as a promise to pay. Notes. These notes, to the amount of about $1,000,000 in value, on the average, are brought over from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing each morn- ing, being conveyed in a steel-encased wagon, guarded by armed messengers. They are first counted by three persons in succession, to reduce to the vanishing point the proba- bility of error, and then are sent to the sealing-room mentioned above, where the sheets of four unseparated notes are passed through the small steam presses that place upon them the red seal of the Treasury of North America, or, as it is written in abbreviated Latin upon the seal itself : Thesaur. Amer. Septent. Sigil. United States Treasury notes bear the engraved facsimiles of the signatures of the United States Treasurer and the Register of the Treasury; but national bank notes are actually signed in ink by the president and cashier of the bank issuing them. The latter are sent to the banks and receive these signatures before receiving the red seal, for which purpose they must be returned here, the banks defraying the express charges. It is in the room adjoining this that the visitor sees that marvelous development of the human hand and eye which enables the ladies intrusted with the final coiuiting of Uncle Sam's paper money to do so with a rapidity that is absolutely Cutting^ the bewildering to the beholder. As soon as the seals have been printed upon Sheets. a package of 1,000 sheets of notes, these are taken to another little machine, which slices them apart, replacing the hand shears, to whose use, in General Spinner's day, according to tradition, is due the introduction of female assistance in the departmental service. This produces 4, 000 notes which are tied up into a standard " package," and laid upon the table of the first clerk to whom they go for final inspection and counting. Untying a package and holding it by her left hand. THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS. 105 with the face of the notes upward, she lifts the right hand end of every one of the 4,000 notes, scans it for imperfections in texture, printing, sealing, or cutting, sees that it is numbered in due order, and that none is missing. That all this can be done, and done day after day and month after month, with unwearied vigilance, discernment, and accuracy, is sufficiently extraordinary — since habitual application to routine work is likely to breed not only careless- ness, but a sort of mental blindness ; but when to this is added a speed so Expert extraordinary that a counter passes on the average 32,000 notes each work- Counting^. ing-day, the performance becomes one of the most wonderful in the range of human industry. It would seem that the eye could scarcely form an image in the brain of any single note as it flies through the fingers, yet so trained and sensitive have these women become, that the slightest irregularity of form or color is noted, and each imperfect note is rejected, destroyed, and replaced by a perfect one from a reserve Bupply. The rapid countmg is facilitated — only made possible, in truth — by the fact that the notes, as they fall from the cutting machine, lie in exact rotation of numbers (in the upper right-hand corner), so that the counter need only take cognizance of the final unit, sure that as long as these run continuously there is no mistake. Having observed, for example, that her package began 87,654,320, that the units were repeated continuously in order, 1, 2, 8, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., and the package ended 87,658,320, the counter could be sure it was full and regular. To guard against any possible mistake, however, these packages go through the hands of five successive counters before the last of the fifty-two countings to which the sheets and notes are subjected is concluded, and the notes are ready for issue. Each person to whom the packages are temporarily intrusted is obliged to receipt for them, so that their history may be traced from the paper mills to the cashier's desk. Each package, as it comes from the last counter, contains 4,000 notes ; but as these may vary from $1 to $1,000 in denomination, the value of the package may be $4,000, $8,000, $20,000, $40,000, $80,000, $400,000, or $4,000,000. Each package is now wrapped in brown paper, sealed with wax impressed with the Treasury seal, and placed in the currency reserve vault of the cashier of the department of issue ; and the amount receipted for by the keeper of the vault (averaging $1,000,000 a day) must correspond each evening exactly with the amount received the same morning from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. These pretty notes, the representatives of the hard cash stored in the vaults, reach the public only through the Cash Room, a large apartment on the main floor, walled with a great variety of exquisite native and foreign marbles, and provided with a public gallery, whence all its operations may be overlooked ; but vis- Cash RoOdl. itors ought to keep very quiet. Here tightly bound packages of notes of a single denomination, each containing 4,000 bills, are prepared for shipment to the sub- treasuries and other financial agents of the Government, or, with the loose cash needed, are paid out over the counter. The business is that of an ordinary bank, or, rather, of an extraordinary one, for checks of enormous value are frequently cashed here — one reaching as high as $10,000,000. When the various legal-tender notes (greenbacks, silver certificates, treasury notes, or gold certificates) are sent in for redemption, they go into the redemption division, where they are counted and sorted into packages — again by the quick fingers of women. These packages are then irretrievably mutilated by punches, Redemption sliced lengthwise, and each half is counted separately by other clerks. Office. If all proves to be right (an error is quickly traceable), a receipt is given, enabling the cashier to give back new notes in exchange for the old ones, or reissue to 106 PICTOEIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON". the public in coin, an amount equal to what has been presented that day for redemption. Sometimes the mere fragments, or soaked or charred remains, of bank notes are sent in, but if the evidence of good faith satisfies the chief, and the amount can be verified, crisp, new notes are sent to the owner in return. This opens a door for fraud, which rascals have tried to enter, but they have rarely succeeded. In the office of the present United States Treasurer, alongside his little receipt to his predecessor for $750,000,000, or thereabouts, the amount taken into custody by him, may be seen, framed, what purports to be a $500 bill, made up of sixteen pieces cut from various parts of sixteen other genuine f 500 bills which had been sent in and redeemed as "mutilated." These reserved fragments, combined, made a seventeenth bill, which perhaps might have been accepted also, had it been less clumsily fabricated. Finally, the old bills, punched and cut in two (see above), are sent to carefully guarded maceraters — one in the Treasury Building for the destruction of the old national bank notes, and another for the destruction of United States notes, at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing ; there they are ground into wet pulp by means of machines called maceraters. CURRENCY DESTRUCTION COMMITTEE. The maceraters are globe-shaped receptacles of steel, having the capacity of a ton of pulp, the top of which opens by a lid secured by three different Yale locks. The Secre- tary of the Treasury has the key of one lock, the Treasurer that of IMaceration. another, and the Comptroller of the Treasury the third. Each day at 1 V. M., these officials or their representatives, with a fourth agent to rep- resent the people and banks, open the macerater, and place within it the million dollars or so of condemned currency or other securities which is to be destroyed, together with p suitable (juantity of water. The lid is then locked in the three places, and machinery begins to whirl around inside of the macerater a series of 150 knives which grind and cut the soaking material until the notes are reduced to shreds and useless pulp. Once THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS. 107 in four or five days the committee unlocks a valve and lets the accumulated pulp run out into screening receptacles. It is thence taken to the Bureau of Engraviug and Printing, where it is rolled and dried into thick sheets and sold. Samples of it, now and then, are disposed of to be made into the queer little figures sold as curiosities and "supposed to contain " a hundred thousand dollars or so. On one of the upper floors the Life-saving Service has a series of models and specimens of the apparatus used in saving the lives of shipwrecked marines, which can usually be seen ; in the office of the Supervising Architect are many " highly executed drawings of elevations and plans of the public build- Branches Of ings erected by the United States, interesting to architects and civil the Treasury. engineers;" the Department library has 20,000 volumes, and is open to visitors ; and, lastly, a proper introduction will enable the visitor who is curious in criminal matters to inspect the rogues' gallery and police museum of the Secret Service, which deals with counterfeiters, smugglers, "moonshiners" or illicit distillers. The Department of Justice and the Court of Claims, which attend to suits against the Government, and give legal advice to its oflBcers, occupy rented quarters, having no building of their own. The former is on K Street, between Vermont Avenue and Fifteenth Street, where the Attorney-General has his office. Justice. The Court of Claims occupies the old Corcoran Gallery at Pennsylvania Avenue and Seventeenth Street. The General Post Office began in a postal system organized in the American colonies as early as 1692 by patent to Thomas Neale. This expired in 1710, when the English postal system was extended to the colonies, and it slowly grew until, in 1753, Benjamin Franklin was appointed Deputy Postmaster-General for the Colonies. The Revolution overthrew the royal mail, but when peace came the Continental Congress established a new system, and put Franklin again in charge of the first United States mails. Postage stamps were not adopted by the Government until 1847, and until lately were printed by private contractors, but are now made at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The first building for this department was burned in 1836. The next one, occupied for man}" years until the end of the century, was the Corinthian structure on Seventh Sft'eet, next the Patent Office, now a part of the Department of the Interior. \ The present Post Office is a modern structure on the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue, between Eleventh and Twelfth streets, which contains both the General Department and the City Post Office. This building was authorized by Congress in 1890, and the site was Post Office. purchased in 1891 at a cost of $850,000. The designs were made in the office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury, and executed under its direction to the completion of the building in 1899. In st5ie it is modified Romanesque, surmounted by a lofty, square clock tower. The principal material is granite from Fox Island, Maine, with steel columns and beams for the interior framework. The finish is in marble from Tennessee and Vermont, varied by Red African and mottled Italian marbles, with quartered oak and mahogany for the woodwork. The building measures 305 feet long by 200 feet wide, and encloses a court, roofed over by a skylight 180 feet long by 99 feet wide. An interior skylight covers the court at the height of the first story, forming an immense room for the accommodation of the City Post Office. The total cost of the whole building was $3,325,000. The nine upper floors are devoted to the business of the Postmaster-General and his department. These are open to the public from 9 a. m. until 2 p. m., n^r.^ ■ Aff«|- but contain nothing of interest except the museum of the Dead Letter Office Office, which occupies Room 223 on the first floor above the street — Twelfth Street side — and is open daily from 9 a. m. to 4 p. m. This is the bureau of the 108 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. department which receives and handles all mail that can not be delivered to its intended recipients, by reason of lack of superscription, or improper or undecipherable addressing, or because not called for within a reasonable time. Six or seven million pieces of lost mail are thus returned to this office annually, and examined. If any clew to the writer, or owner, or addressee can be found, the letter or package is at once sent to one or the other of these persons. Newspapers are destroyed. Unidentified packages containing any article of value are recorded and laid aside for six months, at the expiration of which time they are sold at auction, and the money received is turned into the Treasury. The Museum of the Dead Letter Office is a collection of the extraordinary objects sent through the mails, and also of objects and papers identified with the postal his- tory of the country. The most striking exhibit, perhaps, is a great IMUseum of collection of uncanceled postage stamps of foreign countries, includ- Dead Letter ing stamped envelopes and post-cards, which have been sent to the Office. American Post Ofiice Department by foreign postal authorities. They are elegantly arranged in swinging frames, the various sets embellished by artistic borders and other ornaments. There are also complete sets of American stamps, and philatelists will view these collections with extreme interest, and estimate them at a very high money value. Other swinging frames contain pictures of the finest post offices in this country and abroad. More curious is a large series of small, life-like models showing the dress and accouterments of postmen in India, China, Persia, Japan, and other far Eastern countries. A series of the various locks and keys used for mail bags is shown; also the evolution of canceling stamps. Early records of the Post Office fill one case, among them a set of accounts kept by Benja- min Franklin while Colonial Postmaster-General in 1753; also, in his handwriting, the earliest record of the Dead Letter Office, date 1778. The stuffed skin of " Owney," the nondescript, shaggy dog who for several years spent his time traveling all over this and other countries in postal cars, or loitering about post offices, is preserved in one case ; it was the fashion to give him a "medal," in the form of a baggage check or some similar ornament, wherever he went, and all these are hung about his body. The most extraordinary part of the little museum, however, consists of the miscel- laneous objects that have been lost in the mails, the variety of which is endless, and many of which are so odd as to provoke laughter. All sorts Queer of small animals, stuffed, dried, in alcohol, and otherwise preserved. Things Lost are here ; a human skull and many bones ; surgical instruments and in the IMailS. medicines in abundance, besides a great array of pistols, knives, and other death-dealing implements. Books have been gathered by thou- sands, and some of those saved for show here include valuable volumes in many foreign languages, including Arabic, Chinese, and the raised text for the blind. Dolls and toys enough to furnish half a dozen kindergartens might be taken from here, and, in short, it would be hard to find a path of industry or a region of pleasure or profit of which some reminder might not be found among this queer conglomer- ation of lost property. The City Post Office is open to the public at all hours of the day or City night ; and its furnishings embody the latest improvements in postal Post Office, methods. An Information Office is open during the day in the north- west corner of the ground floor. The Department of the Interior, whose principal building is popularly known as the Patent Office, manages internal or domestic affairs — the relations of our own people with the Government. Hence the Secretary of the Interior is charged Interior with the supervision of public business relating to patents for inventions, Department, pensions, and bounty lands, the public lands and surveys, the Indians, NEW GENERAL POST OFFICE.— Pennsylvania Avenue, Eleventh and Twelfth Streets. 110 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. education, railroads, the geological survey, the census, the national parks, reservations, and various of the public institutions, and Territories. The Secretary and his assistants have their offices in the great Doric- Patent Greek building, covering the two squares reaching from Seventh to Ninth Office. streets, between F and G, which everybody calls the Patent Office, because designed for and mainly occupied by that bureau. The Hall of Models is still a spacious room on the main floor, but the removal of the historical relics to the National Museum, and the fire of 1877, which destroyed 87,000 models and some 600,000 drawings, etc., have left little worth looking at. The office has issued thus far about 600,000 patents, and its earnings have been far in excess of the cost of buildings and all expenses since its origin. Another prominent branch of the Interior Department is the Pension Bureau. This occupies an immense red-brick building, 400 by 200 feet in dimensions and four stories high, standing in Judiciary Square, on G Street, between Fourth and Pension Fifth, and looking like a cotton factory without and a prison within. It Office. has two gable roofs set crosswise and largely composed of glass, lighting the vast interior court. The structure is said to be fireproof — a state- ment which caused General Sheridan to exclaim, "What a pity !" A band of terra .cotta, forming an ornamental frieze around the exterior of the building, just above the first story windows, portrays a procession of spirited marching figures of soldiers of the late war — horse, foot, and dragoons. This is the only artistic thing about the building, and is worthy of a better setting. The offices, however, are more commodi- ous and comfortable than many in more ornate edifices, and open upon tiers of galleries that surround all sides of a great tiled court. This court is broken by two cross-rows of colossal columns and lofty arches sustaining the central part of the roof and painted in imitation of Siena marble, while the lower gallery rests upon a colonnade of iron pillars, speckled counterfeits of Tennessee marble. The floor of the court is well filled with cases of drawers containing the papers of applicants for pensions, or an increase, so tidily arranged that the file of each man can be referred to without delay. It is very helpful, however, to know the registry number of the case, which is borne by every paper pertaining to it. The cases on file exceed a million ; about 1,000,000 beneficiaries are carried on the rolls, and the outlay of the bureau is now about $145,000,000 a year. Over 1,800 persons, one-sixth of whom are women, are employed here, but room is left for offices for the Railroad Commissioners on the third floor. The United States Pen- sion Agency, where local pensioners are paid, is at No. 308 F Street. The spacious covered court of this building has been used on the last three occasions for the giving of the inaugural ball, which custom decrees shall take place on the even- ing of the day each new President is ushered into office. In the early InaUg^Ural days, when the minuet, stiff brocades, and powdered hair were still fash- Balls. ionable, these were affairs as elegant and enjoyable as they were select and stately; but latterly the number of officials and their families properly entitled to attend such a semi-official function has become so great, and the crowd who are able to buy tickets is so much greater, that no system of restriction thus far devised has been successful in keeping this ball down to a manageable size. It is said that 17,000 persons were crushed into the court of the Pension Office Building at the inaugural ball of March 4, 1885, and the crowds since have prevented any dancing or other real enjoyment of the festivities, which resulted only in injury to health, costly toilets, and the building. Census Office. The Census Bureau, charged with making the decennial census, was placed in 1899 in a rented building, erected for its purposes, which occupies half a square on B Street, between First and Second. It is a low, THE EXECUTIVE DEPAETMENTS. Ill THE PATENT OFFICE.— F Street, N. W. Seventh to Ninth Streets. THE PENSION OFFICE —Judiciary Square, Fourth, Fifth, and G Streets, N. W. 112 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. brick structure without any arch- itectural preten- sions, and no vis- itors are admitted to its busy offices. The General Land Office, Land and Indian Offices. which is charged with the survey, management, and THE CENSUS bureau. sale of the public domain, has quarters in the old Post Office building on Seventh Street, which in 1899 became an annex of the Interior Department. Here, also, are the offices of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The office of the Commissioner of Education is near by, at the northeast corner of Eighth and G streets, where an extensive library of pedagogy is open to the inspection of teachers. The Geological Survey has fine offices in the Hooe Building, 1330 F Street. Certain other branches of the Government, not under departmental control but responsible directly to Congress, may be briefly spoken of here. The Smithsonian Institution is the most important of these, and is elsewhere described. The Government Printing Office, whose chief is styled " the Public Printer," is the place where the Congressional Record, or report of the daily proceedings of Congress, is printed; also all the public and private bills and documents for Congress, Government the yearly departmental reports, and the enormous mass of miscellaneous Frintittg publications of the Government. It is located on North Capitol and H Office. streets ; 2,900 persons are employed during the congressional session and about 2,700 at other periods, and it is said to be the largest printing office in the world. Everything connected with the making of books can be done there, and the highest degree of excellence in printing and binding may be reached. It is run under very systematic methods. The Department of Labor, controlled by a commissioner, collects and publishes use- ful information on subjects connected with labor, promoting the material, social, intel- lectual, and moral prosperity of men and women who live by their daily earnings. It publishes an annual report, largely statistical. The office is in the National Safe Deposit Building at New York Avenue and Fifteenth Street. The Civil Service Commission makes and supervises all regulations and Civil Service, examinations respecting applicants for employment in the Government service in those classes under the civil service law. It has offices in the Concordia Building, Eighth and E streets. The Bureau of American Republics, whose purpose it is to promote trade, intelli- gence, and comity among all the American republics, have offices at No. 2 Jackson Place, at the southwest corner of Lafayette Square. The Free Public Library has made a beginning at No. 1326 New York Avenue, pending the erection of the building in Mount Vernon Squaie, to be given to the city for its accommodation by Andrew Carnegie. VIII. FEOM THE MONUMENT TO THE MUSEUMS. The Washington Monument. The dignity, symmetry, and towering height of Washington's character, as it now presents itself to the minds of his countrymen, are well exemplified in the majestic siLiplicity of his monument in Washington. This pure and glittering shaft, asking no aid from inscription or ornament, strikes up into heaven and leads the thought to a patriotism as spotless and a manhood as lofty as any American has attained to. It is the glory and grandeur of this superb monument that it typifies and recalls not Washington the man, but Washington the character. It is really a Grandeur. monument to the American people in the name of their foremost repre- sentative. It is in itself a constantly beautiful object, intensified, unconsciously to the beholder, perhaps, by the symbolism and sentiment it involves. With every varying mood of the changing air and sky, or time of day, it assumes some new phase of interest to the eye. Now it is clear and firm against the blue — hard, sharp-edged, cold, near at hand ; anon it withdraws and softens and seems to tremble in a lambent envelope of azure ether, or to swim in a golden mist as its shadow, like that of a mighty dial, marks the approach of sunset upon the greensward that rolls eastward from its base. The most picturesque view of it, doubtless, is that from the east, where you may "compose" it in the distance of a picture, for which the trees and shrubbery, winding- roads and Norman towers, of the Smithsonian park form the most artistic of foregrounds. This monument is the realization of a popular movement for a national memorial to Washington which began before his death, so that he was enabled to indicate his own preference for this site, and was expressed in a congressional resolution in 1799, which contemplated an equestrian statue. The death of Washington History. revived the matter, and a bill appropriating $150,000 for a mausoleum passed both houses, but was mislaid and not signed at the close of the session. The next Congress was made up of Washington's political opponents, and his monument was no more heard of until an association was formed, headed by the President of the United States ex officio, which undertook to retrieve what it considered a national disgrace, and raised a large sum of money for the purpose. This site was obtained, the corner-stone was laid with impressive ceremonies on the 4th of July, 1848, and the work progressed until the shaft had reached a height of 150 feet, when the funds gave out. The coming of the Civil War turned men's attention elsewhere, but interest was revived by the wave of patriotism developed by the Centennial year, under the influence of which Congress agreed to finish the shaft. To Gen. T. L. Casey, Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., was intrusted the task of enlarging and strengthening the foundations — a most diflicult piece of engineering which he accomplished with consummate skill. The foundations are described as constructed of a mass of solid blue rock, 146 feet square. " The base of shaft is 55 feet square, and the lower walls are 15 feet thick. At the five-hundred-feet elevation, where the pyramidal top begins, the walls are only 18 inches thick and about 35 feet square. The inside of the walls, as far as they Dimensions. were constructed before the work was undertaken by the Government in 1878 — 150 feet from the base — is of blue granite, not laid in courses. From this point 115 116 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. to within a short distance of the beginning of the top or roof, the inside of the walls is of regular courses of granite, corresponding with the courses of marble on the outside. For the top marble is entirely used. The marble blocks were cut or 'dressed' in the most careful manner, and laid in courses of two feet by experienced and skillful work- men. There is no 'filling' or 'backing' between the granite and marble blocks, but they are all closely joined, the work being declared ' the best piece of masonry in the world.' By a plumb line suspended from the top of the monument inside, not three- eighths of an inch deflection has been noticed. . . . The keystone that binds the interior ribs of stone that support the marble facing of the pyramidal cap of the monument, weighs nearly five tons. It is 4 feet 6 inches high, and 3 feet 6 inches square at the top. . . . On the 6th day of December, 1884, the capstone, which completed the shaft, was set. The capstone is 5 feet 2^ inches in height, and its base is somewhat more than three feet square. At its cap, or peak, it is five inches in diameter. On the cap was placed a tip or point of aluminum, a composition metal which resembles polished silver, and which was selected because of its lightness and freedom from oxidation, and because it will always remain bright." The original design, prepared by Robert Mills, contemplated a shaft 600 feet in height, rising from a colonnaded circular memorial hall, which was to contain statues of the nation's worthies and paintings of great scenes in its history, "while the crypt beneath would serve as a burial place for those whom the people should especially honor." This plan has been definitely abandoned. A staircase of 900 steps winds its way to the top, around an interior shaft of iron pillars, in which the elevator runs ; few people walk up, but many descend that way, in order to examine more carefully the inscribed memorial blocks which are Interior. set into the interior wall at various places. Within the shaft formed by the interior iron framework runs an elevator, making a trip every half hour, and carrying, if need be, thirty persons. As this elevator and its ropes are of unusual strength, and were severely tested by use in elevating the stone required for the upper courses as the structure progressed, its safety need not be suspected. The elevator is lighted by electricity and carries a telephone. Seven minutes are required for the ascent of 500 feet ; and one can see, as it passes, all the inscriptions and carvings sufficiently well to satisfy the curiosity of most persons, as none of those memorials have any artistic excellence. Several not embedded in the walls are shown in the National Museum. An officer in charge of the lloor marshals visitors into the elevator, and another cares for the observatory floor at the top ; but no fees are expected. The surrounding grounds form Washington Park. The view from the eight small windows, which open through the pyramidon, or sloping summit of the obelisk, 517 feet above the ground, includes a circle of level country having a radius of from fifteen to twenty miles, and southwest View from extends still farther, for in clear weather the Blue Ridge is well defined the Top. iu that direction. The Potomac is in sight from up near Chain Bridge down to far below Mount Vernon ; and the whole district lies unrolled beneath you like a map. To climb the AVashiugton Monument is, therefore, an excel- lent method of beginning an intelligent survey of the capital, and of "getting one's bearings." > Looking first toward the north, the most compact part of the city is surveyed. At the very foot of the monument are the artificial Carp Ponds, so called because, years ago, the Fisheries Commission propagated European carp for distribution there. Beyond, in the center-foreground, are the grounds of the Executive Mansion, rising in a gentle slope to the White House. On its left stands the State, War, and Navy Building ; and to the left of that (and nearer) is the marble front of the Corcoran THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.— Height, 555>i Feet. 118 PICTOEIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. Art Gallery, on Seventeenth Street, and beyond that is seen the old Octagon House, on a straight line with the Naval Observatory, conspicuous in white paint and yellow domes, three miles away amid the green hills beyond Georgetown. Nearer the water than any of these is a large yellow house among the trees — the Van Ness mansion, one of the first costly residences built in Washington. Connecticut Avenue is the street leading from the White House straight northwest to the boundary, where it breaks into the fashionable suburban parks on Meridian Hill, at the left of which are the wooded vales of Rock Creek, near which Northwestern the noble Anglican Cathedral is to arise. At the right of the White Outlook. House is the Treasury, here seen to inclose two great courts. The lines of Seventeenth, Sixteenth, Fifteenth streets, and of Vermont Avenue, lead the eye across the most solid and fashionable northwest quarter of the city to the more thinly settled hill-districts, where are conspicuous the square tower of the Soldiers' Home (4}^ miles), the lofty buildings of Howard University, and, farther to the right and more distant, the halls of the Catholic University. The eastern outlook carries the picture around to the right, and embraces the valley of the Anacostia River, or eastern branch of the Potomac. Here the conspicuous object is the Capitol (IJ^ miles distant), whose true proportions and supreme Scene size can now be well understood. Over its right wing appears the Toward the Congressional Library, its gilt dome flashing back the rays of the Capitol. sun, and setting it out sharply against the Maryland hills. Between the Monument and the Capitol stretches the green Mall, with the grounds and buildings of the Agricultural Department nearest the observer ; then the castellated towers of the Smithsonian, the low breadth of the National Museum, the red, shape- less pile of the Army Medical Museum, and the small Fisheries Building, leading the eye as far as Sixth Street, beyond which are open parks. Somewhat to the right, the course of the Pennsylvania Railroad, out Virginia Avenue, is seen as far as Garfield Park, where it disappears within a tunnel. This leads the eye to the broad current of the Anacostia, which can be overlooked as far up as the Navy Yard, and downward past the bridge to Anacostia, to where it joins the Potomac at Greenleaf's Point. The military barracks there can be seen ; and this side of it, along the harbor branch of the Potomac, are the steamboat wharves. The view southward is straight down the Potomac, far beyond the spires of Alex- andria, six miles in an air line, to where it bends out of view around Cedar Point. Long Bridge, which has been built sixty years or more, is in the immediate Down the foreground, and the railways leading to it can be traced. To the right, Potomac. the eye sweeps over a wide area of the red Virginia hills, thickly crowned during the Civil War with fortifications, the sites of some of which may be discovered by the knowing, and covers the disastrous fields of Manassas off to the right on the level blue horizon. The western view continues this landscape of Virginia, and includes about three miles of the Potomac above Long Bridge. Close beneath the eye are the old and scat- tered houses of the southwest quarter, with the Van Ness homestead Up the and the hill crowned by the old Naval Observatory on ground where Potomac. Washington meant to place his national university. Above that the cur- rent of the river is broken by Analostan, or Mason's Island, opposite the mouth of Rock Creek, beyond which are the crowded, hilly streets of Georgetown, and the Aqueduct bridge, leading to Roslyn, on the southern bank.*^ Then come the high banks which confine and hide the river, and bear upon their crest the flashing basin of the distributing reservoir. Beyond it, over the city of Georgetown, are the beautiful wooded heights about Woodley, where President Cleveland had his summer home, and FROM THE MONUMENT TO THE MUSEUMS. 119 thousands of charming suburban houses are building. On the Virginia side of the river, the Arlington mansion appears, somewhat at the left, and three miles distant ; more in front, and nearer, the National Cemetery embowered in trees ; and behind it, the clus- tered quarters of Fort Meyer. The distance is a rolling, semi-wooded country, thickly sown with farms, hamlets, and villages, among which Fall's Church is alone conspicuous, and fading away to a high level horizon; but when the air is clear, the eye can see and rejoice in the faint but distinct outlines of the turquoise-tinted Blue Ridge, far away in the southwest. Some Scientific Departments. The public institutions along the south side of The Mall, dealing in a large part of the scientific work of the nation, contain more to interest the stranger in Washington than any other, except the Capitol itself. They include the Washington Monument, and there are good reasons for advising that the ascent of this should be the very first thing done by the visitor ; the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Department of Agri- culture, the National and Army Medical museums in the Smithsonian grounds, and the Fisheries Commission. It is a long day's task to make a satisfactory tour of these build- ings ; and the National Museum alone has material for almost unlimited study in many paths of knowledge. Let us begin with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the name given to the Government's factory for designing, engraving, and printing its bonds, certificates, checks, notes, revenue and postage Bureau Of stamps, and many other oflBcial papers. It is under control of the Treas- Engraving ury Department, and occupies a handsome brick building on Fourteenth and Printing. Street, S. W., within five minutes' walk of the Washington Monument. It is three stories high, 220 feet long by 135 feet wide, and was built in 1878 at a cost of $300,000. S Visitors are received from 10 to 2 o'clock, and wait in the reception- room until an attendant (several women are assigned to this duty) is ready to conduct a THE BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING. — Northeast Corner B tnd Fourteenth Street^ S. W. 120 PICTOEIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. NUMBERING CURRENCY NOTES. party over the building, which is simply a crowded factory of high- class technical work, the products of which have received the highest encomiums at several world's fairs in Europe as well as in America. Just east of this bureau, occupying large grounds between Fourteenth and Twelfth streets, S. W., and reached from Pennsylvania Avenue by streetcars on both those streets, and from the Capitol by the Belt Line along Maryland Avenue and B Street, S. W., is the headquarters of the Department of Agriculture. This popular Depart- ment grew out of the special interest which early patent commissioners took in agri- cultural machinery, improvements, and the collection and distribution of seeds — a function that formed a large part of its work until 1895. It was gradually separated from the Patent Office work, erected into a commissiouership, and finally Department (1889) was given the rank of an executive department, the Secretary of of Agriculture being the last-added Cabinet officer. His office is in the brick Ag^ricUltUre. building west of the Smithsonian grounds, and he has the help of an assistant secretary, to whom has been assigned the direction of the great amount of scientific work done, including the experiment stations, and the studies of fibers, irrigation, and the department museum. The scope of the work is now very extended, including the study of diseases of live stock, and the control of the inspection of import and export animals, cattle trans- portation, and meat ; a bureau of statistics of crops, live stock, etc., at home and abroad ; scientific investigations in forestry, botany, fruit culture, cultivation of textile plants, and diseases of trees, grains, vegetables, and plants ; studies of the injurious or beneficial relations to agriculture of insects, birds, and wild quadrupeds ; investigations as to roads and methods of irrigation ; chemical and microscopical laboratories, and a great number of experiment stations, correspondents, and observers in various parts of this and other FROM THE MONUMENT TO THE MUSEUMS. 121 countries. The results of all these investigations and experiments are liberally pub- lished, and in spite of a sneer now and then the people are satisfied that the $3,300,000 cr so expended annually by this department is a wise and profitable outlay. There is a museum in a separate Imilding in the rear of the main one, exhibiting excellent wax models of fruits, nuts, and natural fowls of various kinds; and an especially full and interesting display of models showing the damage ■wiought by many kinds of insects injurious to trees and plants; also an Agricultural attiactive and instructive exhibit, comprising a number of groups of IMusCUdl. mounted birds, ground-squirrels, gophers, and other mammals, in natural surroundings, each representing a chapter in the life history of the animal and showing its rehtion to agriculture. These were exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition, at Chicago, in 1893, and excited admiration. The library and herbarium will interest botanis's. The ordinary visitor, however, will prefer to remain out of doors, where years ago care made these grounds the best cultivated part of The Mall, and a practical example of ornamental gardening. The extensive greenhouses must also be visited ; all are open at all reasonable hours, and the palmhouse is a particularly delightful place in a stormy winter's day. A tower in the garden, composed of slabs with their foot-thick bark from one of the giant trees (sequoia) of California, should not be neglected, for it represents the exact size of the huge tree, "General Noble," from which the pieces were cut. One impoi*.ant branch of the department — namely, the Weather Bureau — is domi- ciled at the corner of M and Twenty-fourth streets. There may be seen the delicate instruments by which the changes of meteorological conditions are recorded, and th^i method of forecasting the weather for the ensuing Weather forty-eight hours, which is based upon reports of local conditions tele- Service. graphed each night and morning from the observers in all parts of North America, whereupon orders to display appropriate signals are telegraphed to each office. The system grew up from the experiments of Gen. A. G. Myer, Chief Signal OflBcer, U. S. A., who invented the present system and conducted it under the authority of Congress (1870) as a part of the signal service of the army. Generals Hazen and A. W. Greely, of Arctic fame, succeeded him and perfected Forecasting. the service, but in 1891 it was transferred to the Department of Agricul- ture and placed in charge ol a civilian " chief " appointed by the President. In addition to the forecasting of storms, etc., the bureau has in hand the gauging and reporting of rivers; the maintenance and operation of seacoast telegraph lines, and the collection and transmission of marine intelligence for the benefit of commerce and navigation; the reporting of temperature and rainfall conditions for the cotton interests, and a large amount of scientific study in respect to meteorology. The Smithsonian Institution and National Museum are reached by crossing Twelfth Street, S. W., and entering the spacious park. Near the gate stands a lifelike statue of Joseph Henry, the first secretary of the Institution. It is of bronze, after a model by W. W. Story, and was erected by the regents in 1884. The Smithsonian Institution was constituted by an act of Congress to administer the bequest of his fortune made to the United States by James Smithson, a younger son of the English Duke of Northumberland, and a man of science, who died in 1829. In 1838 the legacy became available and was brought over in Smithsonian gold sovereigns, which were recoined into American money, yielding Institution. $508,318.46. The language of this bequest was : I bequeath the whole of my property to the United States of America to found at Wa.shiugton, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. 122 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. The acceptance of this trust is the only action of the kind ever taken by the nation, and the Institution stands in a peculiar relation to the Government. It is composed of the President of the United States and the members of his Cabinet, ex officio, a chancellor, who is elected, and a secretary, vpho is the active administrator of its affairs. The busi- ness of the institution is managed by a board of regents, composed of the Vice-Presidert and the Chief Justice of the United States, three Senators, three members of the Hou^e of Representatives, and six other eminent persons nominated by a joint resolution of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The immediate and primary object of the board, as above constituted, is to administer the fund, which has now increased to aljout $1,000,000, and in doing so it promotes the object of its founder thus : (1) In the increase of knowledge by original investigation and study, either in sdence or literature. (2) In the diffusion of this knowledge by publication everywhere, and especially by promoting an interchange of thought among those promi- Plan and nent in learning among all nations, through its correspondents. These Scope. embrace institutions or societies conspicuous in art, science, or literature throughout the world. Its publications are in three principal issues, namely : The "Contributions to Knowledge," the " Miscellaneous Collectiois,"and the "Annual Report." Numerous works are published annually by it, under one of these forms, and distributed to its principal correspondents. There was early begun a system of international exchanges of correspondence and publications, which forms a sort of clearing-house for the scientific world in its dealings with Americans; and there is no civilized country or people on the giobe where the Institution is not represented by its correspondents, who now number about 24,000. The immediate benefit to the Institution itself has been in enabling it t) build up a great scientific library of over 300,000 titles and mainly deposited in the Library of Congress. The Smithsonian Building, of Seneca brownstone, was planned 5y James Renwick, the architect whose best known work, perhaps, is St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. —Th? Mall, near 8 and Tenth Streets, S. W FROM THE MONUMENT TO THE MUSEUMS. 123 It was completed in 1855. "Features selected from the Gothic and Romanesque styles are combined in its architecture, but its exterior, owing chiefly to the irregular sky line, is very picturesque and pleasing." For the purposes of exhibition of specimens and laboratory work, however, the buildiug is badly lighted, wasteful of space, and other- wise unsuitable. The eastern wing was for many years the home of Prof. Joseph Henry, the first secretary, but is now devoted to the oiBces of administration. The Smithsonian Institution has under its charge, but not at the expense of its own funds, certain bureaus which are sustained by annual appropriations. These are: The United States National Museum, the Bureau of International Exchanges, the Bureau of Ethnology, the National Zoological Park, and the Astro- Smithsonian physical Observatory. Of the National Museum and the Zoological Park Bureaus. more extended notice will be found elsewhere. The Bureau of Ethnology is a branch of the work which studies the ethnology, history, languages, and customs of the American Indians, and publishes the results in annual reports and occasional bulle- tins. It has been the means of collecting a vast amount of important and interesting material illustrative of the primitive natives of this continent; and all this is deposited in the National Museum. The offices of this bureau are at 1330 F Street. NATIONAL MUSEUM.— B Street, between Ninth and Tenth Streets. In.no single respect, perhaps, has the progress of the American capital been more striking than in the history of the National Museum. Originating in a quantity of "curiosities" which had been given to the United States by foreign powers, or sent home by consuls and naval oflBcers, old visitors to Wash- National ington remember it as a heterogeneous cabinet in the Patent Office. In MusCUfll. 1816 a step was taken toward something coherent and creditable, by an act of Congress establishing a National Museum, following the precedent of a dozen or more other nations ; but this intention took effect very slowly, though various explor- ing expeditions antl embassies largely increased the bulk of the collections, which, by and by, were trundled over to the Smithsonian building. 124 PICTOKIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. The main entrance is in the north front, and is surmounted by "an allegorical group of statuary, by C. Buberl of New York, representing Columbia as the Patron of Science and Industry." Entering, you find yourself at once in the North Hall, with the statuary, plants, and .fountain of the rotunda making a pleasing picture in the dis- tance. This hall is crowded with cases containing personal relics of great men, and other historical objects. The "relics" include a large quantity of furniture, apparel, instruments, table- ware, documents, etc., which belonged to Washington; many of them were taken from Arlington, while many others were purchased, in 1878, from the Personal heirs of his favorite (adopted) daughter, Nellie Custis, who became Mrs. Relics. Lewis and lived until 1832. Articles that once belonged to Jefferson, Jackson, Franklin (especially his own hand printing press), and several other statesmen or commanders of note ; presents, medals, etc. , given to naval oflBcers, envoys, and other representatives of the Government, by foreign rulers, are shown in great numbers ; but all are well labeled and need here neither cataloging nor descrip- tion. A most brilliant and valuable cabinet is the collection of swords, presents, and testimonials of various kinds given to General Grant during the war and in the course of his trip around the world. A large display of pottery and porcelain, illustrating its manufacture and characteristics,' in China, Japan, France (Sevres), England, North America, and elsewhere occupies many cases ; also a valuable series of lacquers. At the right of this hall is the Lecture-room, beyond which, in the northwest corner of the building, are the offices of the Director, of the Museum, and the Library. The lecture-room is surrounded by models representing the home life of Lectures. the American Indians, and upon its walls are hung the Catlin Gallery of Indian paintings, made by George Catlin on the Upper Missouri plains between 1832 and 1840. It is devoted to scientific conferences. On the left of the entrance hall is a room devoted to the various implements used in the fisheries, and beyond that an apartment where a great number and variety of models of boats and vessels, especially those used in the fisheries of all parts of the world, may be examined. These were largely collected during the tenth census. Passing on into the Rotunda, the plaster model of Crawford's " Liberty," surmount- ing the dome of the Capitol, towers above the fountain-basin, and is surrounded by several other models of statues, the bronze or marble copies of which Rotunda. ornament the parks and buildings of New York, Boston, etc. All these are fully labeled. The two great Havilaud memorial vases here, whose value is estimated at $16,000, were presented by the great pottery firm of Haviland, in Limoges, France, and are the work of the artists Bracquemond and Delaplanche. One is entitled " 1776," and the other " 1876," and they are designed to be illustrative of the struggles through which this Republic has passed into prosperity. Beyond the rotunda are halls devoted to mammals, mounted by scientific taxider- mists in a remarkably lifelike manner; to skeletons of existing and extinct animals; and to geological specimens, minerals, ores, the building stones of the Union, and repre- sentative fossils — a department in which the museum is extremely rich, as it is the depository of the United States Geological Survey. In the middle halls of the building are an extraordinary number of articles — with thousands more hidden away in storerooms for lack of space to exhil)it them — of the industrial arts of the world, and the life of its inhabitants in every Costumes. climate, state of civilization, and condition of advancement. One hall is devoted wholly, for example, to costumes and textile fabrics of every sort. The lay figures wearing Hindoo, Persian, Japanese, American Lidian, and other costumes, were largely made for exhibition at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. FROM THE MONUMENT TO THE MUSEUMS. 125 Where actual costumes are not available, figuriues wearing a miniature of the native dress, casts of statuettes, and pictures are used to increase the range of illustration. The examples of the home life and arts of the Eskimo, among American savages, and of the Japanese, among foreign peoples, are particularly numerous and complete. Particular attention is called here to the series of fabrics, especially baskets, made from rushes, grass, split roots, and the like, which is exceedingly instructive and beautiful. In another hall the arts, architecture, machinery, weapons, navigation, agricultural imple- ments, tools, musical instruments, etc. , of the world are illustrated. Pottery forms a large and richly furnished department, ranging from rude wares taken from prehistoric graves to the finest product of Japan, China, India, Pottery. England, and France. No other museum in the world has so large and complete a series illustrating the native American pottery, and those interested in the ceramic arts will pause a long time over the work of the Pueblo Indians of the South- west. It would be quite impossible to mention in detail one in a hundred of the objects of artistic, historic, and scientific value in this overflowing museum ; and equally useless to attempt to guide the visitor to their place, since the cases are continually being moved about to make room for important accessions. A considerable portion of the collections, indeed, remain in the old Smithsonian building, and should not be neglected; they are open to the pul)lic from 9 to 4.30 o'clock. The halls on the ground floor there contain a splendid series of birds, the ornithological collections here being among the most extended Old and useful in the world. At the west end is an extensive and attractive Building^. display (highly instructive to artists as well as naturalists) of the inverte- brate marine life of both the fresh waters and of the seas adjacent to the United States — sponges, corals, starfishes, and other echinoderms, mollusks in wide and beautiful variety, crabs and their kin, and many other preservable representatives of the humbler inhabitants of the rivers and ocean. The upper floor is a single lofty hall filled to overflowing with collections in anthro- pology, the handiwork of primitive and savage races of mankind, illustrating the develop- ment, art, and social economy of uncivilized mankind, especially during the prehistoric stone age. The models and paintings of Arizona cliff-dwellings ought especially to be noticed. In the vestibule below are full-sized plaster models of the great circular calen- dar-stone of the Mexicans, etc. The Army Medical Museum occupies the handsome brick building in the southeast corner of the Smithsonian grounds, next to Seventh Street. This institution grew up after the war, out of the work of the Surgeon-General's ofl3ce, and con- tains a great museum illustrating not only all the means and methods of Army military surgery, but all the diseases and casualties of war, making a i^Iedical grewsome array of preserved flesh and bones, affected by wounds or Museum. disease ; or wax or plaster models of the effects of wounds or disease, which the average visitor could contemplate only with horror and dismay. This museum, nevertheless, is of the greatest interest and value to the medical and surgical profession, and comprises some 25,000 specimens. In the anatomical section there is a very large collection of human crania, and about 1,500 skeletons of American mammals. In the miscellaneous sections are the latest appliances for the treatment of diseases, all sorts of surgical instruments, and models of ambu- lances, hospitals, etc. The library is the most complete collection of medical and surgical literature in the world, surpassing that of the British Museum. The statue of Dr. Samuel D. Gross, in front of this museum, appro- StatUes. priately commemorates one of the greatest of American surgeons (born 1805, died 1884), and an author and teacher of renown. It was erected from professional 126 PICTOEIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. subscriptions, and presented to the Government in 1897. It is of bronze, modeled by Calder. A beautiful monument to Daguerre, the originator of photography, stands near by this. It was designed by Hartley of New York. The United States Fish Commission is the last place to be visited on this side of The Mall. It occupies the old ante-bellum arsenal on Sixth Street, from which that part of the park between Sixth and Seventh streets derives its name. Armory Fish Square. Here, on the basement floor, can be seen various aquaria Commission, filled with growing plants and inhabited by fishes, rare and common, and by quaint and pretty swimming and creeping things that dwell in the rivers and sea. The apparatus involved in various forms of fish-hatching can be exam- ined, and perhaps the process may be watched in a series of tanks which is often so em- ployed. If it should happen that one of the railway cars, in which young fish are carried about the country for planting in inland waters, is standing in the yard, it would be worth the trouble to look at its arrangements. The upper floor of this building is de- voted to the offices of the Fish Commissioner and his assistants. "■iMisMSf^.- IX. THE CORCORAN AND OTHER ART GALLERIES. The Art Galleries of the city, properly speaking, are two in number ; but those interested in statuary, pictures, and ceramics will -find a great quantity of all these dis- played at the Capitol, in various department buildings, on the walls of the new Library of Congress, and at the National Museum. Of first importance is the Corcoran col- lection: The Corcoran Art Gallery has no connection with the Government, although its trustees are given a place in the Congressional Directory. It is wholly the result of the philanthropy of a wealthy citizen, William Wilson Corcoran, who died in 1893. "He early decided," it has been well said, " that at least one- W. W. half of his money accumulations shoidd be held for the welfare of men, Corcoran. and he kept his self-imposed obligation so liberally that his charities, private and public, exceed the amount of $5,000,000, and that ' he left no aspect of human life untouched by his ben- eficence.'" The Corcoran Gallery was opened in 18G9, in the noble building oppo- site the War Department. This has now been super- seded by the splendid gal- lery on Seventeenth Street, at New York Avenue, fac- ing the Executive grounds. The Corcoran donations, including the old lot and building, have been $1,000.- 000; and about $350,000 has been ^ paid by the trustees for paintings, be- sides what has been given. A large number of casts of classic statues, famous ba.s- reliefs, and smaller carvings in this gallery, are not only beautiful in themselves, but of great value to students. This l)uilding has a length of 265 feet in Seventeenth Street, 140 feet in New York Avenue, and 120 feet in E Street. In architecture it is Neo-Greek, after the plans of Ernest Flagg of New York, and the external walls, above the granite basement, are of Georgia marble, white, pure, and brilliant. There are Description no windows on the second or gallery floor of the fa9ade, all the light for of Building. the exhibition of the pictures coming from the skylight in the roof. The only ornaments of this front are about the doorway, which is elaborately carved, and under the eaves of the roof, where the names of the world's famous artists are inscribed in severely simple letters. Entering the front door, the visitor is confronted by a grand staircase, on the farther side of the great Statuary Hall, 170 feet long, which occupies the 129 THE CORCORAN GALLERY OF ARTS. 130 PICTOEIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. CHARLOTTE CORDAY IN PRISON Painting by Charles Louis Muller. ground floor. This is so lighted by open- ings through the gallery floor that, for the exhibition of casts in delicate lights, it can not be surpassed in any other gallery of the world. The second or gallery floor, where the principal pictures are hung, under the great glass roof, is supported by Doric columns of Indiana limestone, above which are Ionic columns supporting the roof. On this floor are also four gallery rooms, sixty-one feet by twenty-eight, and numer- ous small rooms for the exhibition of water-colors and objects of art. On the New York Avenue side is a semi-circu- lar lecture hall, with a platform and rising floor to the side walls, which, with a good skylight, make this room an excellent one for private exhibitions. Attached to the gallery is an art school, using two well- lighted rooms fronting to the north, with accommodations for a large number of pupils. It is the intention to give here annual art exhibitions of the work of local and other American artists and students. Among the older and more prominent paintings in the Corcoran collection are the following: " The Tornado " by Thomas Cole, "The Watering-Place" by Adolphe Schreyer, " Nedjma-Odalisque " by Gaston Casimir Saint Pierre, "Edge Paintings. of the Forest" by Asher Brown Durand, "The Vestal Tuccia " by Hector Le Roux, "Mercy's Dream" by Daniel Huntington, "Niagara Falls" by Frederick Edwin Church, "Caesar Dead" by Jean Leon Gerome, "On the Coast of New England" by William T. Richards, "The Helping Hand" by Emile Renouf, "The Death of Moses" by Alexander Cabanel, "Charlotte Corday in Prison" by Charles Louis Muller, "The Passing Regiment" by Edward Detaille, "Wood Gatherers" by Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, "The Forester at Home" by Ludwig Knaus, "Virgin and Child" by Murillo, "Christ Bound" by Van Dyck, "Landscape" by George Inness, "The Schism" by Jean George Vibert, "The Pond of the Great Oak" by Jules Dupr6, "A Hamlet of the Seine near Vernon" by Charles Frangois Daubigny, "Landscape, with Cattle," by Emile Van Marcke, "Joan of Arc in Infancy" by Jean Jacques Henner, "The Banks of the Adige" by Martin Rico, "Twilight" by Thomas Alexander Harrison, "The Wedding Festival" by Eugene Louis Gabriel Isabey, "The Approaching Storm" by Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Pena, "Moonlight in Holland " by Jean Charles Cazin, "Approach- ing Night" by Max Wey, "Sunset in the Woods" by George Inness, "El Bravo xbro" by Aime Nicholas Morot. Some noteworthy late additions are: "The Land- scape of Historical Bladensburg" (in 1887), the "First Railway in New York" by E. L. Henry, and Charles Gutherz' (Paris, 1894) great canvas of the " Bering Sea Arbitration Court," which is accompanied by an explanation and key to the portraits. Recently added are : J. G. Brown's large and greatly admired canvas "The Longshore- man's Noon Hour," which has the "Honorable Mention" of the Paris Salon; "The Road to Concarneau" by W. L. Picknell, " Eventide " by Robert C. Minor, a landscape by H. W. Ranger, and "The Adoration of the Shepherds" by Mengo. THE CORCOKAN AKD OTHER ART GALLERIES. 131 LAST DAYS OF NAPOLEON I.— Marble Figure by Vincenzo Velos. One room is devoted to portraits, in which is prom- inently hung a portrait of Mr. Corcoran, by Elliott. Around him are grouped a great num- ber of the Portraits. Presidents of the United States and many famous Americans, making the collection not only interesting histori- cally, but particularly val- uable as illustrating the styles of most of the earlier American portrait painters. Of the marbles, Hiram Powers' ' ' Greek Slave " is perhaps the most ceie- IMarbks. brated. To Vincenzo Velas' seated fig- ure of the ' ' Last Days of Napoleon " is given special prominence by its central position in the upper hall. The exquisite little statue of the weeping child, en- titled "The Forced Prayer," by Guarnario, always brings a smile to the face of visitors. The Barye Bronzes are especially notable as the largest collection extant of the fine animal figures and other works of this talented French modeler ; they number about 100. The small model of the statue to Frederick the Bronzes and Great, and the numerous electrotypic reproductions of unique metallic Rcplicas. objects of art preserved in European museums, are other things that the intelligent visitor will dwell upon among the wealth of beautiful things presented to his view in this art museum. The Tayloe Collection is a bequest from the family of Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, whose richly furnished home is still standing on Lafayette Square. It consists of some two hundred or more objects of art, ornament, and curious interest, includ- ing marbles by Powers, Thorwaldsen, Greenough, and Canova ; portraits Tayloe by Gilbert Stuart, Huntington, and foreign artists, and many other paint- Collection. ings ; a large number of bronze objects and pieces of furniture, including Washington's card table and other pieces that belonged to eminent men. and a large series of porcelain, glass, ivory, and other objects, which are both historically and artis- tically interesting. A special catalogue for this collection is sold at 5 cents. The Waggaman Gallery ought surely to be examined by all culti- Waggaman vated travelers. It is at No. 3300 O Street, Georgetown, and is easily Gallery. reached by either the F Street or Pennsylvania Avenue stree ars. This gallery is the private acquisition of Mr. E. Waggaman, and contains a large 132 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. number of fine paintings, the specialty being Dutcli water-colors, where the Holland- ish style and choice of subjects are well exhibited. The most striking and valu- able part of the collection, however, is undoubtedly that representing Japanese work in pottery, stone, and metal. The series of tea jars, antique porcelains, and modern wares, showing rare glazes and the most highly prized colors, is extensive and well chosen ; and a wonderful array of bronzes and artistic work in other metals in the form of swords, sword-guards, bells, utensils of various forms and capacities, and decorative compositions, excites the enthusiasm of connoisseurs in this department. The gems of this su- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ perb cabinet, how- are the H|^H|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H of has few ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H superiors; the ^^^^^^^H ^^^^^^^^^H cent ^^^^^^^^p 4Pi^^^^^^^l unique in the United States, ^^^^^^^^^ -f^^^^^^^^^^ unsurpassed. A number ^^^^^^H ^^^^^^^| ivory carvings, teak- stands ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^1 quisite ^^^^^^AtfV ^^^^^^^H oriental workmanship, make ^^^^^^^V ^^^^^^^H this gallery notable. Visitors ad- ^^^^^^^B ^^^^^^^^| mitted on Thursdays of each week during ^^^^^^M , .^^^^^^^^H January, February, March, and April, ^^^^^^^ ^.^ ' "^^^^^^H ^^^^^^^^ by ^^^^^^H ^^^^^^H 50 cents admission toward a ^^^^^^^^ ,^^^^^^^1 charitable The Halls the ^^^^^K/ ' ^^^^| Ancients the and art at Nos. 1313 VENUS OF MELOS — Cast. Avenue, admission Franklin who has National Leasing , Open 9 25 cents. Webster in view Galleries by the given ancient ai'chitecture to 1318 New York A. M. to 6 p. M. ; The projector is Mr. Smith of Boston, ' ' the promotion of of History and Art." financial cooperation of Mr. S. Walter Woodward of Washington, a large plot of ground, he has reared upon it a bvulding for the concrete exhibition of the life and art of ancient peoples. "The trouble with most museums," Mr. Smith asserts, "is that they deal with dead things exclusively when they deal with antiquities at all. A room full of mummies is, doubtless, interesting in its way, but I do not believe the student of ancient history gets so good a background for his studies from such an exhibition as from one in which he is actually introduced into the midst of the domestic, social, and religious life of the people of whom he has read — their surroundings, in other words, before they became mummies. We gather in museums an endless variety of fragmentary relics, and we call that a contribution to popular education. But how much more can we do toward edu- cating the people if we can show them, through their eyes, just what use was made of each of these relics while it was still in touch with the life of its period, the part it played in the daily activities of its owner, and the influence it presumptively had on his career." The ancient nationalities illustrated are Egyptian, Assyrian, Grseco- Roman, and Saracenic peoples. The Egyptian Portal designed is a reproduction of the section of the Hypostyle Hall of Karnak in exact size of the original ; columns 70 ft. high and 12 ft. in diameter. It is N THE HALLS OF THE ANCIENTS— The Egyptian Halls of Gods and Kings. 134 PICTOEIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. the entrance to the Hall of Gods and Kings, more grand in dimensions and beautiful in color than that (the Saulenhof) built by Lepsius in the museum at Berlin, and contains twelve decorated columns in three styles — the Lotus Bud, the Palm, and Hathor capitals — with wall decorations and the throne pavilion reproduced by Lepsius. The Upper Egyptian Hall contains the beautiful interior of an Egyptian house and court designed by Racinet. The larger section, 33 feet by 42 feet, is for illustration of the arts and crafts of the Egyptians. A dado 72 feet in length displays a facsimile in color of the Papyrus of Ani, or Book of the Dead, from the British Museum. On the staircase wall is a copy, 10 feet by 7 feet, of Richter's "Building of the Pyramids," and adjacent, one of like size of Long's "Egyptian Feast"; also a cast of the Rosetta Stone. The Assyrian Throne Room is gorgeous in blue and gold. A section is walled with casts from the Nineveh and Nimroud slabs in the British Museum, and paintings of others. The portal is between the four colossal human-headed bulls found in the Palace of Sennacherib. The Throne of Xerxes from Persepolis is set up, modeled from the original in the Louvre. The Roman House upon the ground floor, with entrance from the Hall of Columns, covers 10,000 square feet. Its decorations, which cover more than 15,000 square feet of surface, are copied in part from the beautiful House of Vettius. This exceeds in size and completeness Mr. Smith's well-known House of Panza in Saratoga. The Taberna (shop) occupies the lower floor of the Roman House, and contains superb illustrations of Greek vases, full size. Replica copies thereof will be made for supplying schools and individuals with models of form and beauty in decoration. The Lecture Hall, in Persian style of ornamentation, contains the painting of the Grandeur of Rome in the time of Constantine, covering more than 500 square feet, after the original by Buhlmann and Wagner of Munich. The Saracenic Halls are a counterpart of the beautiful House of Benzaquin in Tangiers, with casts of traceries from the Alhambra. The Art Gallery is devoted to Roman history. The walls are surrounded by 102 plates from Pinelli's ' ' Istoria Romana " — in historical order from the foundation of Rome. On special occasions, illustrations are given with stereopticon after an explanatory course through the halls. (See plates Egyptian Hall, pages 133 and opposite 204.) A descriptive hand-book, with fifty illustrations, is loaned to visitors. It is published in Senate Document No. 209. The ultimate object of the construction of the Halls is to illustrate Mr. Smith's design for National Galleries of History and Art according to view annexed. The plan is elaborately set forth in Senate Document No. 209; 444 pages, octavo, with 272 illustra- tions, published by unanimous consent of the Senate — LVIth Congress, first session, Feb- ruary 12, 1900. '' " '''^ DESIGN FOR NATIONAL GALLERIES IN WASHINGTON.— ByR.,,iklin Webster Smitn. See page 133, and Advertisement page Vli. X. CHURCHES, CLUBS, THEATERS, ETC. Washington has a great number of churches of every denomination and in all parts of the city. Only a few of the most conspicuous of these need be mentioned. The oldest are Eock Creek Chui-ch, near the Soldiers' Home ; Christ Church, near the Navy Yard, and St. John's, on Lafayette Square. All Episcopal. these are Episcopal, and have been elsewhere described. Other prom- inent Episcopal churches are : Epiphany (G Street, near Fourteenth), which, like several other church societies in the city, has a suburban chapel ; the Church of tiie Ascension, at Massachusetts Avenue and Twelfth Street ; old St. John's, prominent in Georgetown; and St. James', at Massachusetts Avenue and Eighth Street, N. E., on Capitol Hill, very highly ritualistic. The Roman Catholics have many fine churches and a large influence in Washington, fostered by their universities. Their oldest church is St. Aloysius, at North Capitol and S streets ; and St. Matthew's, Rhode Island Avenue near Connecticut Avenue, is probably the most fashionable. Congregationalism is represented most prominently by the First Church, at G and Tenth streets, which has always been a leader in religious philanthropy, especially toward the Freedmen. The Presbyterian churches are among the oldest and largest. The leading one, perhaps, is the First, which remains in Presbyterian. Four-and-a-half Street, and became famous under the care of Dr. Byron Sunderland, when it was attended by President Cleveland. An ofishoot from it was the New York Avenue Church, whose big house is so conspicuous in the angle between that avenue and H Street at Twelfth. Out of this has sprung the Gurley Memorial, near Seventh Street and the Boundary ; and the Church of the Covenant, whose gi-eat square tower is a conspicuous ornament on Connecticut Avenue. Well- known Methodist churches are the Metropolitan Mem- orial, down in Four-and- a-half Street ; the Foundry Church, at G and Four- teenth streets, which Pres- ident Hayes attended ; and tlie Hamline, at Ninth and P streets. A leading Bap- tist church is Calvary, at Eighth and H streets. The S w eden borgians have a white stone build- ing at Cor- coran and Other De- Sixteenth nominations. streets ; and the Unitarians, the well- known Church of All Souls, 135 u \r'' ST. JOHN'S CHURCH. 136 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. at Fourteenth and L streets. The Universalist meeting-house is at L and Thir- teenth streets. The "Christian" Society, of which President Garfield was a mem- ber, worships in its Memorial Church on Vermont Avenue, between N and O streets. The Lutheran Memorial Church, on Thomas Circle, is foremost in that denomination, and the service is in English. Colored churches are numerous, chiefly Methodist and Baptist ; in the former the strongest is Asbury, at Eleventh and K streets, and in the latter the Abyssinian, at Vermont Avenue and R Street. The theaters in Washington attract the finest traveling companies, including occa- sional grand opera. The newest and most ornate house is the Lafayette Square Opera House, occupying a historic site on Madison Place, Lafayette Square. Theaters Another large theater is the Grand Opera House, on Fifteenth Street, and the at the corner of E Street, one block south of Pennsylvania Avenue, now Opera. devoted to vaudeville. The new National Theater, on Pennsylvania Avenue, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets, is of great capacity and comfort, and holds the popularity it gained long ago. The Academy of Music is another well-known house, at Ninth and D streets. The Col- umbia is the newest addition to the com- mendable theaters. It is at 1112 F Street, occupying what for- merly was Metzerott Hall. Kernan's Ly- ceum, at 1014 Penn- sylvania Avenue, and Butler's Bijou, give variety shows. Certain churches are the principal places for lectures and the like, but scientific lectures are usually heard in the hall at the National Museum, or in the lecture-room of the Cosmos Club. Convention Hall is an immense arched ai)artment over a market where New York Avenue crosses L and Fifth streets, and is intended for the use of conven- tions. The clubs of the capital are notamong its "sights," but THE CHURCH OF THE COVENANT. Southeast Corner Eighteenth and N Streets, N. W, CHUKCHES, CLUBS, THEATERS, ETC. 137 should receive a few words. Most prominent among them is the Metropolitan, characterized elsewhere. Next in social importance, probably, is the Army and Navy, which has a handsome six-story building opposite the south- eastern corner of Farragut Square. Its triangular lot has enabled Army and the architect to make a series of very charming j^rincipal rooms, in Navy Club. the northwestern front, where the sunshine streams in nearly all day. These and the -many connecting apartments are luxuriously furnished and adorned with pictures, including original portraits of a dozen or more of the principal commanders of the army and navy, from Paul Jones to W. T. Sherman. Only those identified with some military organization are eligible to membership, but the club is very liberal in extending a welcome to visiting militiamen, foreign military men, and others suitably introduced. One feature of this club is the informal professional lecture given to the members once a month by some expert. The Cosmos Club has been referred to elsewhere ; the Columbia Athletic Club is a large association of young men, partly social and partly athletic, which has a field in the gardens of the old Van Ness mansion. The Country Club, near Tenallytown, and the Chevy Chase Club, have already been mentioned. IMinor ClubS. Allied to them, within the city, are several clubs of amateur photog- raphers, golf players, bicycle riders, tennis and ball players, and boatmen, Washing- ton being a place famous for oarsmen. The two women's clubs must not be for- gotten : One is the fashionable Washington Club, on H Street, opposite the French Embassy, and the other the Working Women's Club, a purely social organization, at 606 Eleventh Street, composed of women who earn their living — physicians, journalists, stenographers, etc. Both these clubs give teas, musicales, and other feminine entertainments. The Alibi is a coterie of well-fed gentlemen who give charming feasts, largely of their own cooking, and cultivate a refined Bohemianism ; while the Gridiron is a dining-club of newspaper men, who have a jolly dinner among themselves once a month, and an annual spread to which all the great men available are invited, and where most of them are good-naturedly guyed. The Young Men's Christian Association flourishes here — and in 181>8 took posses- sion of the fine h-^ use and gymnasium built by the Columbia Athletic Club on G Street near Nineteenth. XI. OFFICIAL ETIQUETTE AT THE CAPITAL. Washington society is distinguished from that of other cities mainly by its semi- official character, and in a manner that is not reproduced in any other capital the world over. The official etiquette which surrounds its social observances is simple, and, although new conditions have tended to make some part Local of the code complex to those who would wish to see its rules as clearly Society defined as constitutional amendments, the most important of its cus- Features. toms have become laws which are generally accepted. The ever- changing i^ersonality of the heads of the executive branches of the Government, and of the law-makers themselves, together with that innate hatred for anything partak- ing too much of court ceremonial, precedence, etc., which is strong in the average American, were good enough reasons for the last generation in leaving these questions unsettled, and will in all probability even better answer the bustling spirit of the present actors upon the social stage. To the stranger who wishes to meet persons of national prominence at official gatherings, and to catch, besides, a glimpse of that plant of slower and more substantial growth — residential society — the path can be made very easy and the way clear. The President, as the head of the nation, is entitled to first place whenever he mingles in social life. Whether the second place belongs to the Vice-President or to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has not been defined any clearer than whether the Speaker of the House is entitled to precedence Formalities over members of the Cabinet. In the popular mind, the second place is at the White accorded the Vice-President by virtue of his right of succession to the House. highest office in the gift of the people, by the death, resignation, or dis- ability of the President. Since the passage of the Presidential Succession bill (Janu- ary 19, 1886), the Cabinet is given precedence over the Speaker by the same process of reasoning. The official social season extends from New Year to Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. All the formal hospitalities at the Executive Mansion occur within this period. On New Year's the President holds a reception, Official which begins at 11 o'clock and closes at 2 p.m. The Vice-President and Season. the Cabinet are first received and then the Diplomatic Corps ; after that body, the Supreme Court, Senators and Members of Congress, officers of the army and navy, department chiefs, etc. The last hour is given to the public. During the season three or more card receptions (known in the early days of White House entertaining as "levees") are held evenings — 9 to 11. The first is in honor of the Diplomatic Corps and the others for the Card Judiciary, the Congress, and the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Invi- Reception. tations are sent to those named, to other officials of the executive and legislative departments, and to acquaintances of the President and family among residents of the capital and other cities. Diplomats wear either court or military uniforms and officers of the three branches of the service also appear in uniforms. Guests unknown to the doorkeepers should be prepared to show invitations. The 139 140 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. last reception of the series is for the public. Advance notice is given in the daily papers of the date. The President is assisted on these occasions by his wife, the wife of the Vice- President, and the Cabinet ladies. The state dining-room, at the west end of the house, is used as a cloakroom. Having laid aside their wraps, several Reception hundred persons are usuallj^ assembled in the n^ain corridor when Ceremony. the President and wife and the receiving party descend to the Blue Room, where these receptions are held. Guests approach the Blue Room through the Red Room. Each person announces his or her name to the usher, who stands at the threshold of the Blue Room. He repeats it to the army officer who stands next to the President and who presents each person to him. The President always shakes hands. Another army officer standing in front of the Presi- dent's wife repeats each name to her. The ladies assisting shake hands with each perton who offers a hand to them. A knowledge of this fact on the part of stran- gers will avoid mutual embarrassment. Some ladies in the ultra-fashionable set make deep courtesies to each person instead of shaking hands, when going down the line at these receptions, but the custom has not grown in favor. If not invited to join those back of the line, guests pass through the Green to the East Room. In this stately apartment the gatheiing assumes its most brilliant aspect. In the case of a public reception, persons approach the White House by the west gate and a line is formed, which frequently extends as far west as Seventeenth Street, those coming last taking their places at the end. After the Public threshold of the White House is crossed, the line is a single file through Receptions, the vestibule, the corridor, and the Red Room to the Blue Room. As in the case of a guest at a card reception, each person announces his or her name to the usher, by whom it is repeated to the army officer who makes the pre- sentations to the President. These rules are also observed when the wife of the President holds a public reception. The state dinners alternate with the levees. The first dinner is given in honor of the Cabinet, the second in honor of the Diplomatic Corps, and the third in honor of the Judiciary. The President and his wife receive their guests in the East Dinner Room, an army officer making the presentations. When the butler Formalities, announces dinner, the President gives his arm to the lady whose hus- band's official position entitles her to precedence and leads the way to the state dining-room. If a dinner of more than forty covers is given, the table is laid in the corridor. An invitation to dine with the President may not be declined, excepting where serious reasons can be stated in the note of regret. A prior engagement is not con- sidered a sufficient reason, and, in fact, nothing less than personal ill-health, or seri- ous illness, or a death in one's family would excuse one from obedience to a summons to the table of the President. In conversation, the Chief Executive is addressed as " Mr. President." In writing as "The President of the United States." The wife of the President enj-^ys the same privileges as her husband. She receives first cal's from all and returns no visits. Persons desiring an interview with her express their wish l)y letter. As the President and wife may or may not make calls, so it is entirely at their oi)tion whether or not they accept invitations. For the last ton years the Cabinet circle has been the limit, but previous to that the Presidents acci'pted hospitalities generally. Under no circumstances, however, will either the President OFFICIAL ETUiUKTTK AT THE CAPITAL. 141 or his wife cross the threshold of any foreign embassy or legation, although mem- bers of their family may do so. The hours for the reception of visitors at the Executive Mansion President's change with each administration. The house rules are always posted Hours. conspicuously at the entrance. Those having business with the Presi- dent arrange for interviews with his private secretary, whose proper title is Secretary to the President. The Vice-President and wife make only first calls on tlie President and wife. They enjoy the same immunity from returning calls. The same courtesy which recognizes the members of the Cabinet as in the official family of the President, includes the Senatorial circle in the official family of the Yice- Vice-President. The Vice-President and wife, therefore, return Sena- President. torial calls. They receive on New Year's at their own residence, first ofiicial callers and then the public. Throughout the season, the wife of the Vice- President receives callers on Wednesday afternoons from 3 to 5. In conversation, the Vice-President is addressed as "Mr. Vice-President." The wife of the Speaker of the House of Representatives receives on Wednesday, at the same hours as the Cabinet ladies. The Speaker is addressed Jis " Mr. Speaker." The relative precedence of Cabinet officers has been established by the wording of the Presidential Succession bill. It is as follows : The Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, the Attorney -General, the Postmaster-General, the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Cabinet Interior, and the Secretary of Agriculture. The official designation, Precedence. preceded by the phrase, "The Honorable " is the correct form in writing to any one of them. In conversation, a Cabinet officer is addressed as " Mr. Secretary." The Cabinet ladies receive the public on stated Wednesday afternoons, during the season, from 3 to 5. The name of each guest is announced by the butler as the hostess is approached. Each hostess is usually assisted, in these formal hospitalities, by a number of ladies — young girls predominating. They are expected to address visitors and to make their stay pleasant. Callers, except under exceptional cir- cumstances, do not extend their stay over ten or fifteen minutes, and it Cabinet is not necessary that any good-bys should be exchanged with the host- Receptions. ess when leaving. As these receptions are frequently attended by from four to eight hundred people, who for the most part are strangers, the reason for the slight disregard of the usual polite form is obvious. No refreshments are nowoflFered, which is also a change from the custom which prevailed several years ago. Visitors leave cards. Callers wear ordinary visiting dress. The hostess and assistants wear high-necked gowns, however elaborate their material and make. This fact is mentioned because a few years ago the reverse was the case, and low-necked evening dresses were gen- erally worn by the receiving party at afternoon rece])tions. At that period also, men frequently appeared on such occasions in full-dress evening suits, swallow-tail coats, etc. In fact, full-dress on both men and women was not unusual at the President's New Year reception, a dozen years ago, under the impression then current that street clothes were not in keeping with a function second to Rules for none in point of ceremony from our standpoint, and which was attended Dress. by the Diplomatic Corps in court dress or in dazzling military or naval uniforms. Customs in tiiese matters have ciiangeil so entirely that a violation of the accepted fasnion makes of the ofiender a sul)ject for ridicuU'. The proper costume for a woPian to wear to the President's New Year reception is her best visiting dress 142 PICTOEIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. with bonnet or hat, the same that she would wear at an afternoon reception, A man will dress for the President's New Year reception as he will for any other ceremoni- ous daylight event. Neither low-necked gowns nor dress suits are permissible until after 6 o'clock. The same proprieties of modern custom in dress should be observed when attend- ing evening receptions at the White House or elsewhere. Evening dress is impera- tive, which, in the case of women, may mean as elaborate or as simple a toilet as the wearer may select, but it implies an uncovered head. Bonnets or hats must not be worn. By a rule adopted during the first Cleveland administration, the Cabinet ladies do not return calls generally, but do send their cards once or twice each season as an acknowledgment. The Cabinet ladies make the first call upon the ladies of the Su- preme Court circle, the families of Senators, and the families of foreign ambassadors. Certain days of the week are set apart by custom for making calls upon particular groups, and no mistake should be made in this respect. The ladies of the Supreme Court families receive callers on Monday afternoons. Congressional Callings families on Tuesdays, the Cabinet families on Wednesdays, and the Days. Senatorial families on Thursdays, with the exception of those residing on Capitol Hill, who observe the day of that section, which is Monday. By virtue of another old custom, Tuesday is K Street day ; Thursday calling day for upper H and I streets ; Friday for residents of upper F and G streets, and Saturday for Connecticut Avenue and vicinity. Calling hours are from 3 to 6. The discussion which has been going on for years, and is now as far from settle- ment as ever, as to whether Supreme Court Justices and families pay the first call to Senators and families, or vice versa, is only of interest to the stranger as a phase of Washington life showing the grave importance given to these points by some official households and of the absolute indifference with which they are viewed by others. The Diplomatic Corps consists of six ambassadors, representing Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, and Mexico, and twenty-five ministers plenipotentiary, of which a circumstantial list will be found at the end of this book. They are ranked in the order of their seniority. Each embassy and legation has a corps Social of secretaries and attaches. The British Ambassador, Lord Pauncefote, Rules in is the dean of the corps, having been the first ambassador appointed. Diplomatic Official etiquette as regards the corps has changed since the coming of Corps. ambassadors. Ambassadors are given precedence by ministers. By virtue of long-established custom, to quote Thomas Jefierson, "foreign ministers, from the necessity of making themselves known, pay the first visit to the ministers of the nation, which is returned." Ambassadors claim that they only call on the President because that is the habit of European countries. It is generally understood that all persons, official or otherwise, pay the first call to the embassies. The ladies of the Diplomatic Corps have no special day on which to receive callers, each household making its own rules in this respect. XII. STKEETS, SQUARES, AND RESIDENCES. The only residence of the President of the United States, in Washington, is the Executive Mansion ; but that is rather more uncomfortable than the average Wash- ington house in midsummer, and all the later Presidents have been accustomed to seek a country home during hot weather. President President. Lincoln used to live in a cottage at the Soldiers' Home; President Grant spent one summer in the same house, and President Hayes occupied it every summer during his term. The Secretary of State lives in his own house, Sixteenth and H streets ; the Secre- tary of the Treasury at No. 1715 Massachusetts Avenue; and the Secretary of War at No. 102G Rhode Island Avenue. The Attorney-General and the Post- master-General are on the same block, at Nos. 1707 and 1774 respec- Cabinet. tively ; the Secretary of the Navy lives at The Portland ; the Secretary of the Interior at The Arlington ; and the Secretary of Agriculture at 1022 Vermont Avenue. Mr. Chief Justice Fuller resides in his own house, No. 1801 F Street ; Mr. Justice Harlan on Meridian Hill; Mr. Justice Gray at No. 1601 I Street; Mr. Justice Brewer at No. 1412 Massachusetts Avenue ; Mr. Justice BroAvn Justices. at No. 1720 Sixteenth Street ; Mr. Justice Shiras at No. 1515 Massachu- setts Avenue; Mr. Justice White at No. 1717 Rhode Island Avenue ; and Mr. Justice Peckham at No. 1217 Connecticut Avenue. Lafayette Square was the name selected by Washington himself for the square in front of the Executive Mansion, for which he foresaw great possibilities ; but it remained a bare parade ground, with an oval race course at its west end, until after the disastrous days of 1814. Then, when the White Lafayette House had been rehabilitated, a beginning was made by President Square. Jefferson, who cut off the ends down to the present limits (Madison Place and Jackson Place), and caused the trees to be planted. No doubt he had a voice in placing there, in 1816, St. John's — the quaint Episcopal church on the northern side — the fii'st building on the square. Madison, certainly, was greatly interested in it, and it became a sort of court church, for all the Presidents attended worship there, as a matter of course, down to Lincoln's time, and President Arthur since. Its interior is very interesting. Lafayette Square is now, perhaps, the pleasantest place to sit on a summer morn- ing or evening among all the outdoor loitering places in this pleasant city. The trees have grown large, the shrubbery is handsome — particularly that pyramid ot evergreens on the south side — and great care is taken with the flowerbeds; and finally, you may see all the world pass by, for this park is surrounded more or less remotely by the homes of the most distinguished persons in Washington. Two noteworthy statues belong to this park. One is the familiar equestrian statue of GeneralandPresident Andrew Jackson, which is the work of Clark Mills, and prob- ably pleases the i)opulace more than any other statue in AVashington, but is ridiculed by the critics, who liken it to a tin soldier balancing himself on a rocking-horse. 148 144 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. It was cast at Bla- densburg by Millw himself Jackson who was Statue. given cannon captured in Jackson 's campaigns for ma'e- rial, set up a furnace, and made the fi rst suc- cessful large bronze casting in America. Another interestini: fact about this statue is that the center of gravity is so disposed by throwing the weight into the hind (juarters, that the horse stands poised upon its hind legs without any support or the aid of any rivets fastening it to . the pedestal. This statue was erected in 1853, and unveiled on the thirty -eighth an- niversary of the bat- tle of New Orleans. Its cost was $50,000, part of which was paid by the Jackson Monument Associa- tion. THE LAFAYETTE MEMORIAL IN LAFAYETTE SQUARE. The Memorial to Lafayette, in the southeast corner of the park, is a very different affair, and more in the nature of a monument erected by Congress to the services of the noble Fienchmen who lent us their assistance in the Revolutionary Lafayette War. Upon a lofty and handsome pedestal stands a heroic bronze IMemorial. figure of the Marquis de Lafayette, in the uniform of a Continental general ; while nearer the base, at the sides, are statues of Rochambeau and Duportail, of the French army, and D'Estaing and De Grasse of the navy. In front is "America" holding up a sword to Lafayette. This work is exceedingly vigorous and is after models by two eminent French sculi)tors, Falguiere and Mercie. Total cost, t;50,000. Site of Starting at Pennsylvania Avenue and walking north on Madison Place Lafayette (Fifteen-and-one-half Street), the new Lafayette Square Opera House Square is iuunedlately encountered, standing upon a famous site. The tall, Opera House, brick house which it displaced was originally built by Commodore Rogers, but soon became the elite boarding-house of Washington, and numbered among its guests John Adams ; John C. Calhoun, the fiery South Carolin- STREETS, SQUARES, AND RESIDENCES. 145 ian, while Monroe's Secretary of War and Jackson's Vice-President; and Henry Clay, when he was Adams' Secretary of State. Then it became the i^roperty of the Washington Club, and there assembled the rich and influential young men of the capital ; Sickles and Key were both members, and the tragedy which associates their names took place in front of its door ; later it became the residence of Secretary Seward, and there the deadly assault was made upon him by the assassin, Payne, at the time of the assassination of Lincoln in 1865. Its next distinguished occu- pant was James G. Blaine, Secretary of State in the Harrison administration, and there he died. The fine yellow Colonial house next beyond, now occupied by Senator Hanna of Ohio, was formerly owned and occupied by Ogle Tayloe, son of John Tayloe, of the Octagon House and INIount Airy, Virginia, who was in the early diplo- matic service, and one of the most accomplished Americans of his day. TaylOC All of his rare and costly pictures, ornaments, and curios, including HoUSC. much that had belonged to Commodore Decatur, passed into possession of the Corcoran Art Gallery. A later occupant was Admiral Paulding, a son of John Paulding, one of the captors of Andre, who suppressed Walker's filibusters in Nica- ragua. Lily Hammersley, now dowager Duchess of IMarlborough, was born there, and some of the most brilliant entertainments ever given in Washington have been under its roof. One of its latest occui)ants was Vice-President Hobart. In the next two houses have lived Secretary Windom, Senator Fenton, and Robert G. Ingersoll. The gray, mastic-stuccoed house on the corner of H Street, now the Cosmos Clubhouse, has also known many celebrated characters. It IMadison was built about 1825, by Richard Cutts, the brother-in-law of the HoUSe. brilliant and versatile "Dolly " Madison, the wife of President Madi- son. It came into Mr. Madison's possession just before his death, some twenty years later, and thither his wife, no longer young, but still beautiful and witty, held court during her declining years. After Mrs. Madison's death this house was occupied by such tenants as Attorney- General Crittenden ; Senator William C. Preston, afterward a Confederate Brigadier ; and Commodore Wilkes, commander of the celebrated exploring expedition, who, in 1861, was required to take his quondam near neighbor, Slidell, from the British steamer Trent. He gave it up when the Civil War broke out, and was followed by Gen. George B. McClellan, who established here the headquarters of the Army of the Poto- mac. " A sight of frequent occurrence in those days," remarks Mrs. Lockwood, "was the General with his chief of staff. General Marcy, his aids. Count de Char- tres and Comte de Paris, with Prince de Joinville at their side, in full military costume, mounted, ready to gallop off over the Potomac hills." Now its halls, •111 i i 1 J i J J STATUE OF PRESIDENT ANDREW JACKSi ifl remodeled and extended, are trodden =>>'^>s* The Tomb of Washington is the first object of attention, and stands immediately at the head of the path from the landing. Its position, small dimensions, and plain form of brick were dictated by Washington in his will. The back part Tomb of of it, extending into the bank, and closed by iron doors, entombs the Washington, bodies of about forty members and relativi's of the family. The front part, closed by plain iron gates, through wliich anyone may look, con- tains two plain sarcophagi, each excavated from a single block of marble, which were made and presented by John Struthers of Philadelphia, in 1837. That one in the 166 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. center of the little inclosure holds the mortal remains of the Father of his Country, within the mahogany coffin in which they were originally placed. At his left is the body of his " consort," Martha Washington. Both the sarcophagi are sealed and are intended never to be opened ; nor are the vaults at the rear. Four times a year, however, the iron gates are opened by the authorities, and it is on these occasions that the wreaths and other offerings of flowers are deposited. This was not the first burial-place of Washington. At the time of his death his body was placed in the older and smaller family tomb a few steps farther north and nearer the river, which is now overgrown with ivy and shaded by Old Tomb. immense oaks. Here Mrs. Washington was laid beside him, and there they remained until 1837, when they were removed to their present resting-place. Judge Bushrod Washington and several other relatives of the family THE TOMB OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. are buried near by, beneath monuments that bear their names, and between the Tomb and the river-bluff used to be buried all the slaves who died upon the estate — how many is unknown ; but the only one marked is that of the old nurse of Mrs. Jane Washington, one of the latest occupants of the estate, and the last person to be entombed within the vault. The Mansion itself stands upon an eminence overlooking broad reaches of the Potomac, and 125 feet above it. It is built of wood, the framework being of oak, is 96 feet long by 30 feet wide, and has two stories and an attic. The The eastern or river-facing front is shaded by a portico, as high as the eaves, I^ansion. supported by eight square posts of wood, and paved at the level of the ground with tiles imported from England in 178(3 ; this pavement is 14J feet wide. The roof of the portico is crowned by an oi-namental balustrade half con- cealing the four dormer windows by which that side of the attic is lighted ; and the ceiling and posts of the portico are neatly paneled. This river-facing side, though no more conspicuous, is less interesting architec- turally, than the western or landward front of the house, which was the one most EXCUESIONS ABOUT WASHINGTON. 167 often approached by visitors in the old coach-traveling days. This has no porch, but presents an extended plain front, with an ornamental central and two side doors, symmetrically disjiosed, while the Western roof is pleasingly broken by a low gable and two dormers, and by Front. the little central cupola and two large chimneys. From each end of the mansion, on this side, curving colonnades connected with it the kitchen on the left and the office of the estate on the right ; and a generous lawn stretched before the house, shaded along the sides and at a distance by numer. ous great trees which still survive, and containing a sun-dial. This was called the Bowling Green, and terminated at the gate on the highway by which carriages entered the home grounds. The Kitchen was a spacious house nearly all of one end of which was devoted to a huge fireplace, whose andirons and turnspit are still in place, and a fire still burns upon tlie hearth. Here a light lunch is served and souvenirs are sold by the Ladies' Association. Next the house stands the original tvell, Outbuilding^S. from which one may still pump a drink of water ; and just beyond it is the great Smokehouse, always so important an adjunct to every self-supporting Southern establishment. Beyond the smokehouse, on the road which leads southward toward the Tomb and steamboat landing, is the old Laundry, and then the Coachhouse in which may be seen an old-time chaise, said to have been one of the Washington car- riages : in the General's time this house was the shelter for his great white chariot-of- state. Then comes the Barn, the oldest building on the estate, which was constructed by Washington's father, in 1733, from bricks said to have been imported from Eng- land. Its roof, of course, is new, and the building is still serviceable. The outer buildings at the right (or north) of the house, include the building in which the manager of the estate resided, and where was the Business Office; it is now the office of the Superintendent. Just beyond was the Carpenter Shop ; and in the rear of this a larger building called the Spinning-House where, in old times, the slave women gathered to spin and weave the cotton, wool, and flax for the clothes of the servants and to make garments and rag carpets ; the room is now filled with looms and spinning wheels. Still farther away in this direction is seen the row of restored buildings originally the quarters of the colored servants required about the house, stables, and gardens. The field hands lived in cabins scattered about the estate. Near them are the greenhouses. The Gardens are perhajis the most interesting places in the whole grounds. They were laid out in a firmal style of walks and beds, as was then the fashion, defined by hedges of box, which still grow luxuriantly and are kept well trimmed as of yore. In the early summer they are a marvel of flowers and beau- Gardens. tiful foliage. That enclosure on the north side, between the lawn and the negro quarters, was the rose garden. It contains specimens of that rose named by Washington for his mother, and others bearing his own name and that of Nellie Custis. It is no wonder, as we are told, that it was one of the regular afternoon pleasures of Madame Washington to gather rose leaves here to make rose water and a certain perfumed unguent for which she was famous among her friends. It was a habit of the family to ask distinguished guests to plant something as a keepsake, and several of these mementos still flourish. The little structure at the end of the long walk in the garden is reputed to have been the schoolroom of the Custis children. The "Vineyard Enclosure," as Washington designated it, in the rear of the kitchen, was devoted more to fruit and vegetables, yet was a charming garden, too. The Summer House, on the brow of the river bluff, stands upon the site of an original one, and has beneath it a deep cellar suitable for storing ice. The slope of 168 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. the bluff was devoted by Washington to the purposes of a deer park, and deer have been replaced there since 1887. The Mansion and Its Relics. The mansion is divided interiorly by a broad hall running from side to side, and having the main stairway, and here one may well begin the survey of the interior. When Mount Vernon was acquired by the Ladies' Association it was not only out of repair but the furniture had been distributed to various heirs or sold and scattered. An effort was at once made to recover as much as possible, in order to Interior. restore as closely as might be the original home-like appearance of the house. As it has been impossible to do this thoroughly a great many other articles of furniture, adornment, and historical interest have been added. In order to do this the various State branches of the Association were invited to undertake to refurnish one room each, and many have done so, and the names of these States are identified with the apartments they have taken charge of. A con- siderable quantity of furniture as well as personal relics of George and Martha Washington are here, however, especially in the bedrooms where they died. These are mostly distinctly labeled, so that the visitor can distinguish between what belonged to the Father of his Country and what is simply illustrative of the domestic life of his day. The Central Hall contains three of Washington's dress swords, the most interesting of which is the one bequeathed to his nephew Lewis, since it is the one he wore when he resigned his commission at Annapolis, when he was inaugu- Central Hall, rated President at New York, and elsewhere on ceremonious occasions. Another was worn by him in the Braddock campaign. Here, also, hangs the main key of the Bastile — that prison in Paris which was so justly hated THE CENTRAL HALL. by the people, and which was demolished by the mob in 1789. Lafayette sent it to AVashington with a cliaracteristic letter; and also the model of the Bastile in the Banquet Hall. Lafayette's Agreement to servo as Major-Genoral in the American army hangs near by. The hall appears as it was redecorated by Washington in EXCURSIONS ABOUT WASHINGTON. 169 1775, and the engravings are reprints of pictures he owned. The tall clock on the stairs was presented by New Jersey ; the table belonged to W. A. Washington. The Music-room or East Parlor opens from this hall by the first door at the right, and is under the care of the Vice-Regent of the Association from Ohio. It is crowded with objects, of which the most conspicuous is the harpsichord that was given to Nellie Custis by Washington, together with his grand IMusiC-room. militarj' plume, when she married Laurance Lewis in 1798. "When the hour came the tall, majestic figure emerged from his bedroom clad in the old, worn continental buff and blue . . . and at the appointed moment gave tlie pretty, blushing creature, with her wild-rose cheeks and dark and liquid eyes, into the keeping of his trusted nephew, Laurance." It is such gracious, homely pictures as these that rise to the imagination as one loiters about the st jried homefe*tead of the Father of his Country. Here also are the stool belonging to the piano, and Miss Custis' embroidery frame ; Washington's flute — of rosewood, silver-mounted — his card-table, the guitar and music-book of a relative, and in the cabinet many small articles of tableware, his spectacles, a steel camp-fork, etc., which belonged to the General or his family. The upholstering of the reproduced furniture and the form of the Venetian mirror are like that originally here. The West Parlor, entered by the second hall door on the right, looks, in its walls, ceiling, and handsome corner fireplace, as it did when Washington left it. Above the mantel are carved the coat-of-arms of the family, and his crest and initials appear cast in relief on the iron fireback ; the mantel jiainting West Parlor. of ships is said to portray a part of the fleet at Carthagena of that Admiral Vernon after whom the estate was named. The carpet is a large rug presented by Louis XVI to Washington. It was woven to order, is dark green with orange stai's ; its centerpiece is the seal of the United States, and the border is a floriated design with swans. The globe and several chairs here also belonged to the furniture of the house. A spinet and two fine old candlesticks will be noticed, the latter standing upon a beautiful pier table. This room was refurnished by Illinois. The first door on the left opens into Mrs. Washington's Sitting-room, refurnished by Georgia in the manner of the period. The mahogany secretary once stood in Washington's military headquarters at Cambridge, Mass.; and the tables and mirror are historic. Some elaborate candlesticks and a Sitting-roOdl. sconce for candles are noteworthy, and the latter belonged in the family ; while there is here preserved a candle molded for the illumination at York- town in celebration of Cornwallis' surrender. The engravings representing the siege of Gibraltar hung in this same house when its master was alive. TJte Dining-room is next beyond, and still has the appearance and much of the furniture of the time of its illustrious owner. The Italian mantel and stucco orna- ments of the walls, cornice, and ceiling are admirable; and the orna- mented fireback came from "Belvoir," the country seat of Lord Fairfax, Dining:-room. Washington's early friend and patron, while the andirons and fender belong to the Rutledge house. The sideboard was Washington's, and the cut-glasa decanter and table cutlery and cases ; while the china in the corner cupboard is a copy of the set given to Mrs. Washington by the officers of the French fleet in 1792. The rug, tables, and chairs belong to that period; and among the portraits of Revfjlutionary generals on the walls is one of Miss Cunningham, who originated the Mount Vernon Association. The southern end of tlie house is occupied by a .second stairway and by a large apartmeut known as the Library in which are gathered an original mahogany 170 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASIIINGTOlSr. THE BANQUET HALL. bookcase, and a few of the volumes which belonged to Washington, most of the remain- der of which are now in the Athenaeum Library of Boston. The shelves Library. of the bookcases are now filled mainly with duplicates of those Wash- ington possessed and with literature about Washington ; and upon the walls hang reprints of documents connected with his public life, one of which is a printed proof of the Farewell Address, corrected by Washington's own hand. A silver inkstand, some chairs, a painting of the Great Falls of the Potomac, made at his request, and a few small articles are personal relics. The Banquet Hall is an addition made to the northern end of the house after George received it from his father. Its length is the whole breadth of the mansion, and its richly ornamented ceiling is two stories in height, while it is Banquet lighted by a broad, arched and mullioned window. Opposite the win- Hall, dow is a highly ornate iireplace and mantel of Italian marble and workmanship, which once occupied a place in the home at Wanstead, England, of Samuel Vaughn, who brought it to America as a gift to Washington in 1785. The center of the hall is occupied by a great table, similar to the original one, upon which lies Washington's "plateau " of silver and mirror-glass, intended aa an ornament for the center of the table on ceremonious occasions. His punch bowl is also to be seen among many other small articles of use or ornament that were in the house, and which are now safely locked in a cabinet. The model of the Bastile, a French clock that still keeps good time, two porcelain vases, silver bracket lamps, a mirror, rosewood stands for flower Abases, a surveyor's tripod, and lesser objects are identified with the house and its owners; while a lock of the General's hair and Martha's ivory fan are peculiarly personal and precious. The old silk standard is reputcid to have been captured by Washington ; and visitors should examine closely the portrait woven upon silk, in French Jacquard looms, which cost $15,000, so elab- orate a process was required. A great painting by Rembrandt Peale fills the west- ern end of the room, which has been fitted up by New York. Of the bedrooms on the second floor the most interesting to all is that of the General himself — the Room in lohich Washington died. It is at the south end of the house, over the library, and the ladies of Virginia have been able to restore it more nearly to its original appearance than any other part of the house. The bed is in EXCURSIONS ABOUT WASHINGTON. 171 ROOM IN WHICH GENERAL WASHINGTON DIED. tlie same place and the same one upon which Washington died, and the chairs, small tables, and mirror were a part of the scene. The hangings of the win- dows and bedstead copy those of the time ; two cushions were worked Death by Martha Washington and a dimity chair cover shows the needlework Chamber. of her granddaughter; while parts of Washington's traveling chest and camp equipage remind the beholder of his stormy life. There is little else in the room than what properly belongs there, and the simplicity is impressive. Martha Washington died, three years after her husband, in the room in the attic immediately above this — a bedroom she had chosen because his room had been closed (as was the custom), and from this south attic window Martha's she could see his grave. Wisconsin has refitted her room as nearly as Rooni. possible as it was when Martha slept there, but only the corner wash- stand really belonged to her. Other rooms on the second floor are known by special names. ROOM IN WHICH MARTHA WASHINGTON DIED. 172 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. The Lafayette Room is so called because the Marquis occupied it when at Mount Vernon; it was refitted by New Jersey. The River Room, by Pennsylvania, con- Bedrooms. tains furniture identified with Franklin and other of Washington's friends and relatives. The Guest Chamber is due to Delaware; the Green Room to West Virginia; and that in which Nellie Custis slept to Maryland, where the bedstead and other furniture all belonged to old Southern families who lived in a style very similar to that at Mount Vernon. The Upper Hall, communicating with these bedrooms, has a cabinet in which are to be seen several of the Mount Vernon fire-buckets, a brown suit of clothes, with velvet waistcoat and silk stockings worn by Washington, and a compass and reading glass that were used by him, as well as several relics of members of his family and descendants. The musket was brought to America by Lafayette. Attic. In the Attic a series of small bedrooms have been furnished by the vice-regents of various States, with articles of colonial manu- facture and interest. 2. To Arlington National Cemetery and Fort Meyer. Arlington, an estate identified in a peculiarly intimate manner with the history of the founding and preservation of the Union, and singularly beautiful withal, would be one of the most attractive places at the National Capital apart from Beauty of the sacred interest imparted to it by its soldier dead. For several gen- the Estate. erations before the Civil War the home of the Custis and Lee families, it has been devoted since that time to the purposes of the foremost of the national military cemeteries. Here, behind the inscribed arches of the great gates, made from the marble pillars of the old War Department building, and under ARLINGTON HOUSE. — Formerly the Home of General Robert E. Lee. EXCURSIONS ABOUT WASHINGTON. 173 the oaks that belonged to the greatest of " their enemy," sleep almost a score of thousands of Union soldiers, and every year sees the eternal enlistment in their ranks of many more — among them officers of rank and distinction famous for deeds that shall make their names immortal. Two routes may be taken to Arlington, and the best way is to patronize both, going by one way and returning by the other. This prevents retracing one's steps, and makes the course of walking down hill. In pursuance of this method take the Pennsylvania Avenue cars (if the F Street cars are KoutCS. taken, descend the stone steps from Prospect Street to Pennsylvania Avenue at the Union station) to the extremity of the line (Union station. Thirty -sixth Street) in Georgetown, and walk across Aqueduct Bridge to Roslyn, Virginia, where, at the western extremity of the bridge, electric cars may be taken to Fort Meyer and the northern gate of Arlington Cemetery. This is a ride of hardly ten minutes, and the whole trip from the Treasury c Misumes only thirty-five minutes when close connection is made; fare from Roslyn, 10 cents; round Public trip, 15 cents. Public carriages start from the terminal station at the Carriages. Fort Meyer gate, in which passengers are given a tour of the cemetery for 25 cents ; a stop of five minutes is made at the mansion, whe'-e a lay-over ticket is also given if asked. The distance from the Fort Meyer gate to the Mansion, following the main road and flagstone walk, is about a third of a mile, and shows nearly all of the older and more cultivated part of the Cemetery. Southward of the path the graves of thousands and thousands of soldiers of the Civil War spread Soldiers' away through the woods, as far as can be seen, each marked by a small Graves. marble headstone, with liere and there a more prominent mark. At intervals are placed, in front of tliis fatal and impressive array, iron tablets bearing lines or stanzas selected from Col. Theodore O'Hara's eloquent poem, THE BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD. The muffled drums sad roll has beat The soldier's last tattoo ; No more on life's parade shall meet That brave and fallen few. Sons of the dark and bloody ground, Ye must not slumber there, Where stranger steps and tongues resound Along the heedless air ; On Fame's eternal camping-ground Their silent tents are spread, And Glory guards, with solemn round, The bivouac of the dead. Your own proud land's heroic soil Shall be your fitter grave ; She claims from war its richest spoil — The ashes of her brave. No rumor of the foe's advance Now swells upon the wind ; No troubled thought at midnight haunts Of loved ones left behind. Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead I Dear as the blood yo gave ; No impious footsteps here shall tread The herbage of your grave; No vision of the morrow's strife The warrior's dream alarms. No braying horn nor screaming fife At dawn shall call to arms. Nor shall your glory be forgot While Fame her record keeps, Or Honor points the hallowed spot Where Valor proudly sleeps. The neighing troop, the flashing blade, The bugle's stirring blast The charge, the dreadful cannonade, The (fjn and shout are past. Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight, Nor time's remorseless doom. Shall dim one ray of holy light That gilds your glorious tomb. 174 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. On the left, or north, of the path the hillock is more irregularly dotted with mon- uments to commissioned officers of the army, many of whom were distinguished in the Mexican or Indian wars previous to that of 1861-65. Beside many Graves of of them rest their wives, in accordance with the privilege given by the Officers. Government. Here, among many of less note, rest such famous com- manders as Belknap, Burns, Gleason, Gregg, Harvey, Hazen, Ingalls, King, Kirk, Lyford, Meyer (whose idea it was that these grounds should be set apart for this purpose), McKibbin, Paul, Plummer, Steadman, Turtellotte, and many others ; and the monuments are often exceedingly appropriate. The interest increases as the Mansion is approached. This noble house, whose pillared portico is so well seen from the city, stands upon the brow of a magnificent Site and hill overlooking the valley of the Potomac and the Federal city ^ a View. broad and beautiful view. On the brow of this bluff are buried officers of special distinction and popularity, and here may be seen the graves and monuments of some of the Union's latest and most distinguished defenders. Here lie Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, beneath a grand memorial stone ; Admiral David D. Porter, Maj.-Gen. George H. Crook, whose monument bears a bi'onze bas-relief of the surrender of the Apache Geronimo ; Maj.-Gen. Abner Doubleday, the historian of Gettysburg; Generals Meigs, Ricketts, Benet and Watkins; Colonel Berdan, of "sharpshooter " fame, and others. In the rear of the mansion is a Temple of miniature temple upon whose columns are engraved the names of Fame. ^ great American soldiers ; and a lovely amphitheater of columns, vine- embowered, where Decoration Day ceremonies and open-air burial services may be conducted. Near it is a great granite mausoleum in which repose the bones of 2,111 unknown soldiers gathered after the war from the battle field of Bull Run, and thence to the Rappahannock. It is surrounded by cannon and bears a memorial inscription. Near by, in a lovely glade, is buried Gen. Henry W. Lawton, killed fighting in the Philippines in the autumn of 1899. The victims of the destruction of the battleship Maine, in Havana, and several hundred soldiers who lost their lives in Cuba and Porto Rico, during the war with Spain, in 1898, are buried together in the southern part of the cemetery. Soldiers and reached by a pleasant road, winding through the peopled woods ; and Sailors of their monument is a battery of great naval guns. the Cuban The Arlington mansion is a fine example of the architecture of its War. era, and resembles Jefferson's mansion at Monticello. Its upper floor is occupied by the official in charge, but the lower rooms are mainly empty, and visitors are content with a glance at them, preferring the open air and light of the lawns and gardens about the house, and the groves that now cover the adjacent fields. This old home of the Colonial aristocracy is not only The l^ansion. closely identified with the annals of early Virginia, but with the polit- ical develox^ment of the country. It was bought as a tract of 1 , 160 acres, for £11,000, by John Custis, who, early in the eighteenth century, came from the Eastern shore to live on his new property. His was one of the "first families of Virginia" in every sense of the word, and possessed great wealth; but he had various domestic troubles, one of which was, that his high-spirited son, Daniel Parke Custis, insisted upon neglecting a high-born heiress, prepared by his parents for his future consoi't, and marrying, instead, pretty Martha Dandridge, the belle of Custis Williamsburg, the Colonial capital. The old gentleman was very angry. Family. until one day, we are told, Martha Dandridge met him at a social gath- ering, and fairly captivated him. The marriage was made and prospered, and, when old Custis died, his son and his wife came into possession and residence 176 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. THE TEMPLE OF FAME. here at Arlington, where Daniel soon died, leaving Martha a young widow with two children, John Parke and Eleanor Custis. His will entailed this estate to his son, and divided his other property, the wife receiving, as her share, lands and securities worth, perhaps, $100,000. In due time this rich and blooming widow re-entered society, where she presently became acquainted with a Colonial colonel, who had recently achieved military fame in Braddock's expedition against Fort Diiquesne. He lived with his mother at Mount Vernon, only fifteen miles below, and his name was George "Washington. It was not long before he had wooed and won the charming and opulent widow, who laid aside her weeds and went with her two children to live at her hus- band's home. Together they managed and cared for the Arlington estate, until its young owner should come of age, and both were often there. The daughter died, but the son grew to manhood, received his noble property, married a Calvert, and served upon his stepfather's staff' during tlie latter part of the Revolution. Then he, too, died (1781), and his two infant children were adopted by Washington and deeply loved. They kept their own names, however, and Nelly, who seemed to have inherited the beauty of lier grandmother, married Major Lewis, a Virginian. Her brother, George Washington Parke Custis, upon reaching his majority, inherited and took possession of Arlington, at the beginning of the present century ; and immedi- ately began the erection of the present mansion, which, therefore, Washington himself never saw, since he died December 13, 1799, while this house was not completed until 1803. A few months afterward, Mr. Custis married Mary Lee JFitzhugh, one of the Randolphs, and four children were born to them, but only one survived, a daughter, EXCUESIONS ABOUT WASIIHSTOTON. 177 TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN DEAD. TOMB OF GENERAL PHILIP H. SHERIDAN. 12 178 PICTOEIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTOlSr. THE SHERIDAN GATE ngton Mary. The Custis family lived at Arlington, improv- ing and beautifying the estate, winning the good opinion of all who knew them, and entertaining handsomely until the death of Mrs. Custis, in 1853, and of her husband, the last male of his family, in 1857. The estate then fell to the daughter, who, meanwhile, had married a young army officer, Rob- ert E. Lee, The Lees. son of " Lighthorse Harry " Lee, the dashing cavalryman of the Revo- lution, entwining into the story of the estate another strand of the best fabric of Vir- ginian society. Arlington immediately became the home of this officer, and when the Civil War came, and Colonel Lee went out of the Union with his State, his great- est personal sacrifice, no doubt, was the tliought of leaving Arlington. Indeed, so little did he foresee that he was going to be the leader of a four-years' struggle, that he took away none of the furniture, and very few even of the great number of relics of Washington, many of intrinsic as well as historic value, which the house contained. Federal troops at once took possession of the estate, and everything of historical value was seized by the Government, so that most of the collection, with other relics, is now to be seen at the National Museum. Arlington could not be confiscated, because entailed ; but the non-payment of taxes made a pretext for its sale, when it was bought in for $23,000, by the United States Government, which established the military cemetery here in 1864. When, several years after the war, G. W. Custis Lee inherited the estate, he successfully disjiuted, in the Supreme Court, the legality of the tax-sale, but at once transferred his restored rights to the Government for $150,000, which was paid him in 1884. The return from Arlington is easily and pleasantly made by walking down to one of the gates and taking the cars of the Washington, Alexandria & Mount Vernon Railway for Washington, by way of the Long Bridge. Three hours will suffice to make this trip satisfactorily. The grounds remain open until sunset. A visit to Fort Meyer may well be combined with this excursion. 3. To Fort Myer. The principal military post near Washington is located on the Custis estate- •of nearly two square miles, with a mile frontage on the Potomac, opposite the city. It was occupied by the military forces when Col. Robert E. Lee resigned from the army in 1861. Officers and privates who died of wounds in hospitals near Wasliington were interred in one section and the remainder was used during the war for fortifications, store houses, and drill grounds for military service, and as a refuge for the slaves of the EXCURSIONS ABOUT WASHINGTON. 179 South. After peace was established many of the earthworks were razed aud now officer's quarters, barracks, drill hall, aud hospital, on well paved streets, make Signal Corps a model army post. Recently a section has been allotted to the signal Post. corps — a large balloon house, electric buildings, signal apparatus, aud officers' and privates' quarters add greatly to the interest visitors show in military works, and to the importance of this United States reservation. The only rail route to Fort Myer is by trolley car from Aqueduct Bridge, a distance of two miles, and an elevation of two hundred foet being traversed in about* five minutes. The track and roadbed of this line aro on private right-of-waj% and of standard construction throughout. Climbing this terrace of the Potomac Valley are views of the river and its bridges, the Capitol, Washington's Monument, White House, and other Government buildings. Arriving at the Summit Station, on one side is seen the Arlington National Cemetery with its marble columns embowered amid magnificent oak trees. On the other side the Fort Mj'er bvuldings are in contrast, a city of military life. Beyond, toward Columbia aud Nauck Springs, is the parade ground, a rolling table-land. The railway extends two miles farther, giving visitors to Washington an opportunity of seeing the most prominent and interesting points in the center of Alexandria County. Tickets and all information as to points of interest, and every convenience for travelers are found at the railway stations. At the Rosslyn Station, which is pJso a post office, there is a good lunch and dining room. Over the bridge runs a transfer coach to the Pennsylvania Avenue cars. Nearly everyone, however, prefers to walk across the bridge aud enjoy the views of beautiful Analostan Island — for many years the home of the famous Mason family of Virginia. Large factories are also seen in Rosslyn, and the Alexandria County Court House, on the Falls Church line, near Fort Myer, although a modern building, contains numerous historical records. 4. To Falls Church, Virginia. Nestling among the green hills of old Virginia, at an altitude of nearly 400 feet, and distant but six miles from the city of Washington, lies the historic and beautiful town of Falls Church; historic as containing one of the oldest churches of the State, where Washington formerly worshiped, and as the scene of many skirmishes during the prolonged civil strife, and the camping ground of both armies; beautiful both from the hands of nature and of man. Situated in an elevated valley, protected by the sur- rounding hills from the violent storms which sweep over the prairies and low lands, this romantic spot was selected, directly after the Civil War, as the homes of enterprising Western and New England citizens who were attracted to it by its beauties and many natural advantages. Most of these citizens, being employed in the Government service, have sufficient means to beautify their homes, which they have done by planting shade trees, making beautiful lawns, flower gardens, etc. According to the last census, the nominal inhabitants of the town are 1,007, but the number is nearly doubled during the summer months by the influx of Washington City people, who delight to spend the heated term in a cool and healthy locality, free from malaria and mosquitoes. Its inhal)itants are cosmopolitan, being originally from nearly all parts of the country. The little town is incorporated and has a mayor, council, town sergeant, and clerk. It lies partially within the limits of the original District of Columbia (now known as Alexandria County) and partially within Fairfax County. It is easily accessible by two railroads — the W. & O. Branch of the Southern Railway passing through the eastern boundary, and the Washington, Arlington & Falls Church Electric Railway passing from the east to the west end of the village. Cars leave the Aqueduct Bridge on the electric road every hour during the day until three o'clock, and every half hour thereafter, and every half hour on 180 PICTORIAL GUIDE TO WABIIINGTOlvr. Sundays and holidays, making the trip to Falls Church in about twenty minutes, the rate for the round trip being twenty -five cents and to West End thirty cents. This road also makes a commutation rate of seven cents per trip. Many of the business men of Washington, realizing the healthfulness and advantages of the Falls Church locality, have settled there, notable among whom is A. M, Lothrop, of the firm of Woodward & Lothrop, who has purchased a large farm which he has improved with every modern RESIDENCE OF A. M. LOTHROP, FALLS CHURCH convenience; Messrs. Rufus and Rezin Darby have also erected large and substantial dwellings near there. The late Gen. H. W. Lawton formerly resided there, owning one of the most beautiful places in the center of the town. Admiral Porter at one time owned a cottage there, and Dr. P. M. Ri.xey has recently purchased a large stock farm which he is rapidly improving. Several retired army and naval officers have also located there. Falls Church is strictly a temperance town, no license for the sale of liquor having been granted there for many years. Its public schools are of a high order, and it also maintains a high school. Among the public institutions of the town is the Virginia Training School for Feeble-minded Children, and a public library. It has churches of nearly every denomination, the oldest of which is the Episcopal Church, erected in 1747 and still occupied. Telegraph and telephone lines give rapid communication to all parts of the country. A telephone exchange is maintained there centralizing the tele- phone business of all that section of thecountrj', and from there messages are transmitted over trunk lines to all long-distant points. Falls Church is a desiraljle place in which to reside, and a delightful i)lace to visit. It is well supplied with physicians, dentists, lawyers, and other prof es.sional men; has a good hotel, livery stables, and several large boarding houses, the "Falls Church Inn," and the " Evergreens " being the principal summer resorts. Many historical points of the country are easily accessible from Falls Church. Fairfax Court House, the county seat of Fairfax Coimty, is only eight miles distant. Washington's original will, in his own handwriting, is deposited with the county clerk, who is the official custodian. He also has in his po.ssession many other old and valuable documents. Capt. Jos. E. Willard and many other prominent men I EXCURSIONS ABOUT WASHINGTON. 181 residf there. The l)iitlle-flel(ls ol' Bull iiiui and Mauassas are a short distanee west and easily accessible by driving over a beautiful undulating country. Muuson's Hill, the place where McClellan reviewed his magniliceut army, is a little over a mile south of Falls Church, ('amp Alger is located near Falls Church, the site being selected by Secretary Alger ou account of its known healthfulness and abundance of pure water. In going to Falls Church over the electric road the county of Alexandria is traversed from east to west, passing the new county court house, recently erected, and passing near the old Caleb Gushing mansion, as well as many other beautiful, well-kept country residences. Alexandria County is rapidly increasing in population. Many wealthy people have recently located there, having homes ou the heights overlooking the Potomac. The tourist can not spend a more profitable or pleasant day than to take a trip over the electric line to Falls Church, and from thence to some of the historical points men- tioned. "The Falls " (Episcopal) Church was erected in the year 1747 by the reigning monarch of England, the brick used in the structure being brought from that country. This church was one of the several erected along the Potomac and James rivers about that time, and this being located nearest to the Great Falls of the Potomac, was called "The Falls Church," and from that the town derived its name. Regular services are still maintained and the church is kept as near as possible in its original condition Many visitors are attracted to it on account of its ancient appearance, and historical connection. FALLS CHURCH (EPISCOPAL), FALLS CHURCH 182 PICTORIAL CtUIDE TO WASHIlSrGTOlT. VIRGINIA HOME AND TRAINING SCHOOL FOR THE FEEBLE MINDED, FALLS CHURCH, VA. Washington having used it as a phice of worship prior to the erection of the Pohick Chapel. Another account of Falls Church is as follows: Falls Church (Episcopal) was erected in 1773, for £600. Christ Church, Alexandria, was built the same year, and of both churches General Washington was a vestryman. The contract for Falls Church was taken by James Wrenn, who was to be paid either in currency or its equivalent — 32,000 pounds of tobacco. It was furnished after the old style, with box pews, a high, wine-glass pulpit, and tablets on either side the chancel with the decalogue and the Lord's prayer in large letters. The floor was laid with tiles, undoubtedly imported. The church fell into disuse before the close of the last century, and was in an abandoned state for a number of years, the roof having fallen in and cattle finding shelter within its walls. Afterward it was repaired by Mr. Henrj"^ Fairfax, a grandson of the Rev. Bryan Fairfax, at his own expense and thoroughly restored. It was long in charge of the Rev. R. Templeman Brown as rector, and was in a flourishing condition at the breaking out of the war, when it was taken possession of by the United States troops, first as a hospital and subsequently as a stable, the pews, pulpit, tablets, floor, and even a part of the walls being destroyed. After the war it was repaired, cheaply, and has been used since as a place of worship, though in a languishing state. Its communion service, the gift of friends, is of solid silver, mostly from plate and from the sale of watches, jewelry, etc., given for the purpose. Its churchyard has numerous graves, and some ancient tombstones are still to be seen. The present sexton, Mr. John Ljaich, has, in the thirtj'four j'ears he has held that position, buried there 262 persons, mostly people of the neighborhood. The Virghiia Home and Training School for the Feeble-minded was established in 1893, and is the only private institution of the kind in the South. It receive.^, at reason- able rates, all classes of the feeble-minded, and its equipment and accommodations are of the best. The house is large and comfortable with all modern conveniences. The I EXCUESIONS ABOUT WASHINGTON. 183 grounds are beautiful and extensive, affording ample room for exercise and games. For full particulars address, Miss M. Gundry, Falls Church, Va. 5. To the Soldiers' Home, Rock Creek Churcli, Fort Stevens, Battle and National Cemeteries, the Catholic University, and Brookland. The Soldiers' Home stands in the midst of a noble park, with a wide outlook from high grounds directly north of the Capitol, from which it is distant four miles in a straight line. It is a favorite terminus for driving and bicycling, beautiful roads lead- ing thither from the head of Connecticut Avenue or Fourteenth Street, and less desirable ones returning through the northeastern quarter of the city. Two lines of street cars approach the Soldiers' Home, giving the tourist an alternate Route. route going and coming ; and he should devote the better part of a day to this excursion. The direct route out is by the cars north on Seventh Street, connecting with the Brightwood line from the boundary to the Eagle or western gate of the Soldiers' Home grounds. A short distance beyond the boundary, at the right of the road, are seen the tall brick buildings Howard of Howard University — a collegiate institution founded soon after University. the war, as an outgrowth of the Freedmen's Bureau, for the education of colored youths of both sexes. Its first president was Maj.-Gen. O. 0. Howard (who had resigned from the army temporarily to undertake this work), and it has maintained itself as a flourishing institution, having some three hundred students annually. THE SOLDIERS' HOME 184 PICTOKIAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON. The new Distributing Reservoir, to which the famous and incomplete " Lydecker Tunnel " was intended to carry water from the Potomac conduit, occupies the high ground north of the university. The ride out to the end of this road, at the District limits, is a very pleasant one all the way ; and if one is fond of walking, he can do well by going on through the suburban villages of Potworth and Brightwood to Silver Springs and Takoma — ^the latter a station on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad almost Country at the extreme northern corner of the District. It is then a very RoadS. pleasant walk back to the Soldiers' Home, along the Blair and Rock Creek Church roads, near the railroad, which are bordered by luxuriant hedges of osage orange. This is a fair country road for bicycles. Extensions of electric lines are progressing, one line now reaching to Forest Glen, Maryland. Near Brightwood, in plain view off at the left as you go out upon the cars, are the crumbling parapets of Fort Stevens, which was one of the agencies in protecting the city against Confederate attack in 1864, when fighting occurred all through these woods and fields. ^ Early's Raid, in July, 1864, was the only serious war scare Washington had, but it was enougli. Panic-stricken people from the Maryland villages came flocking in along this road, bringing such of their household goods as they could carry. For two or three days the city was cut off from communication Early'S Raid. with the outside world, except by way of the Potomac River. The dis- trict militia was reinforced by every able-bodied man who could be swept up. Department clerks were mustered into companies and sent to the trenches, with any odds and ends of fighting material that could be gathered. There was an immense commotion, but the capital was never so demoralized as was alleged of it at the time. Within forty-eight hours, from one source and another, 60,000 men had been gathered. Meanwhile the stubborn resistance made some miles up the river, by Gen. Lew Wallace, whose wide reputation as the author of " Ben Hur,'' "The Fair God," etc., was still to come, who delayed the invading host against frightful odds until the fortifications were well manned, had saved the city from being sacked and the President from capture. It is not too much to say that Wallace's prompt and courageous action did this thing. Wallace was forced back, of course, but when Early got him out of the way and reached the defenses north of the city, he found the old Sixth Corps there, and, contenting himself with a brisk skirmish in the fields in front of Fort Stevens, he fled, carrying away the plunder of hundreds of desolated Maryland farmhouses. The President was not only intensely anxious but eagerly interested. Noah Brooks, in ais "Washington in Lincoln's Time," saj'S of him : " He went out to Fort Stevens during the skirmish ... on July 12, and repeat- edly exposed himself in the coolest manner to the fire of the rebel sharpshooters. He had once said to me that he lacked physical courage, although he had a fair share of the moral quality of that virtue ; but his calm unconsciousness of danger, while the bullets were flying thick and fast about him, was ample proof that he would not have dropped his musket and run, as he believed he cer- tainly would, at the first sign of physical danger." Battle Those killed in this affair were buried in the little cemetery by Cemetery. the Methodist Church, now called Battle Cemetery. The Soldiers' Home is the forerunner and type of those which were erected in various parts of the country after the Civil War, but it is not in the same class. It is an institution established in 1851 by the eff"orts of Gen. Winfield Scott, and out of cer- tain funds received from Mexico, as a retreat for veterans of the Mexican War, and for men of the regular army who have been disabled or who, by twenty years of EXCURSIONS ABOUT WASHINGTON. 185 m honorable service and a payment of 12 cents a month, have acquii-ed the right of residence there the remainder of their Uves. Tliis gives the veterans a pleasing sense of self-support, in addition to which many are able to earn monej' by working about the buildings and grounds and in various ways. There are ordinarily History of about five hundred men there, who live under a mild form of military Soldiers' discipline and routine, wear the uniform of the army, and are governed Home. by veteran officers. The affairs of the Home, which has now a fund of over $1,000,000 and a considerable independent income, are adminis- tered by a boai'd composed of the general of the army and his principal assistants at the ^^'ar Department. " The main building is of white marble, three stories in height, and is fashioned after the Norman order of architectui'e. On the grounds are several elegant marble cottages occupied by the officials, a pretty church of Seneca stone, a capacious hospi- tal building with wide piazzas, from which charming views of Washington and the Potomac can be had, a fine library building, well stocked with books and periodicals, and numerous other structures. On the brow of one of the hills stands a bronze statue of General Scott, by Launt Thompson, erected by the Home in 1874, at a cost of $18,000. The entire estate is inclosed by a stone wall, surmounted by a small iron fence of handsome design. Fifty acres are under cultivation, an